''3D Space Wars'' is a

space combat Space warfare is hypothetical combat in which one or more belligerents are situated in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ''ground-to-space warfare'', such as attacking satellites from the Earth; ''space-to-space warfare ...

video game written by

Steve Turner Steve or Steven Turner is the name of: Sports * Steve Turner (rugby league) (born 1984), Australian rugby league footballer * Steve Turner (Australian rules footballer) (born 1960), Australian rules footballer * Steven Turner (born 1987), Canadi ...

for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

and published by

Hewson Consultants Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced video games for home computers in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable ...

in 1983. It is both the first game written by Turner and the first in the '' Seiddab Trilogy''.

Gameplay

''3D Space Wars'' is a shoot 'em up in which the player has taken command of the world's last fighter-killer spacecraft and must prevent the destruction of civilization by the Seiddab. The game begins with the enemy massed in front of the player and attacking. The player has a cockpit view, and the ship instruments are below the viewscreen, including fuel, speed, and a galaxy map showing the Seiddab positions. Twin lasers fire perspective beams which meet in the center of the crosshairs. There are refueling points in space which the player will need to locate. Each successive wave of attackers is more destructive than the last. The display is in black and white. Each attack wave consists of 24 aliens, and the player has only two opportunities to refuel during each wave. Speed can be adjusted to one of eight settings, which affects maneuverability, aiming weapons, and how often the ship is hit.

Development and release

wrote ''3D Space Wars'' and it took about five months to develop, and this was his first game. ''3D Space-Wars'' was released in 1983 by Hewson Consultants.

Reception

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' gave the game an overall rating of 68% and said: "A lot of playing appeal but I didn't think there was quite enough going on in the end to make it totally addictive to play". ''

Personal Computer Games ''Personal Computer Games'' was a multi-format UK computer games magazine of the early/mid-1980s published by VNU. History ''Personal Computer Games'' was launched in July 1983. The magazine was part of VNU and had its headquarters in London ...

'' said: "''3D Space Wars'' is definitely one of the better shoot-'em up games on the Dragon. The sound isn't too bad, and the graphics give a convincing impression of deep-space duelling. A worthwhile romp through the universe for those with time (and Seiddabs) to kill". John Scriven for ''

Dragon User ''Dragon User'' was a British magazine for users of the Dragon 32/64 computers published from 1982 by Sunshine Publications. Production of the computers themselves had ceased by 1985 but the user community remained sufficiently active to justify th ...

'' wrote: "Although the combined forces of the baddies, oops, Sieddab raiders, is always more than mortal man can face, Hewson Consultants have produced an excellent game that forces you to send the rest of the family away while you turn up the tv volume and lose yourself in inter-galactic battles. Definitely my favourite game of the month". '' Your Computer'' gave the game 3 stars and called it "an excellent Dragon game ..Once again, there is some very good stuff around for the Dragon". ''Games Computing'' said: "Overall, it was a well-written game but I am a bit tired of "shoot 'em up" games. I became bored usually after I had scored 120 but to the space-invader game fanatic it is a good game".

Reviews

* ''Allt om Hemdatorer'' *

ASM (Aktueller Software Markt) ''Aktueller Software Markt'' (literally ''Current Software Market''), commonly known by its acronym, ''ASM'', was a German multi-platform video game magazine that was published by Tronic-Verlag from 1986 until 1995. It was one of the first magazine ...

- September 1986 * Micro 7 - June 1984

References

{{reflist 1983 video games Dragon 32 games Hewson Consultants games Space combat simulators Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set in outer space ZX Spectrum games ZX Spectrum-only games