tempest: MAME ROM Information.
History:
Tempest (c) 1981 Atari.
Tempest is a classic into-the-screen shoot-em-up in which the player controls a claw-shaped "Blaster" ship that moves around the outer rim of a three-dimensional, wireframe tunnel. Enemies move down the tunnel towards the player's ship and must be destroyed. Any contact with either incoming enemy fire or the enemies themselves will cost the player a life. Completion of a tunnel will see the player warp through "hyperspace" to the next tunnel to tackle a new wave of enemies.
The tunnels are each rendered in one of sixteen different geometric shapes. Enemies increase in number as the game progresses and if an enemy reaches the outer rim occupied by the player's Blaster ship, it will chase and attempt to kill the player. Rim enemies can be killed, but this is difficult to achieve.
Some enemies also drag "spikes" - in the form of lines in the middle of the corridor - behind them as they travel up the tunnel towards the player. These spikes must be avoided during the "hyperspace" warp sequence at the end of the level, as contact results in the loss of a life.
Two "SuperZappers" are available per level. The first SuperZapper kills all enemies on the playfield at the time of firing, while the second randomly kills only one enemy on the playfield. The SuperZapper does not affect enemy shots, spikes or enemies that have not yet landed on the playfield.
One new feature Tempest introduces is "Skill-Step". This allows players to start a new game on the same level as was previously reached (although the new game must be restarted within thirty seconds) without having to replay previous levels. This allows skillful players to continue being challenged, while less experienced players can try to master higher levels. The 99 skill levels of play includes sixteen different playfields and seven different enemy targets.
* The tubes are divided into cosmic corridors through which the aliens travel, although some aliens such as Pulsars and Flippers can move from one corridor to the next. Regardless of the tube shapes, aliens always begin their invasion from the small, distant end of the tube. The sixteen unique tube shapes are as follows :
1. Circle
2. Square
3. Plus symbol
4. Bow-tie
5. Stylized Cross
6. Triangle
7. Clover
8. V
9. Steps
10. U
11. Completely Flat
12. Heart
13. Star
14. W
15. Fan
16. Infinity Symbol (figure 8 on its side)
The playfield's colour scheme changes every sixteen levels. In addition, other events also cause playfield colour variation. The SuperZapper causes the playfield to flash as enemies are zapped. Playfield rails flash rainbow colours when a player earns a bonus life and Pulsar enemies cause sections of the nearest rim to disappear and - during the pulse phase - adjacent rails to flash.
Tempest level colour schemes:
*Levels 1-16:
Tunnel - blue
Player ship - yellow
SuperZapper - yellow
Flippers - red
Tankers - purple
Spikers/Spikes - green
Pulsars - N/A (these do not appear until the next colour scheme)
*Levels 17-32:
Tunnel - red
Player ship - green
SuperZapper - cyan
Flippers - purple
Tankers - blue
Spikers/Spikes - cyan
Pulsars - yellow
*Levels 33-48:
Tunnel - yellow
Player ship - blue
SuperZapper - blue
Flippers - green
Tankers - cyan
Spikers/Spikes - red
Pulsars - blue
*Levels 49-64:
Tunnel - cyan
Player ship - blue
SuperZapper - red
Flippers - green
Tankers - purple
Spikers/Spikes - red
Pulsars - yellow
*Levels 65-80:
Tunnel - black (invisible)
Player ship - yellow
SuperZapper - white
Flippers - red
Tankers - purple
Spikers/Spikes - green
Pulsars - cyan
*Levels 81-96:
Tunnel - green
Player ship - red
SuperZapper - purple
Flippers - yellow
Tankers - purple
Spikers/Spikes - blue
Pulsars - yellow
Levels 97 and up - Keeps colour scheme from Levels 81-96, with random shapes from Level 99 onward.
- TECHNICAL -
[Upright model]
Game ID : 136002
Main CPU : M6502
Co-processor : Math Box
Sound Chips : (2x) POKEY
Tempest has a color X-Y or vector-generator monitor. This new monitor, with its 3-color guns and higher voltage, has the same technology that was used in Atari's black-and-white X-Y monitors. However, this new monitor displays dazzling color and unique visual effects in a spectacular 3-D video display.
