''Asteroids Deluxe'' is a vector graphic

multidirectional shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

released in arcades in April 1981 by Atari Inc. as the sequel to ''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

''. It was followed by ''

Space Duel ''Space Duel'' is an arcade game released in 1982 by Atari, Inc. It is a direct descendant of the original ''Asteroids'', with asteroids replaced by colorful geometric shapes like cubes, diamonds, and spinning pinwheels. ''Space Duel'' is the first ...

'' in 1982 and ''

Blasteroids ''Blasteroids'' is the third official sequel to the 1979 multidirectional shooter video game, ''Asteroids''. It was developed by Atari Games and released in arcades in 1987. Unlike the previous games, ''Blasteroids'' uses raster graphics instead ...

'' in 1987. Key changes in ''Asteroids Deluxe'' were designed to combat the saucer-hunting strategy of ''Asteroids'', which allowed experts to play for extended periods. These modifications also made it significantly more difficult than the original. Ports of ''Asteroids Deluxe'' were released for the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

in 1984 and the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first per ...

in 1987.

Gameplay

Like in the original ''Asteroids'', the objective is to score points by destroying

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s and

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has ...

s. The player controls a

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

that can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. When shot, larger asteroids break apart into smaller pieces and fly in random directions, while the smallest asteroids are destroyed when hit. ''Deluxe'' replaces the hyperspace feature with shields which deplete with use. This game also introduces the "Killer

Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

", a cluster of ships that break apart and chase the player's ship when hit. Objects "wrap" from each edge of the screen to the opposite edge (e.g. from the right edge to the left, or the top edge to the bottom), as in the original. In addition to the shield feature and the Killer Satellite, the most significant change in this version of the game is that the flying saucers can now target the player's ship across the screen boundary - meaning that if the saucer is close to the left edge and the player is at the right edge, the saucer may shoot toward the left edge and across the boundary to hit the player since their ship is closer that direction. In ''Asteroids'', the saucers could only fire directly at the player's location on screen without considering the boundary, which led to the popular "lurking" exploit that enabled players to play for very long periods of time on a single credit. This updated strategy was in direct response to that exploit.

Development

The ''Asteroids Deluxe'' arcade machine is a

vector game A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions ...

, with graphics consisting entirely of lines drawn on a

vector monitor A vector monitor, vector display, or calligraphic display is a display device used for computer graphics up through the 1970s. It is a type of CRT, similar to that of an early oscilloscope. In a vector display, the image is composed of drawn l ...

, which Atari described as "QuadraScan". The key hardware consists of a 1.5 MHz MOS 6502A

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...

, which executes the game program, and the Digital Vector Generator (DVG), the first vector processing

circuitry An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow. It is a type of electrical ...

developed by

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, Ca ...

. The DVG used for ''Asteroids Deluxe'' was designed by Howard Delman, and used earlier in ''

Lunar Lander A lunar lander or Moon lander is a spacecraft designed to land on the surface of the Moon. As of 2021, the Apollo Lunar Module is the only lunar lander to have ever been used in human spaceflight, completing six lunar landings from 1969 to 19 ...

'' and ''Asteroids''. Most of the sound effects are implemented by custom circuitry, but some are generated via the

Atari POKEY POKEY, an acronym for Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit, is a digital I/O chip designed by Doug Neubauer at Atari, Inc. for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was first released with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 in 1979 and is included i ...

sound chip.

References

External links

*{{KLOV game, id=6940, name=Asteroids Deluxe
''Asteroids Deluxe''
at Atari Mania 1981 video games Arcade video games Atari arcade games Atari ST games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Multidirectional shooters Vector arcade video games Video games developed in the United States