Tempest 3000 Explained

Tempest 3000
Developer:Llamasoft
Publisher:Hasbro Interactive
Producer:Joe Sousa
Programmer:Jeff Minter
Composer:André Meyer
Ian Goddard
James Grunke
Series:Tempest
Platforms:Nuon
Genre:Tube shooter
Modes:Single-player, multiplayer

Tempest 3000 is a tube shooter video game developed by Llamasoft for the Nuon. It was published by Hasbro Interactive in North America on December 13, 2000, and Europe on March 2001. It is a follow-up to Tempest 2000, an updated remake of Dave Theurer's arcade game Tempest (1981). The player controls a claw-shaped blaster, shooting at enemies and obstacles, scoring points, and surviving multiple levels. The game modifies and builds upon the gameplay from Tempest 2000, introducing new enemies and mechanics.

Tempest 3000 was one of the first games unveiled for Nuon and was programmed by Jeff Minter, who previously worked on Tempest 2000. In the late 1990s, Minter left Atari Corporation after completing Defender 2000 to work for VM Labs. After Minter designed an audio visualizer for the Nuon, VM Labs asked him to refocus his efforts on Tempest, which was challenging due to the limited power of the console's hardware.

Tempest 3000 received generally favorable reception from critics; the soundtrack, frenetic action, game mechanics, and difficulty were praised, but the blurry visual effects as well as the lack of versus and cooperative multiplayer modes were criticized. By 2003, it had sold over 20,000 copies. In 2024, publisher Songbird Productions announced a limited re-release of the game.

Gameplay

Following the gameplay of Tempest (1981) and Tempest 2000, Tempest 3000 is a tube shooter game where the player shoots enemies and obstacles as they appear from the center of the screen. The player controls a claw-shaped blaster, scoring points by hitting targets as they try to survive multiple levels.[1] The blaster is also equipped with a "Superzapper" that destroys all enemies on-screen, which recharges between each level.[1] Players can collect power-ups and upgrades, which appear when enemies or their bullets are destroyed.[1]

The game modifies and builds upon the enhancements from Tempest 2000 with new mechanics. Instead of a jump ability, the blaster can now spend fuel to hover and glide over the web.[1] A homing missile power-up allows the player to target enemies in two lanes of the web.[1] The player can also improve their score multiplier by collecting power-ups, but using a "Superzapper" resets the multiplier to zero.[1] Power-ups also activate a remote droid that appears above the web to help the player destroy enemies.[1] The game also introduces new enemies to the series, such as Rotors and Unmaker-Spiders that move and reform the web respectively.[1] [2]

When all enemies have been destroyed, the player warps to the next level, but must avoid or destroy spikes left by Spikers and Super Spikers that are in the way. Hitting any spike will destroy the blaster and force the player to start over.[1] The player can also collect three warp tokens to access a bonus round, and completing it allows the player to skip two levels.[1] The game features over 256 levels, with the last half being procedurally generated.[3] The player loses a life when their blaster is destroyed or captured, and the game is over when all lives are lost. The player can resume their progress via passwords provided after completing each odd-numbered level.[1] In addition, the game also has a multiplayer option which allows two players to play by alternating turns.[1]

Development

Tempest 3000 is a follow-up to Tempest 2000, itself an updated remake of Dave Theurer's arcade game Tempest (1981).[4] [5] [6] It was programmed by Jeff Minter, founder of Llamasoft, who previously worked on Tempest 2000.[7] [8] [9] [10] Minter left Atari after completing Defender 2000 in December 1995 and returned to Wales to work for VM Labs, a California-based semiconductor and platform company founded by Richard Miller with former Atari and Sony staff.[7] [11] [12] [13] He helped with software design and wrote the built-in VLM-2 audio visualizer for the Nuon DVD technology, then codenamed "Project X".[7] [10] [13] [14]

In 1997, Minter teased on his personal website that Tempest 3000 could happen, and in 1998, VM Labs asked him to create Tempest for the Nuon, allowing him to apply ideas he had tried with a version of Breakout for his particle effects system.[15] The game was produced by Joe Sousa, who worked on Atari Jaguar titles such as Cybermorph and Kasumi Ninja.[8] [16] The soundtrack features nineteen songs, twelve of which are remixed tracks from Tempest 2000, while the remaining music are original compositions by André Meyer, Ian "T(NT)" Goddard, and James Grunke.[4] [2] [8]

