The Halley Project

The Halley Project is a 1985 game developed for the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, Amiga and possibly other platforms, by Tom Snyder and Omar Khudari and published by Mindscape. It was later ported to the Commodore Amiga with updated graphics.

Overview

In The Halley Project, the player assumes the role of a star pilot whose mission is to travel between the various bodies of the solar system. The game opens with a mix of electric guitar music and actual digitized speech — a considerable feat considering the limitations of the Apple II — during which the player is shown the text of a transmission sent from the headquarters of a body known as "P.L.A.N.E.T.":

<blockquote>Greetings,<br />You have been chosen from all the pilots in the Solar System to attempt to qualify for The Halley Project team. If you do indeed qualify, you will be invited to take part in the greatest scientific adventure in history: The Halley Project ... the Final Challenge.<br />Good luck, you will need it.<br />Neal "Buzz" Collins<br />Starbird 1st Class<br />P.L.A.N.E.T. out<br /></blockquote>

The player starts out from a base on Halley's Comet and must first make his way to Earth, and then back to Halley. As longer and more difficult missions are completed, the player's rank increases from the starting level of Raven through Shrike, Vulture, Darter, Condor, Swift, Nighthawk, Falcon, Eagle, and finally Starbird.

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