Cool article for the weekend on golem.de: The OGs of gaming heaven. Or how a few dice changed the video game world forever.
And so it happened anyway that a simple hobby project of fans just turns the entire gaming industry around. Read it right, that's what happened when Dungeons & Dragons (short D&D) came on the scene in the 70s.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson In 1974, not only did they invent a Pen & Amp; Paper, they invented a Pen & Amp; Paper. Meta standard created. Suddenly we were no longer just generals in miniature war games, but Warriors, Mages, Elves and Halflings! We fought nasty orcs, threw fireball at level 4 hobgoblins, and collected loot in the infamous, eponymous dungeons.
The horny thing about it: All we needed was Pens, paper, some weird shaped cubes and massive fantasy.
Well, and because real nerds just don't last long with pen and paper, some of them thought: “This has to go to the computer!”
Enter the Dungeon: The first digital XP grinders
As soon as D&D was there, the first unofficial solo games were played in 1975. One of the pioneers was Pedit5 (actually The dungeon). The name is already nerdy: The game ran in the fifth storage space (Pedit5) a university group in Illinois.
The part was programmed by Reginald ‘Rusty’ Rutherford on a Plato terminal. Plato was actually a learning platform, but who needs education when you can knock monsters, right? ⁇
HP, Level & Attributes: The gold standard was born.
Pedit5 was simple: You create a character with values like strength and intelligence, Step into a dungeon and collect Experience Points (XP) and treasures.
And here comes the magic:
- Character level: Enough XP? Level up! You're getting stronger.
- Hit Points (HP): Your life bar. 0 HP = Game Over. (Or at least you'll be unconscious.)
- Attributes: Do you need to be a warrior strength? Or as a thief dexterity?
Rusty Rutherford confirmed in 2008: Yes, all these mechanics come directly from the D&D rulebook!
Today is completely normal, but back then it was groundbreaking! Whether Ultima, Wizardry, Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, They all built on that foundation. HP, XP, and Level are so universal that you can even Minecraft (XP!) or Starcraft (HP!) to find out.
Orange is a warm color (but the monsters are cold-blooded)
The graphic of Pedit5 was... well, rudimentary. Simple symbols and lines in warm Orange on pitch black background. Typical for the plasma screens of the Plato systems.
Nevertheless, the game was the hit! At Southern Illinois University (SIU), it has been deleted so many times by admins that students Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood They were annoyed and decided: “We become sysadmins and do our own thing!”
What's interesting about Pedit5: The dungeon was randomly based. Sometimes there was a lot of loot and light mobs, sometimes you suddenly stood in front of a Nearly Invincible Level 6 Dragons! This Procedural design laid the foundation for later legends such as Rogue (1980) or Diablo in the nineties.
The dungeons Perfect for computer games: tight, clear goals ("Come out alive with the treasures!") and a rising danger vs. loot curve.
The Game of Dungeons aka ‘dnd’ –> Beware, bosses ahead!
In 1975, the next highlight came: The Game of Dungeons, known by its file name dnd (the alternative spelling for D&D in the US).
Programmed by our Sysadmin heroes Whisenhunt and Wood, Also on Plato. Here you create your Char (with wisdom and dexterity) and immerse yourself in the Whisenwood Dungeon off.
The killer feature: Finally you were able to leave the dungeon to Save game save! Farewell, frustration with sudden Logout death!
But the biggest innovation? If you can believe the game expert Daryl Baxter, Whisenhunt and Wood have the Boss opponents Invented!
To the magical object ‘The Orb’ To get one, you had to get one. The Golden Dragon defeated. It had blatant values, but it was (and that was important to the programmers) achievable. No unfair arcade junk that should just frustrate you. A real boss fight!
The digital heritage is alive!
In the 70s many more hobby RPGs were created, but Pedit5 and dnd are the best known.
The irony: The official D&D publishing house TSR (Tactical Studies Rules Inc.) has checked the potential of digital licenses mega late. It wasn't until 1988 that he came Pool of Radiance The first official game. This was the start of a long, 30-game collaboration with Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI).
Today we know: D&D is still good for exciting games! Just look at the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 (Where the Fireball still rocks!).
The influence of these pen-and-amp; paper pioneers is undeniable. Whether the original developers of Ultima & Co. who knew Plato games or just gambled D&D themselves may be hard to say. But it is clear: Character Levels, Hit Points and Dungeons They have forever grounded the digital game world.
Thank you, Gygax and Arneson! And thank you, your hobby programming nerds!
Today not TL:DR, but the recommendation, read the complete article on the source: Golem.de through, it's worth it!
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