Players : 2
Control : dial
Buttons : 2
= > (1) Fire, (2) Super Zapper
- TRIVIA -
Released in October 1981 at the price of $2295. 25113 Upright units were produced. Tempest sold approximately 20000 units to distributors before it was even released.
Tempest was an awesome arcade game that transported the player into abstract realms of space. It is still the favorite of devotees who seek to become one with this adventure through hyperspace.
Tempest was the first game to use 'Color-Quadrascan' and 'Skill-Step', both features unique to Atari vector games. Tempest was originally a 3-D "Space Invaders" clone called 'Vortex', but was changed when the other engineers didn't come back to play the game. This was kind of a test for an Atari game; if the engineers kept coming back to play a new game, it was considered a hit.
The first prototype of the game had the shape wireframe spinning and the gunner remaining stationary, but that caused motion sickness after a period of time so it was changed around.
* The Creation of Tempest : Dave Theurer, who designed the game and wrote the software, said his original intention was to make a first-person perspective of the "Space Invaders" game, but he ended up doing something completely new and different.
Rich Adam : "Dave implemented a first-person "Space Invaders". Everybody played it but they didn't keep coming back. You could tell when you had something cool, the engineers kept coming back. This was good and bad because there were times when you wanted to work on your game and everybody would want to be playing it. But when he was doing the first-person "Space Invaders", Dave didn't run into this problem of everyone wanting to play the game... and he said to himself : 'Well, maybe this isn't working. What can I do?' Then I came in one day and all of a sudden he had this round tube with these things coming up it. I said, 'What the heck is that Dave?' He said, 'I don't know. Aliens from the center of the Earth? I don't know.' I think he said something about having had a dream about it. I said, 'How does it work?' He said, 'I don't know. They're coming up around the edge of this thing and you're trying to blow them away.' He just sort of started out with this concept and took it from there. I can see why he would say that Tempest was certainly his proudest achievement. He worked extremely hard on that. It's pure creation from his own brain.".
* Remembrances from the Video Game Masters : Although known for his hard work and for his ability to focus on and conquer exceedingly tough software problems, Dave Theurer looks back upon his days at Atari as having been fun and rewarding.
Dave Theurer : "It was just so exciting working on these new games. All my life I loved explosions. When I went to college I was a chemistry major because I wanted to do something where I could make explosions. When I was a kid I had a chemistry set and I'd blow stuff up all the time. Eventually, you learn that you can't really do that in real life, so the next best thing is to do it on the screen, so here I was blowing stuff up on the screen. Simulating real life is fun too. It's almost like you can create your own universe. Well, you are creating your own universe. That's rewarding, to see something come alive.".
Playing games, both video and pinball, was a constant part of life for the engineers at Atari.
Dan Pliskin : "In the morning, I used to go in and I'd make up a pot of Italian roast or French roast coffee and pour myself a big mug. Then I'd go and sit it on a pinball machine and drink coffee and play pinball until scores got up to, like, a couple hundred thousand. That would be my indication that I was sharp enough to go and design something.".
* Popular from the Start : Tempest was a game that immediately captivated people from the very start.
Lyle Rains : "Like a number of these games that were very addictive, the Tempest controls were good enough to where once you learned how to manipulate them you could almost become one with the machine. That is, a good Tempest player gets to spin that knob and do the firing in the right time and get into sync with the machine or get into a rhythm. I don't know exactly what to call it, but you were so close to the action that part of you entered the experience. You forgot about what was going on around you and you were just there. And you could get very good at it. I think what people like is the ability to accomplish amazing things".
* The Great 25-Cent Escape : Not only did players often find a sense of welcome escape in the video games they played, but this was very much the intention of some of the great game designers.
Dave Theurer : "I want to design it for a guy who's totally frazzled by his job and needs a way to temporarily escape. There's a certain class of games... where you just get into a trance when you're playing them. As long as you're in this trance you'll do fine."
The default high score screen of "Cyberball 2072" features names of many Atari arcade games, including TEMPEST.
A Tempest unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', in the 1983 movie 'Twilight Zone - The Movie', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks', in the 1984 movie 'Night of the Comet', in the 1986 movie 'Running Scared', in the 1986 movie 'Maximum Overdrive' (A cocktail cabinet) and in the 1987 movie 'Death Wish 4 - The Crackdown'.
