DOS

Armor Alley

Trivia

Yes, "Testing 1, 2, 3..." was my company. It was a great time with some awesome people I still keep tabs on for the most part. The company most tested video games on a number of platforms and some business applications. Armor Alley was one of our projects. Good times...

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This game was orignally released for the Apple II in 1984 under the name Rescue Raiders.

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Armor Alley was a larger success on the Macintosh than the PC.

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It was developed for the black and white screen of the Mac Classic as well as the more colorful screen of the Mac LC, and these graphics were ported over to the PC, making Armor Alley one of the only games ever released for the PC to support EGA's Monochrome graphics mode. Unfortunately, the Mac Classic's 512-pixel-wide screen also carried over; the game's playfield is 512 (or 256, if in low res) pixels wide, wasting 128 pixels every scanline.

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Armor Alley was one of the few cross-platform games that had true cross-platform networked multiplayer options. A Mac and a PC could play against each other, for example.

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Armor Alley supported multiple modems-to-modems networking years before Kali, etc. existed. You could fight someone over CompuServe--no, I am not making this up--by going to a specific forum, making a connection with another gamer, then existing the dos-based CompuServe terminal program without dropping the line and starting up Armor Alley.

Included for your enjoyment are the details of this (long defunct) service, which was way ahead of it's time.

Playing Armor Alley over CompuServe

Finding someone to enjoy a multi-player game of Armor Alley may prove difficult at times. CompuServe has an answer, their Modem-to-Modem (MTM) gaming area. This area allows users to meet and play multiple player games thru the CompuServe network. In addition, the cost is attractive, at $6 per hour, compared to long distance phone bills.

This MTM area supports Armor Alley at 1200 and 2400 baud rates. To use this area you will need to have a CompuServe ID (see above) and a modem program capable of quitting without hanging up the phone. Follow the steps below to play Armor Alley thru CompuServe...

1. Using your terminal program, connect to CompuServe.
   
   
2. At CompuServe's main menu prompt (or at any ! prompt thereafter) type the command: GO MTMGAMES
   
   
3. Use option #3 to enter the MTM gaming lobby.
   
   
4. Once in the lobby, type the command: /U (Note: someone is always available to help you in the MTM area from 7pm-12am EST.)
   
   
5. From the list of users shown, see if any have Armor Alley as the game they wish to play. If there is, type the command: /CHALLENGE # (where # is the user # of that person). Now, wait for that person to either accept or decline your challenge.
   
   
6. If not, type the command: /GAME Armor Alley and wait for another person to challenge, or until someone challenges you. If they do you will get a notice with their user number. To accept type: /ACCEPT # (# being their user #)
   
   

Once a challenge has been accepted both users will be informed, and told to switch to Armor Alley after the system is ready. To do so, exit your terminal program, without hanging up the line (dropping carrier). Run Armor Alley and select a direct connect game, using the port your modem is connected to. Be sure to select the baud rate you connected to CompuServe with, either 1200 or 2400. Then wait for two-three minutes so the other person can do the same and Armor Alley can sync up. You can then start a new game and play! (See page 34)

Macintosh users only-Using MultiFinder and a MultiFinder capable term program, be sure to run Armor Alley before connecting to CompuServe. Then, simply switch to Armor Alley and select a direct connect game.

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Humorous credits: "Testing, 1, 2, 3..." was listed as one of the testers. (Tony Van contributes that Testing, 1, 2, 3... was the name of an actual software testing company.

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