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''The Halley Project: A Mission In Our Solar System'' is a space flight simulation game developed for the
Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-mold ...
, Commodore 64, and
Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE ...
by Omar Khudari and
Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows ''Tomorrow'', on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and ''T ...
and published by Mindscape in 1985. An
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...
version with updated graphics was released in 1986.


Plot

The player assumes the role of a star pilot whose mission is to travel between the various bodies of the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
. The game opens with a mix of
electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
music and actual digitized speech during which the player is shown the text of a transmission sent from the headquarters of a body known as "P.L.A.N.E.T.":
Greetings,
You have been chosen from all the pilots in the Solar System to attempt to qualify for The Halley Project team. If you do indeed qualify, you will be invited to take part in the greatest scientific adventure in history: The Halley Project ... the Final Challenge.
Good luck, you will need it.
Neal "Buzz" Collins
Starbird 1st Class
P.L.A.N.E.T. out


Gameplay

The player starts out from a base on
Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a List of periodic comets, short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye fr ...
and must first make his way to
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...
, and then back to Halley. As longer and more difficult missions are completed, the player's rank increases from the starting level of
Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned ...
through
Shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also kno ...
,
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...
,
Darter The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, ''Anhinga''. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and ...
,
Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are: * The Andean condor (''V ...
,
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT ...
, Nighthawk,
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
,
Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
, and finally Starbird. A secret mission at the end of the game is accessible by typing in a password mailed by the software company after the player completes the last registered mission and receives a number code. The code is then mailed to "Project Halley" (in reality the software company that designed the game) on a pre-packaged postcard. A letter is then received from the software company instructing the player to load the program, initiate the Starbird level, go to Earth, and type MINDSCAPE to access the secret mission. ''The Halley Project'' is distinctive for the accuracy and sense of realism it seeks to convey. The distances between worlds are realistic, their sizes reasonably accurate, and the task of landing safely often less than easy — a small window at a certain point in
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such a ...
must be reached in a given amount of time. Travel across the vast distances of the solar system is made bearable by one of the game's few fictional elements, a hyperdrive that engages when the speed of the craft reaches 300,000 kilometers per second (the
speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit fo ...
). Navigation takes place entirely in a plane with no "vertical" component, though the direction the ship travels and the direction it faces are each controlled separately. The player is aided by a
radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
system that pinpoints the
planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young ...
on a circular display centered on the ship's position, around which are also marked the 12
constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellatio ...
of the
Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The p ...
. The range of the radar can be zoomed from 50 million kilometers out to 10 billion.


Reception

A review in ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...
'' praised the game for seamlessly weaving educational material about the solar system into the game. The game's scoring system, which imposes no penalty for taking time to plan a flight, was also praised, as were the visuals and sounds. However, the five-week wait for the final mission was considered frustrating. ''The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review'' analyzed the Amiga version, mentioning: "A difficult game for the beginner, perseverance holds its own rewards. It is very satisfying to confidently approach a landing knowing that you have made good time and you are able to land safely, the music which plays when you are in range of base relaxes you completely and washes away the tension of the flight."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halley Project, The Apple II games Commodore 64 games Amiga games Atari 8-bit family games Fiction about Halley's Comet 1985 video games Realistic space simulators Video games developed in the United States