''Firetrack'' is a vertically-scrolling shooter programmed by Nick Pelling and 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 ...

and Commodore 64 platforms in 1987 by

Electric Dreams Software Electric Dreams Software was a UK-based video game publisher established in 1985 in video gaming, 1985 by Activision and run by Rod Cousens and Paul Cooper formerly of Quicksilva . The company published video games for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 6 ...

. It was also ported to the

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

Superior Software Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windo ...

in 1989 as part of the ''Play It Again Sam 7'' compilation.''FireTrack''
at Acorn Electron World It resembles the 1984 arcade game ''

Star Force also released in arcades outside of Japan as ''Mega Force'', is a vertical-scrolling shooter computer game released in 1984 by Tehkan. Gameplay In the game, the player pilots a starship called the ''Final Star'', while shooting various enemie ...

'' in style and gameplay. The game was technically advanced and very well received by critics.

Gameplay

The player controls a fighter ship which flies at constant speed and heading over a series of worlds. The player is faced with both airborne enemies (who approach in different attack formations) and ground-based enemies. Destruction of a whole attack wave results in bonus points, and destruction of specific ground targets (such as buildings marked with X) results in bonus points (and an occasional extra life) at the end of each level. Some enemies are indestructible and must be avoided. There are no power-ups, although the rate of fire increases with more challenging levels.

Development

Nick Pelling designed the game and programmed the BBC Micro and Commodore 64 versions which were released in 1987 by Electric Dreams Software. When including the game on the 1989 ''Play It Again Sam 7'' compilation, Superior Software also commissioned a conversion to the Acorn Electron which was carried out by Chris Terran. On the BBC Micro version, it automatically detects sideways RAM expansion if present, which allows more detailed graphics on the levels, without any changes to the underlying gameplay. Innovative use of colour makes the 8-colour palette of the BBC look much broader. The scrolling is smooth and flicker-free, and there is very little noticeable slowing, even when many enemies are displayed at once. If shadow RAM is present, the graphics are double buffered. The Acorn Electron version exploits a division in the way the Electron handles its display: of the seven available graphics modes, two are configured so that the final two of every ten scanlines are blank and are not based on the contents of RAM. If 16 scanlines of continuous graphical data are written to a character-block-aligned portion of the screen then they will appear as a continuous block in most modes but in the two non-continuous modes they will be displayed as two blocks of 8 scanlines, separated in the middle by two blank scanlines. In order to keep track of its position within the display, the Electron maintains an internal display address counter. The same counter is used in both the continuous and non-continuous graphics modes and switching modes mid-frame does not cause any adjustment to the counter. ''Firetrack'' switches from a non-continuous to a continuous graphics mode partway down the display. By using the palette to mask the top area of the display and taking care about when it changes mode it can shift the continuous graphics at the bottom of the display down in two pixel increments (rather than the usual eight for vertical scrolling) because the internal display counter is not incremented on blank scanlines during non-continuous graphics modes.

Reception

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

'' gave an overall score of 88%, commenting that the game could "truly be said to be of arcade quality" and is "Fast, frenetic and extremely playable—easily the best vertically scrolling shoot 'em up to date".''Firetrack'' review
Zzap!64, April 1987 ''

Electron User ''Electron User'' was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990. Initially it was included as a 1 ...

'', when reviewing the ''Play It Again Sam 7'' compilation, were also very enthusiastic with reviewer Martin Reed praising the "amazingly smooth vertical-scrolling" and stating "The graphics are stunning and give an amazingly realistic 3D effect that I wouldn't have thought was possible on the Electron". In her second opinion, Janice Murray claimed it would be worth buying the compilation even if you already owned the other three games: "This technically brilliant piece of programming makes a fine game which proves to be very fast and addictive. The other titles can be considered bonuses thrown in for free"."Hallmarked Golden Oldies"
Electron User, June 1989

References

{{Superior Software 1987 video games Aardvark Software games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games Single-player video games Superior Software games Vertically scrolling shooters Video games developed in the United Kingdom Electric Dreams Software games