History of the game of Drakkar?
History of the game of Drakkar?
Hi everyone,
I've been talking with friends about their addictions to newer MMORPGs like WoW lately, and I always bring up the "good old days" when I was a Drakkar addict, and always try to impress upon them the amazing staying power of this game. However, I'm invariably left without any good references to show them that detail the long (and storied) history of this game. If anyone has any links they can share, great - if not, I'd love to hear what you know about the history of this game. A few specifics I'd like to know...
When was the original, text-based, version first started?
When did it become graphical?
What were all the jumps from one owner to the next?
What was the name of the RPG Brad used to play that inspired him? (I can't believe I don't remember this, and it's REALLY bugging me!)
What year was the Pit, to later become Cob, added?
Thanks a lot for any light you can shed
-Valarc (who misses the days when being big in drak actually meant something)
I've been talking with friends about their addictions to newer MMORPGs like WoW lately, and I always bring up the "good old days" when I was a Drakkar addict, and always try to impress upon them the amazing staying power of this game. However, I'm invariably left without any good references to show them that detail the long (and storied) history of this game. If anyone has any links they can share, great - if not, I'd love to hear what you know about the history of this game. A few specifics I'd like to know...
When was the original, text-based, version first started?
When did it become graphical?
What were all the jumps from one owner to the next?
What was the name of the RPG Brad used to play that inspired him? (I can't believe I don't remember this, and it's REALLY bugging me!)
What year was the Pit, to later become Cob, added?
Thanks a lot for any light you can shed
-Valarc (who misses the days when being big in drak actually meant something)
Valarc___STORM, usually found in #storm on irc, and in the pillar room in cob
**Excerpt from an actual Lobby chat session**
chance: does valarc eva leave game
Brad: valarc is an NPC
Brad: didnt you know that?
**Excerpt from an actual Lobby chat session**
chance: does valarc eva leave game
Brad: valarc is an NPC
Brad: didnt you know that?
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
you can find various bits of information at these links:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C002414/history.html (this one mentions Drakkar in the 1992 and 1993 year slot - and as a side note when it talks about MOSAIC I still have that in it's original shrink wrapped box; how geeky is that?)
There are more links on Google that you can check out, this is what I was able to find in just a few moments.
The history of Drakkar goes back to before 1992, this is just when it went to a graphical interface.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C002414/history.html (this one mentions Drakkar in the 1992 and 1993 year slot - and as a side note when it talks about MOSAIC I still have that in it's original shrink wrapped box; how geeky is that?)
There are more links on Google that you can check out, this is what I was able to find in just a few moments.
The history of Drakkar goes back to before 1992, this is just when it went to a graphical interface.
Replying to Topic 'H
Original linkKoD Creator
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July 4 2002, 15:46
Brad Member of Administrators Replying to Topic 'Past Lives' was posted on: 09-13-03 23:02:24
Bah, rumors. Just to clear things up completely:
I am the sole creator of Realm which became Drakkar. Others have written scenarios, and helped maintain the game, but its my insanity.
I wrote the game in college, it was a center screen side scroller MMRPG like rogue. Then a friend turned me onto iok and i adopted the same symbol set as them (close), and moved the display window to the upper right.
The game was developed on a PDP11, and later ported to unix (still called REALM at the time).. There are still a couple original players online ( won't give names ) who played on the DISK BBS (where it ran)
I never worked for kesmai corp, or had even heard of the game until a friend turned me onto it while i was in college. Drakkar is not IOK, never was, never even took a similar development path other than the superficial stuff (think about the game styles, they are light years apart) (though i was heavily influenced by rogue, moria and IOK) (And LUVED iok by the way)
In college, I was contacted by MPGN to license the game, which they did, and produced a graphical frontend for it. There was no internet then.
I accepted, and we made a graphical frontend, put it up on MPGN, and I took a cut of the profits. "ben" was an employee of mpgn at the time, but was working on ANOTHER game mpgn was writing.
