Dogfight (1980 computer game)
Encyclopedia
Dogfight is an aerial combat video game released for the Apple II
computer in 1980. A later version, Dogfight II, is copyrighted 1983. It is essentially a shoot 'em up
style game, with the player controlling an aircraft which they can steer in one axis (left or right) and shoot. Similar to Asteroids, the screen wraps around
at the edges, such that a player heading off the right edge of the screen will re-enter from the left.
Players can play solo against the computer, or, in a system very unusual in video games, up to 8 humans can play against each other. Since all control is via the single built-in keyboard of the Apple II, this involves the players crowding up against each other to reach their 3 keys. Each plane is identified by a number drawn next to it.
When a plane is shot, it becomes a parachuting figure, which transits the screen from top to bottom a few times and also may be shot.
The game was written by Bill Basham in Rockford, Illinois
. He obtained an Apple II and began to program in machine language, and wanted to explore the animation
capabilities. He ended up being able to smoothly animate up to 56 items on the screen at the same time. Part of the performance was obtained by using a lookup table
.
Although voted into the Top 20 games in Softalk
Magazine's April 1981 poll, the game was only moderately successful financially. A later version was given away with a later Basham program, Diversi-DOS, which was an enhancement utility for Apple DOS 3.3
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
computer in 1980. A later version, Dogfight II, is copyrighted 1983. It is essentially a shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
style game, with the player controlling an aircraft which they can steer in one axis (left or right) and shoot. Similar to Asteroids, the screen wraps around
Wraparound (Video Games)
Wraparound, in video games, is a gameplay variation on the single-screen in which space is finite but unbounded; objects leaving one side of the screen immediately reappear on the opposite side, maintaining speed and trajectory...
at the edges, such that a player heading off the right edge of the screen will re-enter from the left.
Players can play solo against the computer, or, in a system very unusual in video games, up to 8 humans can play against each other. Since all control is via the single built-in keyboard of the Apple II, this involves the players crowding up against each other to reach their 3 keys. Each plane is identified by a number drawn next to it.
When a plane is shot, it becomes a parachuting figure, which transits the screen from top to bottom a few times and also may be shot.
The game was written by Bill Basham in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
. He obtained an Apple II and began to program in machine language, and wanted to explore the animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
capabilities. He ended up being able to smoothly animate up to 56 items on the screen at the same time. Part of the performance was obtained by using a lookup table
Lookup table
In computer science, a lookup table is a data structure, usually an array or associative array, often used to replace a runtime computation with a simpler array indexing operation. The savings in terms of processing time can be significant, since retrieving a value from memory is often faster than...
.
Although voted into the Top 20 games in Softalk
Softalk
Softalk was a magazine of the early 1980s that focused on the Apple II computer. Published from 1979 through 1984, it featured articles about hardware and software associated with the Apple II platform and the people and companies who made them...
Magazine's April 1981 poll, the game was only moderately successful financially. A later version was given away with a later Basham program, Diversi-DOS, which was an enhancement utility for Apple DOS 3.3
Apple DOS
Apple DOS refers to operating systems for the Apple II series of microcomputers from late 1978 through early 1983. Apple DOS had three major releases: DOS 3.1, DOS 3.2, and DOS 3.3; each one of these three releases was followed by a second, minor "bug-fix" release, but only in the case of Apple DOS...