A Tempest unit appears in the music video 'Subdivisions' by RUSH.
In 1982, Atari released a set of 12 collector pins including : "Missile Command", "Battle Zone", "Tempest", "Asteroids Deluxe", "Space Duel", "Centipede", "Gravitar", "Dig Dug", "Kangaroo", "Xevious", "Millipede" and "Food Fight".
- UPDATES -
Revision 1 :
* First public release.
Revision 2 :
* Fixes the score cheat in test mode.
* Changes spinner letters to a line.
Revision 3 :
* Fixes screen collapse between 1 and 2 players in the 2 player mode.
- SCORING -
Spike : 1-3 points
Spiker : 50 points
Tanker : 100 points
Flipper : 150 points
Pulsar : 200 points
Fuseball : 250, 500, or 750 points (The closer it is to your Blaster when you shoot it, the more points you get.
In addition to the above points, you also get bonus points for starting at higher levels then Level 1. Listed are the bonus points for all starting levels. There is no real pattern except that the bonus gets higher the more levels you skip at your starting point.
Level 3 : 6000 points
Level 5 : 16000 points
Level 7 : 32000 points
Level 9 : 54000 points
Level 11 : 74000 points
Level 13 : 94000 points
Level 15 : 114000 points
Level 17 : 134000 points
Level 20 : 152000 points
Level 22 : 170000 points
Level 24 : 188000 points
Level 26 : 208000 points
Level 28 : 226000 points
Level 31 : 248000 points
Level 33 : 266000 points
Level 36 : 300000 points
Level 40 : 340000 points
Level 44 : 382000 points
Level 47 : 415000 points
Level 49 : 439000 points
Level 52 : 472000 points
Level 56 : 531000 points
Level 60 : 581000 points
Level 63 : 624000 points
Level 65 : 656000 points
Level 73 : 766000 points
Level 81 : 898000 points
NOTE: The bonus points are rewarded only once per game, when you complete your starting level.
At the beginning of the game, you can always start on levels 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9. Whenever you complete a game, you have either ten seconds or until you press a key to continue a game. You can start a game at any bonus level below where you finished your last game. Therefore you must end your previous game on level 12 or higher to start your next game on level 11.
If you fail to clear the starting level you have chosen, that level is not available for you in the next game. However, all starting levels below it are available. For instance, if you start a game on level 17 but do not finish, then your next game can start as high as level 15.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Hints :
- Continue playing until you destroy all aliens or until all the aliens reach the rim of your universe. If you have a Blaster, you advance to the next level of play.
- Players should work their way up through the levels to become familiar with game play. Drop down a level if play is too difficult.
- Experienced players should start at highest level possible for maximum points.
- On a new playfield shoot at enemy dots at far rim.
- Try to shoot aliens while they are still in the corridors of the cosmic tube. They pose a greater threat (and are harder to hit) once they reach the rim of your universe.
- Shoot a Flipper as soon as it starts to flip. Anticipate where they are heading and fire your Blaster in that direction.
- Once a Flipper reaches the rim, you can shoot it only by waiting for it to flip into initial contact with your Blaster. But you must fire before it takes the next step and flips on top of your Blaster.
- Tankers carry other aliens. To destroy their cargo, move your Blaster back and forth across adjacent corridors as you fire.
- Fuseballs spend most of their time along the edges of the corridors, out of firing range. To make sure you hit them, move your Blaster from one side of a corridor to the other while you fire. Once they reach the rim, you can only destroy them with your SuperZapper.
- Use long Spikes to reclaim shots and kill enemies approaching you from adjacent lanes.
- Avoid shooting Fuseball Tankers near the top since emerging fuseballs usually zip up to the top and kill you.
- When Pulsars contract into a zigzag bolt of lightning, quickly move your Blaster away from their corridor.
- Fire at Pulsars after they fire, but before they get ready to fire again. Pulsars and Fuseballs are like Flippers in their ability to switch corridors.
- Watch for corridors that are open along the rim. You can still move your Blaster over the gaps, but beware...there is a Pulsar inside.
- Don't fire at missiles. They are dangerous and you don't get points for destroying them.
- Avoid spikes. At the end of a level, position your Blaster over a corridor that is free from spikes. During higher levels of play, blast away at the Spikers and their spikes to keep a safe corridor for your next hyperspace passage. Remember, you can't destroy them with just one shot.