Minter said it was difficult taking advantage of the Nuon's hardware due to its underpowered architecture, forcing him to limit the game program to less than four kilobytes of RAM.[6] According to Minter, VLM-2 code was integrated into the game to generate live background effects.[17] Production of the game lasted two years, with development concluding in October 2000.[4] [6] [9] [18] Minter considers Tempest 3000 to be the most difficult programming job he has ever done, but he enjoyed his five years working with VM Labs and expressed pride in his work.[6] [9]

Release

Tempest 3000 was one of the first games unveiled for the Nuon, with public demos appearing as early as 1998.[19] [20] [21] The game was showcased at E3 1998 and CES 2000.[22] [23] [24] [25] More details were announced during its E3 2000 showcase, revealing that Hasbro Interactive would publish the title as part of a multi-game deal with VM Labs.[26] [27] [28] A demo disc bundled with Samsung DVD-N2000 models featured the game as one of four included demos.[26]

Tempest 3000 was released in North America on December 13, 2000, followed by Europe in March 2001.[26] In 2001, Jeff Minter donated a unique copy called Tempest 3000: Flossie Edition as part of a Tempest 2000 competition at JagFest 2K1, which contained drawings as well as a piece of wool and a goatee trim.[29] [30] [31] The game has not been ported to other platforms due to its reliance on assembly language.[32] [33] It was omitted from the compilation due to Nuon being "a bridge too far" to emulate, according to Digital Eclipse editorial director Chris Kohler.[34] [35] [36] In 2024, publisher Songbird Productions, in association with Atari, announced a limited re-release of the game to be released on May 7.[33] [36] [37]

Reception

Tempest 3000 received generally favorable reviews from critics. According to GameState magazine, the game had sold over 20,000 copies by 2003.[38] Chris Johnston of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) highlighted its evolution of the series' gameplay, sense of humor, and difficulty. Edge lauded its attractive graphics, frenetic action, balanced playability, and difficulty curve. Syzygys Jason W. Cody liked its addition of the bonus multiplier mechanic, new enemies and music.[39]

Digital Press Russ Perry Jr. praised the audiovisual presentation but felt it was difficult to control without a rotary controller or alternative control schemes. MyAtari magazine commended the "jaw-dropping" visuals, techno soundtrack, and frenetic action.[40] German website neXGam celebrated its impressive graphical department, soundscapes, and numerous levels, but criticized the lack of two-player versus and cooperative modes. The game's blurry visual effects were also criticized by several reviewers, including EGM, Syzygy, and Tips & Tricks.[39] [41]

