''Solar Quest'' is a

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

created by

Cinematronics Cinematronics Incorporated was an arcade game video game developer, developer that primarily released vector graphics games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other companies released games based on raster graphics, raster displays, early ...

in 1981. It was designed and programmed by Scott Boden, who previously worked on ''

Star Castle ''Star Castle'' is a vector graphics multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The display is black and wh ...

''. It had a home release for the

Vectrex The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console, the only one ever designed and released for the home market, that was developed by Smith Engineering and manufactured and sold by General Consumer Electronics. It was first released ...

system in 1982.

Gameplay

The player controls a ship that can rotate to the left and right and thrust forward, similar to the better known ''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

'', and like that game the player also has a "hail mary" device, hyperspace. In the center of the screen is the sun, which pulls objects into it, in a fashion similar to ''

Spacewar! ''Spacewar!'' is a space combat video game developed in 1962 by Steve Russell in collaboration with Martin Graetz, Wayne Wiitanen, Bob Saunders, Steve Piner, and others. It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at the ...

''. The screen wraps at the edges. Waves of enemy spaceships appear in groups of up to eight. There are seven different types of ships, growing smaller to make them harder to hit. Each "phase" of the gameplay completes when each of the seven waves is destroyed. The spaceships are a collision hazard and normally fly around the screen randomly. As the game progresses, they become more likely to attempt to ram the player directly. At higher levels, the ships gain weapons and attempt to shoot the player. The player's ship is armed with two weapons, a cannon and a "nuke". The cannon fires a single shot in the direction your ship is pointed, and the game allows up to four shots on screen at once. The nuke destroys all ships in the area when it is triggered, which occurs with a second button press after being launched from the ship. The player's ship starts the game with three nukes and gains a new one every 10000 points. Whenever an alien ship is destroyed, a "survivor" is left drifting in space. The player can collect the survivors by flying his ship over them. Alternately he can shoot them, or allow them to fall into the Sun. The player is awarded with points for successful rescues, and eventually free ships.

Development

''Solar Quest'' uses the "classic" monochrome Cinematronics chassis introduced with ''

Space Wars ''Space Wars'' is a shooter game released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1977. It is based on the PDP-1 game '' Spacewar!'' (1962) but instead uses vector graphics for the visuals. The hardware developed for ''Space Wars'' became the platform ...

'', and used a coloured plastic overlay to produce a yellow sun, blue play field, and red scoring information at the top. The game was originally intended to be based on a true color display, but was released in monochrome..

References

External links

*{{KLOV game, id=9612 1981 video games Arcade video games Cinematronics games Multidirectional shooters Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer hotseat games Vector arcade video games Vectrex games Video games developed in the United States