- Use the SuperZapper right before last enemy reaches the top for a few extra points.
* 898000 points bonus :
1) You must have the Revision 1 ROMs in your machine.
2) You must have your machine set to coins and not on free-play.
3) Start a game and play until you successfully clear the red V stage. Die.
4) Start a new game on the red V level and complete the stage to get a bonus taking your score to more than 160, 000.
5) As soon as you get the bonus from clearing the red V level get the last two digits of your score to 46 (by shooting spikes). Die.
6) Wait! Wait for one cycle of the machine's attract mode - high score initials, TEMPEST attract, game demonstration, high score table.
7) Start a new game, spin the spinner to the right all the way up to level 1 of the green stages.
8) Complete the stage for a bonus of 898000.
* These are cheats. (They weren't cheats at all. They were intentionally programmed in as a security measure.) They were removed in ROM 217 and 222 software revision 2. First, you must complete level 8 and get a score with the format XXYYZZ : XX must be greater than 16, YY between 29 and 60, ZZ is a code listed below...
00 - freeze screen
01 - access bookkeeping totals
05 - allows playing during attract mode
06 - 40 free credits
11 - 40 free credits
12 - 40 free credits
14 - credit sound without actual credit
15 - credit sound without actual credit
16 - 40 free credits
17 - 40 free credits
18 - 40 free credits
41 - switch last 2 digits of score
42 - increase score quickly
46 - demonstration mode - start at any level, up to level 81
50 - player moves by itself
51 - player moves by itself
60 - objects drift down
66 - objects drift right
67 - objects jump
68 - objects drift up
70 - objects drift up
After code '05' (play during attract mode) is activated, the following cheats become available...
Set the last two digits to 46 : Random-colored level with wrong enemies.
Set the last two digits to 48 : 255 extra lives.
These are tips for anyone new to Tempest :
Note : Level colours mentioned below refer to the level's tunnel colour.
1) Flippers first appear in Level 1 (blue circle), but don't start flipping until Level 2 (blue square). Flippers flip at a constant rate, so play the angles. You can kill Flippers on the outer edge by shooting when they are in the spaces next to you (as they flip). The wider the angle, the more time you have to shoot. You can also move under Flippers as they flip. Good practice is to play level 1 as long as possible without firing. On the open shapes, you will want to hang out on one end of the other (to avoid attacks from both directions). On closed shapes, pick a spot with good angles and good visibility. Often flipping back and forth between two spaces (playing the angles depending on which direction the flippers are attacking from) is all you have to do.
2) Tankers first appear in Level 3 (blue plus). Regular Tankers contain two Flippers. Feel free to shoot them and their cargo with impunity. Fuseball tankers are VERY dangerous. Shoot them and get out of the way. Pulsar tankers are also very dangerous. Shoot them and stay where you are (the Pulsars will appear to either side). You can differentiate between the types of tankers by looking closely at their centers. Fuseball and Pulsar Tankers have tiny pictures of their cargos in their centers. The ability to instantly differentiate between tanker types is probably the most important ability separating good Tempest players from great Tempest players.
3) Spikers first appear in Level 4 (blue bowtie). Spikers are generally harmless (although they do shoot at you), and the spikes they lay down are very handy some times. You can hold the fire button down for continuous fire, but you only get a maximum of eight shots at a time. This is enough to fill half the tube, but not enough for a true continuous stream of shots. If you have lots of flippers coming after you, find a long spike to sit on top of. You can then hold down the fire button for a machine gun effect. As the spike gets eaten away, look for another one to switch to. Be careful of pulsars and fuseballs when you do this however. When you get to level 65 (black/invisible circle) try riding a full spike all the way down at the end of the round. Your descent rate and rate of fire are perfectly matched so that you can actually blast it away without being impaled all the way to the bottom.
4) Fuseballs first appear in Level 11 (blue flat/bowling alley). Fuseballs ride the lines. The safest place to be is in the space NEXT to one. It looks like it will kill you, but the hit logic only tests the center of the fuseball. Fuseballs will only cross one space at a time before dropping back down (until the end of the round when they start chasing you). If you get stuck with one coming after you at the end of a round (usually on one of the open shapes), try the 'Hail Mary' move of spinning very quickly. You can actually jump over one or more spaces (and a fuseball!) if you spin fast enough. Watch out for fuseball tankers at higher levels that split into two fuseballs that will immediately try and jump on you.
