Talk:Tempest (video game)

Tempest multigame link removed
The link to Clay Cowgill's multigame kit was removed as a "comercial link". Since the kit is no longer available (despite the update from 2002 that is is "once again available") can't it be included? It was a great kit for the Tempest hardware. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patenaude (talk • contribs) 06:03, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Game questions
I am fairly certain tankers (at least flipper tankers) could not shoot, but this page say all baddies could shoot. Am I crazy?


 * I have played this game all the way up to level 99 and over 1,000,000, and in my experience, tankers of all types most definitely shot at you, but fuseballs NEVER did (they were the only type that never did). Pulsars might or might not shoot at you depending upon what level you were on and what difficulty setting the machine was adjusted to.  On the highest difficulty level, pulsars always shot at you, but on low and medium difficulty levels, pulsars only started shooting at level 60.  Lchiarav 03:55, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

The article says that the Superzapper could be used twice per level. Isn't it only used a maximum of one time per level? I.M. 1:48 EST, Jan 16 2007
 * The Superzapper could be used once at full charge, and a second time where it took out just one random enemy, per level. After that second shot, it wouldn't work at all until you beat the level and got it recharged. &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 16:20, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Bug? 40 free games?
Wasn't there some sort of bug in the early versions that could give you 40 free credits? I think there is but I don't remember...--Ephraim225 04:58, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

yup, there was. i seem to remember it was invoked by ending the game with a score between 180,000 and 200,000, with the last two digits equal to 46. certain other combinations of last two digits did certain other weird things like let you start the next game on high boards. i wonder whether this was really a bug or an early easter egg ... Benwing (talk) 16:47, 1 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes indeed. As reported in Joystick - video gaming magazine from the early 80s - the initial release of the game contained "buggy" ROM chips. Due to that there were several 2 digit combinations after 180,000 that did different things. Joystick published a list of all the combos they knew of and I will work that info into the article as I think it is an important part of the story. There were at least 3 combos that yielded 40 games, some caused screen anomalies and one combo allowed you to play in the attract mode. When playing the attract mode and ending your score in the correct 2 digit combo it yielded 255 lives. Later versions of the game manufactured by Atari corrected the ROM chip issues and none of these 2 digit combos would work. The easiest way to tell was to do one of the 40 game combos; if it worked it was a buggy ROM version. I used to play for as long as I wanted with a buggy ROM version.THX1136 (talk) 23:47, 19 July 2018 (UTC)

Tempest Tubes
Has anyone ever heard of a hacked verson of Tempest caled Tempest tubes?
 * Yep. Tempest Tubes was a popular modification that replaced one of the data ROMs with alternative level data, resulting in a different set of tube shapes.  This version was considerably more challenging, but could also lead to accelerated burn-in of the monitor due to multiple lines being drawn over one another in some cases. &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 22:34, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Trivia: The coin-op Tempest was in "Twilight Zone The Movie".
Hi, I'm a complete n00b so would someone like to add this into the Trivia section:

The coin-op Tempest was in "Twilight Zone The Movie". The little boy with god like powers from the Third Segment of the movie was playing Tempest in the dinner where he ran into his soon to be teacher...

Of course just make it a short blurb, no need to put in a long winded babble such as mine,... ;)

Please delete this post when it's not needed. And forgive me if I'm missing something or that adding this info would make the page too big or something.

