Hello, Habr! I present to you the translation of the article "An interview with the creator of Scorched Earth" by Wendell T. Hicken.
The initial screen of "mom of all games." The desert landscape suggests thoughts of future wars in the Arctic.
Hello readers of Habr! My name is Igor and I like old-school computer games. I remember in the mid-90s, when I was in the last classes of high school, my friends and I often sat up after classes in an informatics office, where on an IBM PC 486 / DX2 teacher’s room they “cut” with enthusiasm into a toy called “Scorched Earth” ( translated into Russian - “Scorched Earth”). Between each other, we simply called her “scorch,” or “tanchiki.”
Recently, I became interested in learning more about the author and the history of this wonderful game. As was often the case with games in the 90s, Scorched Earth was developed by one person - American programmer Wendell T. Hicken.
, 2005 - «Ars Technica». (Ken Fisher).
.«Scorched Earth» «» . () . , . — . . . , , , , (, ..), , . , , , . , , .
, Funky Bomb …
«» «easy to play, hard to master» ( , ). - . . , . (, , ). , , , . , «» , ( ), .
, «» , . , «».
. , .
« – !» ( )
1.0 «Scorched Earth» 1991 . Borland C++, Turbo Assembler , . , , , . , «», , , , «». , , «» «Scorched Earth» . .
« »
. . «Ars Technica» , , «». (« , !») , . , , , , . , …
«Scorched Earth» .
« !»
: , , ?
: - «», ! «Predixis» , . .
: «», , 1.5?
: 1990 . 1991- 1.0, 1.1. 1992 1.2. 1.5 1995-.
: , ?
: (Caltech – ). . «Sonic the Hedgehog» «Contra».
: «Scorched Earth» ?
: , , . « ». : «?». 1 6 , «. .», « . ?». . , ?
— . , . – .
, . , , – . .
- , . , 6-10 . «». , . .
, , . , - «». , . , . , . , .
, , . . , , . .
, , , . . , , . , , . , , .
« …»
: ?
: «» , . . , . , «Defender» (1980), «PacMan» -. , RoTMA (Revenge of the Mutated Androids, « -»). , ( ).
80-, Defender
« » — . , . - , .
: «Scorched Earth» - . ?
: «» . - 10 - . , , . …
, , .
- 90-
: «Scorched Earth»? ?
: . , - . , «» .
- , . -, ( ). Totally Scorched CD, www.whicken.com.
: open-source ?
: , . , . . , «» . , , . , . ( , , ) , .
: , . ?
: - . , . , , . , , . . Xbox, GameCube, PS2, GBA, DS ( ). -, , , , , , . "" PSP.
: «Scorched Earth» ?
: , . , «». , . , .
: «Scorched Earth 3D»?
: , - . – «» . , .
D
: «Scorched Earth», ?
: . Ratchet & Clank 3, Burnout 3 SSX 3. , , Blokkus, Carcassone Blue Moon.
: «Scorched Earth», ?
: . Moron , Tosser . , , Cyborg. , . «» , , !
. , . , «» .
: , 90-, , ?
: , . , «» , , , , , , .
: «Scorched Earth»!
: «» !