Xybots, as I mentioned
earlier, started out as an idea
to do Castle Wolfenstein.I
started the game as a two-
player split-screen Gauntlet
III. Partway through, market-
ing said they wanted
something other thanGaunt-
let. So I changed the
characters and enemies to be
more likeMajor Havoc. I still
regret changing the theme
and wish I had kept my origi-
nal game concept.
Was it a great engineering challenge to create the game’s 3D look?
I developed a very interesting algorithm for doing the 3D rotation using just 8 by 8 pixel
stamps, as we call them. I don’t know how to explain how this worked without getting
my original sketches to visually demonstrate it. I could have had the player rotate other
than in 90-degree increments, but it made the gameplay simpler to just allow only
90-degree rotations.
If I recall, the game had interesting and unique controls.
The controller was very
unique because it provided
the standard eight-way joy-
stick as well as a knob on top
which could turn left or right
to indicate a rotation. This
control made the game more
difficult, which is often the
kiss of death in the coin-op
market. As with any 3D game,
players could not easily visu-
alize where they were despite
the map available to them. In
addition, it was possible to get
shot in the back, which added
to the frustration factor.
How did you get involved working on the AtariTetris?
I played a version ofTetrisand was quickly addicted. I asked our legal counsel, Dennis
Wood, to get the rights. Since I had just worked on reverse engineering the Nintendo
Family Computer, which soon became the Nintendo Entertainment System in the U.S.,
I decided to create a version on the FC and NES and sell it through Tengen, which was
100 Chapter 6: Interview: Ed Logg
Gauntlet IIXybots