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{{redirect|Bolo (video game)|the Apple II game of the same name|Bolo (1982 video game)}}
{{Infobox video game {{Infobox video game
| title = Bolo |title = Bolo
|image = |image =
|developer = Various |developer = Various
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|released = ] |released = ]
|genre = ] |genre = ]
|modes = ], ] |modes = ], ]
|platforms = ], ], ], ], ] |platforms = ], ], ], ], ]
}} }}


'''''Bolo''''' is a ] initially created for the ] computer by ] in 1987, and was later ported by Cheshire to the Apple ].<ref name="BoloManual">{{cite web | url = http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/bolomanual/ | title = MacBolo Instructions | accessdate = 27 May 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518053532/http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/bolomanual/ | archive-date = 18 May 2007 | url-status = dead}}</ref> Although offered for sale for the BBC Micro,<ref name="acornuser198901">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser078-Jan89/page/n131/mode/1up | title=Bolo! | work=Acorn User | author=go-dax | date=January 1989 | access-date=30 April 2021 | pages=139}}</ref><ref name="worldinpixels-2020">{{cite web | url=https://www.idesine.com/blogs/news/the-mysterious-delos-d-harriman-talks-about-the-unreleased-bolo-in-an-extended-excerpt-from-acorn-a-world-in-pixels | title= Delos D.Harriman talks about unreleased Bolo | work=World in Pixels | author=idesine | date=November 2020}}</ref> this version is now regarded as lost.<ref name="sth">{{cite web | url=https://www.stairwaytohell.com/lostandfound/homepage.html | title=Lost and Found | website=Stairway to Hell | access-date=30 April 2021}}</ref> It is a networked multiplayer game that simulates a ] battlefield. Currently, a Windows version known as Winbolo remains in operation and continues to have a small but active player base.<ref>{{Cite web | title=WinBolo.com: Downloads | url=http://www.winbolo.com/downloads.php | access-date=2023-07-10 | website=www.winbolo.com}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web | title=WinBolo.net: Index | url=http://winbolo.net/ | access-date=2023-07-10 | website=winbolo.net}}</ref>
'''''Bolo''''' is a ] initially created for the ] computer by ] in 1987.{{citation needed}} It is a networked multiplayer game that simulates a ] battlefield. It was one of the earliest simultaneous multiplayer networked games.{{citation needed}}


==Name== ==Name==
According to the Bolo Frequently Asked Questions page: "Bolo is the Hindi word for communication. ''Bolo'' is about computers communicating on the network, and more importantly about humans communicating with each other, as they argue, negotiate, form alliances, agree strategies, etc."<ref name="Bolo FAQ">{{cite web | url = http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/stuartfaq.html | title = Frequently Asked Questions | accessdate = 27 May 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518233700/http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/stuartfaq.html | archive-date = 18 May 2007 | url-status = dead}}</ref>
⚫ Another ] was created for the Apple II in 1982. Cheshire says this was "an unfortunate coincidence".<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/bolomanual/
| title = MacBolo Instructions
| accessdate = 27 May 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518053532/http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/bolomanual/
| archive-date = 18 May 2007
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> He says that the name comes from the Hindi word for communication, which is "bolo".<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/stuartfaq.html
| title = Frequently Asked Questions
| accessdate = 27 May 2007
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070518233700/http://bishop.mc.duke.edu/bolo/guides/stuartfaq.html
| archive-date = 18 May 2007
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>


⚫ Another ] was created for the Apple II in 1982. In the user manual, Cheshire wrote that this was "an unfortunate coincidence".<ref name="BoloManual" />
⚫ == Description ==


] is also the name for a class of self-aware tanks in a series of stories initially published in 1960 by science fiction writer ].
⚫ ]


⚫ == Description ==
Players are divided into two teams. Each player commands a tank that can be driven around a battlefield within an orthogonal, top-down view. The tank has a cannon, which fires forward, and it carries mines as a secondary weapon, which can be dropped while moving or be placed somewhere on the map. Tanks have a certain amount of "armor" (]), which is reduced by enemy shots. A tank is destroyed if its armor reaches zero or if it is driven into the sea.
⚫ ]

Cannon ammunition and mines can be refilled by going to a friendly "base". The bases also repair damage to tanks, but this depletes the base's armor. Bases' ammunition and armor regenerate slowly.

The goal of the game is to capture all of the bases on the map. Neutral bases may be captured by driving one's tank over them. Hostile bases can be made neutral again by shooting them until their armor supply is reduced to zero.

Another game element is the "]". Pillboxes are initially neutral and will shoot at any tank that approaches them. Like the supply bases, pillboxes can be shot at until destroyed, after which a player can restore it, making it friendly. Unlike the bases, pillboxes can be moved around the map by the players.

Inside the tank is an engineer, who places mines and moves pillboxes. The engineer can also perform building tasks, after collecting wood in a forest. The structures that can be built are roads, which speed up travel, and walls, which act as a barrier. The engineer can be killed by enemies while out of the tank.


