17 Jun
2024
17 Jun
'24
9:33 p.m.
On Jun 17, 2024, at 4:00 PM, John Robertson via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
...
Forty Years of Lunar Lander <#>
Lunar Lander games abound on every platform. Along with Tetris and Pac-Man, the game--in
which your mission is to safely maneuver your lunar module onto the moon's surface--is
one of the most widely cloned computer games of all time. But did you know that game
players began touching down on the moon in Lunar Lander…
🔗 https://technologizer.com/2009/07/19/lunar-lander/index.html
<https://technologizer.com/2009/07/19/lunar-lander/index.html>
There's also one for the CDC 6000 series mainframes, using the system console as the
display.
***** LUNAR - LUNAR LANDING SIMULATOR.
*
* L. R. ATKIN. 70/03/01.
* C. G. FILSTEAD. 70/03/01.
* D. J. SLATE. 70/03/01. VERSION 1.0
* C. G. FILSTEAD. 70/08/16. VERSION 2.0
* S. D. FREYDER. (LUN INTERFACE)
* J. J. DRUMMOND. 77/06/20. CONVERSION TO KRONOS/NOS.
LUNAR SPACE 4,10
*** LUNAR SIMULATES A SHIP IN THE VICINITY OF THE MOON.
* IT IS ABLE TO ORBIT, LAND, TAKE OFF, ETC. THE SIMULATED SHIP
* DOES NOT RESEMBLE THE *APOLLO* LUNAR MODULE, SINCE THRUST AND
* FUEL LIMITATIONS WOULD MAKE LANDING TOO DIFFICULT AND TIME
* CONSUMING.
I tried it once. It's HARD because it doesn't give you a spectator's view, as
most of the other programs do (where you see the lander and the moon's terrain).
Instead, it shows you the pilot's view, with little windows showing not much at all,
and a bunch of instruments that tell you which way is up and where you are.
I'm not sure if the console display was there in the original, or if that's the
work of Stephen Freyder (date not given here, but probably 1976).
paul