By Mikey Walters

In Lesson Seven, we learned how to draw Space Assault’s title screen, complete with theme music generated by Atari BASIC’s SOUND statement, and through the course of this series, we’ve covered nearly the complete source code of the game. Appropriately, the last section of code to discuss is the “game over” screen, which uses yet another powerful feature of the Atari Home Computer to combine multiple graphics modes…

By Mikey Walters

In Lesson Six, we saw how Space Assault’s enemy ships move and attack with a semblance of intelligence, learned how to create an Atari “earthquake,” and generally completed our coverage of the core of the game’s code. Now it’s time to explore the incredible sound capabilities of the Atari home computer, including music and exciting effects…

By Mikey Walters

In Lesson Five, we learned about Space Assault’s “main loop” and how game events quickly occur in succession to give the appearance of happening simultaneously. We also handled the actions of our human player, such as moving the crosshair via joystick and firing the Fission Gun Tower. Now it’s time to give the Clovis Aliens their due, so let’s code their relentless, earthshaking attack!

By Mikey Walters

In Lesson Four, we experienced a crash course in manipulating Atari computer memory, specifically to initialize and control Player/Missile Graphics, and we learned how to move our players across the playfield. With those powerful techniques under our belt, this lesson is action-packed! Not only will we cover joystick control, but also how to fire the mighty Fission Gun Tower…

By Mikey Walters

In Lesson Three, we learned about Atari’s revolutionary Player/Missile Graphics and spent some time designing Space Assault’s players (or sprites), including enemy ships and the crosshair of the Fission Gun Tower. Now it’s time to make our players move…

By Mikey Walters

In Lesson Two, we finished drawing Space Assault’s playfield, complete with our seven Vegetation Processing Plants that we must protect with the Fission Gun Tower. The planet Kala is strangely quiet, which can only mean the Clovis aliens are ready to attack—as soon as we learn how to get them on the screen!

By Mikey Walters

In Lesson One, we learned that the first step in the execution of an Atari BASIC game is usually drawing the playfield, which had to be done pixel by pixel. We plotted 50 random stars as a start, leaving Space Assault’s playfield somewhat less than exciting. Let’s continue by drawing the game’s only weapon, the mighty Fission Gun Tower…

By Mikey Walters

When someone chooses a computer to purchase today, they usually consider only what the computer can do based on available software. They’re thinking about what games they can play, what kinds of entertainment media they can enjoy, and how fast they can access the web. But in the 8-bit home computer boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, choosing a new computer was based largely on what kind of software you wanted to create yourself…