Very cool :)
Here's a post by George Collins of ATVI in testing
out Battlezone on the BZ Bulletin Board.
Gameplay Moment
Posted by George Collins ACTIVISION on Sunday, 22 February 1998, at 5:43 p.m.
I was playing multiplayer today with internal testers. I was driving a flanker (the soviet fighter) with the
standard dual chain guns and a special feature, a TAG cannon. The TAG cannon has a small transmitter
projectile that you with once and then it launches a salvo of swarmer missiles which are guided toward
the target.
Josh Resnick, Director of Production, was driving a Sasquatch Walker. Sasquatches have 6000 hit
points, dual stabbers and a Pop Gun Mortar. In other words in no way do yo want to mess with this
thing.
Josh had perched himself up on a small round butte where he could rain terror down on almost anyone.
For all of you who aren't beta testers I need to explain that the Pop Gun Mortar is a guided mortar. So
Josh could easily slam people he had LOS on (with dual stabbers) and he could mash people hiding
behind hills with Pop Gun Mortar.
So here I come in my fragile little Flanker, determined to strike my blow. I charged to the base of the
butte, denying him a shot with his AT-Stabbers. Josh naturally switched to his Pop Gun and began
launching arc shots at me. Now as I mentioned the flanker is fast but pretty fragile. Two or three pop
gun hits could mean RIP. So I step on the gas and circle the butte as fast as I can. Only by moving
really fast and turning can I avoid the guided mortar shells. I've got Josh targeted (and Sasquatches
can't really break a target lock cuz they are big) so I can see him in my top left corner and have a pretty
good idea what he is firing and which way he is facing.
For a moment he forgot to keep turning to face me. Seizing my chance I jumped up the edge of the butte
and peppered him with chain gun fire. He turned quickly and I dived back toward the base of the butte,
but not before I took a few stabber hits. Immeadiately he began lobbing mortars and I began to circle in
a frenzy.
I could watch him firing from my target cam, waiting for him to run out of ammo. The Pop Gun is an
ammo hog. Eventually he stopped firing it, but I knew he could easily have enough nano-ammo left to
wase me with his stabbers. I used the speed and jumping agillity of my flanker to again race over the
edge of the butte. I fired the chain guns again, this time linked with the TAG cannon. The tag got a solid
hit as I flew in the air over the Sasquatch. I stopped firing my chain gun as I was now hurtling through
the air in the opposite direction, trying to land so that I could dodge his shots. Midair and moving away
my swarmers began launching. Even though I was trying to land I pointed my nose up to give the
swarmers the best possible trajectory. The swarmers flew over my shoulder and slammed into the
Sasquatch which was too slow to have any hope of dodging. As I landed I heard the rumble of an
explosion. Victory! |
