Mazes
From Maze
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==== First Person Mazes ==== | ==== First Person Mazes ==== | ||
| − | A significant early maze program was the initially single-player, then multi-player, ''Maze.'' This presented a 3D view of a maze in which a player can see (and shoot) opponents. [1] In ''Maze,'' the environment was created for entertainment, but it was really a convoluted battlefield, not a space to be explored or solved and certainly not one, like the typical hedge maze, that would serve for non-violent diversion. The more terrifying maze environment became a staple of early home computer mazes. ''3D Monster Maze'' was an early example, developed in 1981 and released the following year on the Sinclair ZX81. The game uses character graphics and features a randomly generated 16x16 maze with a Tyrannosaurus Rex; the player can only flee from this opponent in attempting to exit the maze. ''Dungeons of Daggorath,'' programmed in 1980-1981 and also released in 1982, ran on the TRS-80 Color Computer, features a similar first-person perspective on a maze. While it does not generate different maze levels, it had various additional options for arming one's character and attacking enemies. | + | A significant early maze program was the initially single-player ''Maze,'' which presented a 3D view of a maze in which a player can see (and shoot) opponents. This program was created in 1973 at the NASA Ames Research Center by Steve Colley and Howard Palmer and made into a multi-player game by Greg Thompson. The program then, in 1974, was brought to MIT and elaborated; Dave Lebling wrote a server that provided text messaging and supported up to eight players or robots. The same program was later ported to the Xerox Alto as ''Maze War.'' |
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| + | In ''Maze,'' the environment was created for entertainment, but it was really a convoluted battlefield, not a space to be explored or solved and certainly not one, like the typical hedge maze, that would serve for non-violent diversion. The more terrifying maze environment became a staple of early home computer mazes. ''3D Monster Maze'' was an early example, developed in 1981 and released the following year on the Sinclair ZX81. The game uses character graphics and features a randomly generated 16x16 maze with a Tyrannosaurus Rex; the player can only flee from this opponent in attempting to exit the maze. ''Dungeons of Daggorath,'' programmed in 1980-1981 and also released in 1982, ran on the TRS-80 Color Computer, features a similar first-person perspective on a maze. While it does not generate different maze levels, it had various additional options for arming one's character and attacking enemies. | ||
Although 3D mazes with some more exploratory aspects were offered in the ''Ultima,'' ''Wizardry,'' and ''Bard's Tale'' series, the maze was more a frightening site for combat than a playful place of discovery in many first-person games. This could be seen as early as 1984 in the Commodore 64 game ''Skull,'' which allowed the player to search for treasure but sent threatening skulls into the maze as opponents. The later DOS games ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (1992) and ''Doom'' (1993) would make this perspective on a maze-like environment even more fearsome. First-person POV is a staple of horror films because it cuts off peripheral vision and so increases the opportunity for surprise. The first-person maze, in addition to connecting players to the perspective and to some extent the subjective experience of their maze-bound characters, was likely to inspire close and constant attention. The player needed to continually anticipate the position and movement of unseen opponents. Far from being abstract and mathematical, or contemplative, or amusing and playful, the maze in these games, not unlike the maze that Theseus faced, functioned as a challenging, dangerous arena. | Although 3D mazes with some more exploratory aspects were offered in the ''Ultima,'' ''Wizardry,'' and ''Bard's Tale'' series, the maze was more a frightening site for combat than a playful place of discovery in many first-person games. This could be seen as early as 1984 in the Commodore 64 game ''Skull,'' which allowed the player to search for treasure but sent threatening skulls into the maze as opponents. The later DOS games ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (1992) and ''Doom'' (1993) would make this perspective on a maze-like environment even more fearsome. First-person POV is a staple of horror films because it cuts off peripheral vision and so increases the opportunity for surprise. The first-person maze, in addition to connecting players to the perspective and to some extent the subjective experience of their maze-bound characters, was likely to inspire close and constant attention. The player needed to continually anticipate the position and movement of unseen opponents. Far from being abstract and mathematical, or contemplative, or amusing and playful, the maze in these games, not unlike the maze that Theseus faced, functioned as a challenging, dangerous arena. | ||
