Atari Breakout - Introduction; Physical Description of Game; Summary of Game Play

1
I.
INTRODUCT.
ION
1.1
PHYSICAL
DESCRIPTION
OF
GAME
Atari's
"Breakout"
is
a ski
II-based
video
action
game designed for one
or
two
players.
The game
is
packaged in its
own
distinctively-styled
cabinet that
rests
directly
on the floor.
Two
cabinet versions,
an
upright
cabinet and a
cocktail table
cabinet, are
available.
The
upright
cabinet
has a
19-inch
black-and-white
TV
monitor
mounted
behind
an
inclined
transparent
plexiglass
panel.
The
monitor
chassis is
tilted
back
in
a
nearly
horizontal
position
and
the
players stand
in
front,
looking
down
at
the
screen.
(Drawing
number
A004835
in
Section
VII
of
this
manual
shows
an
ex-
ternal
view
of
this
cabinet.)
Several strips
of
colored
transparent
material
are
affixed
to
the
glass
on
the
front
of
the
TV
tube.
During
play
these
strips
filter
light
coming
from
the
screen so
that
certain
portions
of
the
TV
picture
will
appear
highlighted
in
color.
One
set
of
player
controls
and
two
"start"
push
but-
tons
are
mounted
on
a
panel
near
the
bottom
end
of
the
TV
screen
nearest
the
players.
Two
identical
coin
mechanisms
also
are
mounted
on
the
front
of
the
cabinet,
below
the
player
controls.
They
accept
quarters
only
and
are
connected
so
that
either
can
initiate
play.
The cash
box
is
located
behind
a
locked
access
door
to
the
coin
mechanisms.
A
speaker
is
mounted
in
the
top
portion
of
the
cabinet,
above
the
TV
screen.
During
play
it
produces
a
variety
of
sounds
that
add
to
the
game
excitement.
In
the cocktail
table cabinet the 19-inch black-
and-white
TV
monitor
is
mounted beneath the
table
top,
with
its screen facing up. The
TV
tube
is
recessed
below
the
table
surface and a transparent
plexiglass sheet pro-
tects
it
from damage.
Two
sets
of
player controls, one
set
near each end
of
the
TV
screen, are mounted on flat
panels
that are recessed into the
table
top.
Two
"start"
push buttons are
also
provided, one
along
with
each
set
of
player controls.
Two
identical
coin
mechanisms are
mounted
halfway
between the
sets
of
player controls, on
a side
panel
of
the rectangular-shaped
base
that supports
the
table
top. The
cocktail table
cabinet
is
provided
with
two
speakers; each
is
mounted on a side
panel
of
the
base,
below
a
set
of
player controls. The speakers are
connected in parallel
so
that they both produce
identical
sounds. (Drawing number
A005610
shows
an
external
view
of
the
cocktail table
cabinet.)
1.2
SUMMARY
OF
GAME
PLAY
"Breakout"
is
a ball-and-paddle
game in
which
a
player's objective
is
to
build
up the highest
possible
point score by hitting balls toward a
wall
of
bricks.
Each
time
a
ball
hits a brick, points are added to the
player's
score. Then the brick disappears and the
ball
rebounds.
Bricks at the rear
of
the
wall
are
worth
more score points
than those at the front.
Player-accumulated
scores are
displayed continuously
on the
T.V
screen. Besides
re-
bounding
from bricks and from the
player's paddle,
the
ball
will
also rebound from the
play-field's
two
sidewall
boundaries and from the
backwall
boundary behind the
wal I
of
bricks.
The
player controls
consist
of
a
lighted ''serve"
push button and a
"paddle"
knob.
Depressing the
"serve"
button causes a
bal I
to appear on the
TV
screen
and start
moving
toward the player.
Twisting the knob
causes
the
paddle
to
move
back
or
forth
along
a
straight-line
path
parallel
to the end
of
the TV screen
farthest from the
wall
of
bricks.
During
play
the player
must
manipulate the knob
so
that the
paddle
will
move
to a position that
lies
in the
ball's
path. If
the
player
succeeds in
doing
this, the
ball
will
hit the
paddle
and
rebound back towards the
wal I
of
bricks. But
if
the
player
misses, the
ball
will
pass
by the
paddle,
continue
on and
finally
disappear from the
TV
screen. To cause a
new
ball
to appear the
player
must then depress the
"serve"
button again. The game
only
serves a preset
number
of
balls,
but the number
of
volleys
made on any
one ball
is
limited
only
by the
player's skill.
Players
will
receive a
large
number
of
score points
for a
"breakout,"
that
is,
for
clearing
away
an
opening in
the
wall
of
bricks and then
paddling
a
ball
back through
the opening. When this happens the
ball
rebounds back
and forth between the
backwall
boundary
and the
high-value bricks, thus adding
multiple
points to the
player's
score for every brick hit. After a
"breakout,"
the
bal I
does not
travel
back toward the
player's paddle
unti I
it
finally
rebounds back
out
through
an
opening in the
wall
of
bricks.
To make the game more
challenging for
skillful
players,
during any one serve the
ball
speed increases in
steps
as
the player makes more and more
volleys, and
it
immediately increases to the fastest speed
as
soon
as
a
brick on the back rows
of
the
wall
is
hit. Besides these
increases in speed,
during
any
volley when a
"break-
out"
occurs the
width
of
the paddle
is
reduced to one
half
its
normal
size. The
play
sequence ends after the
player
misses a
volley
on the
last ball
served and that
ball
has
disappeared from the
TV
screen.
The
following
three types
of
sounds are produced
during
game play
as
the
ball hits various objects: a
bounce
sound
when
the
ball
hits
the
sidewall
or
backwall
boundaries, a
"blip"
sound when it hits the
paddle, and a
"tick"
sound for each score point when
it
hits bricks. A fourth buzzing sound
is
produced each
time a
player's
score reaches a preset achievement
level,
provided
that
the game has been structured by an
owner/operator option
to
allow
bonus game credits.
In
a
two-player
game, on the upright cabinet ver-
sion the
players
take turns using the same
set
of
player
controls.
On
the
cocktail table
cabinet, each player
has
a separate
set.
The game's
electronic
circuitry
includes
a
memory that
"remembers"
the
brick
pattern indepen-
dently
for each player.
This feature insures that
player
2
will
not benefit from player 1 's
skill
at making a
"break-
out"
opening in the
wall
of
bricks, and vice versa.
On
the
cocktail
cabinet version
only,
at the conclusion
of
each serve in a two-player game, the TV picture
is
ro-
tated
180°. This
is
done
so
that the paddle end
of
the
screen
will
be closest to the player whose turn
it
is
to
depress the
"serve"
button.