Air (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Air is a text-based aerial warfare
mainframe
computer game written in by Kelton Flinn
and John Taylor. Air foreshadowed the first graphical MMOG, Air Warrior
, which was released by the company Flinn and Taylor later founded, Kesmai
.
Although Air was by today's standards a primitive text-based game, its influence over the following two decades of game evolution still marks it as a major title. The first version was created in 1977 and enhanced through 1979. As Flinn has said: "If Air Warrior was a primate swinging in the trees, AIR was the text-based amoeba crawling on the ocean floor. But it was quasi-real time, multi-player, and attempted to render 3-D on the terminal using ASCII graphics. It was an acquired taste."
Aerial warfare
Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift...
mainframe
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
computer game written in by Kelton Flinn
Kelton Flinn
Kelton Flinn is an American computer game designer who is a major pioneer in online games. He is a co-founder of the seminal online game company Kesmai, which they began in 1982...
and John Taylor. Air foreshadowed the first graphical MMOG, Air Warrior
Air Warrior
Air Warrior was an early multiplayer on-line air-combat simulator. A player is able to fly a simulated World War II aircraft, fighting with and against other players, each flying his own simulated aircraft. It was introduced in 1986 by Kelton Flinn and his company Kesmai. At this time the internet...
, which was released by the company Flinn and Taylor later founded, Kesmai
Kesmai
Kesmai was a pioneering game developer and online game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim Air Warrior on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical MMOGs, launched in 1987...
.
Although Air was by today's standards a primitive text-based game, its influence over the following two decades of game evolution still marks it as a major title. The first version was created in 1977 and enhanced through 1979. As Flinn has said: "If Air Warrior was a primate swinging in the trees, AIR was the text-based amoeba crawling on the ocean floor. But it was quasi-real time, multi-player, and attempted to render 3-D on the terminal using ASCII graphics. It was an acquired taste."