206.149.140.176 23:46, 4 March 2007 (UTC) --- As of June 16th, 2012 there is still no mention of this appearance in the article. I believe it falls within the critera below to add it to the Poular Culture section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.124.11.250 (talk) 20:12, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Because it isn't acceptable under the video game project's pop culture guidelines. It's considered simply trivia, which is something articles here are not allowed to have. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 22:45, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

First color vector game?
I see the claim that Tempest was the first color vector game was removed. Can you cite which game(s) came before it that had color vector graphics? (Note: The operative term here is color VECTOR graphics - color raster graphics existed long before Tempest.) &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 23:13, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
 * After doing a search on KLOV, I put that statement back in, reworded slightly for clarity (about it being the first to use a color vector screen). Also, the release date is listed as 1980 on KLOV, which is regarded here on WP as a definitive source of info.  If KLOV is incorrect about the release date, someone should notify them. &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 23:26, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * KLOV is wrong, and as stated is a publicly contributed database. They get notified regularly about new info, incorrect info, more info, and it depends when he gets around to adding it.  The release date as per another well respected Atari source (which has been added in citation) and Atari game designer Owen Rubin is October of 1981.  Likewise, the release date for game designer Owen's Rubin's page on his game Space Duel clearly states 1981 (KLOV incorrectly lists 1982).  And in his article on vector evolution at Atari he clearly states "My return to vector game design was a year after Battlezone to work on the first color vector game, Space Duel."  Owen knows when he designed his own game.  The other Quadrascan games were built off of that technology.  And even then, Space Fury by Sega was released previous to both.  --Marty Goldberg 03:26, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Can you cite the interview where he actually states that Space Duel was released before Tempest, then? In the article.  Because apparently this has been a widely disputed fact.  Sources related to the MAME project and several commercial emulators have mentioned that Space Duel was released quite some time after Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe, and that Tempest came in between Asteroids Deluxe and Space Duel.  Much of the material I've read either states or implies that work on Space Duel began before that of Tempest, but that the project was shelved and later restarted after Tempest was released.  That would make Tempest the first color vector game to be released - not necessarily designed. &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 03:37, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
 * The Sigraph interview is where that quote came from, likewise the release date is exactly from his own web page which I already gave that link from. Clearly states 1981.  Regardless its moot, because its simply stating which was the first Atari color vector game, not the first color vector game.  Sega's Space Fury was released on June 17th, 1981, making it the first. --Marty Goldberg 03:49, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Just saw your rewrite with the Quadrascan mention, think it looks great. And I meant Space Fury did not use Quadrascan hardware, have Space Duel on the mind.  --Marty Goldberg 03:58, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * No problem. Since it seems to be somewhat ambiguous, as far as official sources go, writing it this way makes it technically correct no matter how you read it. :) &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 04:15, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

"If allowed to reach the far end, [Spikers] reappear as Tankers."?
Do they really? I've never observed this behaviour.

I suspect this may be a case of the Post Hoc fallacy; somebody once played a game in which a Spiker happened to reach the far end of the playfield at the moment a Tanker was due to appear in that lane, and jumped to the conclusion that this was cause-and-effect. Could someone definitively confirm or deny this. Korax1214 13:21, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * No, this is always 100% consistent - if a Spiker rolls all the way out toward the player, turns around and reaches the back end of the tube without being destroyed, it leaves the playfield and a tanker immediately appears in a random segment. This is especially visible when a Spiker is the only active enemy remaining in a level and there are no more "swarming" dots at the far end of the tunnel. &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 17:59, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * OK, I've deleted the {dubious} tag from the article &mdash; I'm surprised you didn't do that. :-) I've also added extra information on Fuseballs and Tankers. 193.122.47.162 19:39, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Possible resource for editors of this page!
Although I never got around to completing my Tempest web page, I've uploaded it in case anyone wants to plunder use this information.

It's at: http://rjbaker.fea.st/tempest/tempest.html. Korax1214 20:20, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

And another resource!
I've uploaded to Wikipedia all the images I created for the above page, which might be handy for the Wikipedia page — 'twould be a pity to waste them. :)

See my Contribs page for names and URLs. Korax1214 20:23, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Game Guide Material?
Okay, I'm starting to get a little annoyed here. The policy editors and admins on this site have been preaching a policy of reducing game-guide material, which includes such trivia as specific behavior patterns of enemies, detailed level descriptions, scoring and strategies, etc., and yet this kinda of trivia keeps proliferating through the articles to the point that people like me, who try to adhere to WP policies, have to play the role of Trivia Police. (The latest round of game-guide edits are adding graphics showing the individual level shapes and graphics that illustrate the color of each set of levels.)

