Grendel's Cave
Encyclopedia
Grendel's Cave is a real-time browser-based role-playing video game
. It is published by Grendel Enterprises and runs exclusively on the Internet
. It is based on Anglo-Saxon
mythology and Beowulf
, and is set in the historical medieval period
. It is considered both an artistic depiction of Grendel
and the poem, Beowulf, as well as a modern adaptation and a derivative work of the epic. It has been online since 1998. Grendel's Cave is used as an Internet learning aid for medieval literature
and is considered an online Beowulf resource.
6800 microcomputer
. This version was a fully text-based game but included many of the features of the later Internet incarnations of the game. It was based on an older pen and paper dungeon game
with the same name.
In 1997 Grendel's Net took over the project and began development of an Internet version of the game. Grendel's Net's development was conducted as an experiment in Classic ASP
and Microsoft
SQL
6.0 programming for the World Wide Web
. Version 1.0 was rolled out in August 1998. This version ran until July 2001. The last year of its run was plagued by hacking
and cheats which finally brought about the demise of the game.
In early 2005 Grendel Enterprises acquired the rights to all of Grendel's Net assets. Grendel Enterprises' programmers found the original Grendel's Cave source code
on an old database server
in an office closet. Soon after, they started work on Grendel's Cave v2.0. The first beta, v1.8A, was rolled out on April 1, 2005 and over the next two years was followed by four more pre-2.0 versions, 1.8B, 1.8C, 1.9, and 2.0 betas. Finally, on November 11, 2007, version 2.0 went live. Version 2.0 contained many aspects of the original Grendel's Cave with the addition of many Norse mythological
elements and NPCs
.
In 2010 Grendel Enterprises released version 2.1. It expanded the Quests available in the game, relaxed all of the anti-bot
measures and made it easier for new players to get started by greatly reducing their penalty for death.
Grendel Enterprises is currently working on version 3.0, an ASP.NET
rewrite of the existing code.
Grendel's Cave's graphics and user interface have remained mostly unchanged throughout its history, giving it and old and outdated look..
On 30 August 2011, it was announced that Grendel's Cave would suspend operations while it undergoes a major upgrade to version 2.5 and that it would return on 27 September 2011. On the morning of 12 September 2011, Grendel's Cave was no longer available and the site was replaced with a Test Pattern page. On 24 September 2011, it was announced that the game would not return on the date planned and that it would not return until early November 2011. To date the game is still suspended and represented by the simple Test Pattern.
, the player character
s in the game, killing monster
s, primarily found in Grendel's Cave, increasing value and stats and collecting items. Thanes obtain gold rings, the game's currency, by selling obtained items or Singing of Deeds before King Hrothgar
. They gain magical abilities by visiting the Witch or through acquired items. Ultimately this leads players to complete quests and earn amulet
s, by traveling to other worlds, trade in those earned amulets for the Yggdrasil
amulet and thus be allowed to kill Grendel. Killing Grendel is the ultimate objective of the game. After killing Grendel there is a secondary objective, killing Grendel's Mother
, and then a tertiary objective, killing The Dragon
.
At any one time there are many kingdoms running, with a Grendel in each kingdom to be killed, of several different kingdom types. The different kingdom types range from beginner to advanced, with increasing difficulty and requirements for killing Grendel, occasionally tournament style or championship kingdoms and personal kingdoms that can be custom configured by individual players. The less advanced kingdoms are generally non-PVP
, while the more advanced kingdoms allow PVP and player killing.
Killing Grendel in any of the more advanced kingdoms earns the player's Thane a place on the hall of fame. To date 101 Thanes have earned a spot on the hall of fame.
, kingdom in the early 6th century. The kingdom is in the middle of its war with Grendel. Grendel is an AI
monster, who performs many tasks, most of them nasty, involving killing or harassing Thanes in the game. It contains many Norse mythology elements but also contains anachronistic
elements as well as many references to historical events and items and popular culture
. It encompasses Norse cosmology
, with each of the nine worlds represented in the game. Player's Thanes can travel to these worlds and complete quests. Thanes can take on other than human characteristics, including Valkyrie
, Berserker
s, Trickster
s, and Shape-Shifters
, among others.
