Mazes

The point of view that situates the player/traveler distinguishes these mazes. There are first-person mazes, partially represented on a screen, in which a subjective perspective is used an a wall or passageway directly in front of the maze walker is shown. There are also second-person mazes, textually represented, in which the maze walker is the “you” who is told the story of the traversal of the maze. And, there are third-person mazes, sometimes fully represented mazes, in which the maze walker maintains a large-scale or omniscient view.

The point of view that situates the player/traveler distinguishes these mazes. There are first-person mazes, partially represented on a screen, in which a subjective perspective is used an a wall or passageway directly in front of the maze walker is shown. There are also second-person mazes, textually represented, in which the maze walker is the “you” who is told the story of the traversal of the maze. And, there are third-person mazes, sometimes fully represented mazes, in which the maze walker maintains a large-scale or omniscient view.

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 expanded; 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.''

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 expanded; 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.''