Dave Theurer

What's your favorite Atari arcade game by Dave Theurer? For me it's I, Robot. There's nothing else like it.

Atari Soccer
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...ari_Soccer.png

Missile Command
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...le_Command.png

Tempest
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/...T/xTempest.png

I, Robot
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/.../wI,_Robot.png

A.P.B.
http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/.../A/wA.P.B..png


And I have a question about Theurer. Mobygames lists him as having worked on the PC game Obsidian. Does anyone know what role he had in this(assuming it's the same guy)? I didn't think he worked on any games past his Atari career.

http://www.mobygames.com/developer/s...loperId,72809/

Definitely Tempest. It's one of my favorite games of all time, although Missile Command rocks too.

Missle Command was so simplistic in design, yet so much fun.


APB suffered from not ever having a good console port (that I was aware of) ... and the arcade machine was .50 a pop, and difficult to boot.

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Originally Posted by toxic

APB suffered from not ever having a good console port (that I was aware of) ... and the arcade machine was .50 a pop, and difficult to boot.

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The Lynx port comes pretty close.

MAT 2 makes it obsolete, of course.

I voted Tempest. The problem with it is that no home version has ever captured the arcade's perfect dial controller. Much as I like Minter's work, without the dial it can never match the pure playability of the original.

I did have to think a bit between Tempest and I, Robot, though. Tough choice, but Tempest squeaks on by. I, Robot was the first polygon game ever, back in the day I couldn't for the life of me figure out how the machine was changing the viewpoint like that without using vector graphics. :)

James

I'll give you one guess... :)

Don't make me choose from Tempest and APB, Both hold fantastic memories for me.

I never knew he worked on APB. I thought Theurer went on to work at Midway West with most of the other OG Atari guys like Ed Logg. Moby doesn't really list arcade games, let alone credits for them so I don't think there's much way to confirm that.

I voted for Tempest, although it's really a toss up between that and missile command. I Robot was way ahead of its time and holds up as a fun game, but it's not quite as addictive as Tempest or MC.

Theurer went on to do non-gaming Mac software after he left Atari.

Shows what I know.

Speaking of Ed Logg, do you know what he's been doing since Midway west closed 2-3 years ago?

I have no idea what Logg has been doing but that reminds me of that new arcade developer Eugene Jarvis was forming a year or two back called Raw Thrills. I wonder what happened with that.

*edit - apparently their game Target Terror did come out.
http://www.rawthrills.com/targetterror.html

id vote apb since ive never really played tempest :(

I played Target Terror. Let's never speak of it again.

James

I once read an interview with Eugene Jarvis in Next Generation (#22 I believe, their seminal 100 best games ever list). In it, he talked about how shitty and unfocused today's (1996's) games are, and how nobody knows how to design anything and how they spend all their time on attract mode instead of game design.

And you know what game he was pimping at that time? Fucking Cruis'n USA.

Cruisin' USA was a pretty decent racer.

Maybe it's just that this and KOF '95 were the only games at my college rec center for a long period of time, but I really enjoyed it.

Cruisin was definately fun in an oldschool Outrun kinda way. I liked it. The sequels really added nothing, I guess, but the first was good.

Tempest.

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

I once read an interview with Eugene Jarvis in Next Generation (#22 I believe, their seminal 100 best games ever list). In it, he talked about how shitty and unfocused today's (1996's) games are, and how nobody knows how to design anything and how they spend all their time on attract mode instead of game design.

And you know what game he was pimping at that time? Fucking Cruis'n USA.

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A few years back when Videotopia was in Philadelphia, I hung out with Eugene Jarvis for a couple of hours during the day and after the museum closed (some guys I knew arranged for him to be there). We discussed how simplistic the Cruis'n series was, yet it was tremendously successful. When talk got around to what he was working on at the time, he said it was another Cruis'n game. I forget exactly how he worded it, but to paraphrase, he said "As long as people are stupid enough to keep playing those games, I guess we'll keep on making them." Eugene is a good guy, and he knows the difference between a good game and a profitable game.

Kind of humbling to have him watch you play his games, then switch places and watch as he absolutely decimates your scores. I won our four player Warlords tournament, but I couldn't touch him on anything he worked on.

Getting back to Dave Theurer, arguably his most important work was DeBabelizer. I'll stick with Tempest though...

EA is employed by thousands of Jarvises. Except they don't have the ability to make good games.

Gotta go with the popular choice, Tempest. :D

Target Terror looks like crap (kind of like Maximum Force: The Rehash). Anyway, for my favorite Dave Theurer game I'm sort of torn between Missile Command and Tempest- but I'll give Tempest the vote.

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Originally Posted by kingpong

Getting back to Dave Theurer, arguably his most important work was DeBabelizer. I'll stick with Tempest though...

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What exactly is DeBabelizer? I don't know much about non-gaming software.

I, Robot, probably. Tempest in second.

I picked Missile Command, only because I'd spent more money in the arcades on this title. Then the release of it on the 2600 had a huge impact on my playing time with the title as well. I didn't truely appreciate the greatness of Tempest, until I played it again on the Jaguar.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

What exactly is DeBabelizer? I don't know much about non-gaming software.

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Basically a batch graphics conversion/processing/etc. program. 10-15 years ago it was an essential part of any serious graphic designer's toolbox. When the use of graphics on the web started catching on, DeBabelizer became more widely known because of the need to convert graphics to web friendly formats and palettes (many people were concerned about using the web-safe palette). DeBabelizer was one of the heavyweights in the imaging field for quite a while, though gradually its features were incorporated into the Photoshops and PaintShop Pros of the world.

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Originally Posted by James

I played Target Terror. Let's never speak of it again.

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*shudder*

Missile Command is the obvious choice, but I have a special place for APB, even though I know it's not as good.

dave