MPGN eventually dropped development of their game, and switched to mine. It grew and grew, etc.
MPGN then got a very, very early access line to what was then a newly broken off portion of milinet, called the internet. It was through C$S believe it or not.. So we grabbed it, and got a CLASS B internet address (if you can believe it).. And put drakkar up on it.. (hence it was the original, first, and only graphical MMRPG on the internet).
One day, Ben ("mirror") offered to "RUN" the game for me, and I accepted. He ran it for a couple years, until an unfortunate incident caused a breakup of that relationship.
About 10 years ago, MPGN purchased complete rights to drakkar from me, and took over management. I was a consultant (and programmer on other projects)
Many years later, MPGN merged with IEN, i left the company, drakkar died on the vine, and I swooped in a couple years ago and bought it back.
I sure hope that clears up all the rumors about where this all started
http://kingdomofdrakkar.com/newforums/v ... php?t=1289
-Stormwind
Heh.. The Good Ole Days
Another link for nostalgia..
http://web.archive.org/web/199706132145 ... .mpgn.com/
Version Notes going all the way back to the name change from The Realm to The Kingdom of Drakkar.
http://www.wolfguild.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=333
Pretty sure if I dig around I have more stuff squirreled away in logs and files.
Last edited by Stormwind on Wed Jun 28, 2006 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Though Brad doesn't give an exact date, and I don't have it either,
it was 1988 or earlier
it was 1988 or earlier
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
It would be right when my grades started to go downhill in college. I got the copyright back to 1991 i think, but i believe the ascii version is 88/89. Some of the old, old players may remember when they first got online.. if they were on the pdp11 version, its 1989ish if they were first on the unix version its 1991+
Brad
Brad
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Awesome info, thanks guys!
Valarc___STORM, usually found in #storm on irc, and in the pillar room in cob
**Excerpt from an actual Lobby chat session**
chance: does valarc eva leave game
Brad: valarc is an NPC
Brad: didnt you know that?
**Excerpt from an actual Lobby chat session**
chance: does valarc eva leave game
Brad: valarc is an NPC
Brad: didnt you know that?
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Lots of info on this topic. I started late 1988, though my earliest manual dates to 1989, and this was like Brad said on the pdp11. Sometime thereafter, 1990ish or so, the game was ported to UNIX.
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
I am coming back in 2 years then for grand celebration of the 20 years of drakkar, 10 years of my main character, and guess what i will need to make level 50 then, i am all so close!
Back to the mines for now, rent is high, wages low, plastic oh, so good!
Back to the mines for now, rent is high, wages low, plastic oh, so good!
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Froz do you have an old realm D.I.S.K. manual? The one john sparks wrote? the date on that should be about right.
Like you said, im thinking 88/89.
Like you said, im thinking 88/89.
- Dragonslayer
- Posts: 519
- Joined: Wed Jul 10, 2002 3:06 am
Replying to Topic 'H
I'd like to preface the enxt two sentances with "Holy shit!":
It's Valarc!
This game is roughly as old as me!
And I thought I was hardcore because I played on iEN
(For the record, I didn't think i was hardore because i played on iEN)
It's Valarc!
This game is roughly as old as me!
And I thought I was hardcore because I played on iEN
(For the record, I didn't think i was hardore because i played on iEN)
Last edited by Dragonslayer on Sat Jul 15, 2006 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dragonslayer of PHNX
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Ewwww! a Valarc!!
RIP Guild Website http://www.ripguild.com
-
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2003 1:06 pm
- Title: Goddess aka ROADKILL
- Location: Mount Olympus
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Roooseeeeeyyy!!!!
Come back to Drak! You know you wanna! We miss you!
Come back to Drak! You know you wanna! We miss you!
I am the Goddess of wisdom, the breath of life...
Protectress of Heroes brave and valorous.
Protectress of Heroes brave and valorous.
