''Revs'' is a 1985

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

simulation written initially for the

BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...

by game designer

Geoff Crammond Geoff Crammond is a computer game designer and programmer who specialises in motor racing games. A former defence industry systems engineer, he claims to have had little interest in motor racing before programming his first racing game (Revs) b ...

and published by

Acornsoft Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, it also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and util ...

that is notable for its realistic simulation of the sport and as a precursor to its author's later work on '' Formula One Grand Prix'' and its sequels. Technical consultancy was provided by Formula Three driver David Hunt, whom Acornsoft's parent company

Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England in 1978 by Hermann Hauser, Christopher Curry (businessman), Chris Curry and Andy Hopper. The company produced a number of computers during the 1980s with asso ...

had sponsored during the

British Formula Three Championship British Formula Three Championship may refer to: *British Formula 3 International Series, a class of auto racing for Formula 3 open wheeled single seater racing cars, which took place from 1951 to 2014 *BRDC British Formula 3 Championship The ...

Gameplay

Unlike most contemporaneous racing games, ''Revs'' features selection of aerodynamic settings by the player and a full three-dimensional environment. The player is allowed to drive the wrong way around the track or even away from it completely. Unusual for the time, the track and terrain are not planar, but undulations in the ground are reproduced. The game was noted for its use of the BBC's hardware in achieving its display: such was the difficulty in squeezing the game into the BBC's limited memory, part of the game code actually occupies part of the screen memory. Whilst this would ordinarily be distractingly visible, timer-based manipulation of the BBC's display palette has the effect of turning all the 'code pixels' blue, thus hiding it in the game's sky. The game features rudimentary AI for control of the opponents' cars, which are driven by individual characters with humorous names. Johnny Turbo, Max Throttle and Gloria Slap are usually the fastest opponents, whereas Miles Behind is often the slowest. The

version release features

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

as its one track. There is also an expansion pack, ''Revs 4 Tracks'' (released in 1985), which adds

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced Race track, track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England, from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

and

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

to make a total of five.

Reception

Acorn's marketing for the game included racing sponsorship, with driver David Hunt being sponsored in the 1984

''Acorn Computer European Trophy''.

Legacy

Enhanced release

An enhanced edition of the BBC version was released in 1986 by

Superior Software Superior Interactive (formerly known as Superior Software Ltd) 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, and occasionally published software to the C ...

as ''Revs plus Revs 4 Tracks'' which included all 5 tracks. The enhanced edition also included a 'steering assist' driving aid "designed to improve control of the car when using keys or a digital joystick".REVS manual, 1986 edition

Ports

''Revs'' was later ported to the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

, with the standard game providing the

and

tracks. The '4 Tracks' pack for the Commodore (released under the title ''Revs +'') included the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Donington Park circuits.

References

External links

* The *
''Revs''
at C64Sets.com
''REVS - The Birth of Sim Racing''
documentary by GPLaps at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{Acornsoft 1984 video games Acornsoft games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games Formula Three Racing simulators Superior Software games Telecomsoft games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Single-player video games