From: DURHAM@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU (Mark A. Durham) Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,rec.games.programmer,rec.games.misc Subject: RFD: rec.games.corewar Message-ID: Date: 7 Sep 91 04:02:10 GMT Sender: tale@cs.rpi.edu Followup-To: news.groups Lines: 49 Approved: tale@rpi.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: cs.rpi.edu Request For Discussion: Creation of the newsgroup rec.games.corewar. NAME: rec.games.corewar STATUS: unmoderated CHARTER: We are proposing the formation of a newsgroup to discuss topics concerning or related to the game Core War(s). This would include discussion of other games in which programming is an integral part of game play. Core War specific information such as the announcement of tournaments and the discussion of standards would be frequent posts. RATIONAL: Core War is a game for programmers which involves writing programs (known as warriors) which battle in memory (known as core, hence Core War) trying to defeat each other. Originally proposed by Jones and Dewdney in March of 1984, the game was popularized by A. K. Dewdney in his "Computer Recreations" articles for Scientific American, starting with the original May 1984 issue, and the anthology of those (and other) articles in his book "The Armchair Universe". Over the years, many Core War systems have appeared on many platforms. A society devoted to the furtherment of Core War and the establishment of standards, The International Core War Society, currently exists. Its members span the globe with Branch Sections in Italy, Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, due to the diverse and dispersed nature of Core War enthusiasts, communication has been and continues to be a difficult problem. Many enthusiasts do not have the means to join, or have just never heard of, the ICWS. Consequently, non-standard Core War systems continue to proliferate. Clearly, a newsgroup such as rec.games.corewar would go a long way toward improving the current situation. Core War is also of much academic interest. Redcode, the assembly-like language used to program warriors, is an excellent teaching language and is used as such in several colleges around the world. The self-contained core of Core War allows study of virus-like warriors with no fear of contaminating other systems. Core War can often be found in discussions of artificial life and genetic algorithms. Further information about Core War, the ICWS, and why a newsgroup is of interest and needed on the net can be had by contacting the Electronic Branch Section of the ICWS in care of Mark A. Durham at DURHAM@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU. Discussion will of course take place in news.groups. -- Thank you, Mark A. Durham MAD