Tempest

  • Manufacturer: Atari
  • Year: 1981

Useful info

  • Cabinet type: Upright
  • Measures (WxHxD): 64,0 x 185,5 x 81,8 cm
  • Working voltage: 220V
  • Maximum consumption: non disponibile
  • Technology: Vertical color vector monitor

The game was designed and programmed by David Theurer for Atari using color vector graphics and is composed by different levels, each of which is identified by a geometric shape that develops prospectively towards the center of the screen from which come several enemies similar to spiders or insects. The player controls an unidentified being that can move on the edge of the geometric shape by a spinner and can shoot towards the center preventing enemies from coming back. A smart bomb has available for each level that destroys everything on the geometric shape and a second soft bomb that destroys only the beings on the edge on which the player moves. The game consists of 15 different levels (geometric shapes, actually). At the end of the fifteenth the game starts again with more difficulties or more enemies.

The cabinet in the collection is the original Atari version. Marquee and Control panel overlays have been reproduced. Aesthetically it is in very good condition. The spinner has a noticeable inertia that greatly increases the playability and the pleasantness of the movement.

Directly from Germany

31 March 2014

This is one of my first cabs picked up in Germany with an Asteroids. Nice trip, the first to Andreas 🙂  

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Front panel

31 March 2014

Front panel was damaged so I decided to remove the old one and apply a new black vinil

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Coin door

31 March 2014

Usual treatment for the coin door…

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Marquee and Control panel

31 March 2014

Marquee overlay was missing and CP was in very bad conditions so I had to buy new overlay.

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Inside

31 March 2014

As usual the cabinet was very dirty. Cleaning one of the sides I found the hypothetical message from its workers…  

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PCB

31 March 2014

I already had the PCB in very good conditions.  

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The end

31 March 2014

This is the cabinet as is today.  


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A new board

22 March 2017

I’m working on a Tempest PCB bought some months ago on ebay. It missed some PROMs and custom chips on the aux board. I needed a little bit to find all missing parts and I tested the aux board using my working main so I’m sure it works. So, plugging the boardset I can see this strange TEST screen:

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all “0” are on the same line… They should be on 5 different lines… Exiting fro the test the game resets.

A new board (2)

23 March 2017

I reached a good target today. Even if I checked all EPROMs and sockets, I found the first 2716 stopped working. Now the game works but with a corrupted graphics.  

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Now I’m sure I’ve to focus on the final part related to vector generation without any influence on the reset or test procedure in general.

A new board (3)

24 March 2017

Ten years ago I probably repaired this board in 5 minutes but now I need glasses, strong glasses, and I didn’t see the problem.

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After replacing as usual too much TTLs I just used a cutter to remove the shorts between those lines and now the game works properly.