Civil War (computer game)

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Civil War
CivilWar.png
Civil War on a CBM 3016
Publisher Creative Computing
Senior Developer L. Cram, L. Goodie, D. Hibbard
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1968
platform BASIC computer games
genre Computer strategy game
Subject American Civil War
Game mode Single player , two player
control keyboard
system advantages
preconditions		 Computer with BASIC interpreter and 12 kB RAM
medium Program printout , paper tape , cassette , diskette , Download
language English , German
information first computer strategy game

Civil War ( English for civil war , here meant the Civil War ) is a text-based strategy video game for one or two players, the 1968 at the Lexington High School in Massachusetts (USA) by the students L. Cram, L. Goodie and D. Hibbard was written in BASIC on a PDP-8 . It is considered to be the first computer strategy game .

Game description

In Civil War , one or two players compete as generals in 14 possible battles of the American Civil War, either on the side of the Confederation or the Union . A missing human opponent is replaced by a computer player whose behavior is roughly based on the decisions of the historical general. The aim is to win as many battles as possible.

For each of the battles, certain factors are given based on the historical framework: the number of soldiers, the available money, the inflation rate, as well as a basic combat morale, which can be influenced by the food and pay spent.

The players can decide how much of the available money they want to spend on food, pay or ammunition. Then you choose one of four possible tactics, depending on whether you are on the offensive or defensive. For the offensive these are artillery attack , frontal attack , flank attack or encirclement . On the defensive, there are artillery attacks, fortifications against frontal attacks, fortifications against flank attacks or retreats .

The outcome of the battle is decided on the basis of the framework conditions, the resources used and the tactics chosen. The rock-scissors-paper principle is used to a large extent . Most battles are more difficult for the Confederate general to win due to the historical setting.

After each battle, the number of dead and deserters is evaluated and a comparison is made with the historical outcome of the battle.

Origin and technology

The game was first written in 1968 by three students at a high school in BASIC on a PDP-8 . Due to its originality and its educational value, it quickly found distribution in other schools and colleges in the USA, where it was also used on mainframes and other computers with BASIC interpreters. G. Paul and R. Hess, employees of the Technology and Information Educational Services in Saint Paul, Minnesota , extended the code to the possibility of playing against each other with two human players.

In 1973 David H. Ahl as an employee of the Digital Equipment Corporation called on his customers to send him computer games in BASIC in order to publish them in his book BASIC Computer Games . Thus Civil War for the first time officially as a program listing sold. In 1978, the game was finally adapted for the Commodore PET and reached a notable extent in private households and for the first time in Germany in schools and universities.

In 1982 the book BASIC Computer Games by Ahl was published in German by SYBEX Verlag and contained a version of the game in German under the name Civil War .

Until the mid-1980s, Civil War was carried over to all common BASIC-enabled home computers .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David H. Ahl, Civil War in BASIC Computer Games - Microcomputer Edition , p. 46, Creative Computing Print, 1978, ISBN 0916688070
  2. ↑ Article on David H. Ahl's book BASIC Computer Games (English), Kidware Software, 2017