<s>
Netrek	B-Application
is	O
an	O
Internet	B-Application
game	I-Application
for	O
up	O
to	O
16	O
players	O
,	O
written	O
almost	O
entirely	O
in	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
open-source	B-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developed	O
as	O
a	O
successor	O
to	O
1986	O
's	O
Xtrek	O
,	O
Netrek	B-Application
was	O
first	O
played	O
in	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
third	B-Architecture
Internet	I-Architecture
game	I-Architecture
,	O
the	O
first	O
Internet	O
team	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
of	O
2022	O
is	O
the	O
oldest	O
Internet	B-Application
game	I-Application
still	O
actively	O
played	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Xtrek	O
and	O
Netrek	B-Application
are	O
the	O
oldest	O
games	O
of	O
what	O
is	O
now	O
called	O
the	O
MOBA	O
(	O
multiplayer	O
online	O
battle	O
arena	O
)	O
genre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
describes	O
Bronco	O
Netrek	B-Application
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Vanilla	B-General_Concept
Netrek	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
variations	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
exist	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Hockey	O
Netrek	B-Application
in	O
which	O
players	O
use	O
tractor	O
beams	O
to	O
manipulate	O
a	O
hockey	O
puck	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paradise	O
Netrek	B-Application
,	O
which	O
originated	O
as	O
a	O
re-implementation	O
of	O
Netrek	B-Application
at	O
Utah	O
State	O
University	O
,	O
has	O
radically	O
different	O
gameplay	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
far	O
larger	O
number	O
of	O
planets	O
,	O
transwarp	O
speed	O
,	O
new	O
ship	O
types	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
additional	O
rank	O
structure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Netrek	B-Application
is	O
essentially	O
a	O
greatly	O
expanded	O
version	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
,	O
a	O
multi-user	O
space	O
combat	O
game	O
that	O
ran	O
on	O
the	O
PLATO	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Empire	B-Application
,	O
in	O
turn	O
,	O
is	O
essentially	O
a	O
multi-user	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
seminal	O
Spacewar	O
!,	O
the	O
earliest	O
computer	O
video	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
those	O
games	O
,	O
in	O
Netrek	B-Application
each	O
player	O
takes	O
command	O
of	O
a	O
starship	O
,	O
which	O
they	O
pilot	O
about	O
a	O
2D	O
map	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
galaxy	O
,	O
as	O
seen	O
from	O
above	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Netrek	B-Application
divided	O
the	O
players	O
into	O
one	O
of	O
four	O
teams	O
,	O
loosely	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Star	B-Operating_System
Trek	I-Operating_System
universe	O
;	O
the	O
Federation	O
,	O
Romulans	O
,	O
Klingons	O
,	O
and	O
Orions	O
(	O
or	O
"	O
feds	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
roms	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
klis	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
"	O
oris	O
"	O
,	O
respectively	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
planets	O
differ	O
from	O
each	O
other	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
military	O
or	O
agricultural	O
development	O
;	O
at	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
a	O
game	O
each	O
team	O
has	O
several	O
planets	O
under	O
their	O
control	O
one	O
of	O
which	O
is	O
their	O
homeworld	O
,	O
usually	O
named	O
after	O
an	O
actual	O
planet	O
in	O
the	O
Star	B-Operating_System
Trek	I-Operating_System
Universe	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Earth	O
for	O
feds	O
,	O
Romulus	O
for	O
roms	O
,	O
Orion	O
for	O
oris	O
,	O
Klingus	O
for	O
klis	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
Spacewar	B-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
or	O
Empire	B-Application
,	O
Netrek	B-Application
includes	O
many	O
different	O
ship	O
types	O
with	O
their	O
own	O
strengths	O
and	O
weaknesses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Netrek	B-Application
is	O
largely	O
derived	O
from	O
Empire	B-Application
,	O
written	O
for	O
the	O
PLATO	B-Operating_System
mainframe	O
system	O
beginning	O
in	O
1973	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
shares	O
many	O
characteristics	O
of	O
that	O
game	O
;	O
key	O
differences	O
include	O
a	O
different	O
planet	O
layout	O
and	O
a	O
much	O
different	O
pace	O
of	O
play	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
evolutionary	O
factors	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
mice	O
instead	O
of	O
keyboard	O
commands	O
,	O
TCP/IP	O
networking	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
color	O
and	O
sound	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1982	O
,	O
UC	O
Berkeley	O
student	O
David	O
Davis	O
began	O
writing	O
a	O
UNIX	B-Application
game	O
called	O
trek82	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
what	O
he	O
remembered	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
when	O
he	O
used	O
the	O
PLATO	B-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
while	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Hawaii	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chris	O
Guthrie	O
joined	O
Davis	O
,	O
and	O
introduced	O
him	O
to	O
Jef	O
Poskanzer	O
and	O
Craig	O
Leres	O
,	O
who	O
were	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
more	O
strategic	O
offshoot	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