5) Pulsars first appear in Level 17 (red circle). Pulsars are only dangerous when they are pulsing. Listen to the low, periodic buzz sound. As you get used to it, you will find yourself adapting to this built-in rhythm. You can shoot them when they aren't pulsing or spin out of the way. Watch out for pulsar tankers at higher levels that split into 2 pulsars on either side of the tanker lane.
6) Dip Switch #2 (2nd from the back of the game) on the upper bank (at N13) controls demo mode. Demo mode lets you start (and practice) anywhere you like. It does not record scores, however. In normal play, the game will let you start close to where you left off. If you want to 'cheat', put the game into demo mode, spin up to where you want to start, start the game and hit the player one start button causing you to zoom down the tube and gain the bonus. Then die and flip the dip switch back to normal mode. Now you can start a real game at the same level and record your score at the end. If you do this often, wiring a front-mounted bypass to that dip switch will come in very handy. There is also a freeze game dip switch that is also handy in case the phone rings while you are playing.
7) Level 81 (green circle) is the highest starting level. Most expert Tempest players agree that green is actually easier than the black/invisible levels that precede it. It is a bit faster, but it restores one of the most valuable visual clues in the game - the tell tale break in the outer edge caused by a pulsar (which is missing in the black/invisible levels). After level 96 (green figure eight/infinity), you are back to the green circle (97) and green square (98). Level 99 is the highest recorded by the game and consists of a never ending supply of random green shapes. Every time you finish the round or loose a life, you will end up with a different shape. To achieve a world record score, you will spend MOST of your time playing level 99 over and over again. If you can keep your rate of loss to roughly one life per two rounds (at 20K bonus), you can theoretically play forever. Tempest isn't a very good marathon game, however, as it only lets you build up 5 lives max at any one time. A 30-second bladder break while playing level 99 will pretty much wipe you out.
8) The highest score recordable by the game is 999999 (a horrible error on the part of the designers). Starting at Level 81, you get there pretty fast (mid way through the greens). With a bit of practice, you can end the game at exactly 999999. Do that 3 times and no one will ever be able to beat your score on a single machine (w/o clearing the high score table).
- SERIES -
1. Tempest (1981)
2. Tempest 2000 (1994, Atari Jaguar)
3. Tempest X (1996, Sony PlayStation)
4. Tempest 3000 (2000, Nuon)
- STAFF -
Designed and programmed by : Dave Theurer (DFT)
Project leader : Morgan Hoff (MPH)
Hardware Guy : (SDL)
Math Box : Jed Margolin
Technician : (MJP)
From highscore table : Eric Durfey (EJD), Dave Shepperd (DES), (RRR), (BEH)
- PORTS -
* Consoles :
Atari 2600 (1983, Proto, Only one cart exists by the looks of it :)
Atari 5200 (1983, Proto)
Atari 2600 (1984)
Sony PlayStation (1996, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1")
Nintendo Super Famicom (1997, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1")
Sega Saturn (1997, "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1")
Sony PlayStation (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux")
Sega Dreamcast (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition")
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2002, "Atari Anniversary Advance")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Atari Anthology")
Microsoft XBOX (2004, "Atari Anthology")
Nintendo DS (2005, "Retro Atari Classics")
Microsoft XBOX 360 (2007, "Xbox Live Arcade")
* Computers :
Apple II (1983, "Tubeway")
Acorn Electron (1985)
Amstrad CPC (1986)
Atari ST (1989)
PC [MS Windows, 3.5''] (1993, "Microsoft Arcade")
PC [MS Windows, CD-Rom] (1999, "Atari Arcade hits 1")
PC [MS Windows, CD-Rom] (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition")
PC [MS Windows, CD-Rom] (2003, "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One!")
Commodore C64 ("Genesis")
Sinclair ZX Spectrum
* Others :
Nokia N-Gage (2006, "Atari Masterpieces Volume 2")
Apple Store (2011, "Atari Greatest Hits")
Android Market (2011, "Atari Greatest Hits")
- SOURCES -
Game's rom.
