3r3-31. 3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
The best-selling arcade of all Atari arcade games ever called
Asteroids
literally changed the rules of the game. Released in December 197? the machine became the reason for the explosive growth of Atari’s popularity with the public. This single-handed game destroyed the monopoly
Space Invaders
in the world of video games. 3r33434.  
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The game was created by Atari developer Ed Loggom (whose list of projects includes 3r33434. Super Breakout
,
Video Pinball
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Gauntlet
,
Space Lords
And 3r33434. Steel Talons
), But its history of origin will still be interesting to explore. 3r33434.  
3r3335. 3r33424. 3r33434.  
3r33400. I think I can call myself the father of Asteroids. Ed Logg was the mother of Asteroids because he had been carrying the game for nine months and created the finished product. All I had to do was throw the seed. 3r3013. 3r33434.  
These are the words of Lyle Raines (boss Ed at the time). Raines reflected on the previous game that was being developed inside Atari. In it, two players tried to shoot down each other (in the style of 3r33421. Computer Space
), And between them there was a huge rock. The game was boring, and all the players wanted to shoot the rock, but, of course, they could not. As a result, the game "put on the shelf." 3r33434.  
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In a conversation with Edn, Raines tried to describe his idea: a game in which there is a “fulfillment” of the task (as in 3r32121. Space Invaders 3r33422. And in the previous game of Logga
Super Breakout 3r-3422.), But this time with stones. The player must shoot the stones, they become smaller and finally disappear. 3r33434.  
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Raines and Logg will recall that this discussion was very brief. There were no particular details at this stage, just the emergence of a very general idea. However, they came up with the name quickly -
Asteroids
. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Top of the Asteroids [/i] 3r33434.  
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Inspired by the conversation, Ed set to work. He promoted the idea of ​​developing games on vector equipment. Going against the will of Raines, who wanted a raster game, Ed imagined greater accuracy and resolution on the same (at that time new and innovative) equipment that was used to develop 3r33421. Lunar Lander
. He quickly got on the trail of Atari electronics engineer Howard Delman, who carefully listened to Ed's idea. Remembering another game that was lost in obscurity, he took out a vector card and connected it. The game was called
Cosmos
, and later
Planet Grab
. In it, two players flew across the screen, trying to steal planets from each other. But it did not seem interesting to anyone, so its development was stopped. As soon as Ed saw this prototype at work, he realized that this would be an ideal starting point for the game
Asteroids
. 3r33434.  
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For a couple of days, Delman developed a basic hardware development kit with which Logg could work. In fact, it was a modified
board. Lunar Lander
:
 
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3r3404. 3r33939. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. The original vector PCB Lunar Lander, which was used to create the Asteroids. Pay attention to the small daughter board on the left, which contains additional memory, which is necessary to run the new Asteroids code. The blue jumper wires were added to modify the equipment, and the satellite board, connected below, was assembled by hand to play the sounds of the game. After the creation of the game was completed, a single board was developed that includes all the equipment. Photo of Howard Delman. 3r33410. 3r33434.  
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While waiting for a prototype of the equipment to be created, Logg first set out the basic concepts of the game on paper. The following is the first planning document
Asteroids
written by Logg himself. 3r33434.  
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Surprisingly, the finished game is almost identical to the description in this document:
 
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3r3404. 3r3114. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3404. 3r3119. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Source: Museum of Play, Rochester (NY) [/i] 3r33434.  
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3r33421. The goal of the game is the destruction of asteroids and flying saucers. When fired at a large asteroid, it breaks into two medium-sized asteroids. A shot at one of these fragments breaks it into two small asteroids. 3r33434. 3r33434.  
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Another interesting document of the development process can be viewed here is 3r33424. . 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
Logg recalls how tense the development process was:
 