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Whoah.. Who let Rosey into forums?
Come Back!
Come Back!
Auramancer
That WOLF is up to something SINister.
That WOLF is up to something SINister.
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Maybe if Brad introduces Drak for Mac! Wow that has a certain ring to it!
Rosey
Rosey
RIP Guild Website http://www.ripguild.com
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
I've been begging for that for awhile now Rosey!
Although, if you have the new intel processor, you can download "Boot Camp" for mac and it will allow you to partition your HD and install Windows XP on the other partition. It works pretty nicely on the high end iMac's (thats what I have). Not sure about their other desktops/laptops though.
Although, if you have the new intel processor, you can download "Boot Camp" for mac and it will allow you to partition your HD and install Windows XP on the other partition. It works pretty nicely on the high end iMac's (thats what I have). Not sure about their other desktops/laptops though.
Auramancer
That WOLF is up to something SINister.
That WOLF is up to something SINister.
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Yeah I do. Sorry, I rarely ever read these forums anymore. You want the manual? It's (c) 1989 if I recall. Email me if you want it.Originally posted by Brad
Froz do you have an old realm D.I.S.K. manual? The one john sparks wrote? the date on that should be about right.
Like you said, im thinking 88/89.
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
It was graphical before that. I used to play it on an Amiga 500 computer via dialin to NY in 1991. There was no real lobby of any type at that time though but it was one of the best mouse-click games I had found.Originally posted by flisk
you can find various bits of information at these links:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C002414/history.html (this one mentions Drakkar in the 1992 and 1993 year slot - and as a side note when it talks about MOSAIC I still have that in it's original shrink wrapped box; how geeky is that?)
There are more links on Google that you can check out, this is what I was able to find in just a few moments.
The history of Drakkar goes back to before 1992, this is just when it went to a graphical interface.
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
Yes, and it was nice to meet you as well Brad. We talked for a bit at Comdex in Vegas, along with "Gimli" at the MPGN booth. Wish I knew what ever happened with those T-Shirts that went with a subscription from back then. LOLOriginally posted by Brad
It would be right when my grades started to go downhill in college. I got the copyright back to 1991 i think, but i believe the ascii version is 88/89. Some of the old, old players may remember when they first got online.. if they were on the pdp11 version, its 1989ish if they were first on the unix version its 1991+
Brad
Thanks for the fun entertainment over the years.
The "original" Maximus
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
I have played most of the online games EQ, EVE, Earth and Beyond, WOW, etc and NOTHING I mean Nothing is as well designed as drakkar.
The way the whole system works, the IH, Zaps, Skills, Story etc. NOTHING has been designed as well since 1988.
As a programmer I want to say: Brad your initial design was almost perfect.
Spectrum
The way the whole system works, the IH, Zaps, Skills, Story etc. NOTHING has been designed as well since 1988.
As a programmer I want to say: Brad your initial design was almost perfect.
Spectrum
Replying to Topic 'History of the game of Drakkar?'
What I was always most curious about is how he decided upon the equations to use for the XP, Skill and Combat tables.
Replying to Topic 'H
Here's how:Originally posted by Ravaillac
What I was always most curious about is how he decided upon the equations to use for the XP, Skill and Combat tables.
"Is creature fire/ice immune?
No=+100% exp/skill
"Is creature melee only?"
Yes=+100% exp/skill
"Is creature's melee subpar?"
Yes=+100% exp/skill
Last edited by Darge on Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SIN
My father was a wolf, I'm a kinsman of the slain, Sworn to rise again
I will bring salvation, punishment and pain, The hammer of hate is our faith
Power and dominion are taken by the will, By divine right hail and kill
trav: you bad bad girl
My father was a wolf, I'm a kinsman of the slain, Sworn to rise again
I will bring salvation, punishment and pain, The hammer of hate is our faith
Power and dominion are taken by the will, By divine right hail and kill
trav: you bad bad girl