Machine's picture.
Tempest Help file from Microsoft Arcade.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc.
Tempest Playing Tips by Eric Clayberg (Tempest world record holder in 1982) - www.smalltalksystems.com/clayberg/arcade/tempest_tips.htm
MAME Info:
0.143u5 [Aaron Giles]
0.33b7 [Darrin Redick]
0.26 [Brad Oliver, Bernd Wiebelt, Allard van der Bas, Al Kossow, Hedley Rainnie, Eric Smith]
WIP:
- 0.146: Couriersud improved sound emulation for POKEY chip. Changed audio emulation to emulate borrow 3 clock delay and proper channel reset. New frequency only becomes effective after the counter hits 0. Emulation also treats counters as 8 bit counters which are linked now instead of monolytic 16 bit counters. Fixed high pass filters for POKEY. Added POKEYN device based on modern device. Fixed random lfsr generation. Consolidated polynom code. Removed legacy left overs from pokey code. Added a internal pokey_channel class. Convert all remaining drivers to use the modern pokey device.
- 0.145: Miodrag Milanovic converted ATARIVGEAROM to a modern devices.
- 0.143u5: Added clone Tempest (rev 1, Revised Hardware). Corrected the rom labels, description and documentation for the revised hardware rev 3 of Tempest. Added dipswitch locations for the Tempest sets [Brian Troha]. Changed description of clone '(rev 2, Revised Hardware)' to parent 'Tempest (rev 3, Revised Hardware)'. Renamed (tempest) to (tempest3) and (tempest3) to (tempest).
- 0.136u4: Mathis Rosenhauer reduced flickering in Tempest (video\avgdvg.c).
- 0.129u5: Couriersud added save state support to Tempest.
- 0.115u1: Mathis Rosenhauer moved Atari vector PROMs into separate regions. Added user2 rom (036174.01) and the user3 Mathbox PROMs (36175/76, 036177/78, 036179/80 - low/high nibbled). Changed region proms to user1.
- 0.113u3: Derrick Renaud fixed analog controls by adding back a faux VBLANK timing in Tempest.
- 0.112: Stephane Humbert updated Tempest to support second player controls.
- 0.108u5: Mathis Rosenhauer rewrote the Atari vector generators, using the schematics and actual state machine PROMs. The state machine is now emulated so timing should be much more realistic. Clipping hardware in bzone and others is emulated instead of hardcoded. Improved accuracy of clocks and various other bits of cleanup. Added prom ($0 - AVG PROM).
- 0.108u1: Brian Troha improved documentation in the Tempest drivers. Changed description of clone 'Tempest (rev ?)' to 'Tempest (rev 2, Revised Hardware)'. Fixed rom names.
- 0.106u13: Aaron Giles reimplemented the sparkle circuit to bring back stars in Tempest.
- 0.102u3: RansAckeR fixed cocktail mode and input in Tempest.
- 0.75: Aaron Giles added clone Tempest (rev ?).
- 7th October 2003: Aaron Giles added another set of Tempest.
- 0.71u3: Frank Palazzolo moved flipping and swapping API stuff from vector.c to avgdvg.c, this is specific to Tempest and Quantum only.
- 0.58: Changed palettesize from 33024 to 32768 colors.
- 30th January 2002: Aaron Giles added better vector sparkle effect emulation as used in Major Havoc and Tempest.
- 0.37b14: Changed screen orientation to vertical.
- 5th April 2001: Nicola Salmoria fixed Tempest and Quantum screen orientation and added screen flip / rotate support to the vector routines, but the changes are not yet complete.
- 0.37b7: Juergen Buchmueller fixed the Pokey emulation so that the Tempest reset bug is fixed, this time for real and forever.
- 28th August 2000: Juergen Buchmueller modified the Pokey RNG functions to finally work as they would in real hardware.
- 7th August 2000: KBD fixed, hopefully finally, the Tempest 150k reset bug.
- 25th June 2000: Juergen Buchmueller fixed the Pokey sound core, and Tempest sounds a bit better now.
- 0.36RC2: Changed M6502 CPU1 and the 2x Pokey clock speed to 1512000 Hz.
- 4th March 2000: Juergen Buchmueller tweaked Tempest again to work better.
