Eastern Front (computer game)

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Eastern Front (1941)
Developer(s)	Chris Crawford
Publisher(s)	APX, Atari
Designer(s)	Chris Crawford
Release date(s)	1981, 1982
Genre(s)	Strategy
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	N/A
Platform(s)	Atari 8-bit
Media	Cassette, floppy disk, cartridge
System requirements	Atari 8-bit computer, cassette recorder or disk drive
Input	Joystick

Eastern Front (1941) is a computer game for the Atari 8-bit series created in 1981. Recreating the actual invasion of Russia by German forces in the East during World War II, Eastern Front covers the historical area of operations during the 1941-1942 period. The player commands units at the corps level and must contend with terrain, weather, supplies and even unit morale and fatigue.

Eastern Front (1941) was programmed by Chris Crawford and published by the Atari Program Exchange. Notable features were having the computer calculate its moves while the player was entering his moves, a previously untried approach. A full-scrolling map of the terrain put the playing field larger than the size of the screen itself. Only the joystick and a few keys were needed to input commands, without typing.

According to Crawford, he wanted to overcome deficiencies that he saw with computer wargames at the time. The results were Eastern Front (1941). Crawford had to sell the game through Atari Program Exchange because Atari didn't feel that wargames would sell on the 8-bits. Eastern Front became Crawford's first big hit and an APX best-seller.

Because of the success of the game, Atari asked Crawford to do a conversion to cartridge. Crawford instead did a rewrite. For the cartridge version, he added six levels, revamped AI code and added more features (such as saving/restoring games).

[edit] External links

[edit] General information and resources

• atariarchives.com; Eastern Front by Chris Crawford - APX Cat. No. 20050
• atariarchives.com; source code for Eastern Front - APX Cat. No. 20095
• atarimania.com; Atari Eastern Front (1941) information and scans (APX package).
• Atari Age; Eastern Front (1941), Atari - RX8039.
• Eastern Front at MobyGames
• Analog Vol. 5 No. 22; review of Eastern Front by Jerry White.

[edit] Interview and essay

• Creative Computing, Aug. 1982; reprint of Eastern Front: A Narrative History by Chris Crawford.
• Interview with Crawford; Halcyon Days: Interviews with classic computer and video game programmers.