Space War

This document describes "SPACE WAR" (DECUS No. 8-395), a program by Evan Suits of Digital Equipment Corporation, released on March 22, 1971.

It's a classic two-player intergalactic combat game designed for the DEC PDP-8 computer (specifically, a Lab-8 or Lab-8L), requiring 4K of memory and an ASR 33 Teletype. Players control two ships—one delta-shaped and one rectangular—in a battle to destroy the opponent and become "Supreme Ruler of the Universe."

Controls for ship rotation, acceleration, and torpedo launching can be selected between the system's Switch Register or the AXØ8 Blue Ribbon Connector. A unique "hyperspace" feature allows ships to vanish and reappear randomly (sometimes as an explosion) if both turn commands are asserted simultaneously. The game ends when a ship is struck by a torpedo and explodes, after which it can be restarted by pressing any teletype key.

Gameplay limitations include a closed screen environment (ships wrap around), velocity caps, and a cooldown period for torpedo launches. The program is interrupt-driven and advises disabling other device flags to prevent errors.