Snipes (computer game)
| Snipes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Game scene from Snipes | |
| Studio | SuperSet software |
| Publisher | Novell Inc. |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1983 |
| platform | DOS |
| genre | Action game |
| Game mode | Multiplayer |
| control | keyboard |
| language | English |
Snipes (also SNIPES ) is one of Super Set Software adapted and Novell Inc. marketed action game with text mode graphics from 1982. Probably was the first Snipes Deathmatch played game at all.
background
SuperSet Software, the Snipes development group , was founded by three friends, Drew Major , Dale Neibaur and Kyle Powell . In 1983, Ray Noorda , the Super Set crew then on to originally a CP / M sharing to develop system that CP / M - Hardware should support from Novell. The team, convinced that CP / M was doomed, instead wrote a successful file-sharing system for the new IBM-compatible PCs.
Major recalled a very successful game on computers with a CTOS operating system called "Rats of the maze" that could be played at high speed because it worked with font sets as sprites. He and his colleagues took over the entire game and rewrote it to the (simpler) ASCII character world. At the same time they developed the multiplayer mode in order to test their new PC-based network and to demonstrate network and computer capacities. Thus, Snipes was the first network application for commercial computers and thus also the actual forerunner of multiplayer games such as Doom or Quake .
The game contributed so much to the success of the new network operating system that it was later co-published by Novell in NetWare.
The game
The player is and moves with his pawn in a two-dimensional labyrinth that has no outer boundary. It has the property of a cylinder both horizontally and vertically (i.e. one comes out of the same place at some point when walking straight ahead). The labyrinth is about the size of four monitor sides horizontally and three vertically and thus looks very large in the game. The aim is, depending on the mode, to destroy up to ten generators that are distributed in the labyrinth as well as the snipes (short for "snipers"). The snipes are the actual opponents, represented by the ASCII "faces" in green. They spring from the generators and shoot arrows in all directions, even diagonally. The maximum number of snipes is specified depending on the level, but they will be produced again and again as long as there are still generators. If only one generator is left, this alone throws out the snipes up to the maximum number in high order and is thus literally surrounded by snipes (so-called nest). This effect occurs even earlier and increases the more generators the player has already been able to destroy, since the new production of the Snipes concentrates on the remaining generators. Depending on the mode, the shots ricochet off the walls several times, which means that the player can send his volleys towards generators and snipes from a safe distance by clever positioning. However, with this effect it is also possible to hit your own character across several boards. In a different level of difficulty, the walls become "electric", so you must not touch them.
The game is characterized by the speed-optimized programming, in which very fast and fluid scrolling was also possible on the PCs of that time . This was achieved through the use of text mode, but without being consciously perceived as such or having a disruptive effect. The controls are ambitious for the conditions at the time: The cursor keys allow movements in all directions and also diagonally, while the W, A, D and X keys can also be used to shoot in all directions and also diagonally independently of the movement. The buttons can also be kept pressed permanently without triggering the "beeping" that often occurred with programs and PCs at the time. Holding the space bar enables particularly fast movement, but you cannot shoot at the same time.
Trivia
- Under NetWare, the game was called Nsnipes in the monochrome version and Ncsnipes in the colored version. Nsnipes or Ncsnipes was part of NetWare in versions 2.x and 3.x.
- Due to the large variety of level options (a total of 234 levels of difficulty), Snipes should be the game with the most levels.
- It is likely that Drew Major and Kyle Powell played the world's first multiplayer deathmatch together in 1983 .
Web links
- Snipes at MobyGames (English)
- Page on abandonia.com (eng) with pictures, explanation and background story
- Official site on novell.com where you can download the game, among other things.
- Snipes as GNU Linux software ( Memento from October 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article "Novell and the computer game that changed everything" in Network World of 5.4.2007. Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