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
. It is published by Grendel Enterprises and runs exclusively on 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 based on Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
mythology and Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
, and is set in the historical medieval period
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It is considered both an artistic depiction of Grendel
Grendel
Grendel is one of three antagonists, along with Grendel's mother and the dragon, in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf . Grendel is usually depicted as a monster, though this is the subject of scholarly debate. In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf.-Story:The poem Beowulf is contained in...
and the poem, Beowulf, as well as a modern adaptation and a derivative work of the epic. It has been online since 1998. Grendel's Cave is used as an Internet learning aid for medieval literature
Medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages . The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works...
and is considered an online Beowulf resource.
Literary Significance
Grendel's Cave is an online Beowulf resource that goes beyond the written text by allowing players to participate in the story. It is considered a modern adaptation of the original Beowulf poem. Glenco McGraw-Hill uses the site as part of their Study Guide for Beowulf. Educational websites use Grendel's Cave as an online reference for Medieval literature.History
Mars Software Products wrote the first version of Grendel's Cave in 1981 as a single-player video game for the SWTPCSWTPC
The U.S. company SWTPC started in 1964 as DEMCO . It was incorporated in 1967 as Southwest Technical Products Corporation of San Antonio, Texas...
6800 microcomputer
Microcomputer
A microcomputer is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. They are physically small compared to mainframe and minicomputers...
. This version was a fully text-based game but included many of the features of the later Internet incarnations of the game. It was based on an older pen and paper dungeon game
Role-playing game (pen and paper)
A tabletop role-playing game, pen-and-paper role-playing game, or Table-talk role-playing game is a form of role-playing game in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech...
with the same name.
In 1997 Grendel's Net took over the project and began development of an Internet version of the game. Grendel's Net's development was conducted as an experiment in Classic ASP
Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages , also known as Classic ASP or ASP Classic, was Microsoft's first server-side script engine for dynamically-generated Web pages. Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack Active Server Pages (ASP), also known as Classic...
and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
SQL
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
6.0 programming for the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. Version 1.0 was rolled out in August 1998. This version ran until July 2001. The last year of its run was plagued by hacking
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
and cheats which finally brought about the demise of the game.
In early 2005 Grendel Enterprises acquired the rights to all of Grendel's Net assets. Grendel Enterprises' programmers found the original Grendel's Cave source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
on an old database server
Database server
A database server is a computer program that provides database services to other computer programs or computers, as defined by the client–server model. The term may also refer to a computer dedicated to running such a program...
in an office closet. Soon after, they started work on Grendel's Cave v2.0. The first beta, v1.8A, was rolled out on April 1, 2005 and over the next two years was followed by four more pre-2.0 versions, 1.8B, 1.8C, 1.9, and 2.0 betas. Finally, on November 11, 2007, version 2.0 went live. Version 2.0 contained many aspects of the original Grendel's Cave with the addition of many Norse mythological
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
elements and NPCs
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
.
In 2010 Grendel Enterprises released version 2.1. It expanded the Quests available in the game, relaxed all of the anti-bot
Internet bot
Internet bots, also known as web robots, WWW robots or simply bots, are software applications that run automated tasks over the Internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are both simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human alone...
measures and made it easier for new players to get started by greatly reducing their penalty for death.
Grendel Enterprises is currently working on version 3.0, an ASP.NET
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
rewrite of the existing code.
Grendel's Cave's graphics and user interface have remained mostly unchanged throughout its history, giving it and old and outdated look..
On 30 August 2011, it was announced that Grendel's Cave would suspend operations while it undergoes a major upgrade to version 2.5 and that it would return on 27 September 2011. On the morning of 12 September 2011, Grendel's Cave was no longer available and the site was replaced with a Test Pattern page. On 24 September 2011, it was announced that the game would not return on the date planned and that it would not return until early November 2011. To date the game is still suspended and represented by the simple Test Pattern.
