Software:DND (video game)

From HandWiki
Short description: 1977 video game
DND
Developer(s)Daniel M. Lawrence
Platform(s)PDP-10
Release1977
Genre(s)Role-playing video game

DND is a role-playing video games developed by Purdue University student Daniel Lawrence in 1977 for the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-10 mainframe computer. The name DND is derived from the abbreviation "D&D" from the original tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. It was later ported to several other computer systems and languages. After Lawrence re-used code from the game in the 1982 role-playing game Telengard, DEC ordered DND be removed from their computers to avoid litigation by Telengard's publisher. DND was one of the earliest role-playing video games, as part of a set of games developed in the 1970s based on the 1974 Dungeons & Dragons.

Development

DND was written in BASIC for the TOPS-10 time-share operating system by Daniel Lawrence, a student at Purdue University, for the Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 mainframe computer and released around 1977.[1][2][3] It was one of several freeware games based on Dungeons & Dragons in the 1970s.[3] Later the game found its way to DEC and was there rewritten in 1983 to Pascal.[4][5]

Legacy

DND was one of the earliest role-playing video games, which began to appear around 1975, and like DND were largely based on Dungeons & Dragons (1974).[3] Lawrence re-used some of the code for the game for the 1982 role-playing game Telengard.[6] This led to DEC ordering DND to be removed from all DEC computers in September 1983 to avoid litigation from Telengard's publisher, Avalon Hill.[3] Due to the BASIC source code availability, the game was later ported and adapted to newer systems and programming languages.[1] One such port was to MS-DOS in 1984 by R.O. Software, which sold the game under a US$25 shareware license without first seeking permission from Avalon Hill or Lawrence.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 dnd.lunaticsworld.com (archived)
  2. Game 180: DND (1984) (March 18, 2015)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Barton, Matt; Stacks, Shane (2019). Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games (2nd ed.). CRC Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-138-57464-9. 
  4. the-story-of-the-dnd-ban-at-dec by jim-burrows
  5. mainframe games on digital eel
  6. Barton, Matt (June 22, 2007). "Interview with Daniel M. Lawrence, CRPG Pioneer and Author of Telengard". Armchair Arcade, Inc. http://www.armchairarcade.com/neo/node/1366. 

External links



  1. Telengard by Daniel Lawrence "The Unofficial DND Home Page at dnd.lunaticsworld.com". http://dnd.lunaticsworld.com/.  A very detailed history of the game. BTW, since I can, I am declaring their site The Official DND Home Page!"