- 5th February 2000: Juergen Buchmueller rewrote the Pokey code and made some speedups to the Pokey core.
- 0.36b12: The hangs in Tempest caused by the Pokey protection should now be fixed once and for all [Juergen Buchmueller].
- 15th December 1999: Juergen Buchmueller hopefully fixed the Tempest reset bug. The hangs in Tempest caused by the Pokey protection.
- 0.33b7: Darrin Redick added Tempest (rev 3) and clone (rev 2). Changed 'Tempest' to clone '(rev 1)'. Renamed (tempest) to (tempest1). Bernd Wiebelt was inspired by Retrocade and Vector Dream, changed the vector games to use translucent vectors. Color intensities had to be lowered, if it feels to dark for you now, increase the gamma correction value.
- 0.30: Valerio Verrando added Tempest Tubes (hack 1980). Emulation of AVG sparkling bit (Tempest stars/fireworks) [Brad Oliver]. Known issues: Several people complained that mouse control is reversed. This is not the case. The more obvious place where this can be seen is the level selection screen at the beginning: move the mouse right, the block goes right. Anyway, if you don't like the key assignments, you can change them.
- 0.29: Brad Oliver updated pokyintf.c source to be more like 8910intf.c. Variable clock frequency, port callbacks, a clipping parameter, variable updates per frame. Most noticeably, Tempest has much improved sound with more frequent updates. New fix to avoid lockup in Tempest after 150,000 points - this one should really work [Keith Gerdes]. Known issues: Keyboard control is too fast. Use the mouse.
- 0.28: Sean Trowbridge found a workaround to make Tempest not lock up at 150,000 points.
- 0.27: Brad Oliver and Bernd Wiebelt fixed Tempest, no longer crash after level 13, has better colors (colorram emulation) and is overall a bit faster. Thanks to the precious information on the Pokey random number generator provided by Eric Smith, Hedley Rainnie and Sean Trowbridge, some problems with Centipede (start with 18 credits) and Tempest (hang after level 13) are now solved. Trackball support for Tempest. Bernd Wiebelt sincerely hopes he fixed the BCD-emulation in the 6502 emulation. At least the authentic Tempest feeling (broken X/Y monitor) is gone, since the game now starts without pressing Fire.
- 0.26a: Some credits that were left out last time: Thanks to Al Kossow, Hedley Rainnie and Eric Smith for the code to their vecsim emulator which had emulated these games previously on the unix and the mac, and thanks to Neil Bradley for pointing out the critical bug in the vector generator engine which prevented Tempest from working.
- 0.26: Added Tempest (Atari 1980). Known issues: The game start with a blank screen. Press CTRL to start. Thanks to the outstanding combined efforts of Brad Oliver, Bernd Wiebelt and Allard van der Bas, MAME entered in vectorial emulation world! All in a time, we have support for Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Black Widow, Battlezone, Gravitar, Lunar Lander, Red Baron, Spaceduel and Tempest. Thanks to Al Kossow, Hedley Rainnie and Eric Smith for the code to their VECSIM emulator which had emulated these games previously on the UNIX and MAC. Control: Arrows = Left/Right move around and CTRL = Zap and ALT = Super Zapper.
- 12th November 1996: Dumped Tempest (rev 1).
