This program is based on the game of "CORE WARS" described by A. K. Dewdney in his "Computer Recreations" column of the May, 1984 and March, 1985 issues of Scientific American. This implementation follows the MARS system very closely. It also has a built in editor and assembler to help in building new REDCODE battle programs. (See documentation for details.)
In this game, two programs battle each other for singular control of a simulated computer called MARS. The game is won when all the opponent's programs have been destroyed by forcing them to execute illegal instructions.
Each of the 8000 cells of the MARS system is displayed on the Macintosh screen and is filled with a tiny icon. The icons indicate which opponent owns the cell, and whether the cell is currently being executed, has been executed already, has been changed, or has been protected. By observing how these icons change the battle may be observed in exciting detail.
A disk with the source code for CORE WARS, in AZTEC C, is available for $15. Send your check to:
Robert Martin
12310 Lee Ave.
Waukegan, Illinois
60085
Feel free to give copies of this program to anybody who wants one.