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The Progression and Development of Spacewar!
This timeline includes the development, improvement, and the contributors of the first video game, Spacewar!, developed by Steven "Slug" Russel. -
PDP-1
The PDP-1 was designed and built at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. DEC formally gave the PDP-1 hackers in September 1961. (Levy 39) -
Steve Russel's Inspiration
E.E."Doc" Russel's space opera novels would inspire Steve "Slug" Russel to make a game that involved two people facing off in an outer space showdown. (Levy 49). -
Slug's Game and Personal Motivation
Given his nickname, "Slug" Russel lacked motivation. He let other PDP-1 hackers know about his idea of a game and a race to finish the game was on its way. This was his the main motivation for starting his legendary game. (Levy 50) -
Kotok's motivation on Russel
Russel needed to figure out how to write elaborate sine-cosine routines in order for the ships to move. Kotok, a computer scientist at DEC, would give sine-cosine routines to Russel which would give him total motivation to start his game. -
"Slug" Begins His Work
In December 1961, "Slug" finally begins his work on what would soon to be Spacewar! (Levy 51) -
Saunders Helps Steve Russel
Saunders contributed his help in the development of Spacewar! Russel and Saunders had a few six to eight sessions of hacking together. -
Steve Russel Unveils Spacewar!
In February 1962, "Slug" Russel unveils the basic form of his game Spacewar! His game included two ships each with thirty-one torpedoes. The PDP-1 gave the ability to maneuver the ships by flicking four switches as well as accelerating and firing torpedos. (Levy 51-52) -
Steve Russel Makes Changes
Russel believed it would be a good idea to variate the direction and velocity of the torpedoes in Spacewar! Other hackers disapproved of these changes which gave "Slug" valuable feedback to make his game the best for consumers and other hackers. (Levy 52) -
Peter Samson's Contribution
Peter Samson loved Steve Russel's game Spacewar!. He thought he could make his game even more realistic. He drew up a routine that would include real-life constellations in Spacewar!. He would create also create relative brightness of the computer in order to make the dot brighter which represented a star. (Levy 53) -
Dan Edwards Contribution
Dan Edwards would figure a way to add a gravity factor to Spacewar!. He added a "Sun" in the middle of the screen which would give you more speed as you circled this central star, but by going to close to the central star would cause instant death. (Levy 53). -
Shag Garetz Contribution
Shag Garetz contribution to Spacewar! consisted of Doc Smith's references in one of his novels. He implemented a panic button to the game that would allow players' ships to go into hyperspace if they were in a state of panic. He limited the number of times to three per game and the player would never know the outcome of when the hyperspace finished its cycle. (Levy 53) -
Kotok and Saunders Comfortability
After a lot of playing of the new hit game, hackers felt the playing was uncomfortable. Kotok and Saunders would find parts that would become the first computer joysticks. These joysticks would allow the game to be easier and more comfortable to play. (Levy 53) -
Spacewar! Introduced to the Public
In May 1962, hackers displayed Spacewar! to the public at the annual MIT Open House. The public was amazed at the achievement of these hackers and their mindblowing video game. (Levy 55) -
Distribution of Spacewar!
Spacewar! was never sold to the public. Steve Russel believed that maybe someone should be making money off Spacewar!, but due to the hacker ethic Spacewar! was distributed freely. (Levy 56) -
Steven Slug Russel's Spacewar! Achievements
Steven Russel and his collaborate hackers developed a game that would change the video game industry for life. Companies like Nintendo, Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft Xbox would not be the same today. Thanks to the knowledge of these hackers and their expertise, video games would not be so accelerated as they are today.
