Overview

Asteroids is a 3D game by Michael Davies, based on the old arcade classic in which you must destroy asteroids by breaking them up into smaller pieces.

It was developed in Visual C++ 6.0 with DirectX 8.1 over a period of approximately two months. It will run under any Windows system with DirectX 8.1+ and a 3D accelerator card.

Downloads

Asteroids v1.0 (5,478KB) - Main program executable and resources.
Asteroids v1.0 Source Code (138KB) - Complete Visual C++ 6.0 project workspace.

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Screenshots

Story

At 0400 hours, we received confirmation from NASA that an asteroid field larger than any recorded in the history of civilization is headed for a direct collision course with Earth. If just one of these asteroids were to hit Earth’s surface, the impact would measure at approximately 50 megatons - 4,000 times the explosive power of the fission bomb used on Hiroshima.

Our entire military fleet is currently at war with the Martians and, as fate would have it, the asteroid field is too far away from Mars to reassign a Commander. You are the only armed ship within reach of the field.

Your mission is simple: Eliminate all asteroids. Our information sources believe gravitational forces have banded the asteroid field into eight waves. This will provide time between each wave to repair your ship.

Scientific analysis has shown the asteroids’ outer shells are coated in almandine carconite, a rare, highly explosive mineral which is normally only safe at extremely low temperatures. This means a single shot from a laser turret will suffice to blow the asteroid into pieces, but be warned! The explosion will be so large that you are advised to stay well back. A severe explosion could interfere with your guidance systems, or ultimately obliterate your ship.

The entire fate of the world rests in your hands. Good luck.

FAQ

Q. Asteroids won't run on my computer. What's wrong?
A. Asteroids requires a version of Windows (98/ME/NT/XP/2000 should all be ok) with DirectX 8.1 (NOT DirectX 8.0 or 8.0a). You can download the latest version of DirectX at Microsoft's DirectX website. If Asteroids still won't run after installing DirectX 8.1 and you are sure you have a compatible system, please email michael@4bitterguys.com with your system specifications and the error message you are receiving.

Q. Asteroids runs incredibly slow on my computer. What's wrong?
A. Asteroids requires a 3D accelerator card to yield acceptable frame rates. If you do not have a 3D accelerator card it *may* still run in software mode, however it will run at an incredibly low frame rate and render the game unplayable. If you know for a fact you have a 3D accelerator, then chances are it's your machine specs. Asteroids runs great on a Celeron 500 + GeForce 2 MX, however on the same machine with a Riva TNT/2 it does begin to slow down due to alpha blending problems (fill rate issues). This reflects on my programming ability rather than your ineptitude. :)

Q. Asteroids is boring. What's wrong?
A. The game's concept is unoriginal and repetitive. :)

Q. Have you written any other games?
A. Yes. Yes I have. You may like to check out Maximum Overdrive, a 2D frag-fest racing game (designed to run under DOS, but appears to run under Win32 okay so long as you force it to run full screen).

Q. So, what are you doing tonight?
A. Hmm... let me think. Wait! I know! Programming!

If your question was not answered above, email Michael at michael@4bitterguys.com.

Contact

You are welcome to send feedback or comments on Asteroids. You are also welcome to ask for technical support if you cannot get the game working. Email Michael at michael@4bitterguys.com.