Editing Missile Command (section)

==Development==

Having found a picture of a radar screen in a magazine, [[Gene Lipkin]], then president of Atari's Coin-Op division, tasked [[Steve Calfee]], department head, to "Make me a game like this".<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse">{{cite book |last1=Rubens |first1=Alex |title=8-Bit apocalypse: the untold story of Atari's Missile Command |date=2019 |publisher=Abrams Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4197-3893-7 |url=https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/8-bit-apocalypse_9781468316445/ |page=83 |access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref> At this time, games were usually developed by a single programmer with a deadline of 6 months. If the project was high-profile, this programmer could be assigned a junior programmer as an extra resource. [[Dave Theurer]], who was free after finishing [[Atari Soccer]] as a junior programmer, was offered the project, loosely defined as "radar screen showing missiles fired from the USSR toward the US, which is defended by the player".<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse" /> Because the project was requested by a boss, it was considered "high profile" and a junior programmer, [[Rich Adam]], was assigned to Theurer.

Calfee, Theurer and Adam then worked on refining the game concept. In early iterations the six cities were meant to represent six cities in [[California]]: [[Eureka, California|Eureka]], [[San Francisco]], [[San Luis Obispo, California|San Luis Obispo]], [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], [[Los Angeles]], and [[San Diego]].<ref name=missile-command>{{cite web|url=http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/8/15/4528228/missile-command-dave-theurer |title=The Creation of Missile Command and the haunting of its creator, Dave Theurer |publisher=polygon.com |date=2013-08-15 |access-date=2014-06-05}}</ref> While Theurer understood the assignment of making a patriotic game, the current political climate made Theurer hesitant about the possible violent incitations. While enthusiastic about his first project, Theurer put conditions to his work:<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse"/>

# There would be no names of countries attached to either the attacking force or the defending force.
# The game would be purely defensive and never put players in situations where they would be the aggressor.

Thus city names were removed completely. Players would also not be able to retaliate, as that would be a scenario of [[mutual assured destruction]], which Theurer didn't find noble: "I did not want to put the player in a position of being a genocidal maniac. Only a crazy person would sling nuclear weapons without context, right?".<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse"/> Removing mentions of countries and cities would also leave the story's details to the player's imagination. The only possible game outcome of total destruction was also a message on the futility of war.

To make the game fast-paced, Theurer opted for a [[trackball]] as a control, faster than a joystick. The game would also be the first color game made by Atari.<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse"/> Both features ensured the game would stand out compared to the competition of the time. The [[Arcade cabinet|cabinet]] would also be innovative, featuring an extra panel of light indicators tied to events in the game.

As the deadline was approaching, the programmers started [[Crunch (video games)|crunching]] heavily and Theurer suffered from nightmares of being destroyed by a nuclear blast.<ref>''[[Blue Wizard Is About To Die!]]'', Pg. 140, Seth Flynn Barkan, {{ISBN|0-9741000-0-5}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJA5YjvHDU Extra Credits: Narrative Mechanics]</ref> A common observation at Atari at the time was that no programmer ever succeeded at having their first game released. This common occurrence was seen as a part of a programmer's learning curve but was putting extra pressure on Theurer. (This rule was later named "Theurer's law" for being a famous exception)<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse"/>

Coin-op games had to go through early "field tests" where Atari would pay an arcade owner to place their prototype in the arcade for a few days so that the developers could observe player behaviour and reaction, find bugs and ensure the players were understanding the game and having fun. The game was an instant hit but the extra indicator panel was distracting the player and taking their attention from the screen, thus was scrapped entirely.<ref name="8-bit-apocalypse"/>