Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
by mwenge on 4/23/2026, 1:02:32 AM
https://tempest.homemade.systems
Comments
by: ndiddy
Really nice work! From skimming it, it seems really well written. I'm looking forward to reading through the whole thing. I like how you contextualized how the different versions of the game were written and included primary source documents. The visual diagrams are also neat and help your explanations. If you're interested in even more Tempest source code, the code for the MS-DOS version of Tempest 2000 is publicly available here. <a href="https://archive.org/details/tempest-2000-dos-source-code" rel="nofollow">https://archive.org/details/tempest-2000-dos-source-code</a> I haven't tried building it myself, but from skimming through the files it seems to be intended for Borland Turbo Assembler in ideal mode.
4/23/2026, 3:17:29 AM
by: chuckmeyer
The vector graphics are why I always seek this game out first in any arcade.
4/23/2026, 3:46:31 AM
by: bandrami
That's so cool. I remember loving this game in the arcade but then being annoyed when I had to also buy a paddle wheel to play it on my 2600, which was then useful for exactly 0 other games.
4/23/2026, 3:05:49 AM
by: faxuss
Great work and detail. It gets quite technical at times; simplifying a bit would make it more accessible.
4/23/2026, 2:47:23 AM
by: gedy
Worked with Dave Theurer some years ago, nice guy.
4/23/2026, 2:33:58 AM
by: maxkonrad
gold mine
4/23/2026, 1:39:20 AM