The game was a runner-up for the "Graphical Achievement" and "Audio Achievement" categories during the Edge Awards in 2001, but lost to Jet Set Radio and Alien Resurrection (2000) respectively.[42] Ars Technica considered Tempest 3000 to be the most significant title for Nuon, while Time Extension regarded it as the "crown jewel" of the Nuon's game library, citing its "raw arcade thrills", pounding dance music, and unique visual look.[43] [44]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Tempest 3000. 2000. Hasbro Interactive. North American. Manual.
  2. Web site: Manne. Kevin. Tempest 3000 (NUON Game Review) – Psychedelic Mind Candy For The Brain. NUON-Dome. December 2000. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20020227224815/https://www.nuon-dome.com/t3krev.html. 2002-02-27. live.
  3. Web site: Team Diary: Coffee nights. Edge. Future plc. 2001. 2024-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20010418222433/http://www.edge-online.com/news_main.asp?news_id=3376. 2001-04-18. dead.
  4. Mehta. Andrew J.. Nuon: Cambridge hits the USA; "Show me the Games!". United Games Fanzine. 2. 2. United Games. March 2001. 25, 26—27.
  5. Book: Tempest 3000 (Nuon). PDF. Game design document. VM Labs. September 2, 1999. 1—12. https://web.archive.org/web/20150701142450/https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NUON-Tempest-3000-Design-Doc.pdf. 2015-07-01. live. 2024-03-24.
  6. Web site: Sheffield. Brandon. Brandon Sheffield. Llamas In Space: Catching Up with Llamasoft's Jeff Minter. Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. April 4, 2007. 1—6. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20070414002839/http://gamasutra.com/features/20070404/sheffield_01.shtml. 2007-04-14. dead. (Transcription by Game Developer.).
  7. News: Project X confirmed for 1998. Next Generation. 37. Imagine Media. January 1998. 18—19.
  8. Web site: Tempest 3000 - Credits. AllGame. All Media Network. November 28, 2000. 2024-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20141115231256/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=23111&tab=credits. 2014-11-15. dead.
  9. Jeff Minter: El místico. Micromanía. 3. 113. Axel Springer SE. June 2004. 130. es.
  10. Book: Minter. Jeff. Jeff Minter. Minter. Patrick. 2009. https://s3.amazonaws.com/lsshop/AHistoryofLlamasoft.pdf. Visual Synthesis - The Evolution of Llamasoft's Graphical Style. PDF. A History of Llamasoft. Llamasoft. 195—209. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20240318142534/https://s3.amazonaws.com/lsshop/AHistoryofLlamasoft.pdf. 2024-03-18. live.
  11. Montfort. Nick. Spawn of Atari. Wired. 4. 10. Wired Ventures. October 1996. 166—171. (Transcription).
  12. Project X: A Mario killer in the making. Next Generation. 35. Imagine Media. November 1997. 17.
  13. Video Game News: X Marks The Spot. Electronic Gaming Monthly. 103. Ziff Davis. February 1998. 26.
  14. News Bits: The Project X Files. GamePro. 115. IDG. April 1998. 26.
  15. Web site: Minter. Jeff. Jeff Minter. The Llatest From Llamaland. The Grunting Ox. 2024-03-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20010128135500/http://myweb.magicnet.net/~yak/gnus.htm. 2001-01-28. dead.
  16. Web site: Wallett. Adrian. Joe Sousa (Atari) – Interview. Arcade Attack. June 28, 2019. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20190629225418/https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/joe-sousa-atari/. 2019-06-29. live.
  17. Web site: Minter. Jeff. Jeff Minter. Gruntings of April 1999. The Grunting Ox. April 1999. 2024-03-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20010309224657/http://myweb.magicnet.net/~yak/oxapr99.htm. 2001-03-09. dead.
  18. Web site: Minter. Jeff. Jeff Minter. Change returns success, going and coming without error.... The Grunting Ox. October 20, 2000. 2024-03-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20010302041707/http://myweb.magicnet.net/~yak/gnugnus.htm. 2001-03-02. dead.
  19. Video Game News: Fast, Cheap апd Out of Control. Electronic Gaming Monthly. 105. Ziff Davis. April 1998. 22—23.
  20. News: Project X progresses. Next Generation. 40. Imagine Media. April 1998. 18.
  21. Intelligence: VM Labs Confirms Key Details on Project X. Next Generation. 43. Imagine Media. July 1998. 16—17.
  22. GameFan @ E3; The GameFan E3 Top 10; The Editor's Top 10 Picks. GameFan. 6. 8. Metropolis Media. August 1998. 97—119, 120—124, 125—127.
  23. Intelligence: Software partnership comes together for VM Labs. Next Generation. 44. Imagine Media. August 1998. 26.
  24. News: Tempest in a Teapot? NUON Revealed at CES. Next Generation. 63. Imagine Media. March 2000. 10.
  25. Web site: Kennedy. Sam. NUON Shows its Face at CES. GameSpot. CNET Networks. April 26, 2000. 2024-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20240316200409/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nuon-shows-its-face-at-ces/1100-2446026/. 2024-03-16. live.
