Tanktics: Computer Game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front was Chris Crawford's first computer game, created for his own custom setup in 1977 and published for the Commodore PET in 1978. Being programmed in BASIC, it was easy to port from one system to the other. Avalon Hill published a 1981 release for the TRS-80 and Apple II as well as the Atari series.
It simulated a two-player tank battle on a large hex grid. The player could choose to command up to 8 tanks, the computer would always get twice as many tanks. There were several terrain types -- forests, lakes, plains, rough and depressed ground -- and also roads which allowed much faster movement in their direction. There were also many different types of tanks -- different ones for the German and Russian side each -- as well as stationary anti-tank guns. The game had no graphics; players had to enter their commands using a code, interpret its textual output, and use a map and cardboard tokens to keep track of tank positions. At the end of the game, a point system determines whether the player has won or lost the game.
Because of the technical limitations of the game and hardware, Tanktics was not a success. Computer Gaming World praised the game as simply fun. Complaints included the lack of a two-player mode, and the requirement for all tanks on one side to be wiped out before the game ends.[1]
References
- ^ Proctor, Bob (Jan-February 1982), "Tanktics: Review and Analysis", Computer Gaming World: 17–20
External links
- Atarimania: Tanktics; info and box art
- Tanktics: Computer Game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front at MobyGames
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