How to play Scorched Earth
Two tanks sit on rolling hills and take turns firing shells at each other. Each shot is an angle and a power, the wind bends it in flight, and every blast digs a crater out of the ground.
Each tank has 100 health. Destroy the other one to win the round, and win three rounds to take the match. Play the computer on Easy, Normal or Hard, or take turns with someone at the same keyboard.
Rules
- The angle runs from 0° (pointing right) through 90° (straight up) to 180° (pointing left), and the power from 0 to 1000.
- Each round brings new hills and a new wind. The wind also shifts a little before every shot, so check the arrow at the top each turn.
- Blasts dig craters. Dirt left with nothing under it falls and settles, and a tank whose ground is blown away falls too, taking damage for any drop of more than a few pixels.
- Damage is highest at the centre of a blast and falls off towards its edge. Your own blasts hurt you half as much. A shell that leaves the left or right side of the screen is lost; one that goes over the top still comes down.
- The Baby Missile never runs out. Every tank starts the match with 3 Missiles, 1 Baby Nuke, 1 MIRV, 2 Rollers and 2 Dirt Bombs, and what you don’t use carries over to the next round.
- After each round both tanks are paid $500, plus $15 for every point of damage they dealt and $750 for winning the round, and can spend it in the shop. The loser of a round fires first in the next.
- Against the computer each round scores the damage you dealt, plus 100 and 25 for every shot under six if you won it, times 1, 2 or 3 for Easy, Normal or Hard. Only matches against the computer are scored and saved. The game pauses when you switch tabs.
Controls
- Press & drag
- The barrel points at your finger or mouse, and the distance from the tank sets the power
- ← → / A D
- Turn the barrel
- ↑ ↓ / W S
- Change the power
- Hold Shift
- Turn by 5° or change power by 50 at a time
- 1–6 / Tab
- Choose a weapon (Tab while the battlefield has focus)
- Space / Enter
- Fire
- 2–6, Enter
- In the shop: buy a weapon, then finish
- P / Esc
- Pause
Tips
- Your last shot stays dotted on screen while you aim, so after a miss change the power or the angle a little, not both.
- A tank on a slope is easier to hurt from below: blow the ground out from under it and the fall adds to the damage.
- If you’re buried, fire a Baby Missile. It goes off in the dirt at the end of your barrel and digs you out for a little of your own health.
Scorched Earth strategy
Where the points are
Against the computer a round pays the damage you dealt, at most 100, and a won round adds 100 plus 25 for each shot under six: 225 for a win in five shots, 325 for a win in one. Everything is multiplied by 1, 2 or 3 for Easy, Normal and Hard, and the match adds 300 times the same. A lost round still pays for the damage you did, so keep hitting even when you are behind.
Spend the arsenal early
Ammo carries over, but a round you lose costs more than a missile does. A direct Missile hit takes 55 of the 100 health and a Baby Nuke 80, so a Missile followed by a Baby Missile can finish a round in two shots. The shop pays $15 for every point of damage plus $750 for the win, so a won round more than pays for two Missiles ($600) and a Baby Nuke ($1,000).
Use the ground
Damage falls off with the square of the distance, so a near miss still hurts, and a blast just under a tank on a slope can drop it into the crater for extra fall damage. The MIRV splits at the top of its arc, so a high, slow lob spreads its five warheads over the target. The Roller is best fired at a slope above the enemy: it rolls down and goes off against the tank.
Burying and being buried
A Dirt Bomb does no damage but piles dirt over whatever it lands on. A buried tank’s next shell goes off at the end of its own barrel, which digs it out but costs it some health, and the shot is wasted. If you are buried yourself, fire a Baby Missile, since it is free, and expect the computer to do the same.
About Scorched Earth
Wendell Hicken released Scorched Earth as shareware for MS-DOS in 1991 and called it “The Mother of All Games”. Up to ten tanks shared a screen of destructible hills, and between rounds the money they had earned bought nukes, MIRVs, shields and parachutes. Its last version, 1.5, came out in 1995.
This remake is a two-tank version written for this site. It keeps the falling dirt, the fall damage, the wind and the shop, with six weapons, and adds pointer aiming and a computer opponent at three levels. Two people can share one keyboard or one phone.
Questions
Is this the original Scorched Earth?
No. It’s a remake written for this site, based on Wendell Hicken’s 1991 shareware game. It runs in the browser, so you need neither DOS nor DOSBox.
Can two people play on one computer?
Yes. Choose 2 players and take turns at one keyboard, phone or tablet, and take turns in the shop between rounds. A two-player match counts rounds but not points, and it isn’t saved.
How do I aim on a phone?
Put a finger on the battlefield and drag. The barrel turns towards your finger and the further your finger is from the tank, the more power. Then tap Fire.
What do the weapons do?
The Baby Missile, Missile and Baby Nuke are blasts of growing size. The MIRV splits into five warheads at the top of its arc. The Roller lands, rolls downhill and goes off in the low ground or against a tank. The Dirt Bomb does no damage but buries whatever it lands on.