  26. Web site: News Briefs - 2000 ARCHIVE. Atari Gaming Headquarters. 2000. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20010407064155/http://www.atarihq.com/news/2000/index.html. 2001-04-07. dead.
  27. Web site: VM Labs and Hasbro Interactive Ink Multi-Title Software Deal for NUON™ Interactive DVD Games. Business Wire. May 10, 2000. 2024-03-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20010210225215/http://nuon.tv:80/releases/05_10c_00.html. 2001-02-10. dead.
  28. Electronic Entertainment Expo — Special Report: E3 2000 Classic Game Overviews. Classic Gamer Magazine. 1. 4. June 2000. 12—15.
  29. Web site: Llamasoft And The GOAT Store Team Up To Offer Exclusive Jagfest 2K1 Prizes. The GOAT Store. May 22, 2001. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20010714142930/http://209.241.178.73/may22PR.htm. 2001-07-14. dead.
  30. Loosen. Dan. Forhan. Carl. Rowe. Micah. Thompson. Clint. Mosley. Kevin. Femrite. Randy. Rusniak. Ted. JagFest 2001: The Aftermath. Jaguar Explorer Online. 5. 1. White Space Publishers. November 30, 2001. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20020207000937/http://www.atarihq.com/jeo/jeo_0501.htm#JAGFEST. 2002-02-07. dead.
  31. Web site: Past Events: JagFest 2K1 - Notes, Reports and Pictures. Midwest Gaming Classic. 2003. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20031226211814/http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/2001picrev.php. 2003-12-26. dead.
  32. Web site: Tempest X000!!! Interview with Jeff Minter. Tempest X000. November 3, 2000. 2024-03-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20010303221045/http://hivebalur.net/txk/interview.htm. 2001-03-03. dead. (Transcription by Alive.).
  33. Web site: Chalk. Andy. 42 games from legendary British indie Jeff Minter's psychedelic back catalogue are now bundled with an 'interactive documentary' on Steam. PC Gamer. Future US. March 13, 2024. 2024-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20240314024300/https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/42-games-from-legendary-british-indie-jeff-minters-psychedelic-back-catalogue-are-now-bundled-with-an-interactive-documentary-on-steam/. 2024-03-14. live.
  34. Thorpe. Nick. The Making of: Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story. Retro Gamer. 256. Future Publishing. February 15, 2024. 52—57.
  35. Web site: Yarwood. Jack. "A True Original" - Digital Eclipse On 'Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story'. Time Extension. Hookshot Media. March 5, 2024. 2024-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20240305161842/https://www.timeextension.com/features/interview-a-true-original-digital-eclipse-on-llamasoft-the-jeff-minter-story. 2024-03-05. live.
  36. Web site: Yarwood. Jack. The Llamasoft Classic 'Tempest 3000' Is Being Reissued For The Nuon. Time Extension. Hookshot Media. March 22, 2024. 2024-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20240325024123/https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/03/the-llamasoft-classic-tempest-3000-is-being-reissued-for-the-nuon. 2024-03-25. live.
  37. Web site: Verdin. Guillaume. Le légendaire Tempest 3000 enfin réédité sur Nuon. . Association MO5.COM. April 5, 2024. 2024-04-18. fr. https://web.archive.org/web/20240405203021/https://mag.mo5.com/254445/le-legendaire-tempest-3000-enfin-reedite-sur-nuon/. 2024-04-05. live.
  38. Web site: All Time Top 20 Best Selling Games and More. Ownt.com. Cutting The Edge Network. May 21, 2003. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20030806025329/http://www.ownt.com/qtakes/2003/gamestats/gamestats.shtm. 2003-08-06. dead.
  39. Cody. Jason W.. Tempest 3000. Syzygy Magazine. 2. 1. Spring 2001. 20.
  40. Wellicome. Thomas. Features: Nuon Experience. MyAtari. 33. July 2003. 2024-03-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20030829200955/http://myatari.net/issues/jul2003/nuonexp.htm. 2003-08-29. dead.
  41. Santulli. Joe. Collector's Closet: Collecting Nuon. Tips & Tricks. 88. Larry Flynt Publications. June 2002. 93.
  42. Edge Awards 2001. Edge. 97. Future plc. May 2001. 58—65.
  43. Web site: Moss. Richard. Remembering Nuon, the gaming chip that nearly changed the world—but didn't. Ars Technica. Condé Nast. June 28, 2015. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20150629182849/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/06/before-the-ps2-nuon-famously-tried-and-failed-to-combine-dvd-and-game-consoles/. 2015-06-29. live.
  44. Web site: Day. Ashley. Nuon, The DVD Player That Tried To Be A Games Console And Failed. Time Extension. Hookshot Media. July 26, 2023. 2024-03-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20230731192345/https://www.timeextension.com/features/ultimate-guide-nuon-the-dvd-player-that-tried-to-be-a-games-console-and-failed. 2023-07-31. live.

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