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A8 Blaster and game manual/player's guide WIP draft


Fingolfin

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Hello all!

I am trying to write the beginnings of a game manual and player's guide for A8 Blaster by Williams.

As an unreleased prototype, A8 Blaster has no documentation (of which I am aware).

 

What follows is a rough draft and WIP of an A8 Blaster combo game manual and player's guide:

 

 

Blaster is a unique 3D-like shooter on A8 and in the arcade made by Williams back in the early 1980’s. Though programmed before the release of arcade Blaster, the A8 version was never released and what we have is considered a prototype but seems a complete and very polished A8 game.

Blaster is unique because:
ai) whether arcade or A8, the graphics are effective in creating a 3D-like play field; impressive for early 1980’s games*
aii) it creates a definite sense of depth of field that seems consistent and uniform within the context and "rules" of the game; both arcade and A8 versions have good/fair/accurate collision detection
b) gameplay offers much randomization and variations in how each game plays: there are patterns to enemy attacks but the types of enemies and their numbers vary from level to level, stage to stage, game to game so it is truly a game that is a little different every time played (depending on how you may wish to define different/how different)
c) the game is an interesting early hybrid of first person 3D shooter and a sort of simple flight simulator: you can opt to stay on the ground in the Robot Grid levels but elsewhere in the game you’re flying in space; even in the Robot Grid levels it can be useful to use vertical as well as horizontal evasive maneuvers to avoid losing energy/shields
d) the colors are very distinct, and well, weird…but at least in part this is due to Blaster’s lineage: Defender, Stargate, Robotron 2084 are its “parents,” so the color palette comes from those games. Williams used super bright neon or neon-like colors for all of these games that involve saving humans from various, varied and multicolored alien attackers.
*especially considering this was before 3D specific software engines were programmed/created and 3D dedicated hardware customizations allowed computer rendered 3D take the next steps in creating more realistic, bit mapped and textured true® 3D. To my brain and senses only Tempest in the arcade comes close to creating as vivid, colorful and consistent, “real” depth of field gameplay in early 80’s games as Blaster, A8 or arcade.
Williams arcade Blaster has 11 different levels, 9 of which are repeated, for a total of 20 levels.
The levels are: Planetoid Waves, Robot Grid Waves, Saucerland Waves, Vampire Waves, Time Tunnel Waves, Outer Space Waves, Enduro Waves, Cat World Waves, and Mastermind Waves.
There are also 2 unique waves that occur only once: Armageddon level 19 and Paradise level 20.
In the arcade version, players can select their starting wave at the start of the game; choosing from Planetoids, Robot Grid, Saucerland, and Vampires.
Williams A8 Blaster is organized a little differently from the arcade version. Enemies look a bit different too and they’re are fewer varieties of them. Interesting to note is that the sound for capturing/saving floating spacemen — and racking up those bonuses — is identical in both versions.
The Williams A8 game consists of 4 different waves (at least) all of which are repeated in sequence:
Level 1
Wave 1 or 1-1 Robot Grid: Fly Thru Magic Arches
Wave 2 or 1-2 Time Tunnel: Capture Floating Spacemen
Wave 3 or 1-3 Outer Space Wave: Destroy Enemy Fleets (“fleets” are groups of the same enemies)
Wave 4 or 1-4 Planetoid or Saucerland Wave: Avoid Planetoids and/or Saucers and Dock With Energizer to Restore Energy Shield (i.e. collide/connect with the the big blue E floating in space near the end of the wave)
Level 2
Wave 1 or 2-1 Robot Grid: Fly Thru Magic Arches
Wave 2 or 2-2 Time Tunnel
Wave 3 or 2-3 Outer Space Wave
Wave 4 or 2-4 Planetoid or Saucerland Wave
A8 Blaster levels repeat these 4 waves in order with the pace of the game increasing by each level completed.
In arcade Blaster these waves/levels are all identified by name; in the A8 version there is only 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-1, etc and no names are used to introduce or identify the waves/levels.
Note: A8 Blaster Wave 4 is either a Planetoid or Saucerland Wave; usually it is a Planetoid Wave but every 3rd or 4th level 4 will be a Saucerland Wave. Planetoids are harder to avoid but Saucers can shoot at you. Planetoid waves will include “wandering”/random Saucers that fly into your field of vision but only one or two Saucers attack in Planetoid waves at a time. After a few levels, saucers will also show up in Wave 3 or the Outer Space Wave.
Having been playing a fair amount of both A8 and arcade Blaster via MAME, my suggestions so far would be:
For every wave try to shoot enemies and their weapon-fire, evade enemy fire and avoid colliding with any object on screen (enemy or fortification and even the Magic Arches: you have to fly beneath them).
For the Robot Grid waves try to make flying beneath the arches your primary objective and destroying/evading enemies the secondary objective. Staying alive and as “unharmed as possible” always comes first but the key to bonuses and scoring for the Robot Grid waves is flying beneath the magic arches.
When possible always try to capture/save as many floating spacemen in a row in waves 2 and 4; this will really add up for bonuses and scoring higher.
The A8 version is fairly challenging, especially after level 4 or 5. The screen becomes pretty hectic with obstacles, arches, floating spacemen, enemy movement and enemy fire.
Like all shooters there are patterns; however with Blaster enemy AI patterns can and will change depending on what the player is doing. Player movement/choices of direction cause the enemies to respond in slightly different numbers and in different attack groups. Additionally the stages seem to change every time as well -- or at least there are enough variables in enemy types which attack and the "physical" layout that each time playing through a stage seems different and unique or never the same twice. To be clear, attack patterns are the same but the way the physical layouts change/presentation for each wave changes and the enemy attack formations change.
