Thrust

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Thrust

Developed by: Superior Software
Released: 1986
Platform: BBC Micro

 

In Thrust, pick up the pod with your tractor beam before you fly off into space and manouevre a spaceship by rotating and thrusting.

All ideas have to start somewhere, and this is definitely one of the earliest videogames to tackle the concept of physics, namely gravity and inertia.   

In Thrust you are tasked to take your rocket to the stars, but staying up is harder than it looks!

Interesting Facts:

  • The game was designed by Jeremy Smith originally for the BBC Micro computer. It was later ported to the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and the Atari 8-bit family of computers.

 

  • The game inspired many hobbyist-written clones and the playable version in the museum is in fact a homebrew version created by Thomas Jentzsch in the year 2000. Created for the Atari 2600, the game very closely replicates the original 1986 version.

 

  • A sequel, unsurprisingly called Thrust II, released in 1988.

A Brief History of Physics Engines

Explore a short history of the development of physics-based game engines over 25 years with Thrust, Jurassic Park: Trespasser and Portal 2.

Jurassic Park Trespasser

Portal 2

Playing With Physics

Explore the history of the development of physics and physics-based game engines through the decades.