The Proteus Paradox Read Free Page A

on predefined templates of different races and abilities in the rule-book. Elves may be more proficient in archery, and Dwarves may be able to endure more combat damage before dying. Players can choose from different combat specializations, such as warriors trained for combat or mages trained for casting spells. Combat is initiated and won using conventions from miniature wargames. A two-handed sword may inflict “2d6” damage—“2d6” refers to rolling two six-sided dice and taking the total, thus inflicting between 2 and 12 damage points. Characters and monsters have health points,and when the combat damage exceeds their health points, they die. As characters defeat monsters, they accumulate experience points and ascend to higher levels. This allows them to improve on skills or learn new ones over time. Typical role-playing campaigns are weekly social gatherings that may run weeks, months, or even years.
    One frustrating feature of role-playing games is the constant need to reference tables in the rulesets. There are tables that list the damage of every weapon, tables for each monster’s health points, tables for how skills improve as characters level up, and tables for suitable treasure for different character levels. Almost every rule in the game has an accompanying reference table. As role-playing games became more complex, the computerized automation of dice-rolling and referencing tables was a natural progression.
    Online games emerged in the media and the public consciousness around the turn of the millennium, but networked computer games existed as early as 1969. The University of Illinois, funded by the National Science Foundation, created an experimental computer-based teaching system. Named PLATO , for Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations, the system consisted of a set of computer terminals connected to a central mainframe computer. The terminals were “dumb” in the sense that as simple input and output devices they merely relayed information to and from the mainframe, which carried out all the computation. A programming language allowed users to create programs, and thus games, of their own. In 1969, Rick Blomme used PLATO to program
Spacewar,
a game in which two players controlled their own spaceships and attacked each other. The graphics consisted of a monochrome, top-down view of the star field. PLATO ’s terminals were located all over the campus, and this meant that two users could play against each other remotely, making
Spacewar
a networked game. The first three-dimensional, networked,multiplayer computer game,
Maze War,
appeared in 1974. In this game, eyeball avatars represented players who would chase and shoot each other in a maze. The monochrome line-based graphics provided a first-person perspective of the maze. 4
    Maze War
paved the way for action shooter games like
Quake
and
Doom
. The predecessor for computer-based role-playing games came a few years later. In 1976, Will Crowther created ADVENT , a single-player text-based adventure game that led to games such as
Zork
. ADVENT plays like a fantasy-infused dungeon explorer, inspired by Crowther’s experience with
Dungeons and Dragons
and his interest in cave exploration. The game begins with the following text: “You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully.” Players moved around and performed actions by typing in keywords. For example, if a player typed “go in,” he or she would see the following text:
    You are inside a building, a well house for a large spring.
There are some keys on the ground here.
There is a shiny brass lamp nearby.
There is food here.
    There were also fantasy elements in ADVENT , such as a bridge guarded by a troll who demanded payment for crossing. 5
    It wasn’t long before someone figured out how to create a multiuser adventure game. In 1978, Roy