One thing about Blaster which is really cool is that you can shoot enemy fire and block it/take it out in this way; when you're firing away aim for enemies and obstacles that can be destroyed but also try to hit enemy fire too. Doing so can really help.
The AI isn't particularly tough for each of the three waves though with enemies (waves 1, 3 and 4), especially once you get a feel for the patterns of the different enemy or obstacle types. As with most games from this time period, enemies don't get smarter in higher waves/levels, just faster.
In the first of the four waves in A8 Blaster going under all of the arches -- objects that look like gates from Tron -- is key to getting scoring bonuses for this wave.
Fire away and try to make it through all of the arches/gates! Shoot enemies attacking as much as you can but stay focused on the making it underneath the arches/gates. You'll hear a tone when you get the bonus; each arch/gate you get strings the bonuses together and if you miss one the bonus string is snapped/broken. You don't need to worry about avoiding enemies too much on wave one until you are a couple of levels in; for 3-1 or 4-1 and higher consider trying lots of left to right/right to left lines of movement and occasionally throwing in some quick up and down vertical movements as needed can help avoid enemies and stay on track for nabbing the arches/gates. Flying enemies on this wave start showing up starting in 2-1. The big obstacle to avoid in wave one are those fences or small wall sections.
Slamming into any enemy or obstacle needs to be avoided at all cost in Blaster because of the toll such damage takes on your shields/energy. Though there are bonuses for killing enemy "fleets" or groups (vs. just the score for killing individual enemies), sometimes its just better to avoid contact with angular movements -- wiggle the stick a bit left/right/up/down/diagonally -- then to take the direct attack approach. Take out enemy groups and reap those bonuses when it is possible to do without taking too much damage/being subject to risk of too much damage by colliding with enemies or obstacles on any of waves 1, 3 or 4.
In wave two you can rescue humans -- floating spacemen -- and catch them all to string together and maximize bonus points here too. You cannot be hurt in wave two and this is a good time to practice capturing humans and getting better at controlling your Blaster without fear of damage.
In the third wave there are no bonus objects: you just have to shoot to kill and try not to take too much damage. Consider trying hard diagonal banking to avoid enemies and their weapon fire. After a few levels you will notice enemies from wave one in wave three and vice versa. Some alien ships -- or saucers -- that look like they're bases from Star Raiders will also show up in the third wave after a couple/few levels; these Star Raider base enemy ships are quite common in wave four, in addition to all those planetoids!
In the fourth wave -- 3D, 1st person asteroids anyone? -- you need to shoot at the planetoids and avoid damage as best you can and wait for that great Big E to show up! You have to get the E for maximizing bonus points, revitalizing energy/shields and for being temporarily indestructible...and it always feels good to hit that Big E after slogging through wave 4 at the end of each level. You can also collect/save humans and string bonuses together for doing so as well but it can be hard to work saving human bonuses on this wave after level 2 or 3 because this wave is the hardest to not sustain damage: you can stay on the sides or border in this stage but there is no way to completely avoid the planetoids (or saucers) the way you can avoid enemies by fierce dodging tactics in waves 1 and 3. You have to blast your way through.
Hope this helps.
Consider giving Blaster a try and have fun!
I am no expert at Blaster, just a die-hard fan: I thought it and Tempest were the best games BITD in the arcade (with Missile Command and Centipede close behind). I didn't even know Blaster existed for A8 until a few months ago.
General Warning: for those who like super or even hyper colorful and blinkfest oriented programmed pyrotechniques, then Blaster is a game you will probably enjoy at least watching if not playing. Others may not like Blaster though.
This game —both arcade and A8 — should probably have epilepsy warnings and I am not kidding/being sarcastic in the slightest. Much high rate blinking occurs in both versions and this could genuinely and most definitely make some people a bit overwhelmed or at least annoyed or slightly uncomfortable (if not sick or potentially triggering a seizure).
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider this text and its possible use as a game manual and player's guide for A8 Blaster.
Please considering adding suggestions or recommendations for improving this draft. Thank you very much in advance. :thumbsup:
Please ask any and all questions regarding Blaster or the WIP game manual and player's guide for the A8 version.
After adding to, editing and revising this draft more I want to create a .pdf and include screen pics from A8 Blaster and possibly arcade screen pics (if they might prove to be useful).
At the moment I am uncertain if Armageddon and Paradise are included in the A8 version. In order to complete this manual and player’s guide I need to beat the A8 version and find Armageddon and Paradise, if in fact they’re present. Thus far I have only gotten to level 9-1 Robot Grid.
I still need to add enemy point values, enemy "fleet" bonus values as well as other game manual type details. I am not certain it makes sense to name the A8 enemies that are unique to the A8 version and not present in arcade Blaster. That would be just making stuff up; I prefer not to do so. Where appropriate and possible I have extrapolated names, terms, etc from the arcade version and its on screen documentation in order to try to fill in info that is not available/not officially identified for the A8 version.
Attached A8 XE/XL friendly .car version of Blaster (does not require OS-B).
Best Regards and Blaster away!
Fingolfin
Edit/addition: FWIW I did not mean to make my reference to true 3D trademarked/registered. The text/font chosen and online text processor seem to have decided that for me. :-o Also I know I already need to iron out remaining inconsistencies in grammar, spelling, terms etc as well as reduce the overall subjectiveness of the text. It is a bit informal even after some revision and moderate editing. The next draft should take care of some of these issues and add missing point values for enemies and enemy "fleets" or groups.