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3r33400. I shot asteroids all night. I lost the game again and again in my head, as if playing in reality. To some extent, mentally, I played many games even before writing them down, because before starting programming, you need to think through all the interactions. I know how everything will look when the development has not yet begun. 3r3013. 3r33434.  
3r3404. 3r33150. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Font Asteroids. The design was invented and hand-painted by Ed Logue in this 1979 document. (From the Ed Log archive) [/i] 3r33434.  
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Played in
Asteroids
, it is necessary to take a step back and appreciate the ability of Logga to create a brilliant design. He experimented with the inertia of the player’s ship so that the gameplay was perfectly correct — at some point the ship didn’t have any friction at all, which simplified the game too much. Another idea was a sharp increase in the ship's thrust, but this led to too many random deaths. The player felt that he did not fully control the ship. The selection of the intermediate slip effect of the ship provided a balance between controllability and danger. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r3167. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Photo of Ed Logue, circa 1982 [/i] 3r33434.  
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A side effect of using vector equipment has become some notable features of 3r33421. Asteroids
. In addition to simple white vectors on a black background, Logg mentions a glow following the player on the screen and resembling a jet trail from the stern of the ship. It turned out completely unintentionally, just for cooling the phosphorus of the contour of the ship on the monitor of the arcade machine took some time. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r3184. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. The original design of the ship from Asteroids, drawn by Ed Logue. Above, crossed out the original version. (From the Ed Log collection) [/i] 3r33434.  
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The stones themselves made the players create strategies in the game. The whole universe is
Asteroids
located on a single screen, but the folding mechanics used allowed all objects that moved beyond the edge of the screen to appear on the opposite side and continue on their way. The only way to cope with asteroids is to shoot them. They could not just fly away from the screen. So Logg discovered that the first players (usually fellow developers and engineers from the Atari factory) developed various ways of dealing with the outside world. Some shot at everything they could, others treated the flying rocks more thoughtfully, either completely avoiding them, or shooting them one at a time. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Initial sketches of Ed Log's stones for Asteroids. (From the Ed Log collection) [/i] 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
Watching how colleagues handle the game, Logg decided that he wanted to motivate the player to move around the screen and keep shooting. 3r33434.  
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3r33400. I wanted the players
not
tried to avoid shooting. As soon as the players got rid of small stones, I could create a new batch of large ones, because the more objects on the screen, the higher the probability of a collision. 3r3013. 3r33434.  
Flying saucers appear on the scene:
 
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Two flying saucers were developed and added to the game - one stupid, the second clever. The big one shot randomly, which destroyed the players' plans for convenient protection from asteroids, because the shots could easily fall into the stones flying by. A smaller UFO was harder to hit, and besides, it was always deadly accurate and aimed at the player’s ship. Here is how the developer describes it:
 
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3r33400. I always wanted to have two plates. Large, shooting randomly, like cannon fodder, so that the player is accustomed to the concept of the appearance of an enemy ship after the destruction of several asteroids. The little plate should have made the player move. Run away, they will kill you if you stand still! 3r3013. 3r33434.  
3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. It's funny that after the names of two flying saucers, under which they were known inside the Atari Coin-Op department (“Mr Bill” and “Sluggo”), were mentioned in a magazine article, a lawyer representing the interests of the television show sent a letter to Atari. "The Mr Bill Show" [/i] 3r33434.  
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Years later, Logg said that he would change two aspects in the finished game: the “Hyperspace” button and the behavior of the small plate: 3r-3413.  
3r33434.  
The Hyperspace button was located at a distance from the other four control buttons. After it was pressed, the ship disappeared and appeared in some other place on the screen in a one-to-six probability, that when returning, the ship would explode. Convenient function, invented as the last chance in case of imminent death. But many players have never used it, because it was difficult to reach the button! 3r33434.  
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Initially, a small plate was programmed to shoot a player immediately after its appearance. But when testing, the players said that it was not fair, so Logg changed the algorithm of the dish so that at the first shot it missed the player, giving him a chance to respond. This led to the (sadly) well-known “ambush” tactic that players use to this day: you can leave a single asteroid on the screen and score 1000 points by shooting plates as they appear on the screen. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Work on the design of the animation of the explosion of the ship, the rejected idea of ​​the ship of the player and the design of the flying saucer. (From the Ed Log collection) [/i] 3r33434.  
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Field trials were conducted on two groups of players, young and old. The feedback was very positive.
Here is 3r33424. You can read the testing report. (From the Ed Log's collection). Logg was inspired:
 
