Atari Breakout - Theory of Operation; Functional Description of Game; Picture on TV Screen; General Information

Ill.
THEORY OF OPERATION
3.1
FUNCTIONAL
DESCRIPTION
OF
GAME
The
block
diagram
in Figure
3-1
sho'hs
the
major
functional
parts
of
the
"Breakout"
game
and
their
interconnections.
Note
that
the
game
printed
circuit
board
sends
a
"composite
video"
signal
to
the
TV
monitor
and
a separate
"audio"
signal
to
the
speak-
ers.
Only
the
cocktail
table
cabinet
version
has
two
speakers
and
two
sets
of
player
controls.
ONE
PLAYER
START
push
but
t o
n1I----+--+-+------.
lamps
Tu/O
PLAYER
START
push
butt
o
n~____._-1---1----~
- -
la-;;,
-s - -
COIN
HE
CHAN
I
SH
~-I---!--~
GAME
PRINTED
CIRCUIT
BOARD
aud
i o
Figure
3-1
Functional
Block
Diagram
of
"BREAKOUT"
Game
3.2 GENERAL
INFORMATION
The
general
information
about
the
"Breakout"
game
given
here
provides
a
background
for
under-
standing
the
Installation
Instructions
in Section
IV
of
this
manual,
and
the
description
of
game
operation
in
paragraphs
3.3
and
3.4.
3.2.1
ENERGIZING
THE
GAME:
The
game
does
not
have an
external
"Power
On"
switch.
Instead
it
is
energized
as
soon
as
the
power
cord
is
plugged
into
an
active
AC
wall
outlet.
This
outlet
must
pro-
vide
the
AC
power
listed
in
the
Specifications
(Sec-
tion
11
of
this
manual).
3.2.2
TV
MONITOR:
The
game's
TV
monitor
is a
self-contained
transistorized
television
monitor
supplied
to
Atari
by
Motorola.
Because
the
com
po-
site
video
signal
sent
to
the
monitor
by
the
game
control
circuitry
differs
in
certain
important
respects
from
the
signal
derived
from
commercial
TV
broad-
•
casts,
the
picture
appearing
on
the
screen is
unlike
that
of
a
home
TV
set
and
the
monitor
does
not
produce
any
sound
.
3.2.3
PICTURE
ON
TV
SCREEN:
The
game's
composite
video
signal
is
constructed
to
produce
only
two
video
levels
(white
and
black),
instead
of
the
more
or
less
continuous
shades
of
gray seen
on
a
home
TV screen. Figure 3-2
shows
a
typical
picture
that
would
appear
on
the
screen
during
play
and
identifies
the
objects
in
the
picture.
The
score
of
the
player
up
will
be
blinking
on
and
off.
The
complete
wall
of
bricks
consists
of
8
rows,
with
14
bricks
in
each
row.
Four
transparent
strips,
each
a
different
color,
are
affixed
to
the
surface
of
the
picture
tube
so
that
each
strip
covers
two
rows
of
bricks.
Drawing
no.
A004856
in
Section
VII
of
this
manual
shows a
lo-
cation
diagram
for
the
strips
on
the
upright
cabinet
version
and
identifies
the
color
of
each
strip.
A
fifth
colored
strip
is
placed
over
the
narrow
rectangular
region
of
the
screen
in
which
the
paddle
is
allowed
to
move
back
and
forth.
On
the
cocktail
table
cabinet
two
sets
of
brick
strips
are
affixed,
one
set
near
each
end
of
the
TV
tube,
but
the
paddle
strip
is
omitted.
Two
sets
of
brick
strips
are
used
because
on
this
cabinet
version
the
picture
is
rotated
180°
after
each serve
in
a
two-player
game.
back
row
WALL
OF
BRICKS
front
row
(side
of
pkture
closest
to
pJayer's
controls)
number
of
ball
being
played
now
score
for
Player
2
right
sidewall
boundary
Figure 3-2 Typical Picture
During
Play
3.3 GAME
SEQUENCE
3.3.1
OPERATING
MODES:
During
use
the
"Breakout"
game
can
be
described
as
operating
in
either
of
two
modes,
attract
or
play.
Plugging
the
power
cord
into
an
active
AC
outlet
energizes
the
game
and
it
starts
out
in
the
attract
mode.
The
game
remains in
the
attract
mode
until
a
player
deposits
a
coin
and
the
coin
clears
the
coin
mechanism,
at
which
point
a
signal
derived
from
the
·
coin
mechanism
causes
the
game
to
go
into
the
play
mode.
The
game remains in
the
play
mode
until
the