Spacewar! – the origin

Spacewar! was an early video game that was created in 1961 by Steve Russell at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was one of the first video games to be widely played and is often credited with launching the video game industry.

The game was created on a DEC PDP-1 computer and allowed two players to control spaceships in a simulated gravity well, attempting to shoot each other down while avoiding obstacles such as planets and stars. The game was programmed in assembly language and used vector graphics, which were a novel technology at the time.

In 1971, the first commercial video game, called Computer Space, was released by Nutting Associates. The game was based on Spacewar! and was played on a coin-operated arcade machine.

The game was highly influential and inspired many other video games that followed. For example, the game Asteroids, which was released by Atari in 1979, borrowed many elements from Spacewar!, including the use of vector graphics and the simulation of gravity.

Over the years, Spacewar! has continued to be studied and analyzed by video game historians and enthusiasts. In 2007, a group of MIT students created a replica of the game that was playable on modern computers. The replica included the original vector graphics and sound effects, as well as an emulation of the DEC PDP-1 computer that the game was originally programmed on.

Overall, Spacewar! was an important milestone in the history of video games and helped to establish many of the conventions and design elements that are still used in video games today. Its legacy can be seen in the many video games that have followed in its footsteps and in the continued fascination with its history and impact on the video game industry.

Today Space Rocks is a very common exercise in computer game programming, for anybody cutting their teeth in the industry. As I was thrust into the Video Game Industry, I first started experimenting with different programming languages, and quickly realized that I would need a modern Game Engine in order to make any real headway.  I settled on Godot, as it provides 2D, 3D, multiplatform, and Python like programming  language. Next I was off to make a few games to get started.  The tutorials people offer on Youtube are great.   I wanted to make a modern version of Stargate, and still do.  However, Space Rocks quickly got my attention.  I always liked  the Asteroids video game, but there are also a ton of things I don’t like about the Asteroids video game.   As the computer hardware as evolved, I really felt that that all the Spacewars! game derivatives, all the way up to and including Space Rocks, don’t do the original creators justice, where software is concerned.

I set out to change that.  I want the nostalgic look and feel, but I want modern game play and graphics to boot.  There needs to be customization, because no video game built after 2020 would be legitimate without it.  Most of all I want real weapons, indicative of the times.  Heavily influenced by the Space Streaming video series  “The Expanse”, and the Marvel Universe movies, I was off to build something truly unique, and nostalgic at the same time.  I hope all the people who play this new game Aurora Realms, get to enjoy it as much, or more than I have building and playing it.