This stuff is not necessary to understand the basic gameplay of the game, guys. Simply saying that each level has a different shape, and each set of sixteen levels changes the color set and increases the difficulty, should be enough. :P &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 17:57, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

In Popular Culture
In an effort to limit the number and scope of pop-culture references to this game, I'm suggesting the adoption of some guidelines as to what constitutes a pop-culture reference noteworthy enough to appear on this page. Basically, in Talk:PONG, it was mentioned that pop-culture references should be limited to cases where the game plays an important role - such as being the focus or a major plot point of a movie, TV show, etc. Places where the game just makes a brief cameo or can be seen in the background, or is mentioned in passing, are not particularly noteworthy. If the game's influence in the pop-culture reference is arguably significant (for instance, the game inspired the name of a vehicle, was used as part of a tournament in a movie, etc.), then it should deserve mention in the article in an appropriately titled section.

I'd like to adopt this guideline for this article and other similar articles as well. As of right now, there is only one significant pop-culture reference (Silver Spoons, where Tempest is a featured game in the video-game mansion of a prominent character). I removed three or four cameo references following this guideline.

Discussion is welcome. :) &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 20:40, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Here's one way of looking at this: If the game simply appears in the background of one scene in a movie, it's really not very noteworthy. It could just as easily have been a Coke machine - nobody would think anything of it unless they were specifically looking for it, and there are plenty of trivia sites to document that sort of thing.  On the other hand, if it appears in the background and then someone in the movie says "Whoa, you've got Tempest?  I haven't played that in years!" or something like that, that's far more significant (though it might still not make the cut for mention in WP).  If the characters were to hold a tournament over a game of Tempest, or form a relationship because of a common bond with the game, or something like that, it's definitely a significant pop-culture reference.  (My personal opinion is that the lattermost example would deserve to be included in the pop-culture section.) &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 10:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Fifth most collected arcade game
I was surprised to learn that, according to the Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, Tempest is the fifth most collected arcade game of all time. Probably OR/primary source to add it to the article, but perhaps someone can find the same or similar info in a secondary source. //Blaxthos ( t / c ) 20:09, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Polybius
Should it be mentioned that a leaked beta version of this game could have been the basis of the "Polybius" urban legend? 50.36.81.177 (talk) 03:52, 23 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Are there reliable sources for that? Keep in mind WP:CRYSTAL. &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 22:22, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Trouble archiving links on the article
Hello. I am finding myself repeatedly archiving links on this page. This usually happens when the archive doesn't recognize the archive to be good.

This could be because the link is either a redirect, or I am unknowingly archiving a dead link.Please check the following links to see if it's redirecting, or in anyway bad, and fix them, if possible.

In any event this will be the only notification in regards to these links, and I will discontinue my attempts to archive the page.
 * http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/arcade/arcade80.html
 * http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10065
 * http://www.atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1014

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 12:21, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

There is a whole academic book dedicated to Tempest available in open access
It was published in 2015 and it is a great read. As a scholar, I never see it mentioned anywhere, I guess it was not well promoted. Anyway, there are tons of stuff inside that could help improve this page. I don't have time to it myself right now so if anybody's interested by the task… Boblafoudre (talk) 22:08, 27 May 2020 (UTC)

Are citations necessary in the Gameplay section?
The Gameplay section has a banner saying citations are needed. Does that really apply to a description of the gameplay? The gameplay itself is patently obvious to anyone looking at it, watching it on YouTube, etc. We generally require citations for development, reception, ports, etc., but I'm not sure (a) which points need citing when describing the game itself, and (b) where we'd find suitable sources for them. (Beyond websites and manuals that directly repeat what we're saying.) &mdash; KieferSkunk (talk) &mdash; 22:21, 25 May 2021 (UTC)