Lunar Lander (video game)

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For the spacecraft that landed humans on the Moon, see Apollo Lunar Module.

Lunar Lander is the name of several video games. In all variations of the game, the player must portion a limited amount of fuel to land on the moon without crashing. Computer Gaming World described it as one of the first fun programs neophyte programmers start with and continually improve upon as they improve their skills.[1]

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[edit] Lunar Lander (1973)

Lunar Lander
DEC GT40 running Lunar Lander
Developer(s) DEC
Designer(s) Jack Burness
Platform(s) DEC GT40 graphics terminal, PDP-11 based
Release date 1973
Genre(s) Retro/Simulation
Mode(s) Single player
Media downloaded (typically from mainframe)
Input methods light pen

Lunar Lander (also known as Moonlander) is an early computer game that runs on the DEC GT40 graphics terminal (typically downloaded from a PDP-10 mainframe computer). DEC commissioned the game to be written in 1973 as a demonstration of the capabilities of the GT40; it was seen at many trade shows.

The goal was to correctly land a lunar module on the surface of the moon using the game's telemetry data. If the player miscalculates the module's landing, the module will either fly off into space or crash hard against the moon's surface or the mountain over which the lander first passed. The interface was through a light pen and the output display was a vector graphics system; the light pen allowed adjusting the throttle value and the angle of the lunar lander. Sophisticated players could achieve a landing on the mountain while cheaters learned the address of the word of magnetic core memory in which the fuel value was stored.

Later versions offered the ability to run the game on a free-standing RT-11 system as well as an Easter egg: a specific landing site offered a McDonald's restaurant. Upon landing successfully near the restaurant, an astronaut would walk over to get lunch. Crashing into the restaurant destroyed it permanently (until the program was reloaded) and displayed an amusingly sarcastic message berating the player.

Lunar Lander can be run on the E11 PDP-11 emulator.

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[edit] Lunar Lander by Atari (1979)

Main article: Lunar Lander (arcade game)

Lunar Lander is an arcade game released by Atari in 1979, that uses a vector monitor to display vector graphics. Lunar Lander featured two concepts previously unseen in arcade video games:

  1. A proportional throttle control that allowed perfect timing of fuel expenditure
  2. A 'fuel for money' system which allowed the player to spend money to continue their play and purchase more fuel in-game

[edit] Text version

A text-only version of Lunar Lander, written in BASIC, was included with the eight-inch floppy operating system diskettes for the Datapoint 2200 series in the early 1980s. Playing it required three-separate loadings, first the operating system, then BASIC, and only then the program itself.

[edit] TimeSplitters 2

TimeSplitters 2 contained a game similar to this, called AstroLander. Its cartridge could be found in a locker of the Neo-Tokyo level and it could be played via your Temporal Uplink. There were three difficulty settings you could choose as well as high scores.

[edit] The Dig

The Dig, an adventure game from LucasArts, contained the Lunar Lander game in the PDA/Communicator of the main hero.

[edit] Calculator versions

A moon landing game was also popular on programmable calculators such as the Hewlett Packard models 65 and 67, and the Texas Instruments SR 52, using the calculator's single-line numeric display to show altitude and function keys to increase or decrease fuel flow.[citation needed] Later calculators had improved graphics with LCD screens.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ McGrath, Richard (May-June 1982), “The Eagle Has Landed”, Computer Gaming World: 34-35 

[edit] External links