Achtung, die Kurve!

Infobox VG| title = Achtung, die Kurve!


developer = Nick Beukering
publisher =
released = 1995
genre = strategy
modes = Multiplayer
platforms = DOS

Achtung, die Kurve!, also known as Zatacka and The Line Game is a freeware, multiplayer DOS computer game that supports from two-player up to six-player gaming simultaneously. The game author or authors are unknown, and the game is supposedly from 1995, being written in Borland C++. The title is in the German language.

The game bears some resemblance to the game Snake, though in "Achtung, Die Kurve!" the main goal is to make the opponent hit the wall without hitting anything else by yourself. As a result, the game resembles closely to the famous Light Cycle of the 1982 movie "Tron". The "kurve" is controlled by only two buttons: one makes the snake turn left; the other, right. The main difference between Achtung and Snake is that Achtung can only be played multi-player, while Snake remains a single player game.

Gameplay

The players spawn at random places on the "map", and they keep moving at a constant speed until they crash or win. The goal is to "outlive" your co"kurves" and be the last one to crash. This is most often done by forcing the opponents to crash. At random intervals relatively small holes of varying size are created in the kurvebodies called "tooth gaps." These holes can be used for escaping from a certain crash, or for just showing off. In its original version, there are a total of 6 different lines meaning up to 6 different players can play at the same time. All the lines are exactly the same, with the color being the only thing setting the different lines apart. There are only two controls needed to control the lines and these two controls determine whether its respective line goes left or right.

How to Play

For those not yet aware of all the buttons, the following list is of the different colors and the two controls that correspond to the colors:

This game can only be played on Windows and Linux based computers, thus excluding all Mac-users from playing on their Macintosh. It should be noted that on most regular laptops, the purple controls can not be used.

Tournaments

Two major "Achtung" tournaments have been held over the years. The first one, held in the summer of 2004 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, was won by the Turkish Nationals. This tournament became a major success and paved the way for an even bigger tournament 3 years later. In October 2007, a second tournament was held in Jakarta, Indonesia- in part of the nation's gaming tournaments. In front of a crowd of around 400, Indonesia's Mighty Badgers defeated Sam's Club from Singapore in the final. The majority of the contenders were part of IASAS schools. Since then, no other noted tournaments have taken place.

External links

* [http://www.worldoffreegames.com/factsheet.php?id=79 Game factsheet at the World of Free Games]
* [http://www.grargh.com/items.php?category=games&id=4 Game download at Grargh Games]

Clones and remakes

* [http://achtungkurve.ch.vu IPCurve] , an open source version of "Achtung, die Kurve!" that runs on Linux and Windows
* [http://students.mimuw.edu.pl/~pm262952/netacka/ Netacka] , an open source, network version of Zatacka, supporting Windows and Linux
* [http://zatacka.sourceforge.net Open source multiplatform remake of Zatacka]
* [http://www.suteka.za.net Zatacka 360] A version made with Microsoft XNA for Xbox 360 and Windows, featuring improved graphics and gamepad control.
* [http://www.spiddahest.com/zatackax.php Zatacka X] , which adds the ability to fire bullets and "dodge"
* [http://psykurve.sourceforge.net/en/ PsyKurve] , open source remake with highly colorful graphics, AI bots and customizable background music.
* [http://diekurve.sourceforge.net die Kurve] , an open source implementation of die Kurve on Qt, hence available on most of the platforms.