dnd (computer game)
| dnd | |
|---|---|
 | |
| dnd (via emulation ), the pawn is in the middle of the labyrinth | |
| Senior Developer | Gary Whisenhunt Ray Wood Dirk Pellet Flint Pellet |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1974 |
| platform | PLATO |
| genre | Computer role playing game |
| Subject | Dungeons and Dragons |
| language | English |
dnd (also The Game of Dungeons ) is a computer role-playing game . It is considered the oldest surviving computer game in this genre. It was written in 1974 by Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood at the University of Illinois , where it ran on an early computer learning environment called PLATO .
Gameplay
In dnd, the player steers a self-created character through a large dungeon with several levels, where you have to fight enemy monsters on the way to the goal and can equip yourself with found objects. A simply stylized graphic representation illustrates what is happening.
All the basic features of modern computer role-playing games can already be found: The player creates a character according to his own wishes, which continuously develops and becomes more and more powerful through found objects. A simple magic system is already in place. The enemies get stronger with each level of the dungeon and react differently to different spells. The game has a defined end goal and offers a simple trading system in the context of two dealers, where different items can be purchased. If you penetrate deeper into the dungeon, you can skip levels using teleportation .
development
predecessor
The exact chronology of the earliest computer role-playing games has not yet been worked out precisely. It can be assumed that since the publication of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 several attempts have been made to design corresponding graphically designed software replicas. Many programs remained unknown and were deleted by the system administrators, since computer games were considered a waste of computing time and resources at the time. There are only reports about a predecessor with the title m199h , the program itself is considered lost. Whether there were purely text-based role-playing games before that is unknown, but it is assumed.
The assessments of whether pedit5 was published before dnd are contradictory . Among other things, the information provided by the authors contradicts one another. pedit5 developer Rusty Rutherford spoke of a simultaneous development of both games and gave the end of 1975 as the publication period of his title. Whisenhunt and Hunt speak against of Pedit5 as a direct model for the development of dnd and a start of development for their program between late 1974 and early 1975. Pedit5 was later under the title orthanc , named after the Tower of The Lord of the Rings , republished and further developed by new developers.
Development team
The program was originally programmed by Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood, who were students at Southern Illinois University at the time of writing, Wood as an electrical engineer and Whisenhunt originally with a focus on psychology and political science, due to his experience with and later computer science. Both were avid computer gamers of titles like Empire , Moon War , Dogfight , Star Trek , Spasim , Airwar and allegedly also pedit5 , which enjoyed great popularity among the students. However, because pedit5 was regularly deleted by the system administrators because it was viewed as a waste of system resources, Whisenhunt and Wood probably decided at the end of 1974 to write their own program. Their work was made easier because from the summer of 1975 they became administrators of the system themselves. Whisenhunt was mostly responsible for the basic data, Wood for the fights and the rewards.
Dirk Pellet also began his studies at the end of 1975 and made numerous suggestions for improving the game to Wood and Whisenhunt, although there was never any direct personal contact, so that both finally gave him editing rights, as they did not have enough time to develop the program further could. In 1977 Dirk's brother Flint finally joined the company.
Emergence
The program originally started with two dungeon levels, which consisted of several chambers, which were represented by an octal number . A first step forward was the development of a graphical editor that made the creation of new levels much easier and faster. Due to the increasing size of the game, the balancing of the battles and the game progress came to the fore. To provide a special challenge, Wood and Whisenhunt then decided to include a fight against a particularly difficult boss at the end of the game.
The game was primarily intended for entertainment, which is why Wood and Whisenhunt worked a lot with humor and allusions, for example an unpopular fellow student as a template for a monster in the game. But there were also some playful innovations compared to other games, such as the orb, teleporter and the idea of the boss monster. Teleporters were mainly used because installing stairs was too much of a challenge. According to Flint Pellet, dnd should also be challenging. In this context, communication between the program and the player was also a focus. There were various conditions to be found out in combat and to be observed (e.g. fire creatures were healed by fire spells), and appropriate feedback should also give the player a feeling for how to master the game. According to Dirk Pellet, the player's ability to co-determine the risk to a certain extent and to be able to leave the dungeon was a distinguishing feature compared to pedit5 and other games, in which the game continued until the character died and at any time through battles against unequally more difficult opponents could be ended. During the several years of further development of the program, the feedback of the players was included, which could be entered in a note file and discussed.
While the base game was completely developed by Wood and Whisenhunt, a large part of the content such as equipment, potions, magic books, slides or a magic lamp came from Dirk Pellet and his brother Flint. Pellet made use of the D&D set of rules and initially imported 1: 1 object descriptions from the set of rules into the game. Flint Pellet also revised parts of the program, for example to speed up the calculations and image output. When Woods and Whisenhunt left university, they completely handed over supervision of the program to Dirk and Flint Pellett. They supervised and improved the game for many years until they stopped further development between 1986 and 1988.
Over time there have been various clones and extensions for dnd . The expansions mainly added additional treasures and other dungeons independent of the original. Other authors have created their own systems, in whole or in part on the dnd - code -based, and provided a wide distribution of this young game genre. The best-known offshoot of dnd is likely to be the commercially marketed Telengard , which Dirk Pellet sometimes called plagiarism. He also accused the Sorcery program , which came from a PLATO user named Balsabrain, the pseudonym of the Wizardry creator Robert Woodhead.
The name dnd comes from the abbreviation D&D of the pen and paper role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons , which was also released in 1974.
Web links
- Open letter from the author
- Article and more screenshots about dnd
- dnd variants at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chester Bolingbroke: Game 68: The Dungeon / PEDIT5 (1975) ( English ) In: CRPG Addict . December 29, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
- ^ Matt Barton: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part 1: The Early Years (1980-1983) ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc . February 23, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
- ↑ Rusty Rutherford: The Creation of PEDIT5 ( English ) In: Armchair Arcade . August 31, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d e Carey Martell: Interview with creators of dnd (PLATO). RPG Fanatic (English).
- ↑ a b Chester Bolingbroke: The Earliest CRPGs ( English ) In: CRPG Addict . December 24, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
- ↑ Chester Bolingbroke: Game 69: The Game of Dungeons / dnd (1975) ( English ) In: CRPG Addict . February 24, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2014.