<s>
DECWAR	B-Application
is	O
a	O
multiplayer	O
computer	O
game	O
first	O
written	O
in	O
1978	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Texas	O
at	O
Austin	O
for	O
the	O
PDP-10	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
WAR	O
and	O
DECWAR	B-Application
are	O
essentially	O
multiplayer	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
classic	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
game	O
,	O
but	O
with	O
added	O
strategic	O
elements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
later	O
used	O
,	O
by	O
scrubbing	O
copyright	O
notices	O
and	O
replacing	O
them	O
,	O
as	O
MegaWars	O
on	O
CompuServe	O
and	O
Stellar	O
Warrior	O
on	O
GEnie	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
game	O
that	O
led	O
to	O
DECWAR	B-Application
was	O
WAR	O
,	O
a	O
two-player	O
version	O
of	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
for	O
the	O
CDC	B-Device
6600	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
,	O
a	O
single	O
player	O
would	O
hunt	O
around	O
the	O
galaxy	O
looking	O
for	O
an	O
invasion	O
force	O
of	O
Klingon	O
warships	O
,	O
and	O
return	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
starbases	O
to	O
refit	O
and	O
repair	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
a	O
port	O
to	O
the	O
PDP-10	B-Device
,	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
more	O
heavily	O
modified	O
and	O
became	O
DECWAR	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
no	O
longer	O
run	O
as	O
a	O
single	O
instance	O
,	O
but	O
instead	O
as	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
programs	O
(	O
or	O
"	O
jobs	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
one	O
for	O
each	O
user	O
,	O
communicating	O
through	O
a	O
shared	B-Operating_System
memory	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
1.0	O
of	O
DECWAR	B-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
August	O
1978	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
university	O
would	O
make	O
copies	O
available	O
on	O
tape	O
for	O
the	O
nominal	O
fee	O
of	O
$50	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
soon	O
appeared	O
on	O
PDP-10s	B-Device
around	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bill	O
Louden	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
in	O
charge	O
of	O
games	O
at	O
CompuServe	O
,	O
purchased	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
DECWAR	B-Application
from	O
UT	O
Austin	O
after	O
having	O
been	O
told	O
of	O
its	O
existence	O
one	O
night	O
on	O
CB	B-Protocol
Simulator	I-Protocol
by	O
Merlyn	O
Cousins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1982	O
,	O
Louden	O
gave	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
programmers	O
at	O
Kesmai	B-Application
,	O
who	O
wrote	O
many	O
of	O
CompuServe	O
's	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
found	O
that	O
the	O
copyright	O
said	O
nothing	O
about	O
commercial	O
uses	O
,	O
and	O
quickly	O
produced	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
after	O
replacing	O
any	O
potentially	O
lawsuit-friendly	O
references	O
to	O
the	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
universe	O
with	O
more	O
generic	O
references	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numerous	O
additions	O
were	O
made	O
during	O
its	O
run	O
,	O
notably	O
different	O
classes	O
of	O
ships	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
versions	O
looked	O
little	O
like	O
the	O
original	O
DECWAR	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kesmai	B-Application
also	O
worked	O
on	O
an	O
extensively	O
updated	O
version	O
to	O
be	O
known	O
as	O
MegaWars	O
II	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
retroactively	O
becoming	O
MegaWars	O
I	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
other	O
features	O
,	O
MegaWars	O
II	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
in	O
a	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
mode	O
and	O
was	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
graphical	O
front-ends	O
running	O
on	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
popular	O
home	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
imminent	O
release	O
of	O
MegaWars	B-Protocol
III	I-Protocol
ended	O
these	O
plans	O
,	O
and	O
MegaWars	O
II	O
was	O
abandoned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1985	O
Louden	O
left	O
CompuServe	O
to	O
form	O
GEnie	B-Language
at	O
General	O
Electric	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kesmai	B-Application
re-scrubbed	O
the	O
system	O
for	O
use	O
on	O
GEnie	B-Language
,	O
producing	O
Stellar	O
Warrior	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
MegaWars	O
,	O
Stellar	O
Warrior	O
ran	O
for	O
years	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
finally	O
killed	O
when	O
GEnie	B-Language
was	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
27	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Texas	O
published	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
Decwar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
code	O
is	O
hosted	O
at	O
the	O
Dolph	O
Briscoe	O
Center	O
for	O
American	O
History	O
and	O
GitHub	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
clone	O
of	O
Decwar	B-Application
called	O
decwars.com	O
was	O
written	O
in	O
Go	B-Application
by	O
Harris	O
Newman	O
and	O
runs	O
in	O
the	O
cloud	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
the	O
CIS	O
(	O
CompuServe	O
Information	O
Service	O
)	O
version	O
of	O
Decwar	B-Application
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
by	O
The	O
University	O
of	O
Texas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
was	O
highly	O
modified	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
CIS	O
's	O
version	O
of	O
TOPS-10	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Merlyn	O
Cousins	O
(	O
Drforbin	O
)	O
later	O
reverse	O
engineered	O
the	O
source	O
back	O
to	O
a	O
form	O
which	O
would	O
run	O
on	O
standard	O
TOPS-10	B-Operating_System
and	O
simh	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
is	O
also	O
available	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
basic	O
aim	O
of	O
DECWAR	B-Application
was	O
to	O
take	O
control	O
of	O
a	O
"	O
universe	O
"	O
consisting	O
of	O
a	O
79	O
×	O
79	O
"	O
sector	O
"	O
grid	O
(	O
in	O
v2.3	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
smaller	O
in	O
earlier	O
versions	O
)	O
containing	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
planets	O
,	O
bases	O
and	O
black	O
holes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
change	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
were	O
the	O
planets	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
captured	O
and	O
fortified	O
to	O
create	O
additional	O
bases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
change	O
from	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
was	O
that	O
fully	O
charged	O
and	O
operative	O
shields	O
would	O
deflect	O
torpedoes	O
completely	O
,	O
whereas	O
in	O
the	O
original	O
they	O
often	O
overwhelmed	O
the	O
Klingon	O
ships	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
shot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
could	O
also	O
shoot	O
at	O
stars	O
with	O
their	O
torpedoes	O
,	O
causing	O
them	O
to	O
go	B-Application
nova	O
and	O
destroy	O
any	O
nearby	O
ship	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
,	O
like	O
Star	B-Application
Trek	I-Application
,	O
each	O
user	O
interacted	O
through	O
a	O
turn-based	O
command	O
line	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
a	O
whole	O
was	O
essentially	O
real-time	O
because	O
any	O
user	O
could	O
enter	O
commands	O
at	O
any	O
time	O
and	O
update	O
the	O
global	O
game	O
state	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
improve	O
performance	O
,	O
DECWAR	B-Application
had	O
three	O
different	O
levels	O
of	O
"	O
detail	O
"	O
in	O
commands	O
and	O
output	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
tersest	O
mode	O
condensing	O
commands	O
into	O
a	O
code-like	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Command	O
structure	O
was	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
command	O
structure	O
of	O
TOPS-10	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
for	O
the	O
PDP-10	B-Device
;	O
commands	O
could	O
be	O
abbreviated	O
to	O
their	O
most	O
simple	O
and	O
unique	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DECWAR	B-Application
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
enter	O
coordinates	O
in	O
absolute	O
,	O
relative	O
or	O
computed	O
format	O
(	O
one	O
position	O
+	O
/	O
-	O
another	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
