FORTRAN is almost as easy to learn as BASIC, and there is much evidence to show that it is still a viable language for programs of any complexity. Outside the field of commercial data processing, where COBOL reigns supreme, there is no doubt that the majority of large systems are implemented in FORTRAN. This is particularly true of simulators which of course have much in common with simulation games.

-- Eric Solomon: Game Programming (1984)

Games & Fun in FORTRAN

A collection of source code listings of small games & programs in FORTRAN 77, mostly ports of BASIC type-in programs:

Acey Ducey -- simple card game Buzzword -- phrases generator DELMAR -- horse race simulation Donut -- spinning ASCII donut Guess -- guess a number Guillotine -- French variant of the hangman game Hamurabi -- ancient city management game Jackpot -- slot machine Magic 8-Ball -- fortune telling Penney’s Game -- sequence prediction Pi -- Spigot algorithm Rock, Paper, Scissors -- play against the computer ROT-13 -- encoder/decoder Russian Roulette -- virtual revolver Wumpus -- adventure game from 1973

You have access to a real computer? There is a FORTRAN 77 compiler available!

More FORTRAN Games

Slightly more complex text games, written in FORTRAN 77:

• The Oregon Trail -- port of the BASIC text game from 1978 to FORTRAN 77
• RFK-77 -- robotfindskitten for 32-bit DOS

And even more FORTRAN games with available source code.

Random Numbers in FORTRAN 77

The ANSI FORTRAN 77 standard does not include any pseudo-random number generator (PRNG). Most compilers provide extensions. In any case, we can link PRNG procedures written in FORTRAN 77:

• ACORN -- Additive Congruential Random Number Generator
• Mersenne Twister -- FORTRAN 77 implementation
• Park-Miller -- minimum standard pseudo-random number generator
• RANLUX -- high-quality random number generator

In Fortran 90, we have access to the intrinsic subroutines RANDOM_SEED() and RANDOM_NUMBER().

Computer Graphics in FORTRAN 77

Libraries to draw graphics to screen:

• EGGX/ProCALL -- free X11 graphics library for C and FORTRAN 77
  • Alfred -- the MAD computer program
  • Ray Casting -- basic 2.5-D engine for X11
  • Shuttle -- software renderer ported from GW-BASIC

Early Computer Games & Simulations in FORTRAN

There are many examples of early computer games and simulations originally written in or later ported to FORTRAN:

• Kotok-McCarthy-Program (1959 -- 1962) in FORTRAN and IBM 7090 macro assembler (FAP), also known as A Chess Playing Program for the IBM 7090 Computer. The first computer program to play chess convincingly.
• The Sumerian Game (1964) in FORTRAN Assembly Program (FAP), by William McKay and Mabel Addis for the IBM 7090 time-shared mainframe. The FOCAL port of 1968 is known as King of Sumeria or The Sumer Game, the BASIC port of 1973 as Hamurabi. The BASIC version was converted to FORTRAN IV in 1979 (Sumeria).
• MONABUS (1966), a business simulation developed by Walter L. Brown at University of Montana (JavaScript version).
• MAX (1970), a chess engine in FORTRAN IV, by James J. Gillogly.
• Aaron Marcus’ Cybernetic Landscapes (1971 -- 1973), a FORTRAN IV program for displaying a virtual reality environment on an LDS-1.
• Willie Crowther’s Colossal Cave Adventure (1975 -- 1977) in FORTRAN IV on PDP-8/10/11 and other systems. Later ported to FORTRAN 77.
• DELMAR (1974), a horse race simulation in FORTRAN IV, by Ron Morgan and Kirk Roderick.
• Dungeon (1978) on PDP-11, DEC VAX, IBM System/370, and other platforms, by Bob Supnik. More or less the public domain version of the original MIT Zork.
• Chris Crawford’s Wargy I (1976) on IBM 1130.
• Ken Thompson’s Space Travel (1976) in FORTRAN IV on GE 635/GECOS -- the game that brought mankind UNIX.
• A Versatile Computer-Generated Dynamic Flight Display (1976) by Bruce A. Artwick -- early 3-D flight simulation in FORTRAN IV on PDP-11/40, developed at Institute of Aviation, University of Illinois.
• Walter Bright’s Empire (1978) in FORTRAN IV on PDP-10/11, DEC VAX, and others.
• Lunar Lander, several FORTRAN ports.
• Star Trek and Super Star Trek on PDP-11, CDC 6600, Xerox Sigma 7, DEC VAX, and many more.
• DECWAR (1979), a real-time multi-player space battle game in FORTRAN IV for DEC PDP-10.
• Hunt the Wumpus (several FORTRAN ports).
• Bill Wolpert’s Mystery Mansion (1978 -- 1981), an early text adventure for HP 1000 and HP 3000 minicomputers.
• COMBAT, a multi-user space battle game in FORTRAN IV for CDC Cyber, by J. Logajan.
• Castlequest (1980), a parser adventure by Michael S. Holtzman and Mark Kershenblatt in FORTRAN 77.
• Kong/Lode Runner (1981) on Prime 550 and DEC VAX.
• Chess, Tic Tac Toe, Minefield, and a few more games developed at the University of Toronto.
• Blackjack (1982) in FORTRAN 77, by U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
• COMEL (1983), a U.S. military communications-oriented war game, developed by the Joint Telecommunications Staff Officers’ Course at Keesler Air Force Base.
• Chris Pirih’s Ski (1985) for VAX VMS, the text-based predecessor of SkiFree.
• Remake of Battle Zone (1986) by Justin S. Revenaugh for Apollo Domain/OS, using the GPR graphics library. The game was later ported as XBZONE to X11. Apparently, the source archive xbzone.tar.Z is lost. Todd W. Mummert recreated the game in C as CBZONE for X11/Xaw (1990).

Last Update: Mon, 11 Dec 2023 16:32:40 +0100
Created: Mon, 06 Sep 2021 21:56:26 +0200