THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE 3D COMBAT ZONE PUBLISHER Artic AUTHOR Jon Ritman YEAR: 1983 CATEGORY 3D Shoot'em-up DESCRIPTION: 3D Combat Zone is a clone of the arcade game Battlezone by Atari. The game uses 3D wire frame graphics to render the enemy tanks, saucers and other objects. There are two types of tanks you can encounter, the first is typical cannon fodder but is still quite intelligent. The second type which you encounter later on is a lot faster, intelligent and harder to hit. Both tanks can fire back but the saucer cannot. The battlefield is also littered with pyramid shaped objects which are very useful to hide behind, but unfortunately this is so for the enemy tanks. Your tank is restricted to firing one bullet at a time and will reload when the shell either goes out of range or hits an object or tank. To help you locate the enemy there is a radar screen, this only picks up the vehicles and not the shells. CONTROLS SPACE - fire SYMBOL SHIFT - forwards M - backwards C - left V - right You can also use Kempston and Sinclair Joysticks. INLAY TEXT: *Side 1* ARTIC COMPUTING LIMITED MAIN ST., BRANDESBURTON DRIFFIELD YO25 8RL 3D COMBAT ZONE GENERAL LOADING AND RUNNING INSTRUCTIONS 1 Assemble the cassette tape at the silent part before the program. 2 Connect the EAR socket on the SPECTRUM to the EAR or LOUDSPEAKER socket on your cassette recorder. 3 Adjust the volume of the cassette recorder to 3/4 maximum and the tone controls to maximum treble and minimum bass. 4 Type LOAD "" CODE (CODE - extended Mode I). Do not press ENTER yet. 5 Start the cassette recorder and now press ENTER. Instructions in Program. *Side 2* 3D COMBAT ZONE After the century-long bloody battle fought across the plains of Lacentra, you alone must alone must fight to live. As sole survivor of the once magnificent home battle fleet force, you must wander the radio-active wasteland and defend yourself against the remains of the ravished enemy. You are the commander of a tank, and must out-manoeuvre enemy tanks, flying saucers and super tanks while avoiding the structured obstacles for you solitary existence. Your heat-seeking missiles are all spent and only shell-blasters remain as your ammunition source. You may only use one shell at a time. The inferior invading clans, but as time goes by and your presence is detected, superior tanks appear. A radar screen and location message readout are positioned above your sights to help you seek out the enemy. The control keys are as follows: FIRE - SPACE FORWARD - SYMBOL SHIFT BACKWARDS - M LEFT - C RIGHT - V Scoring TANK - 500 FLYING SAUCER - 1000 SUPER TANK - 2500 This game also works with the Kempston and Sinclair Joysticks. SEQUELS/PREQUELS None SCORES RECEIVED Unknown, however it was not reviewed by Sinclair User or YS. GENERAL FACTS This was one of the first games by Jon Ritman, the man who would later program classics such as Match Day and Head over Heels. Jon wrote 5 games for Artic including Namtir raiders (Ritman backwards !), Cosmic Debris, Dimension Detructors, Bear Bover and of course 3D Combat Zone. As stated earlier 3D Combat Zone is a copy of the classic arcade game Battlezone of which an official version was not released until much later by Quicksilva. Jon's version differed in a few ways to the original, the main one being control of the tank. In Battlezone you had control of both tracks and so could do quick turns etc but 3D Combat Zone only allowed you to move the tank. The game used a sophisticated loader for the game where to load the basic loader you had to use LOAD "" CODE. CHEATS: No pokes known. general tips. -The enemy tanks will not aimlessly drive into the path of your shells and will change direction. -Use the pyramids to your advantage. -When you are retreating by driving backwards, watch out for the pyramids which can get in the way. -Don't bother trying to run away from the enemy, they will always keep you in check. COMPLETING THE GAME: Not known if it can be completed, more likely is that it gets harder and harder the more levels you pass. NOTES: One of the first Battlezone clones.