Who wrote the the first Robots (Daleks)?

[ErikH2000]

I'm on a mission to figure out who wrote the first version of Robots (in later versions called "Daleks"). This would be the very old game that ran on Unix systems and had you moving a character on a grid to smash advancing robots into barriers.

If you don't know who it was, maybe you know a way I could find out? I did some Googling, but didn't get very far.

-Erik

[mahlzeit]

Maybe it's on the Giant List of Game Programmers: http://www.dadgum.com/giantlist/list.html

Oh, and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots_%28computer_game%29

[ErikH2000]

Good links, but nope, I didn't find it there.

-Erik

[Anthony Flack]

Interesting - going right back to DROD's roots?

[Sharpfish]

I googled and found:

http://members.aol.com/bfbullpup/macgames.html

I know this is about the MAC version but if you scroll down it mentions the original (I think) - it may be of help (edit - original mac version? not sure it's any use)

btw my search query (a game in itself) was:

"old daleks game for unix" after having no luck with others.


Daleks Longtime Mac users might remember this one. I have heard that the original version was the first freeware game EVER made for the Mac. It was programmed waaay back in 1984 (the year the Mac developed) by Johan Strandberg. Two years later, Bob Arning revised the original release and what we have now is a Mac classic with many imitators. "But what about the game?", you ask. Daleks are, as I gather, mindless robots from the British TV cult favorite "Doctor Who". I know nothing about the show except that it was an American geekdom favorite in the mid-1980's, but such knowledge is not necessary to enjoy the game. You are the player, and you can take turns with all the Daleks by moving in any of the eight directions (or not moving at all). You move first, then all the Daleks at the same time, then you, and so on. The Daleks will always move toward you, but they are stupid enough that they will crash into each other and leave behind a pile that is hazardous to the other Daleks if you know where to move. Kill all the Daleks and you go on to a new and tougher level. If they catch you, you die. You are far from helpless, as all good underdog heroes are. Your Sonic Screwdriver, which can only be used once per round, totally eliminates all Daleks within one space of you. You can also teleport to a random location as often as you wish, but you better hope that a Dalek isn't waiting for you when you land! This game is more user-friendly than many of today's games. If you want, the game will tell you which adjacent spaces won't be Dalek-controlled. You can control yourself with the keyboard of a mouse. And the Mac will even play yourself if you just like to watch. A note: there will be two high-score windows hidden under the main window.
Version: 2.0
Authors: revision by Bob Arning, original version by Johan Strandberg
File Size: 16K compressed, 56K expanded
RAM Needed: 512K

[ErikH2000]

Interesting - going right back to DROD's roots?
Yep. I'm writing something that shows a collection of games with similar characteristics. I'm also fairly rankled that the author of Robots is unknown. It just doesn't seem right.

-Erik

[ErikH2000]

I googled and found:

Thanks, Paul!

I'll see if I can reach either of those two guys and see if they know where the original came from.

I did track down a guy, Mac Oglesby, who had published an article with a BASIC listing of the game in a Creative Computing article in 1976. He racked his brain to remember the thing and concluded that it wasn't his original idea, but maybe he got it from a library of BASIC programs he maintained on a timeshared computer. It's funny that he decided he didn't come up with it because the source code had a "You're dead!" message in it.

I'm going to be the world's foremost expert on Robots before this is over.

-Erik

[wazoo]

LOL...

AFAIK Terry Nation owns the Dalek branding/IP and is fairly ruthless in protecting his IP...which isn't so bad in and of itself, but it can't really stand on its own without Doctor Who (IMHO).

Good luck!!

[ErikH2000]

AFAIK Terry Nation owns the Dalek branding/IP and is fairly ruthless in protecting his IP...which isn't so bad in and of itself, but it can't really stand on its own without Doctor Who (IMHO).
The game can't stand on its own without Dr. Who branding? Heh. Well, the original game was just called "Robots", and some wiseguy retitled another version to "Daleks". Which seems a little bit rude, since permission to use it wasn't given. But I think Robots does stand on it's own, in the same way as Pong, Nibbler, or Black Box. These games are still fun to play even after the limitation of computer resources their design was based on fell away. (Actually, the Black Box game predated software, but I digress...)

I also give more credit to someone who can invent a very simple game like Robots that is enjoyable. I think it's arguably harder to come up with the original design for a Robots, Tetris, or Bejeweled than a Colossal Caves, Oregon Trail, or Civilization. The former are based on an abstract game concept. The latter are suggested by exploring ways to simulate reality with the latest available computer technology. The abstract game designs seem trivial and obvious after they have been invented, but try coming up with a new abstract game that is fun.

-Erik

[Larry Hastings]

I remember playing "Robots" on ucscb.ucsc.edu in the late 70s / early 80s, which at the time was a PDP 11/70 running V7 UNIX. It's an old game.

[wazoo]

The game can't stand on its own without Dr. Who branding? Heh. Well, the original game was just called "Robots", and some wiseguy retitled another version to "Daleks". Which seems a little bit rude, since permission to use it wasn't given. But I think Robots does stand on it's own, in the same way as Pong, Nibbler, or Black Box. These games are still fun to play even after the limitation of computer resources their design was based on fell away. (Actually, the Black Box game predated software, but I digress...)

I also give more credit to someone who can invent a very simple game like Robots that is enjoyable. I think it's arguably harder to come up with the original design for a Robots, Tetris, or Bejeweled than a Colossal Caves, Oregon Trail, or Civilization. The former are based on an abstract game concept. The latter are suggested by exploring ways to simulate reality with the latest available computer technology. The abstract game designs seem trivial and obvious after they have been invented, but try coming up with a new abstract game that is fun.

-Erik

Sorry, my phrasing was ambiguous there.

I meant the Dalek property itself can't really stand on its own without Doctor Who. It's a fairly cool monster for the series, but there's no way I could watch show after show with JUST Daleks. For one thing, all they say is "exterminate" really.

All that aside, there's nothing wrong with a game of them. :)

And yeah, coming up with a new type of abstraction IS difficult!

[sumner]

LOL...

AFAIK Terry Nation owns the Dalek branding/IP and is fairly ruthless in protecting his IP...which isn't so bad in and of itself, but it can't really stand on its own without Doctor Who (IMHO).

Good luck!!

Actually, it's not him (since he's dead), but his estate. And that's the reason you won't see old Dalek episodes on PBS these days (at least in my hood). They wanted more money for rights to rerun anything with Dalek references. :(