Tempest is an arcade game designed and programmed by David Theurer . It was released by Atari in 1980.

Originally conceptualised as a version of Space Invaders to be played from a first-person view, Theurer has admitted that early tests of the idea had severe gameplay problems, and consequently another game design was sought. It is said that the inspiration for Tempest 's eventual form came to him in a dream, in which monsters crawled out of a hole in the ground.

It is seen being played at the end of the music video for the Rush song Subdivisons; some are familiar with it through seeing it here.

Innovations

Tempest 's design sported three main innovations for the time:

1. Colour vector graphics.

2. Progressive level design - Arcade shooter games of the time typically consisted of just one level, repeated over and over with an increasingly difficult challenge. Tempest consisted of 16 levels comprised of different shapes and enemies, which once completed, would be repeated in a different colour and in more difficult form.

3. The Continue - Very much a standard feature of modern arcade games, Tempest was the first to allow players to keep playing once they had lost all their lives, instead of having to start from the beginning again.

External links

• The KLOV entry for Tempest
• Category at ODP
• A Tempest 3D wireframe variant