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3r33400. When we conducted the first test
Asteroids
on the players, I saw one person start the game and die three times, each time within 20 seconds. He continued to thrust into the machine quarters. This made me understand that the player considers death to be his fault, and he is sure that he can play better. This is one of the main goals that a game designer is trying to achieve, and it was obvious to me that 3r3409. Asteroids [/i] it succeeded. 3r3013. 3r33434.  
Another confirmation that the game will be successful. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Original flyer for selling Atari Asteroids [/i] 3r33434.  
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Production began in late 1979. In a 1981 interview, Atari marketing analyst Mary Takatsuno shared interesting information about how the game was perceived within the company. 3r33434.  
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3r33400. Asteroids was the only game that stopped production lines at our plant. During the break, the entire assembly line was going to play on the machines, already ready for shipment. When producing other games, the guys just collected them and put them in the packaging. But in the case of the Asteroids, no one wanted to work. 3r3013. 3r33434.  
Logg knew he created a hit. The game has had a huge impact on Atari's earnings. Surpassing sales of everything that was released by Atari before him,
Asteroids
quickly became a part of the situation not only in gaming halls, but also in other places: bars, airports, shopping centers and waiting rooms. The owners of the slot machine halls demanded that they sell a new game. There were reports that some machines earned a thousand dollars in a week, thanks to which investments in the game were returned in a matter of days. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33311. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. The children crowded around a vertical Asteroids machine, circa 198? 3r-3410. 3r33434.  
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Such a huge demand led to the sale of more than 7?000 cars, which provided Atari with huge profits and greatly influenced the pop culture of that time. Arcade machines have become mainstream and are no longer considered as entertainment for teenage boys. Thirty-year and forty-year-old professionals gathered around the machines for lunch breaks and played with the children and all those who were attracted by the vector glow of the game. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Atari Coin Connection Release in February 1980: This is a monthly mailing list for owners and game halls and distributors, telling about the success of Asteroids [/i] 3r33434.  
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3r33421. Asteroids
attracted players from all walks of life, including rock stars. Ronnie James Dio turned out to be a huge fan of the game - his personal machine 3r33333. was auctioned soon after his death for $ ?120. There is even a videotape where he is with his group play the game . 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
The late Atari sales director, Don Osborne, declared in 1980 that 3r-3321. Asteroids
at the peak of his popularity, he earned $ 10 million a quarter in a week - amazing statistics, if you think about it. 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
In total, three types of vending machines were produced - vertical, “cabaret” and “cocktail table”. 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
The success of the game led to the appearanceThe inevitable sequel is
Asteroids Deluxe
. Keeping the mechanics of the original,
Deluxe
sped up the gameplay and added new features - this turned out to be another serious hit Atari. 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
3r3404. 3r33333. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. The continuation of Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, was carried out at the Atari factory in Tipperry, Ireland (Photo by Mike Geng) [/i] 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
The legacy of Logga in Atari continued with the creation of 3r33421. Centipede
and 3r33421. Gauntlet
which were also popular games, but exactly 3r33434. Asteroids
"Took off" for real. The inexplicable ability of Logga to create an exact balance between risk and reward has defined the basic Atari mantra "Easy to learn, difficult to become a master." Thanks to his gift, he received the nickname “Golden Boy” on the sidelines of Atari. 3r33434.  
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3r3404. 3r33386. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. "Golden Boy" Ed Logg with gold Asteroids, made in honor of the creation of 50 thousand machines. It is believed that now this machine is in the office of Midway /Warner Bros in Chicago. 3r33410. 3r33434.  
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The secret of success was Logg's incredible ability to perfectly customize individual elements of the gameplay. His former colleague from Atari Games, Mark Cerny, said the following in 2012: 3r33413.  
3r33434.  
3r33400. From Ed, I learned that the right approach is more important than creating complex algorithms for creating an exciting game. I want to say that the success of Ed's games was determined not by virtuoso code, but by building the right elements in the right order. 3r3013. 3r33434.  
3r3404. 3r3405. 3r33432. 3r33434.  
3r3409. Gregg Seagal [/i] 3r33434.  
3r33434.  
Today
Asteroids
remains the heart of the collection of any fan of arcade machines. I have a cabaret version of the game (with a kit that allows you to play
Asteroids
,
Asteroids Deluxe
And
Lunar Lander 3r33422.). If you want to read about the recovery process that I performed, then the article is posted
here is 3r33424. . 3r33432.
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