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| Modern-day jousting competitions feature riders on horseback attempting to thread a lance through a ring. The rings become smaller as the competition progresses; riders who fail to capture a ring are eliminated until a winner is determined. | Modern-day jousting competitions feature riders on horseback attempting to thread a lance through a ring. The rings become smaller as the competition progresses; riders who fail to capture a ring are eliminated until a winner is determined. | ||
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| '''Joust''' was a classic ] by ] that was produced in ]. The player took the role of a knight with a lance, mounted on a flying ostrich or stork, battling waves of computer-controlled enemy knights, of three different speed and agility levels, mounted on giant vultures. The game screen was static; its only features were five platforms hanging in mid-air (some wrapping around the screen), the ground, and a pit of lava below. | |||
| The game's incredibly simple controls were a factor in its wide appeal. A joystick moved left and right, and a "Flap" button flapped the mount's wings once. Pressing "Flap" in rapid succession would cause a gain in altitude until gravity dragged the player downward again. | |||
| Each wave began with enemy knights appearing on the screen at one of four "spawn points". To destroy an enemy knight, the player had to collide with the knight such that his lance was vertically higher than the enemy knight's lance. After destroying an enemy knight, a giant egg would appear and fall, bouncing on the ground. The player had to go touch (and thus destroy) the egg, gaining additional points; if this act took too long, the egg would hatch and another, more powerful enemy knight would appear to continue the fight against the player. | |||
| A wave was cleared when the player would destroy all enemy knights and eggs. If too much time elapsed on a particular wave before this occurred, the famous "Unbeatable? Pterodactyl" would appear from one side of the screen and fly around until it collided with the player, destroying him; until the player finished the wave; or until the player destroyed the ] by hitting it directly in the mouth with his lance, a difficult task. | |||
| A lava troll inhabited the lava pit at the bottom of the screen; if any player or enemy knight flew too close to the lava, the troll's hand would emerge and tug the mount downward toward the lava. Players could get out of the troll's grip by hammering on the "Flap" button. | |||
| Early ] revisions of the game included an exploit by which a skilled player could accumulate an infinite number of points with low risk. The player would attempt to maneuver one of the enemy knights too close to the lava, such that the lava troll would grip it -- not low enough to the lava so the troll would succeed in pulling it in, and not high enough so the enemy knight could escape the troll's grip. Then the player would stand in the platform in the center of the screen. The pterodactyl would appear from one side below the player and charge right at him; if the player simply stood in the middle of the platform, facing the pterodactyl, the player's lance would strike the pterodactyl in the mouth, killing it. A new pterodactyl would immediately appear from the other side of the screen, and could be killed in the same manner. This could be repeated forever. | |||
| Two players could play, in which case each player would get points for destroying the enemy knights, or for destroying his human opponent. | |||
| Game balance was superb and Joust is still fondly remembered by classic gamers everywhere. It has been ported to many ]s. The game is available on many of today's console and computer platforms, and also on some web sites, by means of ]s. | |||
| ==External Links== | |||
| * | |||
Revision as of 17:35, 16 January 2004
Jousting is a competition between two knights on horse-back, wherein each knight tries to knock the other off his mount. Jousting was popular in medieval times, although it is still performed in Renaissance fairs. The knghts are each equipped with three weapons; a lance, a one handed sword, and a rondel. When one knight knocks the other off of his mount, he is declared the winner of the round. If both knights are knocked off their mounts at the same time, it is considered a tie; they then engage in sword combat, and the last standing is victorious. The knights usually jousted in a best out of three situation. The reward of the tournament was the hand of his choice of lady.
Modern-day jousting competitions feature riders on horseback attempting to thread a lance through a ring. The rings become smaller as the competition progresses; riders who fail to capture a ring are eliminated until a winner is determined.