[game_preservation] Gary Gygax passed away

[Captain Commando]

How could I have forgotten strategy war games? Their use of real-world data
tables in the combat result sheets (CRS) is likely a key influence in both
Stat-o-Matic and D&D (especially considering Chainmail was a tabletop war
game). This thread goes back to the 19th Century Kriegspiel and the idea
originates in the Enlightenment when people thought the entire world could
be represented by numbers. There was a book that came out in 1969 called The
Bomb and the Computer which talks about this origin in great detail. (
http://www.amazon.com/Bomb-Computer-Wargaming-Ancient-Mapboard/dp/B0006CZ8OA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205245961&sr=8-3
)

Perhaps not as well written as From Sun Tzu to XBox (which covers the same
topic), but it contains a lot of information on the origins of the
Kriegspiel that isn't in Ed Halter's book (he didn't discover this one until
after he'd finished it!).

-DM

On Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 2:26 PM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:


>  On reduction to numbers: Strat-o-Matic maybe, but one also has to take a

> look at wargames, both miniatures and boardgames (e.g. Charles Roberts at

> Avalon-Hill), areas that directly influenced Gygax. Roberts' *Tactics *was

> designed in 1952.   Strat-o-Matic was formed in 1961.

>

> Henry

>

>

> At 10:57 AM 3/8/2008, Captain Commando wrote:

>

> Andrew,

>

> 1UP has a special on the top 5 things they think Gary did for games:

>

>  http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3166835

>

> However, the whole reduction to numbers bit came from Stat-o-Matic

> Baseball and was a facet of computer programming through the 50s,

> particularly if you look at Cold War simulations (and it still underlies the

> overly optimistic concept that one can digitize the whole world). But so

> much for nitpicking - stats-based character sheets is what they really meant

> to say!

>

> -DM

>

> On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 12:58 PM, Andrew Armstrong <andrew at aarmstrong.org>

> wrote:

>

>  Okay everyone, I've put up the page;

>

>  http://www.igda.org/wiki/Memorials/Gary_Gygax

>

> Biography/Eulogy still needed, and you can email me directly if you want

> to add direct comments or something (or edit them in yourselves if you can

> at the bottom of the page) please do.

>

> I also added Greg Bick for those that know him, with a biography/eulogy

> provided kindly by Sim:

>

>  http://www.igda.org/wiki/Memorials/Greg_Bick

>

> Andrew

>

> Andrew Armstrong wrote:

>

> Right, I'll keep a note that your interested if I can't obtain another

> eulogy, I'll try and get a page setup tonight (along with another for Greg

> Bick who is a Canadian developer who passed away recently too, who I have

> talked to someone about).

>

> Andrew

>

> Henry Lowood wrote:

>

> Andrew,

>

> I hadn't heard about that -- big news and I hope we can organize a

> memorial page or obtain permission to use information from another site.

> I'm about to leave on a short trip, but if any help with his page is needed

> next week, I'm happy to pitch in.

>

> Henry

>

> At 10:36 AM 3/4/2008, Andrew Armstrong wrote:

>

> News on Gary Gygax's death. I've only heard him really speak in Futurama

> (a great appearance I might add), but damn, he was a big game developer, and

> must have been a great guy.

>

> :-(

>

> News post on Slashdot<http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/04/1750206>.

> The forum (his publisher) which reported it is really overwhelmed, but this

> is the link.<http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4373&mforum=trolllordgames>

>

> And a quick note; I think this is most certainly someone who deserves a memorial

> page <http://www.igda.org/wiki/Memorials>. Once an obituary is published,

> I'll see if the person who does one wants to have it copied onto the IGDA

> site, unless anyone wants to do one on this mailing list we can post of

> course, the game developer angle would be a nice thing.

>

> Andrew

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>

> Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>  Film & Media Collections

> HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> Stanford University Libraries

> Stanford CA 94305-6004

> 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>

>

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>

> --

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

> "Until next time..."

> Captain Commando

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>

> Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>  Film & Media Collections

> HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> Stanford University Libraries

> Stanford CA 94305-6004

> 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>

> _______________________________________________

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>



-- 
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

"Until next time..."
Captain Commando
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