<s>
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
is	O
a	O
shareware	B-License
artillery	B-Application
video	I-Application
game	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
released	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
in	O
1991	O
,	O
originally	O
written	O
by	O
Wendell	O
Hicken	O
using	O
Borland	B-Application
C++	I-Application
and	O
Turbo	B-Application
Assembler	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
is	O
one	O
of	O
many	O
games	O
in	O
the	O
genre	O
of	O
"	O
turn-based	O
artillery	B-Application
games	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
with	O
a	O
plethora	O
of	O
weapon	O
types	O
and	O
power-ups	O
,	O
is	O
considered	O
the	O
modern	O
archetype	O
of	O
its	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
weapons	O
can	O
be	O
upgraded	O
with	O
tracers	O
which	O
allow	O
the	O
player	O
to	O
more	O
accurately	O
adjust	O
the	O
trajectory	B-Application
on	O
their	O
next	O
turn	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
variety	O
of	O
utilities	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
deflector	O
shields	O
,	O
recharge	O
batteries	O
,	O
and	O
tank	O
parachutes	B-Application
,	O
make	O
it	O
much	O
harder	O
to	O
score	O
a	O
kill	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
hit	O
even	O
with	O
the	O
more	O
bizarre	O
and	O
advanced	O
weapons	O
,	O
adding	O
another	O
dimension	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
tactics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
player-controlled	O
tanks	O
are	O
destroyed	O
before	O
the	O
others	O
,	O
the	O
AI-controlled	O
players	O
continue	O
to	O
battle	O
each	O
other	O
,	O
turning	O
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
into	O
a	O
zero-player	B-General_Concept
game	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Public	O
versions	O
include	O
1.0	O
,	O
1.1	O
,	O
1.2	O
,	O
and	O
1.5	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1995	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
not	O
as	O
feature-rich	B-Architecture
and	O
contains	O
some	O
different	O
AI	O
class	O
names	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
Rifleman	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Twanger	O
"	O
(	O
which	O
may	O
have	O
been	O
changed	O
,	O
as	O
they	O
are	O
also	O
AI	O
class	O
names	O
in	O
the	O
slightly	O
earlier	O
artillery	B-Application
game	I-Application
,	O
Tank	O
Wars	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
1.0	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
became	O
shareware	B-License
and	O
is	O
graphically	O
what	O
became	O
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
final	O
version	O
of	O
1.50	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1995	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1.5	O
,	O
the	O
registration	O
feature	O
was	O
removed	O
and	O
instead	O
,	O
only	O
a	O
shareware	B-License
version	O
was	O
released	O
freely	O
while	O
the	O
registered	O
version	O
could	O
be	O
obtained	O
through	O
a	O
mail	O
order	O
only	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Purchasing	O
the	O
registered	O
version	O
allowed	O
the	O
player	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
triple-turreted	O
tank	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
removing	O
the	O
shareware	B-License
reminders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
in	O
1993	O
called	O
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
"	O
the	O
most	O
configurable	O
artillery	B-Application
game	I-Application
I	O
have	O
come	O
across	O
...	O
the	O
most	O
playable	O
and	O
addictive	O
"	O
,	O
with	O
"	O
quite	O
good	O
"	O
SVGA	O
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2008	O
,	O
Mark	O
J	O
.	O
P	O
.	O
Wolf	O
said	O
in	O
his	O
book	O
The	O
Video	O
Game	O
Explosion	O
that	O
this	O
is	O
"	O
probably	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
loved	O
PC	O
shareware	B-License
games	I-License
"	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
popular	O
early	O
multiplayer	O
"	O
hot	O
seat	O
"	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numerous	O
artillery	B-Application
games	I-Application
that	O
were	O
inspired	O
by	O
Scorched	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
include	O
Atomic	O
Tanks	O
,	O
Charred	O
Dirt	O
,	O
Nasty	O
Armoured	O
Tanks	O
of	O
War	O
,	O
xscorch	O
,	O
and	O
Scorched	B-Language
3D	I-Language
.	O
</s>
