[game_preservation] Sumer Game - Merrill or Dyment?

[Devin Monnens]

Just heard it straight from the king's mouth (or his keyboard, rather) -
Sumer was indeed designed by Doug Dyment. I don't know where the idea came
from that Richard Merrill built the program though. I think it might be as a
result of this book, which I have heard lists Sumer's designer as Merrill:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-At-Work-Snapshots-Thirty-Five/dp/1555580920

Time to change the history books...

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 9:33 AM, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com> wrote:


> The famous game Hammurabi is credited to Richard Merrill, the creator of

> FOCAL. It was one of the first pieces of software made for FOCAL, and it was

> designed in 1968. However, the DECUS DEC Catalogues clearly list "The Sumer

> Game" as being designed by Doug Dyment of DEC Canada. Clearly these two

> accounts can't be correct.

>

> http://pdp-8.org/scans/highgate/decus/decus_lib_73a.pdf - Scroll to Page

> 90, FOCAL-5

>

> The only Doug Dyment I see on the web is the travel speaker (who oddly

> enough grew up in Canada...but got a degree in computer science in 1979).

>

> I think finding the DECUS program FOCAL-5 would help alleviate things (as

> would contacting either of these two). Unfortunately, it's about as easy as

> finding a first folio of Shakespeare, as nobody seems to have saved these

> documents.

>

> The more I read, the more I am doubting traditional histories.

> Unfortunately, I have to speak about this on Wednesday, so I may just have

> to tell them 'I don't know'. :P

>

> --

> 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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