Poly Play
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{{Infobox Arcade Game |title = Poly Play |image = Image:Polyplay menu.png |developer = VEB Polytechnik |publisher = VEB Polytechnik |designer = |release = 1985 (estimate, exact date unknown) |genre = Single player |modes = Various |cabinet = Standard |arcade system = |monitor = Raster, standard resolution (Used: 512 x 256), horizontal |input = Joystick; 1 button |ports = }} Poly Play was an arcade machine developed in the German Democratic Republic in 1985, thus making it the only such machine to originate in the Eastern Bloc. It came from the VEB Polytechnik in Chemnitz (then called Karl-Marx-Stadt) and contained a number of games, including a version of Pac-Man.
Poly Play ran on a Soviet clone of the Zilog Z80 CPU clocked at 2.457600 MHz and a custom sound chip. Its display supported a palette of 10 colors and ran at a resolution of 512*256 at 50 Hz, but also used colored overlays. The coin slot of the machine was designed for 50 Pfennig, but was flawed. It could be fooled relatively easily with a 1 Pfennig piece; if the coin was pressed very sharply into the top of the slot, one could outwit the pressure sensor. This was largely tolerated, however, because the machine was not a capitalistic commercial venture, but a state-owned product found predominantly in FDGB holiday homes, youth hostels and non-profit clubs. Thus the machine ran with a de-activated coin slot in many youth clubs. However, the free play often created a crush, with crowds forming round it, so most of these were re-activated.
When the Eastern Bloc collapsed, the copyright of Poly Play fell in the public domain, making it one of the few ROMs that can be freely and legally distributed for use in computer-based arcade simulators, such as MAME. A Poly Play machine is currently in the collection of Swindon's Museum of Computing [1] and two machines at RetroGames e.V. in Germany [2]-
Games
| Image:Polyplay-moose.png | Hirschjagd (deer hunt) is similar to Robotron 2084. Translation from the game: The fleeing deer is to be pursued and hunted, but only 10 shots are available. A shot which hits the deer is not deducted. About every 15 seconds a shot must be fired, otherwise this shot is lost. |
| Image:Polyplay pacman.png | Hase und Wolf (Hare and Wolf) is a faster Pac-Man clone and was based on the Russian cartoon series Nu, pogodi!, popular in the GDR. The Hare must eat everything which it can get. It must take itself before the wolf in eight, it wants to eat it up! Scoring: Pea 1 point, carrot 5 points, pear 7 and/or 10 points |
| Image:Polyplay5.png | Abfahrtslauf (Downhill run) is a simple sport game in which one must ski between the flags. The gates go from 6 meters wide, half the screen size (very easy) down to 0.2 meters (impossible) this game can become very fast. |
| Image:Poly0001.png | Schmetterlinge (Butterflies) with Pitiplatsch, the star of the GDR of children's television series. Although the game is better suited for adults, the flowers act as obstacles which must be traversed. |
| Image:Polyplay-ducks.png | Schiessbude (Shooting gallery) is a Carnival clone. Shoot to score, for a balloon you get 1 point, for a duck 2 and for a flower 3 points. Ammunition can be reloaded by shooting into the left magazine. For each of the 3 rows there is on the top right a multiplicator field to hit (yellow, blue and pink). The longer one plays, the more ducks emerge; ducks in the lowest row can eat your ammunition, and must therefore be dealt with as swiftly as possible. |
| Image:Poly0002.png | Autorennen (motorrace) The player's red car must win 2 out of 4 rounds. Not very hard, because one begins in a better initial position and gets the first curve more easily. |
| Image:Poly0004.png | Merkspiel (Memory game) Remember all pictures and reveal them, playing against time. Each picture also has its own sound. If you forget a picture, its sound plays. |
| Image:Poly0003.png | Wasserrohrbruch (Water pipe break) This is the last Poly Play game, where the player tries to prevent a room from flooding. In the upper room a water pipe bursts. By catching drops with the bucket, you can prevent the water level rising. The bucket can be emptied out of the cellar windows (play button). If the bucket is full, one does not get points. Scores: Water level too high -1 game, Caught drop +5Points, Bucket emptied into the cellar -x, Bucket emptied out of the window +3x, x = amount of drops caught, With good play +1Game (max. 3). |
Possibly four other games were planned. In the source there is text referring to the following games: "Der Gärtner / The Gardner", "Im Gewächshaus / The Greenhouse", "Hagelnde Wolken / Hailing Clouds" and "Der Taucher / The Diver". What happened to the games is unclear. Some people claim they have seen Poly-Play machines containing 12 games. These other games included "Hagelnde Wolken" (a Space Invaders clone) and "Der Taucher" (a game where malicious fish attack a diver).