called	O
Conquest	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1986	O
,	O
Guthrie	O
began	O
porting	O
trek83	O
to	O
the	O
newly	O
released	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
,	O
producing	O
Xtrek	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
development	O
took	O
place	O
at	O
the	O
XCF	B-General_Concept
,	O
with	O
the	O
help	O
of	O
Ed	O
James	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
spring	O
of	O
1988	O
,	O
Xtrek	O
II	O
was	O
written	O
by	O
Scott	O
Silvey	O
and	O
K	O
.	O
Smith	O
,	O
moving	O
from	O
a	O
model	O
which	O
used	O
X	B-Operating_System
as	O
a	O
transport	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
having	O
its	O
own	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
key	O
in	O
allowing	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
be	O
ported	O
to	O
other	O
platforms	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
or	O
may	O
not	O
support	O
X	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
was	O
later	O
developed	O
into	O
Netrek	B-Application
by	O
Scott	O
Silvey	O
,	O
Kevin	O
Smith	O
and	O
Terence	O
Chang	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1989	O
,	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
was	O
posted	O
to	O
Usenet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
fall	O
of	O
1990	O
,	O
UCB	O
alumnus	O
Terence	O
Chang	O
set	O
up	O
a	O
public	O
Netrek	B-Application
server	O
at	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
where	O
he	O
was	O
attending	O
graduate	O
school	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spring	O
1991	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
inter-scholastic	O
game	O
was	O
played	O
between	O
UCB	O
and	O
CMU	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
January	O
1992	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
International	O
Netrek	B-Application
League	O
"	O
(	O
INL	O
)	O
was	O
formed	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
teams	O
could	O
form	O
and	O
compete	O
with	O
one	O
another	O
(	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
pick-up	O
play	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
games	O
are	O
played	O
by	O
whoever	O
connects	O
to	O
a	O
server	O
,	O
and	O
players	O
enter	O
and	O
leave	O
as	O
they	O
wish	O
during	O
the	O
course	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Netrek	B-Application
was	O
very	O
popular	O
in	O
the	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
computer	O
clusters	O
for	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
years	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Netrek	B-Application
play	O
peaked	O
in	O
the	O
middle	O
to	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
with	O
several	O
leagues	O
existing	O
for	O
different	O
forms	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
for	O
different	O
regions	O
,	O
and	O
several	O
pickup	O
games	O
always	O
active	O
,	O
24	O
hours	O
per	O
day	O
,	O
seven	O
days	O
per	O
week	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
early	O
2007	O
,	O
Netrek	B-Application
has	O
seen	O
a	O
moderate	O
increase	O
in	O
playerbase	O
coupled	O
with	O
a	O
mild	O
renaissance	O
in	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2019	O
,	O
an	O
open	O
source	O
Netrek	B-Application
client	O
was	O
implemented	O
in	O
the	O
Swift	O
programming	O
language	O
and	O
made	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
MacOS	B-Application
App	O
Store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Netrek	B-Application
pioneered	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
many	O
technologies	O
and	O
design	O
features	O
that	O
later	O
found	O
their	O
way	O
into	O
commercial	O
network	O
games	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
efficient	O
use	O
of	O
fast	O
but	O
unreliable	O
UDP	B-Protocol
packets	I-Protocol
as	O
well	O
as	O
reliable	O
but	O
slower	O
TCP	B-Protocol
streams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
probably	O
the	O
first	O
game	O
to	O
use	O
both	O
types	O
of	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
packets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
robust	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
model	I-Operating_System
that	O
reduces	O
the	O
data	O
exchange	O
to	O
"	O
need	O
to	O
know	O
"	O
information	O
,	O
limiting	O
both	O
the	O
required	O
bandwidth	O
and	O
the	O
opportunities	O
for	O
players	O
to	O
cheat	O
by	O
obtaining	O
more	O
knowledge	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
world	O
than	O
their	O
opponents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Game	O
mechanics	O
designed	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
ability	O
of	O
assisted	O
or	O
robot	O
player	O
aimbots	B-Protocol
(	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
borgs	O
)	O
to	O
gain	O
a	O
significant	O
advantage	O
over	O
a	O
human	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
anti-cheating	O
mechanism	O
using	O
an	O
RSA-based	O
public	B-Application
key	I-Application
cryptography	I-Application
authentication	O
system	O
that	O
also	O
attempts	O
(	O
with	O
limited	O
success	O
)	O
to	O
detect	O
and	O
prevent	O
man-in-the-middle	O
attacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
a	O
web	O
site	O
about	O
playing	O
and	O
programming	O
Netrek	B-Application
launched	O
in	O
January	O
1994	O
,	O
originally	O
hosted	O
at	O
obsidian.math.arizona.edu	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
Jeff	O
Nelson	O
,	O
was	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
1000	O
WWW	O
sites	O
.	O
</s>
