tempest lines vs. dots · tempest was the first game to allow the player to choose their starting...

Tempest is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc. Tempest’s design came from a dream where monsters crawled out of a hole in the ground. It takes place on a series of three-dimensional tubes, which are viewed from one end and divided into lanes. Each levels adds additional enemies that are faster and more deadly to the player's ship, which is controlled by a unique spinner type of control. The game consists of 16 screens with unique geometric shapes for the tube, each with their own challenges. When all 16 screens have been played, the sequence repeats with a different color and higher difficulty, including invisible (black) levels (65–80). Tempest was the first game to allow the player to choose their starting level. Quick Draw Some of the earliest video games, such as Battlezone, Asteroids and Tempest, use Vector Graphics to render the playfields. The pictures are drawn with vectors (drawn directional lines) instead of raster scanning through hundreds of tiny dots (pixels). Vector displays make crisper images, but they can display only a shape's outline. Text is crudely drawn from short strokes. Atari referred to this as Quadrascan, a misnomer since vector displays don’t scan in a set of static lines, they draw freely, like an Etch-a-Sketch. Ray Guns All cathode ray tubes (CRTs), both raster and vector, consist of one or more electron “guns” that light up phosphorescent paint on the inside of the screen. The tube has a vacuum inside so the electron beam can be aimed accurately. Both vectors and raster scans of the beam are drawn using magnetic coils to bend the beam. Tempest Lines Vs. Dots ©2018 Wackenhammer’s Clockwork STEAMuseum, all rights reserved. 541 Main Street, Hyannis, MA 02601. 774-810-9016 Magnet aims Electrons Cathode CRT Electron Beam Vector Raster The Prof. Asks? 1. Why is it important that CRTs have a vacuum inside (no air)? 2. All computer graphics regardless of technology drawn on the screen by pretending it is a giant X-Y graph. If you had to draw the vector version of the “W” shown above, how would you do it? The science of play!

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The game consists of 16 screens with unique geometric shapes for the tube, each with their own challenges. When all 16 screens have been played, the sequence repeats with a different color and higher difficulty, including invisible (black) levels (65–80). Tempest was the first game to allow the player to choose their starting level.

Quick Draw

Some of the earliest video games, such as Battlezone, Asteroids and Tempest, use Vector Graphics to render the playfields. The pictures are drawn with vectors (drawn directional lines) instead of raster scanning through hundreds of tiny dots (pixels). Vector displays make crisper images, but they can display only a shape's outline. Text is crudely drawn from short strokes. Atari referred to this as Quadrascan, a misnomer since vector displays don’t scan in a set of static lines, they draw freely, like an Etch-a-Sketch.

Ray Guns

All cathode ray tubes (CRTs), both raster and vector, consist of one or more electron “guns” that light up phosphorescent paint on the inside of the screen. The tube has a vacuum inside so the electron beam can be aimed accurately. Both vectors and raster scans of the beam are drawn using magnetic coils to bend the beam.

Tempest Lines Vs. Dots

Magnet aims

Electrons

Cathode

CRT

Electron

Beam

Vector Raster

The Prof. Asks?

1. Why is it important that CRTs have a vacuum inside (no air)?

2. All computer graphics regardless of technology drawn on the screen by pretending it is a giant X-Y graph. If you had to draw the vector version

of the “W” shown above, how would you do it?