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====== Thrus-Types ======

//also known as: gravity shooters, gravitational shooters, gravitors, cave-flyers, thrust-types//

Most commonly developed in Europe, **Thrus-Types** are games where you pilot a rotatable craft with thrusters in back (think //Asteroids//) while constantly fighting the pull of gravity (and, often, and the craft's inertia). Common elements include carrying heavy objects, fragile ships, precision landing, limited fuel, and player-destroyable fuel refills.

This seems to be a popular genre amongst hobbyist programmers, possibly because of the interesting coding challenges it presents.

===== Lineage =====

Thrust-types can be considered one of the earliest videogame genres. Both //Spacewar!// and //Lunar Lander// had thrust-based gameplay and their original incarnations predate the year 1970.

//Gravitar// (1983) and //Gauntlet// (1984) created many of the genre's conventions. However it wasn't until //Thrust// (1986) was released (and ported to every home computer out there) that the genre gained some popularity.

//Gravity Force 2// (unofficial sequel to //Gravity Force//) popularised multiplayer Thrust-Types, and spawned many clones for the [[commodore_amiga|Amiga]] and from the Finns, such as //TurboRaketti//, //AUTS//, //Super PakPak//, and a dozens of games with "Gravity" in their titles.

===== Examples =====
{{ :media:image:videogame:solar_jetman.jpg?300|}}
FIXME Chrono order
==== General ====

  * //Fathom//
  * //Fleuch 2.0//
  * //Fly Harder//
  * //Gravitar//
  * //Graviton//
  * //Graviton 2// [[http://xout.blackened-interactive.com/Gravitron2/Gravitron2.html|Official site]] [[sb1>16520|Forum thread]]
  * //Gravity Crash//
  * //Gravity Force//
  * //Oids//
  * //Rotor//
  * //Solar Jetman: The Hunt for the Golden Warpship// (1990 by [[Rare]], [[nintendo_entertainment_system|NES]] only, home computer ports cancelled)
  * //S.T.I.N.G.// (NES homebrew) [[http://nesdev.parodius.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=4505|Nesdev forum thread]]
  * //Sub-Terrania// ([[sega_mega_drive|Mega Drive]], objective-based missions, has retro-thrusters)
  * //TerraFire//
  * //Thrust// (originally for the [[BBC Micro]] and [[Acorn Electron]])
  * //Thrust II// (open world)
  * //Virus// (name of various ports of //Zarch//)
  * //Zarathrusta// [[yt>4HIO1NRmpmQ|Video]] (uploaded by the game's coder) 

  * 1984 - **//Gauntlet//** (no relation to the popular arcade game)
  * 1987 - **//Zarch//** [[yt>ALfnZjCiuUQ|video]]
  * 2009 - **//Comet Racer//**
  * 202? - **//Skronchulonch: The Game of Shooting at an Orb//** [[itch>hyperpixel.itch.io/skronchulonch|get]]
  * 2021 - **//Hover-Pixel 384//** [[itch>hyperpixel.itch.io/hover-pixel-384|get]]
  * 2022 - **//Hover Your Own Pixel//** [[itch>hyperpixel.itch.io/hyop|get]] - Game making tool.

==== VS. Multiplayer ====

  * //A2: The Ultimate Sequel To AUTS - The Ultimate Stress Relief Game//
  * //Assault Wing//
  * //AUTS - The Ultimate Stress Relief Game//
  * //Bratwurst// (uses scalable vector graphics to avoid the need for split-screen)
  * //Gravity Force 2//
  * //Gravity Power//
  * //Rocket Chase//
  * //Spacewar!//
  * //Super PakPak// (NES homebrew) [[http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Super_PakPak|Nesdev Wiki page]]
  * //TurboRaketti II//
  * //V-Wing//
  * //X-Pilot// (open source) [[http://www.xpilot.org/|Official site]]

==== Lunar Lander clones ====

The original //Lunar Lander//, simply called //Lunar//, was designed by a 17 year old high school student in 1969 for the PDP-8 computer. The game was text-based, with the player entering the amount of fuel he wished to burn each "turn". Despite being one-dimensional, the game was compelling enough for others to make clones of it. The first graphical version, called //Moonlander//, was made in 1973 for the DEC GT40 computer terminal and is the first version of the game to resemble what we are familiar with nowadays, with a 2D landscape and a rotatable craft.

The singular goal in most Lunar Lander-type games is to land on a flat surface on a rocky planetoid. The smaller the surface, the greater the score. Typically the game starts out with a zoomed-out view of the entire playfield, and zooms in when you're close to the surface.

  * //Astrolander// (//[[TimeSplitters 2]]// minigame)
  * //Candy Lander// (game in //Totally Tiny Arcade//)
  * //Jupiter Lander// (VIC-20/C64 game by [[HAL]])
  * //Lander// (Windows 3.1)
  * //Lander// (3D, developed by [[Psygnosis]]) [move to General section?]
  * //Lunar Lander// (various games used this title)
    * as part of //Videocart-23// for the [[fairchild_channel_f|Channel F]]
    * 1979 Arcade game by [[Atari]]. Ported to:
      * GBA (part of a compilation)
      * Atari 2600 (for the Atari Flashback 2)
    * developed by [[pack-in-video|Pack-In-Video Co.]] for the [[hardware:Game Boy]] (JP only), added shuttle lift-off and on-foot exploration segments
  * //Moon Landing// (part of [[Compile]]'s MSX //Disk Station #0// magazine type thing [TODO: research this])
  * //Out of This World!// (slight upgrade of //Space Rendezvous//)
  * //Rocket Lander//
  * //Space Explorer//
  * //Space Rendezvous// (Odyssey 2 game, 2-player, goal is to dock on an orbital ship)
  * //Space Worries// (pack-in with [[Adventure Game Construction Kit]])
  * //Super Lander// (for the Dragon 32/64 microcomputers, has ceilings)

===== Offshoots =====

This section includes titles that have similar gravity-based gameplay but with different propulsion methods, and games that might/would qualify as thrus-types if gravity was added.

==== "Flappers" ====

  * //[[Balloon Fight]]//
  * //Brave Honey Bee//
  * //Flywrench//
  * //Joust//
  * //When Pigs Fly//

==="Flappies"===
A cross breeding of flappers and [[genre:endless runners]], which, thanks to the removal of the Vietnam-made game //[[Flappy Bird]]// and protest games made in response, have become quite a populated genre.

  * See [[http://itch.io/jam/flappyjam|Flappy Jam]] for a list of over 700 examples!

==== Non-Gravitational ====

Though they exclude the effect of gravity, these games share Thrus-Types use of inertia. So controlling the avatars, and mastering their control, in these games has a similar satisfaction.

  * //Asteroids//
  * //Descent// (series)(3D)
  * //Forsaken// (3D)

===== Links =====

  * [[sbw>genre:thrus-type]] - Starting point for this page. Edit history is lost, but IIRC most of the work there was not by me.
  * [[https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/cave-flyers-and-thrust-variants|Cave-flyers and Thrust variants]] group on Mobygames.
  * [[http://technologizer.com/2009/07/19/lunar-lander/|Forty Years of Lunar Lander]] - Technologizer Article

{{tag>form genre videogames}}