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Eastern Front (computer Game)




  developer Chris Crawford
  publisher APX, Atari
  designer Chris Crawford
  released 1981 , 1982
  genre Strategy
  modes Single Player
  ratings N/A
  platforms Atari 8-bit
  media Cassette , Floppy Disk , Cartridge
  requirements Atari 8-bit computer, Cassette recorder or disk drive
  input Joystick


''Eastern Front (1941)'' was a Computer Game for the Atari 8-bit series in 1981 . Recreating the actual invasion of Russia by German forces in the East, ''Eastern Front'' covers the historical area of operations during the 1941-1942 period. The player commands units at the Corps level and must contend with terrain, weather, supplies and even unit Morale and Fatigue .

''Eastern Front (1941)'' was programmed by Chris Crawford and published by the Atari Program Exchange . Notable features were having the computer calculate its moves while the player was entering his moves, a previously untried approach. A full- Scrolling map of the terrain put the playing field larger than the size of the screen itself. Only the Joystick and a few keys were needed to input commands, without typing.

According to Crawford, he wanted to overcome deficiencies that he saw with computer Wargames at the time. The results were ''Eastern Front (1941)''. Crawford had to sell the game through Atari Program Exchange because Atari didn't feel that wargames would sell on the 8-bits. ''Eastern Front'' became Crawford's first big hit and an APX best-seller.

Because of the success of the game, Atari asked Crawford to do a conversion to Cartridge . Crawford instead did a rewrite. For the cartridge version, he added six levels, revamped AI code and added more features (such as saving/restoring games).

His previous works were ''Energy Czar'', '' Scram '', and '' Tanktics ''. He also helped co-author ''De Re Atari'', a programming guide for the Atari 8-bit computers.

Crawford later went on to write ''''.


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