LEVELS: 99 (endless)
Other Emulators:
* AAE
* JAE
* Retrocade
Recommended Games:
Tempest
Tornado (DECO Cassette)
Wiz Warz (prototype)
Romset: 26 kb / 14 files / 19.8 zip
MAME XML Output:
| | <game name="tempest" sourcefile="tempest.c"> |
| | | <description>Tempest (rev 3, Revised Hardware)</description> |
| | | <manufacturer>Atari</manufacturer> |
| | | <rom name="136002-133.d1" size="4096" crc="1d0cc503" sha1="7bef95db9b1102d6b1166bda0ccb276ef4cc3764" region="maincpu" offset="9000"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002-134.f1" size="4096" crc="c88e3524" sha1="89144baf1efc703b2336774793ce345b37829ee7" region="maincpu" offset="a000"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002-235.j1" size="4096" crc="a4b2ce3f" sha1="a5f5fb630a48c5d25346f90d4c13aaa98f60b228" region="maincpu" offset="b000"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002-136.lm1" size="4096" crc="65a9a9f9" sha1="73aa7d6f4e7093ccb2d97f6344f354872bcfd72a" region="maincpu" offset="c000"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002-237.p1" size="4096" crc="de4e9e34" sha1="04be074e45bf5cd95a852af97cd04e35b7f27fc4" region="maincpu" offset="d000"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002-138.np3" size="4096" crc="9995256d" sha1="2b725ee1a57d423c7d7377a1744f48412e0f2f69" region="maincpu" offset="3000"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002-125.d7" size="256" crc="5903af03" sha1="24bc0366f394ad0ec486919212e38be0f08d0239" region="user1" offset="0"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.126" size="32" crc="8b04f921" sha1="317b3397482f13b2d1bc21f296d3b3f9a118787b" region="user2" offset="0"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.132" size="256" crc="2af82e87" sha1="3816835a9ccf99a76d246adf204989d9261bb065" region="user3" offset="0"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.131" size="256" crc="b31f6e24" sha1="ce5f8ca34d06a5cfa0076b47400e61e0130ffe74" region="user3" offset="0"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.130" size="256" crc="8119b847" sha1="c4fbaedd4ce1ad6a4128cbe902b297743edb606a" region="user3" offset="1"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.129" size="256" crc="09f5a4d5" sha1="d6f2ac07ca9ee385c08831098b0dcaf56808993b" region="user3" offset="1"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.128" size="256" crc="823b61ae" sha1="d99a839874b45f64e14dae92a036e47a53705d16" region="user3" offset="2"/> |
| | | <rom name="136002.127" size="256" crc="276eadd5" sha1="55718cd8ec4bcf75076d5ef0ee1ed2551e19d9ba" region="user3" offset="2"/> |
| | | <chip type="cpu" tag="maincpu" name="M6502" clock="1512000"/> |
| | | <chip type="audio" tag="mono" name="Speaker"/> |
| | | <chip type="audio" tag="pokey1" name="POKEYN" clock="1512000"/> |
| | | <chip type="audio" tag="pokey2" name="POKEYN" clock="1512000"/> |
| | | <display tag="screen" type="vector" rotate="270" refresh="60.000000" /> |
| | | <input players="2" buttons="2" coins="3" service="yes" tilt="yes"> |
| | | | <control type="dial" minimum="0" maximum="15" sensitivity="100" keydelta="20"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Service Mode" tag="IN0" mask="16"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Off" value="16" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="On" value="0"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Cabinet" tag="IN1/DSW0" mask="16"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Upright" value="16" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Cocktail" value="0"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Difficulty" tag="IN2" mask="3"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Easy" value="2"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Medium1" value="3" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Medium2" value="0"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Hard" value="1"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Rating" tag="IN2" mask="4"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1, 3, 5, 7, 9" value="4" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="tied to high score" value="0"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Coinage" tag="DSW1" mask="3"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="2 Coins/1 Credit" value="1"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 Coin/1 Credit" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 Coin/2 Credits" value="3"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Free Play" value="2"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Right Coin" tag="DSW1" mask="12"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="*1" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="*4" value="4"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="*5" value="8"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="*6" value="12"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Left Coin" tag="DSW1" mask="16"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="*1" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="*2" value="16"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Bonus Coins" tag="DSW1" mask="224"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="None" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 each 5" value="128"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 each 4 (+Demo)" value="64"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 each 3" value="160"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="2 each 4 (+Demo)" value="96"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 each 2" value="32"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Freeze Mode" value="192"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Freeze Mode" value="224"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Minimum" tag="DSW2" mask="1"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="1 Credit" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="2 Credit" value="1"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Language" tag="DSW2" mask="6"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="English" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="French" value="2"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="German" value="4"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="Spanish" value="6"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Bonus Life" tag="DSW2" mask="56"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="10000" value="8"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="20000" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="30000" value="16"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="40000" value="24"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="50000" value="32"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="60000" value="40"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="70000" value="48"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="None" value="56"/> |
| | | <dipswitch name="Lives" tag="DSW2" mask="192"> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="2" value="192"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="3" value="0" default="yes"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="4" value="64"/> |
| | | | <dipvalue name="5" value="128"/> |
| | | <driver status="good" emulation="good" color="good" sound="good" graphic="good" savestate="supported" palettesize="0"/> |
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