A BRIEF HISTORY OF VECTOR GRAPHICS

"Hi guys! We're the pop group Cleopatra. You no doubt remember us from our 1998 Top 3 hit 'Cleopatra's Theme', in which we threatened to 'come atcha', as well as our subsequent hits 'I Want You Back', and 'Thank ABBA For The Music'.

"Well, it has been 20 years, but it's finally time for us to come atcha again - with a potted history of our favourite video game graphics technique... vector graphics!  

"That's right - in between writing and recording our two albums, we couldn't get enough of those old-school wire-frame visuals, and they might still be the only thing we enjoy more than coming at people!"

TENNIS FOR TWO

CLEOPATRA SAY: "One of the first uses of vector graphics was in SAGE, a computer system used by the North American Aerospace Defence Command to monitor any potential Soviet air attacks 'coming at them' during the Cold War. One of the very first video games, Tennis For Two - created by American physicist William Higinbotham, a former head of the electronics division of the Manhattan Project - ran on a version of this oscilloscope technology. 

"Only ever available to the public during a three-day festival, Tennis For Two was dismantled afterwards and largely forgotten until the late-1970s, when Higinbotham was called upon to testify in the case between Magnavox and Ralph H. Baer over the latter's attempt to patent television video games. 

"Well, there were three members in Cleopatra - so it's too bad Higinbotham never released a game called Tennis for Three!!!! LOL."

SPACE WARS

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Released in 1977, Space Wars was inspired by the 1962 game Spacewar! - arguably one of the most influential games of all time. It's creator Larry Rosenthal's first choice for distribution was Atari, but when he 'came at them' with Space Wars they turned away.

"Fortunately, he later released the game through Cinematronics, who used his game as the basis for several later vector releases. Perhaps best known for its complicated control system, Space Wars nevertheless featured elements and gameplay which Atari would borrow liberally for its own Asteroids.

​"Like Larry Rosenthal, Cleopatra often borrowed liberally from other artists - such as on our covers of the Bee Gees' 'I've Got a Message For You' and Maxine Nightingale's 'Right Back Where We Started From' - but always with permission!!!!! Intellectual property theft is no joke, which is why we've copyrighted the act of 'coming at' someone."

LUNAR LANDER

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Atari got into the vector game with Lunar Lander, a complicated affair which tasked playas with placing a space ship on the surface of the Moon! Though its physics and control system would become much imitated, it wasn't the first game to simulate a lunar landing; there had been text-based simulations released as early as 1969. Though a moderate success, Atari repurposed many of its Lunar Lander cabinets for its next - far more successful - release.

"Cleopatra played concerts in many interesting places, such as The Vatican at the personal request of Pope John Paul II, and at a party for the Sultan of Brunei and his charming family - but never on the moon!!!!! We bet that would've been one gig with no atmosphere!!!!! ROFL!!!"

ASTEROIDS

CLEOPATRA SAY: "As iconic as video games get, Asteroids still holds up today, and required players to destroy asteroids that would 'come at them' from all directions.

"It was created by Lyle Rains, Dominic Walsh, and the amusingly-named Ed Logg (who would go on to co-design Centipede and Gauntlet). It was influenced in a significant way by Lunar Lander's physics, and a single non-destroyable asteroid which would wander across the screen in Space Wars. It became Atari's biggest arcade smash, earning $150 million for the company.

"Cleopatra's biggest hit was our debut single, Cleopatra's Theme, which was a top 40 hit in America, and came accompanied by a video which showed us singing and dancing in our bedroom, after being told by our mother to come down stairs to the kitchen!!!!! Clearly she'd have liked us to 'come at her' (in the kitchen) - but we never did!!!!! PML!!!" 

SPACE FURY

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Sega can be credited with creating the first ever colour vector graphics game. Space Fury was heavily influenced by Asteroids, but also holds the distinction of being one of the first games to include digitised speech - a feature that would become oddly synonymous with vector-based shoot 'em ups!

"Cleopatra never got furious in space, but you can be sure we were pretty miffed when our CITV sitcom was cancelled after its second series, and the follow-up to our debut album was never released by our record label!!!!! That never stopped us, however, and to this day we're still 'coming at' people in the street and on public transport! LMAO."

BATTLEZONE

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Atari's Battlezone stood out in arcades due to its unique periscope-like screen, which enhanced the 3D quality of its simulated tank battles, sort of making it the first ever virtual reality game. Intriguingly, Atari also produced a version for the US military, to train operators of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The control system for the Bradley trainer edition was later replicated for Atari's Star Wars game.

"We can imagine that going on a world tour in a tank would be a lot of fun. We never did though. We usually just went on the bus."

RED BARON

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Though not as successful as Atari's earlier vector games, connoisseurs consider Red Baron to be the better game. A first-person biplane shoot 'em up, it saw players taking down enemy ships, blimps, and ground targets, while avoiding incoming fire and mountains.

"One novel feature is that it had a self-adjusting difficulty level, based upon its previous 32 games. If players were finding it too easy, it would increase the level of challenge, ensuring nobody spent too long playing.

"Cleopatra featured a similar technique on our debut album 'Comin' Atcha!' - the more you listened to it, the harder it got to carry on!!!!!!"

TEMPEST

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Dave Theurer's Tempest started life as a 3D Space Invaders remake, before becoming something wholly original. Theurer claims that his inspiration for his unique tunnel-style shoot 'em up came from a nightmare in which monsters 'came at him' from a hole in the ground. 

"The biggest nightmare Cleopatra ever faced was our dispute with our record label, when they wanted to sign our lead singer Cleo to a solo deal. We left our contract over it!!! What a bunch of bloody wankers."

STAR WARS

CLEOPATRA SAY: "Star Wars needs little introduction, and - particularly in its sit-down cabinet incarnation - was the go-to arcade game for many gamers of a certain vintage.

​"A consolidation of all the vector games which came before it, Star Wars offered additional incentive in placing players within the iconic Death Star battle from the movie of the same name. It had began life as an unofficial game with the title Warp Speed, before Atari 'came at' LucasFilm and purchased the Star Wars license. 

"You might have expected some 'star' wars when we toured in support of the Spice Girls on their famous Spiceworld tour - but you couldn't be more wrong. Those girls were lovely, and we don't have a bad word to say about them!"

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

CLEOPATRA SAY: "The Empire Strikes Back built upon its predecessor, but arrived too late - two years after the film upon which it is based, and towards the end of players' fascination with vector visuals. By 1985, solid polygons were becoming more common, and though still an impressive-looking game - this time around, players controlled a snow speeder as they intercepted AT-AT walkers and probe droids - Empire failed to find as big an audience. 

"Notably, it was also released a year after the game based upon Return Of The Jedi, which featured more traditional pixel visuals.

"Something Cleopatra never was is traditional! We had a very unconventional approach to both lyrics and partying, as indicated in the words to our Japan-only single 'Yes This Party's Going Right':

"There's a party on the hill, will you come?
Bring your own bread and butter and an ice cream bun,
Let's get together,
Spread the love around (around),
It'll be the night to remember (remember),
So come on over now, yeah, yeah.

"And say what you wanna,
Like Eeny meeny macka racka,
Rare raw dominacka,
Chicken poppa lolly poppa,
Om pom push!

"Yes: there ain't no party like a Cleopatra bread and butter party! Come to one of our parties and the second you walk through the door we'll be 'coming atcha' with those sweet buttered loaves!"