Arcade / Arcade - Platformer (Scrolling) · 1983
Bellum
Published by APX
atarimania.com — atari-400-800-xl-xe-games-bellum-587
Information
- Genre
- Arcade - Platformer (Scrolling)
- Language
- Machine Language
- Controls
- Joystick
- Players
- 1
- Programmer(s)
- Billyard, Adam Michael
- Year
- 1983
- Publisher
- APX
- Country
- USA
- License
- Commercial
- Medium
- Disk
- Rarity
- 9
- Serial
- APX #258
Votes / Statistics
Rating: 8.6/10 · Votes: 12 · Downloads: 2,813 · Hits: 10,008
Additional Comments
Excerpts from an interview with Adam Billyard by James Hague:
JH: 'Was "Bellum" your first game?'
AB: 'The first game I got published was "Bellum" through the Atari Program Exchange competitions. I was seventeen and living in Minnesota at the time. I'd been writing simple games pretty much from the time I started programming when I was twelve, but with the Atari 400 I really got into players [Atari lingo for hardware sprites], display lists, palette animation, and all that good stuff. Previously on the Apple II and the RM380Z--a Z80 based computer popular in British schools--it was very much straight bitmap graphics, so the Atari 400 was quite a revelation for me.'
JH: 'What was the computer system like that you used to write "Bellum"?'
AB: '"Bellum" was written on an 32K RAM Atari 400; the one with the membrane keyboard on which you had to roll your finger presses to get them to register. But I did have an 810 floppy disk drive which made things bearable. The floppy drive was a 19200 baud serial link, but I think you just got used to the waiting for loading plus using the DOS from hell. The DOS on the Atari was very crappy at the time but now when I look at it I can only describe it as criminal!'
Screenshots (2)
Cover Art (1)
Ads (1)
Comments (1)
the big m — 12 Sept 2023
A Super Cobra clone, I was impressed with the color usage and sprite work by the 17 year old coder. However, one button controller plus left right for speed plus use of gravity makes it tricky for me. So, please play this beautiful not easy game.