Tron: Solar Sailer
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: INTV
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1983
Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Players: 1
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Take the role of Flynn in Tron: Solar Sailer, an Intellivoice game based on the movie Tron. Navigate your way through the computer world to find the MCP (Master Computer Program). Overload the MCP to escape the computer world and return to reality!

Tron: Solar Sailer is a 1-player game with 2 stages of gameplay. In stage one, the player is given an access code to write down, and then is to guide the solar sailer down tracks in the computer world with the goal of reaching Track 0, where the MCP is located. As the player traverses the tracks, tanks attempt to shoot the sailer and recognizers attempted to move the sailer farther away from Track 0. I/O beams teleport the player closer to the MCP if they can properly enter the access code given to them at the beginning of the game. Moving down a track and shooting at enemies depletes energy from the track; switching tracks restores energy to full. If energy fully depletes before the player switches tracks, the sailer stops moving and the game is over. Energy levels can be monitored by the amount of "energy bugs" on the grid surrounding the track, with more bugs meaning more track energy. An audible warning also announces when track energy is low.

If the player makes it to Track 0, stage two begins. The player is placed in the heart of the MCP as it attempts to make continuous data transmissions to keep the player from entering the override code, thereby overloading the MCP and allowing Flynn to escape the computer program. 0s and 1s fly at the player in a first-person view. An in-game voice gives the player the override code in binary, and the player uses a cursor to catch the appropriate bits. Using the number pad, the player can then specify where in the code sequence the captured bit should go. Red bits, when colliding with the cursor, automatically fill in a randomly selected part of the sequence. This area is timed, so the code must be entered as quickly as possible!

Once the correct sequence has been entered, the MCP overloads and the game is over. However, the game gives the option of going into "Overtime Mode" for extra points, at which point the player attempts to block all incoming transmissions or lose the game.


DEVELOPMENT HISTORY:

TRON Solar Sailer was started by Don Daglow, but it was almost immediately put on hold when he was promoted to manager. A couple of months later, Keith Robinson picked up the project. As the drop-dead deadline of October 15, 1982 approached and the game was 25% oversize, Gene Smith was assigned full time to optimize the code while Keith (to Gene's dismay) continued to add features. The day before deadline, they finished a version that both fit into 12K and was pronounced bug-free by Traci Roux in Quality Assurance.

French, Italian and German translations of the dialog were recorded but never used.

In early releases about the game, Marketing spelled it Solar Sailor, with an or. It took months to convince them that the proper spelling was Sailer. (A sailor is a person who sails, a sailer -- as in this case -- is something a person sails on.)

Keith wanted to use music from the film, but the Mattel legal department wasn't sure if our license with Disney included to rights to use Wendy Carlos's score; they said they'd check on it. They never did get back to Keith, so he just went ahead and used it. If you're reading this, Wendy, your check's in the mail.

While testing the game, Keith's boss Mike Minkoff kept getting access codes that ended in "69." Mike accused Keith several times of skewing the random numbers for an adolescent joke. Tired of being unfairly accused, Keith put the data stream 01000101 (the binary representation of 69) in the game's opening demo screen. He then told Mike, "Look, if I was going to put a '69' in the game, I'd put it right on the title screen!" and waited to see how long it would take Mike to notice. He never did; the game went out that way. 01000101 appeared on the demo screen, in the advertising, on the back of the box and in the instructions. When Keith finally pointed it out, Mike said, "But that's 45!" Mike is such a dedicated programmer, he saw the number in hexadecimal (base 16); he never made the final calculation that 45 (base 16) is 69 (base 10).

Keith and Gene felt that the digitized word "can't" in the MCP's line "I can't allow this" sounded...well...obscene, even though Deidre Cimarusti from the Voice Department insisted it had tested fine. To prove their point, Gene edited the voice file to isolate the word. They then altered the Space Spartans title screen so that it read and said "Mattel Electronics presents Space......" Well, you get the idea. This title screen became so popular among some programmers that a game was inevitable. They tacked the screen onto a version of Astrosmash with new graphics: the missile launcher, the missiles and the flying saucer were replaced with...c'mon, do we have to spell this out? (You can check out the word for yourself; it was left as-is in the game.)

EASTER EGG:

When you enter the access code on track one, append Keith's birthday -- 991955 -- to the code before pressing enter. He'll wish you luck before the next phase of the game.

 
http://www.mobygames.com/game/intellivision/tron-solar-sailer
http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/games/credits/voice2.html#solar_sailer
