Stonkers
Encyclopedia
Stonkers is one of the earliest real-time strategy
games. It was written for the ZX Spectrum
and published by Imagine Software
in 1983. It was designed and programmed by John Gibson with graphics by Paul Lindale.
. In the game, the player controls infantry
, artillery
, tanks, and supply truck units. Moving combat units uses up energy, and to replenish it, the player must keep the supply units in close proximity. Supply units are replenished every time a ship enters the port. Information about ongoing events is displayed in a ticker tape on the bottom of the screen.
The game was plagued with bugs and early versions crashed after a few minutes of play. Despite this, it was awarded the title "Best Wargame" by CRASH
in 1984.
Stonkers is the subject of a running gag
on the comp.sys.sinclair usenet group and the World Of Spectrum forums, where a person asking for help in naming an unknown game will invariably receive a reply with the observation "It's definitely not Stonkers".
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games. It was written for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and published by Imagine Software
Imagine Software
Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20...
in 1983. It was designed and programmed by John Gibson with graphics by Paul Lindale.
Summary
Stonkers is controlled either using keyboard or joystickJoystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
. In the game, the player controls infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, tanks, and supply truck units. Moving combat units uses up energy, and to replenish it, the player must keep the supply units in close proximity. Supply units are replenished every time a ship enters the port. Information about ongoing events is displayed in a ticker tape on the bottom of the screen.
The game was plagued with bugs and early versions crashed after a few minutes of play. Despite this, it was awarded the title "Best Wargame" by CRASH
CRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
in 1984.
Stonkers is the subject of a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
on the comp.sys.sinclair usenet group and the World Of Spectrum forums, where a person asking for help in naming an unknown game will invariably receive a reply with the observation "It's definitely not Stonkers".