Gameplay
Gameplay involves creating ThanesThegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
, the player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
s in the game, killing monster
Monster
A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
s, primarily found in Grendel's Cave, increasing value and stats and collecting items. Thanes obtain gold rings, the game's currency, by selling obtained items or Singing of Deeds before King Hrothgar
Hroðgar
Hroðgar, King Hroþgar, "Hrothgar", Hróarr, Hroar, Roar, Roas or Ro was a legendary Danish king, living in the early 6th century....
. They gain magical abilities by visiting the Witch or through acquired items. Ultimately this leads players to complete quests and earn amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
s, by traveling to other worlds, trade in those earned amulets for the Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
amulet and thus be allowed to kill Grendel. Killing Grendel is the ultimate objective of the game. After killing Grendel there is a secondary objective, killing Grendel's Mother
Grendel's mother
Grendel's mother is one of three antagonists in the work of Old English literature of anonymous authorship, Beowulf . She is never given a name in the text....
, and then a tertiary objective, killing The Dragon
The Dragon (Beowulf)
The final act of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, depicts the hero Beowulf's fight with a dragon, the third monster he encounters in the epic. Returning from Heorot, where he killed Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and rules peacefully for 50 years until a slave...
.
At any one time there are many kingdoms running, with a Grendel in each kingdom to be killed, of several different kingdom types. The different kingdom types range from beginner to advanced, with increasing difficulty and requirements for killing Grendel, occasionally tournament style or championship kingdoms and personal kingdoms that can be custom configured by individual players. The less advanced kingdoms are generally non-PVP
Player versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
, while the more advanced kingdoms allow PVP and player killing.
Killing Grendel in any of the more advanced kingdoms earns the player's Thane a place on the hall of fame. To date 101 Thanes have earned a spot on the hall of fame.
Plot and Setting
Grendel's Cave is based on the Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf. It is set in King Hrothgar's, king of the DanesDanes
Danish people or Danes are the nation and ethnic group that is native to Denmark, and who speak Danish.The first mention of Danes within the Danish territory is on the Jelling Rune Stone which mentions how Harald Bluetooth converted the Danes to Christianity in the 10th century...
, kingdom in the early 6th century. The kingdom is in the middle of its war with Grendel. Grendel is an AI
Intelligent agent
In artificial intelligence, an intelligent agent is an autonomous entity which observes through sensors and acts upon an environment using actuators and directs its activity towards achieving goals . Intelligent agents may also learn or use knowledge to achieve their goals...
monster, who performs many tasks, most of them nasty, involving killing or harassing Thanes in the game. It contains many Norse mythology elements but also contains anachronistic
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
elements as well as many references to historical events and items and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. It encompasses Norse cosmology
Norse cosmology
The cosmology of Norse mythology has 'nine homeworlds', unified by the world tree Yggdrasill. Mapping the nine worlds escapes precision because the Poetic Edda often alludes vaguely, and the Prose Edda may be influenced by medieval Christian cosmology...
, with each of the nine worlds represented in the game. Player's Thanes can travel to these worlds and complete quests. Thanes can take on other than human characteristics, including Valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
, Berserker
Berserker
Berserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources...
s, Trickster
Trickster
In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...
s, and Shape-Shifters
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
, among others.
Versions
| Version | Start Date | End Date | Slayer Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 1998-08-01 | 2001-07-06 | |
First Web version, Free |
| 1.8 Beta-A | 2005-04-01 | 2005-06-12 | |
Free |
| 1.8 Beta-B | 2005-06-13 | 2005-07-15 | |
Free |
| 1.8 Beta-C | 2005-07-16 | 2005-11-03 | |
Free |
| 1.9 | 2005-11-04 | 2007-11-11 | |
Live, pay to play version Enhanced security features Clone of original 1.0 version |
| 2.0 Beta | 2007-02-23 | 2007-11-11 | None, Grendel declared winner | Free Norse elements/Quests added |
| 2.0 | 2007-11-11 | 2010-11-05 | |
Free, pay for advanced features |
| 2.1 | 2010-04-09 | 2011-09-12 | |
Free, pay for advanced features Expanded Quests Easier Startup Conditions |