Stellar 7
Encyclopedia
Vehicle simulation game
Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. This includes automobiles, aircraft, watercraft, spacecraft, military vehicles, and a variety of other vehicles...
computer game based on the arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
Battlezone
Battlezone
Battlezone is an arcade game from Atari released in 1980. It displays a wireframe view on a horizontal black and white vector monitor...
in which the player assumes the role of a tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
pilot. The enemies include anything from other tanks to mechanical birds. Several years later a sequel game, Nova 9 was released. The game's creator, Damon Slye, created similar tank games, including Arcticfox
Arcticfox
Arcticfox is a computer game developed by Dynamix and published in by Electronic Arts. It was published in Europe by Ariolasoft.It was first developed for the Amiga, but was quickly ported to other popular platforms of the era such as the Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, PC and Apple IIe...
.
Stellar 7 was developed by Dynamix
Dynamix
Dynamix, Inc. was an American developer of computer games from 1984 to 2001, best known for their flight simulator, Red Baron, the Front Page Sports series, Betrayal at Krondor, and their online multiplayer game, Tribes.-History:...
, which is now defunct.
Game Description
The original game was written by Damon SlyeDamon Slye
Damon Slye is a computer game designer, director, and programmer.In 1984 he founded Dynamix with Jeff Tunnell in Eugene, Oregon. He is best known for creating a popular series of historic flight simulations that included Red Baron, A-10 Tank Killer, and Aces of the Pacific.Slye's first product...
in the 1980s for a variety of home computer platforms. It has minimalistic, 3-dimensional wireframe
Wireframe
Wireframe or wire frame may refer to:* Wire-frame model, visual presentation of a three dimensional or physical object used in 3D computer graphics* Website wireframe, a basic visual guide used in web design...
graphics. The player's tank (the Raven) has a front-facing cannon with an unlimited supply of bullets. The cannon can fire up to two shots at a time. The tank also has a cloaking device
Cloaking device
Cloaking devices are advanced stealth technologies still in development that will cause objects, such as spaceships or individuals, to be partially or wholly invisible to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum...
that, when triggered, would render it invisible to enemies for about a minute. Gauges on the left side of the screen indicate the amount of shields and power remaining. The tank starts with enough power to cloak twice, and power slowly trickles away as the time passes. The game ends when either shields or power runs out.
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, hence the title. The player's objective is to get to the last level and defeat the enemy boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
, Gir Draxon. Each level is depicted as a nearly featureless plain dotted by geometric obstacles, some indestructible and most not, and various enemies. After the player destroys a certain number of enemies, a warplink will appear that provides a gateway to the next level. The levels are (note: the original version did not have guardians):
- SolSunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
: Its regular grid of "indestructible" obstacles provides plenty of cover. The relatively weak set of enemies includes sandsleds, skimmers, and hovercrafts. The guardian here is easy to defeat. Just keep moving backwards while shooting and stay clear of the obstacles. - AntaresAntaresAntares is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky . Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic...
: The laser batteries make their first appearance here, along with seekers and prowler tanks. Obstacles are fewer and farther between than the previous level. The easiest way to destroy the guardian is to employ the exact opposite tactic used to defeat the first guardian: move forward and engage it up close (before the spider eggs hatch to deal serious damage). - RigelRigelRigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.18...
: Rigel is most notable for its fuel bay, which restores the player's shields and power. This level introduces the laser tanks, pulsars, and stingers. To defeat the guardian, move backwards, firing at it while it descends. Watch out for the attack robots. - DenebDenebDeneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus and one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle. It is the 19th brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of 1.25. A blue-white supergiant, Deneb is also one of the most luminous nearby stars...
: Deneb is the first level that features destructible obstacles. Assault tanks are seen for the first time as well as the cannon batteries. The guardian here is similar to the one on Sol, but moves much quicker, making it almost impossible to defeat without the yellow cannon. - SiriusSiriusSirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
: Sirius consists mostly of flying enemies that circle the player, landing only briefly to fire. Circling backwards most of the time seems to be the best tactic here. Watch out for the three seekers that home in from the left at the start of the level. The guardian on this level can be defeated by attacking it from the backside to avoid its cannon. - RegulusRegulusRegulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, lying approximately 77.5 light years from Earth. Regulus is a multiple star system composed of four stars which are organized into two pairs...
: This level has another fuel bay and introduces the dreaded inviso-cloaked stalker tanks. The guardian is similar to the one on Antares, but does a lot more damage. Special Power-Ups may prove useful. - Arcturus: Arcturus features the confrontation with Gir Draxon. Avoid bumping his annihilator, which has a super eel shield.
Special Power-Ups
The special power-ups can be accessed by pressing the tab key to toggle between the different icons at the bottom left of the screen and then pushing enter, or simply by pushing the letter key corresponding to the desired icon. The icon for the chosen item will turn purple while activated. Each power-up is represented by a certain symbol (see screenshot above) and can be used up to three times throughout the game, depending on the difficulty setting. The items consist of the following:- Inviso-cloak (Large Bird-I button) – Makes the player invisible for a short time. When activated, the screen will turn red.
- EEL shield (Bird with dotted circle-E button) – Shields the player from enemy projectiles while simultaneously destroying anything that comes in physical contact with the player's tank for a duration of time.
- Yellow cannon (Cannon-S button) – Does more damage than the standard cannon; particularly useful against guardians.
- Jump thruster (Arrow-J button) – Launches the player into the air to jump over obstacles and other tanks.
- Mine (Spike ball-B button) – Drops a land mine, which destroys an enemy that runs it over.
- Inviso-sight (Eye-C button) – Allows Inviso cloaked Stalker tanks to be seen as wire outlines on the screen.
- Thruster (Rocket booster-T button) – Gives player a forward speed boost for a few seconds.
Reception
The PC/MS-DOS version of the game was reviewed in 1991 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#167 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
External links
- Stellar 7 at GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
- Stellar 7 at Hardcore Gaming 101