Blaster.car.zip

Edited by Fingolfin
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I've been playing this one lately myself. The other file that has been out there. I didn't realize it was an OS B game, but I've been using Warp+ which is OS B compatible. I look forward to putting this one on one of my flashcarts.

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Thank you so much for sharing the Blaster 5200 manual, Allan!!! :thumbsup:

Great to have this. :grin:

If I may ask, where did this very helpful resource come from?

Really interesting and helpful resource for another Blaster 8 bit prototype.

 

It looks like I need to change some of my terminology and references with respect to making my draft WIP A8 Blaster manual and player's guide more in line with this resource and its terminology.

 

I had been mostly relying upon my own gameplay experience of the A8 version* and the arcade version in MAME form, its startup, attract mode and player start screens, as well as some information about Blaster from the arcade museum and atariprotos; the latter of which I should already have used for terms/enemies especially for the Outer Space grid/wave/stage enemy names: Xitan Mineships (which resemble space shuttles somewhat), Z-15 Fitershipz ("On an interesting side note, the Fitershipz look suspiciously like Tie Fighters"), Destructor Satellites and Death Riders (which to me resemble Rudy from PeeWee's Playhouse riding a cycle of some kind but as usual I digress...). The Destructor Satellites look like satellites...go figure! :P

 

Questions for all:

Has anyone been to armageddon or paradise in the 5200 or A8 prototype versions of Blaster?

Can anyone comment on gameplay or other differences in the 5200 version vs. the A8 or arcade versions of Blaster? Knowing anything more about 5200 Blaster would be very helpful.

 

As you can probably tell I really like the A8 and arcade versions of Blaster. ;)

 

Thanks again for sharing the 5200 Blaster prototype manual Allan! :)

 

* Not bragging...more like confessing: I've probably managed to play A8 Blaster for nearly 100 hours since finding it over the last 5 months! :-o :lol: :lust:

Edited by Fingolfin
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Great Work fingolfin :thumbsup:

 

Blaster is one of the superb games we've played so far this season in the High Score Club and here's a shameless plug for the current Season 15 Catch-Up Missed Games Round which will run for three weeks giving everyone a chance to join (back) in ;-)

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I love the 5200 version of Blaster. I am not 100 percent sure but both the 8-bit and 5200 versions are probably the same minus the controls.

 

The manual was made by me and two other Atariage members. I am forgetting their user names right now.

 

I wrote the manual, another member did the artwork, and another member did the rest.

 

I don't think there is a Paradise on the 8-bit/5200 versions.

 

What is the highest level you reached, Fingolfin?

 

Allan

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Thank you all for your support!

 

Any suggestions so far?

 

I will revise the draft A8 Blaster game manual and player's guide over the next few days and post a downloadable text version for hopefully easier reading. :)

I'll assimilate 5200 Blaster manual content where possible and appropriate and use as much terminology to be consistent with Allan's 5200 Blaster manual; also will try to iron out some of the redundancies and inconsistencies from my first draft.

 

The next step will then be to incorporate pics/screen shots of enemies and obstacles and "tactical breakdowns" (consider that term to be trademarked/copyrighted :P ) of how to try to improve from actual A8 game play and create a .pdf for doing so.

 

Thank you again for sharing your 5200 Blaster manual, Allan. :thumbsup:

Very, very cool! :cool:

I am really impressed by the professionalism of the whole thing: layout, graphics, content-- and all the specific elements that make it an official Atari 5200 style game manual.

 

So far my high score in Blaster is 692,000 ending with Robot Grid 9-1.

 

For the sake of accuracy I need to revise my estimated amount of hours played: it is more like over 80 hours so far. I was trying to work out the number last night after posting my last reply here and readily admit it is inflated at 100 hours but probably conservative and safe to say over 80 (5 A8 Blaster sessions a week lasting between an hour or two over four plus months = approximately 80 hours or so).

 

Thank you again to all who read and consider replying to this thread!

 

Best Regards

Fingolfin

 

P.S. Please consider joining the AtariAge HSC: it is much fun with a good group of people and players! :)

And as therealbountybob stated now is a good time for getting caught up.

Consider joining the fun and dust off the rust in yer hands, fingers and those good old CX-40's and get playing! :grin:

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