March 17, 2002

1:35 PM

Some of you may remember Gorilla for QBasic, well here's a modern refresher course, but with tanks. Only a tiny shareware game yet very addictive, I'm even tempted to buy the full version.
posted by JakeEXTREME (14 comments total)

I will always have fond memories of Scorched Earth.
posted by Hildago at 1:53 PM on March 17, 2002

This is Tankwars... Jesus, this game is so so so old it's not true. Surely Worms et al have done this and done it better? Tankwars... *sighs nostalgically* I guess you get cash for killing opponents on this one too. I remember how I always used to hoard winnings so I could save up to buy big nukes.
posted by RokkitNite at 2:08 PM on March 17, 2002

Tankswars? Puh-lease. I remember wasting time in the computer lab on Apple II's playing Artillery Duel.
posted by adamv at 2:14 PM on March 17, 2002

Gorilla was strange. Half the time the same two numbers would hit your foe. The rest of the time it was a different two numbers. Bah.

I spent at least seven months playing Scorched Earth. I began a 999 round game with my best friend of the time and we got it down to about 600. My favourite tactic was a deathhead and a parachute. Too bad the angle rotation speed seemed to be tied to the physical speed of the computer. Once I got a P200 it was unplayable and my tank's turret would rotate a dozen times at the slightest touch.

In an Amiga variant the ground wouldn't cave in so one could blast 10 pixels and move in, then blast another few pixels. It was an incredibly tedious way to win. The key was to act as if you were considering your choices each time, and then you just happen to burrow further into the earth.

The worst take on this angle/power game was trying to make it 3d (It was called Tanks 3D, probably). The Worms 2 developers (Code Masters? Bitmap Brothers?) ridiculed the idea whenever possible and they were right.
posted by holloway at 2:49 PM on March 17, 2002

The thing about the Worms games is that there are people who are just prodigies at it. It's like playing a grand master at chess. "Ok, I'll only use one worm this game, to make it fair, ok?"
posted by Hildago at 3:11 PM on March 17, 2002

Hildago: I havn't experianced that.

Anyway, the fun part of worms is when someone screws up. usualy everyone laughs their asses off. Quite entertaining...
posted by delmoi at 3:17 PM on March 17, 2002

I wish someone would remake The Colonel's Bequest. that game was my jam!
posted by mcsweetie at 3:31 PM on March 17, 2002

Holloway, you could slow down the rotation using alt, or ctl, or shift, or some combination thereof. We never could figure out which it was, so we'd just mash keys until it slowed down.

And yeah, I was all for launching Death's Heads into the atmosphere (only on the wrap-around border) and just letting fate sort it all out.
posted by whatnotever at 3:36 PM on March 17, 2002

Ah, yes, Scorched Earth ruled -- and that was also my experience -- unplayable on newer computers, alas.

There are several free flash versions online.
posted by dhartung at 4:09 PM on March 17, 2002

whatnotever: That key slowed Scorch down somewhat but, unfortunately, not enough to be playable. Must have been my system's "MMX".
posted by holloway at 4:20 PM on March 17, 2002

If you're looking for a truly addictive multiplayer (on 1 PC) game, try Jump 'n Bump (4 players, network play, dos, win32, linux versions).
Spryjinx (2 players, dos, will not work on win2k/xp) is lots of fun too, preferably the 2d version.
Both are free.
posted by c3o at 5:25 PM on March 17, 2002

Wow.
Thank's for posting this link, and starting this thread...
My roomate and I used to play this back in high school on the chemistry computers, and we'd been looking for a new version. Thanks!
posted by Espoo2 at 5:40 PM on March 17, 2002

The worst take on this angle/power game was trying to make it 3d (It was called Tanks 3D, probably). The Worms 2 developers (Code Masters? Bitmap Brothers?) ridiculed the idea whenever possible and they were right.

Uh. Heh. See, the thing is, you're right, and they're right, but that didn't stop me from trying.

Scorch is definitely one of the finest implementations of a simple idea ever, but I think it owes it's existence, in a way, to the deluge of shite ballistics games. (Yes. Like mine.) Seriously: take a simple idea (the Ballistics game, the RPG, the turn-based tactical squad game), get it into the public eye with a ubiquitous little game (Gorillas, Hack, X-com -- or pick your favorite/oldest example), and mutations are inevitable. The more versions put out -- the more programmer/designer geeks taking their own stab at the idea, basically -- the better the chances of a really great impl. coming along. Not just because more versions means more chances for one to not suck; there's also that factor of a bunch of crappy versions of a good idea inspiring the right, fate-selected someone to get fed up with All The Crap and design that really goddam perfect version that we've all been waiting for.
posted by cortex at 10:03 AM on March 18, 2002

Ah, yes, Scorched Earth ruled -- and that was also my experience -- unplayable on newer computers, alas.

You might be able to find a copy of Mo'slo still floating around. It was great for tweaking PC speed, back then making the older old favorites playable again :)
posted by samsara at 5:23 PM on March 18, 2002