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Atari XL/XE - Rescue on Fractalus [Lucasfilm Games] 1985

Atari XL/XE - Rescue on Fractalus [Lucasfilm Games] 1985

StaxX28
0 HN recommenders · discussed 2011–2025
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About this video

Intro and gameplay footage of Rescue on Fractalus, the 1985 Lucasfilm Games title for Atari XL/XE, programmed by Loren Carpenter and David Fox. It shows the game's fractal-generated mountain terrain.

Why it appears in the archive

Shown as a historic example of fractal terrain rendering in games, in threads about voxel and terrain rendering.

AI-generated summary and labels from the source dataset; verify important details against the video. Source & credits.

From the Hacker News discussion

danieldk · 2011-04 · reference

I fondly remember NovaLogic's Comanche series. While it isn't of the 'world building' genre, its voxel engine was very impressive for its time: [LINK] Also interesting (historically) is 'Rescue on Fractalus'. Not just for its cheesy name, but also due to its reliance on fractals to draw 3D mountain sceneries: [LINK] ! Edit: videos of both games: [LINK] [VIDEO]

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keithnz · 2021-04 · reference

one of my favourite vector games on my Atari 800XL was Mercenary. It was this open world type game, felt amazing at the time. [LINK] it wasn't that graphics was the best (compared to something like rescuse on fractalus [VIDEO] ), it was just a big vector world with quite a lot of places to explore.

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karmakaze · 2025-01 · reference

I remember Commanche and how it reminded me of being wowed by "Rescue on Fractalus"[0] (aka Behind Jaggi Lines pre-release) procedural generation on the 8-bit Atari. [0] [VIDEO] (landing on planet is at 1:00)

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