Islands of Kesmai
Encyclopedia
Island of Kesmai was an early commercial online game
in the MUD
genre, innovative in its use of roguelike
pseudo-graphics. It is considered a major forerunner of modern MMORPGs
.
classmates John Taylor and Kelton Flinn
wrote Dungeons of Kesmai, a six player game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons
which used Roguelike
ASCII
graphics. They founded the Kesmai
company in 1982 and in 1985 an enhanced version of Dungeons of Kesmai, Island of Kesmai, was launched on CompuServe
. Later, its 2-D graphical descendant Legends of Kesmai was launched on AOL
in 1996. The games were retired commercially in 2000.
for no additional charge. However, CompuServe cost $6 per hour for 300 baud
or $12 per hour for 1200 baud
access rates. The game processed one command every 10 seconds, which equates to 1 2/3 cents per command.
. From the chat room, the user could enter the virtual world
.
The game interface was two dimensional and scrolled unless you downloaded and installed a GUI
. The interface has often been called roguelike
in that it borrowed features of game-play from a game called Rogue
. The game used a Dungeons and Dragons-like turn-based play. Players moved in tiles on a grid utilizing short commands or key presses. Items could be found on the floor of the dungeon as symbols — as could mobs
to fight.
There were two levels of the world. First was above ground and included a town and a wilderness. New characters (with the exception of thieves) start out at the dock, walk down main street past a bank, and lockers and end up at a temple. Inside the temple is a priest and a staircase going down into the dungeon where fights occur. There was one massive mob
, a dragon-like beast called a Drake. Killing the drake gave players a potion that would boost a stat permanently.
One of the notable game play systems was the ability to perform quests for various rewards. These choreographed progressions represented some of the first online questing systems which would become a significant aspect of the wildly popular future MMORPGs such as EverQuest
and World of Warcraft
.
. It was based on a slightly stripped down version of Island of Kesmai with 2D sprites
replacing IoK' s roguelike
pseudo-graphics, and was available for play at America Online and GameStorm
. Prior to that, Kesmai
corporation ran a long open beta for the game, as well as hosting the game for a short period of time in the mid 90's. In 1999 Electronic Arts
bought Kesmai and in 2000 closed the business.
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
in the MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
genre, innovative in its use of roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
pseudo-graphics. It is considered a major forerunner of modern MMORPGs
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
.
Launch date
In the summer of 1980 University of VirginiaUniversity of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
classmates John Taylor and Kelton Flinn
Kelton Flinn
Kelton Flinn is an American computer game designer who is a major pioneer in online games. He is a co-founder of the seminal online game company Kesmai, which they began in 1982...
wrote Dungeons of Kesmai, a six player game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
which used Roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
graphics. They founded the Kesmai
Kesmai
Kesmai was a pioneering game developer and online game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim Air Warrior on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical MMOGs, launched in 1987...
company in 1982 and in 1985 an enhanced version of Dungeons of Kesmai, Island of Kesmai, was launched on CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
. Later, its 2-D graphical descendant Legends of Kesmai was launched on AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
in 1996. The games were retired commercially in 2000.
Price to play
The game was available on CompuServeCompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
for no additional charge. However, CompuServe cost $6 per hour for 300 baud
Baud
In telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
or $12 per hour for 1200 baud
Baud
In telecommunications and electronics, baud is synonymous to symbols per second or pulses per second. It is the unit of symbol rate, also known as baud rate or modulation rate; the number of distinct symbol changes made to the transmission medium per second in a digitally modulated signal or a...
access rates. The game processed one command every 10 seconds, which equates to 1 2/3 cents per command.
Game characteristics
After logging into Compuserve and selecting to play Island of Kesmai, the user was allowed to create a character. After creating a character, the next step was to enter the chat roomChat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
. From the chat room, the user could enter the virtual world
Virtual world
A virtual world is an online community that takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. The term has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of...
.
The game interface was two dimensional and scrolled unless you downloaded and installed a GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
. The interface has often been called roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
in that it borrowed features of game-play from a game called Rogue
Rogue (computer game)
Rogue is a dungeon crawling video game first developed by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman around 1980. It was a favorite on college Unix systems in the early to mid-1980s, in part due to the procedural generation of game content. Rogue popularized dungeon crawling as a video game trope, leading...
. The game used a Dungeons and Dragons-like turn-based play. Players moved in tiles on a grid utilizing short commands or key presses. Items could be found on the floor of the dungeon as symbols — as could mobs
Mob (computer gaming)
A mob, mobile or monster is a computer-controlled non-player character in a computer game such as an MMORPG or MUD. Depending on context, all such characters in a game may be considered "mobs", or usage may be limited to hostile NPCs and/or NPCs vulnerable to attack.-Purpose of mobs:Defeating...
to fight.
There were two levels of the world. First was above ground and included a town and a wilderness. New characters (with the exception of thieves) start out at the dock, walk down main street past a bank, and lockers and end up at a temple. Inside the temple is a priest and a staircase going down into the dungeon where fights occur. There was one massive mob
Mob (computer gaming)
A mob, mobile or monster is a computer-controlled non-player character in a computer game such as an MMORPG or MUD. Depending on context, all such characters in a game may be considered "mobs", or usage may be limited to hostile NPCs and/or NPCs vulnerable to attack.-Purpose of mobs:Defeating...
, a dragon-like beast called a Drake. Killing the drake gave players a potion that would boost a stat permanently.
One of the notable game play systems was the ability to perform quests for various rewards. These choreographed progressions represented some of the first online questing systems which would become a significant aspect of the wildly popular future MMORPGs such as EverQuest
EverQuest
EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
and World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
.
Legends of Kesmai
Legends of Kesmai (LOK) was among the first successful graphical multi-player online role-playing gamesMassively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
. It was based on a slightly stripped down version of Island of Kesmai with 2D sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
replacing IoK
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
pseudo-graphics, and was available for play at America Online and GameStorm
GameStorm
GameStorm was an online gaming service founded by Kesmai corporation in the 1990s. It offered several online video games at a flat monthly fee of $10 per month, a relatively radical payment system in the age of pay-by-hour online gaming...
. Prior to that, Kesmai
Kesmai
Kesmai was a pioneering game developer and online game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim Air Warrior on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical MMOGs, launched in 1987...
corporation ran a long open beta for the game, as well as hosting the game for a short period of time in the mid 90's. In 1999 Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
bought Kesmai and in 2000 closed the business.