Warp (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Warp is a text adventure game
, written in the late 1970s by Rob Lucke and Bill Frolik for Hewlett-Packard HP 3000
.
The game has never actually been officially released, but has been distributed through the HP user community INTEREX. It has been so popular among HP users (and staff) that the authors decided to include a mechanism to prevent playing it during working hours.
Rumors of its release are evident.
Warp is made up of over 16000 lines of Pascal source, 4000 lines of database
description, plus numerous utility programs. The game has been made to
run on HP 3000, 1000, 9000, but never been ported to any non-HP platform.
Warp is one of the most advanced text adventure games ever created. One main strength is the command parser, which can understand complex instructions such as "Go west and get everything but the lamp from the toolbox" or "Backtrack 2 moves. Next, inspect the peg and fountain". It is also possible to create macros, use conditional commands and recursion.
The world of Warp is extensive, interesting and dangerous. Most of the action takes place on a large piece of land, and there is also an ocean complete with islands and reefs which can be explored by boat. There are many ways to die, and a player will likely experience all of them before figuring out how to collect all the treasures and win the game. For the clever few who get that far, there is an Endgame with even more puzzles to solve.
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
, written in the late 1970s by Rob Lucke and Bill Frolik for Hewlett-Packard HP 3000
HP 3000
The HP 3000 series is a family of minicomputers released by Hewlett-Packard in 1973. It was designed to be the first minicomputer delivered with a full featured operating system with time-sharing. The first models were withdrawn from the market until speed improvements could be made. It ultimately...
.
The game has never actually been officially released, but has been distributed through the HP user community INTEREX. It has been so popular among HP users (and staff) that the authors decided to include a mechanism to prevent playing it during working hours.
Rumors of its release are evident.
Warp is made up of over 16000 lines of Pascal source, 4000 lines of database
description, plus numerous utility programs. The game has been made to
run on HP 3000, 1000, 9000, but never been ported to any non-HP platform.
Warp is one of the most advanced text adventure games ever created. One main strength is the command parser, which can understand complex instructions such as "Go west and get everything but the lamp from the toolbox" or "Backtrack 2 moves. Next, inspect the peg and fountain". It is also possible to create macros, use conditional commands and recursion.
The world of Warp is extensive, interesting and dangerous. Most of the action takes place on a large piece of land, and there is also an ocean complete with islands and reefs which can be explored by boat. There are many ways to die, and a player will likely experience all of them before figuring out how to collect all the treasures and win the game. For the clever few who get that far, there is an Endgame with even more puzzles to solve.
External links
- Warp documentation
- Warp server instructions Telnet 198.212.189.111 and enter HELLO PLAYER.WARP at the prompt.