Tempest 2000

Tempest 2000
Cover art (Atari Jaguar)
Developer(s)	Atari Corporation, Llamasoft
Publisher(s)	Atari Corporation
Designer(s)	Jeff Minter
Platform(s)	Jaguar, PC, Macintosh, PlayStation, Saturn
Release date(s)	Jaguar NA April 1, 1994 PC NA October 31, 1996 EU 1996 Saturn NA October 31, 1996 EU 1996 PlayStation NA 1996 EU February 1997
Genre(s)	Fixed shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Tempest 2000 is a 1994 remake by Jeff Minter of the Dave Theurer 1981 arcade game, Tempest. Originally an exclusive to the Atari Jaguar, the game has since been released on PC, Macintosh, PlayStation, and the Saturn. The game received critical praise for its 3D graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay.

Gameplay

Tempest 2000 modifies the gameplay of the original Tempest by adding bonus levels, power-ups, more sophisticated enemy types, and wildly varying web (level) designs.

Screenshot of one of the levels

The game contains a total of 100 webs, with new frame colors and variations every 16 levels. In all versions, the player's progress is saved every couple of levels, and players are allowed to resume by using "keys" to return to the last stage the game saved at.

Power-ups appear as small floating polygons that appear after shooting a number of enemies. Catching the polygon will activate one of a number of progressively more useful capabilities:

• Particle Laser

  Particle Laser enhances the ship's firepower and allows it to destroy spikes much more quickly.

• Points

  Between certain power-ups, the player can gain bonuses of 2000 points.

• Jump

  Allows the player to jump off of the web, useful for avoiding enemies that travel along the edge, and for avoiding the attack of Pulsars.

• A.I. Droid

  An autonomous polygonal ship appears floating above the web, and shoots at enemies.

• Warp Token

  Collecting three tokens gives access to a bonus stage following the current web.

• Outta Here!

  Collecting this power-up will destroy all enemies on the web and warp the player to the next stage. However, spikes are not destroyed, and it is still possible to lose a life by hitting one as the player warps down the web.

If a power-up is caught while warping off of a completed web, the increasingly high-pitched sound of a woman saying "Yes! Yes! Yes!" is played, and the first power-up received in the next stage will be the A.I. Droid.

If the player successfully completes all 100 levels, a special "Beastly mode" is unlocked. This is a harder difficulty setting where the enemies move faster and fire more often.

Development

At a gaming convention, Atari held a conference with prospective developers for the Atari Jaguar at which they listed off arcade games that they were considering having converted to the Jaguar, asking the developers to raise their hands at ones they wanted to work on. Jeff Minter volunteered to do Tempest as it was one of his favorite games.^[1] At the launch party for the Jaguar in New York, the creator of the Atari Jaguar took Minter aside and told him that he felt Tempest 2000 was a poor demonstration of the Jaguar's capabilities. Though discouraged, Minter continued to work on the game until it was finished.^[1]

Ports

Tempest 2000 was ported to PC's running DOS, Apple Macintosh, Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation game consoles, the latter version with several changes to the design under the name of Tempest X3. Interplay released a Microsoft Windows version later.

Computer versions

The DOS version contains optional AdLib and Roland MT-32 versions of the music, but lacks several of the visual effects of the console versions, such as the "Melt-O-Vision" transition effects. The Windows version is rendered in higher resolution, and has some unique glitches, like registering bonus level scores incorrectly.

Saturn

The Sega Saturn version, programmed by High Voltage Software, is close to the original Jaguar version, except for the removal of the third type of bonus level. It uses most of the audio tracks from the Tempest 2000 soundtrack CD for gameplay.

PlayStation

Tempest X3, the Sony PlayStation version, was released in 1996, with updated graphics and sound. However, the following gameplay differences from the original version were identified by Jeff Minter in a Usenet post:

• The "AI Droid" only follows the player, instead of acting autonomously. A new, "Mega Droid" powerup rectifies this somewhat, but it takes a very long time within a level to acquire it.
• Pulsars now move slowly around the top of the Web if they reach it (rather than electrifying the whole top edge the moment they arrive).
• The Particle Laser is no more effective than the normal laser against Spikes (in the original, it destroys them very quickly).
• Some of the harder, "sticking point" webs have been removed from the game entirely.

Entering the name "YIFF!" or "H_V_S" on the top highscore position will activate a secret mode, allowing the user to choose to play the original Tempest 2000 game; however, any high scores made in this mode are not saved, the music (wave-captured from the original modules) is muffled and the effectiveness of the Particle Laser against Spikes is not restored even in this original mode.

The PlayStation version of Tempest X3 includes support for the PlayStation Mouse, Nyco Trackball and Namco's rotary neGcon analog controller.

Sequels

VM Labs licensed Tempest for their NUON DVD system and hired Jeff Minter to produce the sequel Tempest 3000. Minter also produced the unofficial "inspired by" follow ups Space Giraffe and TxK on the Sony PlayStation Vita.^[2]

Music

Tempest 2000 The Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Ian Howe, Alastair Lindsey, Kevin Saville, and Julian Hodgson
Released	1994 (1994)
Recorded	1994
Genre	Techno, Breakbeat hardcore, Rave
Language	English
Label	Atari
Producer	Imagitec Design Inc.

The original Jaguar version's music was created by Ian Howe, Alastair Lindsay and Kevin Saville^[3] of Imagitec Design Inc. (AKA Dream Weavers),^[4] who also created the music for Jeff Minter's Defender 2000 on the Atari Jaguar.

The music was composed in the Commodore Amiga MOD music file format, although non-Jaguar releases of the game played music off of CD,^[5] with the exception of the PC port. At the time of its release the music soundtrack could also be purchased on CD directly from Atari. The CD was also bundled with the short lived Atari Jaguar CD unit to demonstrate the system's music playing abilities.^[6] It became the basis for the audio for all conversions of the game to come, including the Saturn, PC, and PlayStation versions.

Soundtrack album track listing

1. "Thermal Resolution"
2. "Mind's Eye"
3. "T2K"
4. "Ease Yourself"
5. "Tracking Depth"
6. "Constructive Demolition"
7. "Future Tense"
8. "Digital Terror"
9. "Hyper Prism"
10. "Glide Control"
11. "Ultra Yak"
12. "2000 Dub"

Jaguar rotary controller

The most common criticism with the Jaguar version of Tempest 2000 was the lack of a rotary controller similar to the controller on the Tempest arcade machine.^[7][8] In fact, the game was programmed with an option to use just such a controller, despite the fact that Atari never released one. Such a controller was planned for development and release by Atari, but no prototypes exist. However, several homebrew options exist by using parts from a Jaguar controller and either an Atari 2600 Driving Controller or new, higher-precision rotary encoders. The one used by Jeff Minter during testing was made from a hacked-up 2600 driving controller.

Reception

Tempest 2000 received general critical acclaim. Reviewing the Jaguar version, GamePro praised the graphics and high speed, said the music included "the best techno-rave tracks anywhere", and deemed the two-player competitive mode "well worth the price of the cart."^[7] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it an 8.5 out of 10 and their "Game of the Month" award, citing the "superb" techno soundtrack and "graphics that surpass the arcade version".^[8] GameFan also gave the Jaguar version a positive review.^[9]

Tempest 2000 was awarded Best Jaguar Game of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.^[10]

References

External links

• Jeff Minter's review of Tempest X3
• Atarimax.com review
• Ian Howe's music (in MOD file format)
• Atari Times review of Tempest 2000, November 1, 1996
• Moby Game's entry on Tempest 2000
• Allgame review, Aug 10, 2009