[game_preservation] Hunt the Wumpus - 1972 or 1973?

[Devin Monnens]

BTW, where is Jim Warren's and Liza Loop's contact information? I'm not sure
the sumeru.stanford.edu addresses are working...

-Devin

On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:27 PM, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com> wrote:


> Henry,

>

> Indeed, that is the exact story that Yob tells in Creative Computing.

> Hurkle, Snark, and Mugwump are available in the 101 BASIC Computer Games

> (well, Hurkle and Mugwump are...). He disliked that they were played on

> cartesian grids. Wumpus 2 plays around with all different kinds of maps, but

> that came out years later. These games were 'published' in the February 1973

> PCC newsletter, but precious few of these newsletters seem to exist. The

> 'Best of' collections don't list publication date, but if you check the

> covers in the front of the book, it states 'Wumpus' very clearly on the

> October/November 1975 issue.

>

> http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=247

>

> <http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=247>I'm also snagging

> a copy of What to do after you hit RETURN from interlibrary loan. This is a

> collection of games made at the PCC; book was published in 1977. Hopefully,

> it has more information.

>

> -Devin

>

>

> On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 12:18 PM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu>wrote:

>

>>  Devin,

>>

>> from word-of-mouth stories, I have the impression that he did the work

>> here, quickly (as you say) at the PCC.  In fact, part of the story is that

>> he noticed people playing certain kinds of games at the PCC and thought that

>> other topologies would be intriguing.  But again, this is just an impression

>> I have from various conversations over the years. I have written about it

>> just a bit from the available sources, which from your account must have

>> been the same ones that you used.

>>

>> You might try asking people like Liza Loop or Jim Warren, who were around

>> during the PCC days. They might know.

>>

>> I was not aware of Yob's passing  nor his decision to be cryofrozen.

>> Interesting.

>>

>> Henry

>>

>> Devin Monnens wrote:

>>

>> Wikipedia states that Hunt the Wumpus "was noticed on mainframe computers

>> as early as 1972". However, in Gregory Yob's article for Creative Computing

>> (published Oct/Nov 1975), he states that he designed that game "about two

>> years ago", placing it squarely in 1973. He says he dropped it off at the

>> People's Computer Company and about one month afterward went to the Synergy

>> Conference at Stanford (held May 9-13, 1973). This would mean he built the

>> game probably in April 1973 - or at least dropped it off at PCC in late

>> March, early April. From the way he tells the story, it sounds like he built

>> it in one afternoon (which would make more sense if he was visiting out of

>> state - though I can't get confirmation that he was a Dartmouth alumni

>> because Wikipedia is the sole source of info - and I think there it's

>> referencing Dot Eaters.). So...was this built on a teletype at Dartmouth in

>> 1972 or in California in 1973?

>>

>>  Also...Greg Yob passed away in 2005, which I wasn't aware of. However,

>> he has been cryofrozen and so when the technology becomes available, we can

>> resurrect him and ask him more about Wumpus. I can envision people from the

>> future resurrecting Yob to hunt real wumpuses (Wumpi?) that have infested

>> the Arizona desert after the apocalypse.

>>

>> --

>> Devin Monnens

>> www.deserthat.com

>>

>> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> game_preservation mailing listgame_preservation at igda.orghttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>>

>>

>> --

>> 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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>>

>>

>

>

> --

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>




-- 
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
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