Tau Ceti (computer game)
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| Tau Ceti | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | CRL Group PLC |
| Publisher(s) | CRL Group PLC |
| Designer(s) | Pete Cooke |
| Release date(s) | 1985 (ZX Spectrum), 1986 (Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, C64), 1987 (IBM PC compatible) |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Not Applicable (NA) |
| Platform(s) | Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM compatibles, ZX Spectrum |
| Media | Cassette, Floppy disk |
Tau Ceti is a science fiction themed computer game first published in 1985 by CRL for the ZX Spectrum and later converted to several other platforms. It was written by Pete Cooke. It was groundbreaking at the time for its extensive use of 3D graphics, shadow effects and its large gameworld set on a small planet, Tau Ceti III, orbiting the titular star. The planet also has a realistic day and night cycle (much shorter than our own). An enhanced version (known as Tau Ceti - The Special Edition) was released for the 128K Spectrum in 1987 featuring extra graphics and a large amount of accessible library data about the gameworld and the game. A sequel, Academy, was released in 1986.
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[edit] Plot
Humanity has spread out and colonised nearby star systems but a plague in 2150 led to the colonies being abandoned and left to their automated robotic maintenance systems. Whilst several of these colonies have been successfully re-inhabited, the colony on the planet Tau Ceti III (orbiting the star Tau Ceti) has been uncontactable since a meteor smashed into the planet. A mission sent to Tau Ceti III in 2164 landed on the planet but broadcast a mayday message followed by silence. Experts decided that the planet's robots were running amok as a result of the meteorite impact. The only chance, it was decided, of successfully stopping the defence systems without destroying the cities already there is to send a single pilot in an armoured Gal-Corp skimmer to the planet's surface with the task of shutting-down the central reactor in Tau Ceti III's capital, Centralis.
[edit] Gameplay
When it was released, Tau Ceti was an ambitious piece of software and its scale can still seem impressive. The planet Tau Ceti III consists of several cities which themselves consist of clusters of building with their defensive laser towers and patrolling robot Hunter ships. The player's skimmer can dock with some of these buildings and find parts needed to help shut-down the central reactor as well as refuel and find vital information. The cities themselves can be travelled to by means of a "jump pad" which makes the long trips between them much quicker.
The gameworld is displayed in a 3D view from the skimmer. As well as displaying these 3D graphics, Cooke's game engine renders them with simple shadows in order to simulate the day and night cycle of Tau Ceti III. These days are much shorter than Earth's consisting of one spin of the planet per hour with sixteen "spins" to a Centaurian day.
The cities of Tau Ceti III are an extremely hostile place as they are full of robot defences. These consist of laser towers and Hunter ships (of which there are three types: Mark I, Mark III and Mark III). To defend itself against these, the skimmer is armed with lasers, missiles, AAMs and flares (to distract missiles fired by robot Hunters). The skimmer also has a shield although its power is limited and if the skimmer takes damage, some of its systems might start to malfunction.
The skimmer is also fitted with a scanner in order to detect buildings or Hunters not in its forward view or at a distance and also an infra-red display mode in order to cope with Tau Ceti III's frequent hours of darkness.
Although Tau Ceti is primarily an action game, it has some text-input sections when the skimmer docks or lands on the planet's surface. When this happens, the player can communicate with the skimmer using simple commands such as "HELP", "STATUS" or "SCORE" to get access to game information. If docked with a building, "LOOK" will display a picture of the inside of the building and "EQUIP" will allow access to anything useful in that building.
As with some other Cooke games, the game also has an inbuilt note-taking system (accessed via the command "PAD") to take notes without using pen and paper.
[edit] Critical response
Response from the gaming media was very positive. CRASH, a Spectrum gaming magazine, summed Tau Ceti up in 1985 as "an excellent game, combining several elements with stunning graphics" and gave it an overall rating of 94%[1]. Another Spectrum magazine, Sinclair User, gave it a 5 star rating and declared "It's hard to imagine a better space game, unless one's talking about Elite, with its intergalactic scope and strategic depth. Viewed as a shoot 'em up with a purpose to the carnage, Tau Ceti has to be one of the all-time greats."[2]
Commodore User magazine provoked controversy later in their tips page for the Commodore 64 version of the game, in which they announced that the final two reactor parts necessary to win the game could never be made to fit, thus meaning that it was not possible to complete the game successfully.