== Networking == == Networking ==
The Macintosh version of Bolo supported up to sixteen concurrent networked players,
{{unreferenced section}}
using ] over a ],

or ] over the ].<ref name="faq1">{{cite web | url=http://bolo.net/rgb-faq1.txt | title= rec.games.bolo Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Part 1 | author=Cory L. Scott | date=May 1995}}</ref><ref name="faq2">{{cite web | url=http://bolo.net/rgb-faq2.txt | title= rec.games.bolo Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Part 2 | author=Cory L. Scott | date=May 1995}}</ref><ref name="VirtualCommunity">{{cite journal | last1=Moore | first1=Eric | title=The Bolo Game: Exploration of a High-Tech Virtual Community | journal=Advances in Consumer Research | date=1996 | volume=23 | pages=167–171 | url=https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/7937/volumes/v23/NA-23/full | access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref> All AppleTalk network connection types were supported, including ], ], TokenTalk, and ].<ref name="BoloManual" /> The current Windows version continues to support 16 players, who join via an active games page or the game's Discord channel.<ref>{{Cite web | title=WinBolo.net: Active Games | url=http://winbolo.net/activegames.php | access-date=2023-07-10 | website=winbolo.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Join the WinBolo Discord Server! | url=https://discord.com/invite/hkxKS3r | access-date=2023-07-10 | website=Discord}}</ref>
Bolo's networking support allows up to sixteen players to join a single game. Networked games were still extremely rare in the late 1980s, and those that were available were generally fairly simple. The game supported only ].

Bolo made use of AppleTalk's ] (NBP) that assigned human-readable names to network addresses. On startup, Bolo would use NBP to find all the devices advertising a Bolo port, collecting the unique names to produce a games list. These were then presented to the user, allowing them to select an existing game, or start a new one. If the user chose to start a new game, Bolo then registered a new Bolo device with NBP. New players starting up could then join this game by name, and if they did so their own machine would register itself on the network with the same name.

The game used only a single ] that was sent from machine to machine in a ] fashion. The packet was fixed-length, with enough room to carry the information for the sixteen players. Each machine in the game inserted its AppleTalk address into one of the sixteen slots in the packet, on a first-come, first-served basis. The first machine on the list would insert its game data (position, whether they are firing, etc.) into a payload area, then look for the next address on the list and send the packet there. That machine would then read out the first's state, insert its own, and pass it off again. The list was looped, so the last machine would send the packet back to the first. After one such loop, the packet contained the game state for every player.

The single-packet approach reduced network traffic compared to a system where updates are sent individually to each machine. This was advantageous in a time when computer networks were much less powerful than they are today. The downside of this approach is that any particular machine has to wait the entire round-trip in order to receive updates, which results in high ]. In an era when most networks were local and a round trip might take only a few hundred milliseconds, this was not a problem. In modern networking, however, the latency matters a lot more, because most or all of the links are likely to be over the ].

One consequence of the design is that it was completely decentralised. New players could join by sending a request to anyone, and existing players could leave by simply removing their address from their slot in the packet. This meant that if the starting user left the game, the rest of the machines in the game could continue as normal.


== References == == References ==
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{{refbegin}} {{refbegin}}
* Andrew Wilson and Stephen Intille, , MIT Media Lab Fall 1995 - this paper describes using Bolo as a system for developing a ] system.<!--Did this paper appear in a peer-reviewed journal, or has it been cited by other papers a significant number of times?--> * Andrew Wilson and Stephen Intille, , MIT Media Lab Fall 1995 - this paper describes using Bolo as a system for developing a ] system.<!--Did this paper appear in a peer-reviewed journal, or has it been cited by other papers a significant number of times?-->
*Silberman, S. (1995). . NetGuide Magazine, May issue. Archived from on the 5th of June, 2020. * Silberman, S. (1995). . NetGuide Magazine, May issue. Archived from on 5 June 2020.
{{refend}} {{refend}}


== External links == == External links ==
* *
*, the author of ''Bolo'' * , the author of ''Bolo''
*
*


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolo (Video Game)}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolo (Video Game)}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]

Latest revision as of 17:40, 13 October 2024

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1987 video game
Bolo
Developer(s)Various
Publisher(s)Various
Platform(s)BBC Micro, Mac OS, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows
Release1987
Genre(s)Tactical shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Bolo is a video game initially created for the BBC Micro computer by Stuart Cheshire in 1987, and was later ported by Cheshire to the Apple Macintosh. Although offered for sale for the BBC Micro, this version is now regarded as lost. It is a networked multiplayer game that simulates a tank battlefield. Currently, a Windows version known as Winbolo remains in operation and continues to have a small but active player base.

Name

According to the Bolo Frequently Asked Questions page: "Bolo is the Hindi word for communication. Bolo is about computers communicating on the network, and more importantly about humans communicating with each other, as they argue, negotiate, form alliances, agree strategies, etc."

Another tank game with the same name was created for the Apple II in 1982. In the user manual, Cheshire wrote that this was "an unfortunate coincidence".

Bolo is also the name for a class of self-aware tanks in a series of stories initially published in 1960 by science fiction writer Keith Laumer.

Description

Screenshot from the game

Networking

The Macintosh version of Bolo supported up to sixteen concurrent networked players, using AppleTalk over a Local Area Network, or UDP over the Internet. All AppleTalk network connection types were supported, including LocalTalk, EtherTalk, TokenTalk, and AppleTalk Remote Access. The current Windows version continues to support 16 players, who join via an active games page or the game's Discord channel.

References

  1. ^ "MacBolo Instructions". Archived from the original on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
  2. go-dax (January 1989). "Bolo!". Acorn User. p. 139. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  3. idesine (November 2020). "Delos D.Harriman talks about unreleased Bolo". World in Pixels.
  4. "Lost and Found". Stairway to Hell. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  5. "WinBolo.com: Downloads". www.winbolo.com. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  6. "WinBolo.net: Index". winbolo.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  7. "Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2007.
  8. Cory L. Scott (May 1995). "rec.games.bolo Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Part 1".
  9. Cory L. Scott (May 1995). "rec.games.bolo Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Part 2".
  10. Moore, Eric (1996). "The Bolo Game: Exploration of a High-Tech Virtual Community". Advances in Consumer Research. 23: 167–171. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  11. "WinBolo.net: Active Games". winbolo.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  12. "Join the WinBolo Discord Server!". Discord. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

Further reading

External links

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