''RobotWar'' is a

programming game A programming game is a video game that incorporates elements of computer programming, enabling the player to direct otherwise autonomous units within the game to follow commands in a domain-specific programming language, often represented as a ...

written by Silas Warner. This game, along with the companion program ''RobotWrite'', was originally developed in the

TUTOR Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...

on the

PLATO system PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations), also known as Project Plato and Project PLATO, was the first generalized computer-assisted instruction system. Starting in 1960, it ran on the University of Illinois's ILLIAC I compu ...

in the 1970s. Later the game was commercialized and adapted for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

and published by Muse Software in 1981. The premise is that in the distant future of 2002, war was declared hazardous to human health, and now countries settled their differences in a battle arena full of combat robots. As the manual states, "The task set before you is: to program a robot, that no other robot can destroy!" The main activity of the game is to write a

computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to Execution (computing), execute. It is one component of software, which also includes software documentation, documentation and other intangibl ...

that operates a (simulated) robot. The player selects multiple robots which do battle in an arena until only one is left standing. The robots do not have direct knowledge of the location or velocity of any of the other robots; they only use radar pulses to deduce distance, and perhaps use clever

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

techniques to deduce velocity. There is no way for the player to actually take part in the battle.

Robot programming

The robots' language is similar to

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

. There are 34 registers that can be used as variables or for the robots' I/O functions. An example program from the game manual is: SCAN AIM + 5 TO AIM ; MOVE GUN AIM TO RADAR ; SEND RADAR PULSE LOOP IF RADAR < 0 GOSUB FIRE ; TEST RADAR GOTO SCAN FIRE 0 - RADAR TO SHOT ; FIRE THE GUN ENDSUB The robot with this program sweeps its radar in a circle, firing off radar pulses, and when it detects another robot, fires a projectile set to explode at the correct distance as estimated by the radar pulse. This particular robot stands still throughout the entire battle, as it never assigns any number to its movement registers.

Reception

Harry White reviewed ''RobotWar'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 45. White commented that "''RobotWar'' is worth ..the price. And if you don't have an Apple, but do own some other brand of personal computer, just wait - there'll be a similar game for you soon. It has to happen." In its first issue ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' praised ''RobotWar''s language as easy to learn, and for several years hosted contests for robot programs. In 1996, the magazine named it the 85th best game ever. ''

BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...

'' also praised Battle Language and its potential for teaching programming, as well as the sophisticated editor and debugger, but noted that the language's slow performance caused robots to sometimes behave in unexpected ways. In a 2020 interview,

Stewart Cheifet Stewart Cheifet (; born September 24, 1938) is an American television presenter, best known for his work presenting and producing ''Computer Chronicles'' and '' Net Cafe''. He has also worked in other reporting positions for PBS and ABC, and othe ...

, the host and producer of ''

Computer Chronicles ''Computer Chronicles'' (also titled as ''The Computer Chronicles'' from 1984 to 1989) is an American half-hour television series that was broadcast on PBS public television from 1984 to 2002. It documented and explored the personal computer as ...

'' told ZDNET that RobotWar was one of his favorite games, telling them "you didn't fight and shoot, you programmed your robot, it was a battle between the software, the robot you designed, and the robot the other guy designed,...it was brilliant."

References

* https://books.google.com/books?id=0o5qBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA358

External links

RobotWar: a brief history
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robotwar 1981 video games Apple II games Apple II-only games Muse Software games Programming games Video games about robots Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 2002

Robot programming

Reception

See also

References

External links