Swords of Chaos
Encyclopedia
Swords of Chaos is a computer game made by Mark Peterson. It is a MUD
type game for the Major BBS
and Worldgroup BBS
software, allowing it to be played over a dial-up connection with a modem
: since the advent of the internet
, it is also possible to use a telnet
connection or a terminal emulator program such as PuTTY
to access a server.
by Mark Peterson in 1984 as a clone of the MUD game Sceptre of Goth. It was then ported to the Apple II
assembly language and renamed Angbar due to concern of legal action by Tolkien Enterprises over copyright infringement over the name and then ported to the C
programming language. It was released to the public and had some popularity but it was a Unix
game and so it wasn't compatible with common bulletin board systems which were run on DOS
. By 1994, Peterson had again rewritten the game to be compatible with DOS and renamed it to Swords of Chaos, again out of concern of legal action by Tolkien Enterprises. The game was distributed to BBS around the world until the growing popularity of the Internet caused a die off among BBS systems. Rights to the game were sold to a Canadian company named Vircom, which later sold it to Metropolis Gameport
which still sells the game today.
Mark Peterson also developed a game called The Mage Connection, which was a Magic: The Gathering
type of game played over BBS, and a game called Lords of Cyberspace.
When starting the game, you need to choose a race out of the 5 available, then a class out of the 7, you can then explore the realms with 1582 differents rooms, 930 differents monsters and 954 differents items, the goal will then be to find the best fighting place to earn the most experience, thus to level up faster.
There is no ending boss to kill to finish the game, it goes on almost forever. The highest monster in the game is Mhzentul which is level 1000, so you could say that if you kill him, you will have finish the game or it could be to have 32767 body points which will make you immortal or even attain level 14234 with the maximum of 32767 stats in each basic physical attributes (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence and psychic ability).
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
type game for the Major BBS
Major BBS
The Major BBS was bulletin board software developed between 1986 and 1999 by Galacticomm. In 1995 it was renamed Worldgroup Server and bundled with a user client interface program named Worldgroup Manager for Microsoft Windows...
and Worldgroup BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
software, allowing it to be played over a dial-up connection with a modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
: since the advent of the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, it is also possible to use a telnet
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
connection or a terminal emulator program such as PuTTY
PuTTY
PuTTY is a free and open source terminal emulator application which can act as a client for the SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw TCP computing protocols and as a serial console client...
to access a server.
History
The precursor game, The Realm of Angmar, was written in PascalPascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
by Mark Peterson in 1984 as a clone of the MUD game Sceptre of Goth. It was then ported to the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
assembly language and renamed Angbar due to concern of legal action by Tolkien Enterprises over copyright infringement over the name and then ported to the C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
programming language. It was released to the public and had some popularity but it was a Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
game and so it wasn't compatible with common bulletin board systems which were run on DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
. By 1994, Peterson had again rewritten the game to be compatible with DOS and renamed it to Swords of Chaos, again out of concern of legal action by Tolkien Enterprises. The game was distributed to BBS around the world until the growing popularity of the Internet caused a die off among BBS systems. Rights to the game were sold to a Canadian company named Vircom, which later sold it to Metropolis Gameport
Metropolis Gameport
Metropolis Gameport is the Kansas, USA based company that currently owns the rights to several games, including Legend of the Red Dragon, MajorMUD and Planets: The Exploration of Space, selling the licenses to the games on their website.-External links:**...
which still sells the game today.
Mark Peterson also developed a game called The Mage Connection, which was a Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
type of game played over BBS, and a game called Lords of Cyberspace.
Game play
Swords of Chaos is a game written in the medieval adventure cliché. The distinctive innovation of the game was a real-life timer used during combat. There is no overarching goal other than exploring, killing monsters and collecting gold in order to increase the player's level. You can also socialize with other people connected to the game and help each other out.When starting the game, you need to choose a race out of the 5 available, then a class out of the 7, you can then explore the realms with 1582 differents rooms, 930 differents monsters and 954 differents items, the goal will then be to find the best fighting place to earn the most experience, thus to level up faster.
There is no ending boss to kill to finish the game, it goes on almost forever. The highest monster in the game is Mhzentul which is level 1000, so you could say that if you kill him, you will have finish the game or it could be to have 32767 body points which will make you immortal or even attain level 14234 with the maximum of 32767 stats in each basic physical attributes (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence and psychic ability).