Minefield (1979)
Overview
The game is played on a 10*10 grid with 10 visible rocks and 15 hidden mines. You win by navigating from the bottom left corner to the top right corner. A counter tells you the number of mines touching your location. The count is in all directions; however, you can only move vertically and horizontally.
The "batteries" in your mine detector stop working after 20 moves. You cannot move onto a rock and if you attempt to move off the grid the game warns "stay on the minefield coward!". You move by entering U (up), D (down), L (left) or R (right) using the teletype.
After the game ends you are given the option to see your path and where the mines were hidden.
Since the game was written for a PDP-11/45 connected to a DECwriter, the game appears on the screen one line at a time (as if it were being printed to paper) and the grid is printed again after each move.
Code was published in Personal Computer World magazine in March 1979 with instructions for converting to Commodore PET BASIC.
Platforms
- 1979 - DEC PDP-11
- 1979 - Commodore PET
Companies
People
- Scott Bell
- Simon Dowson
Game Lineage
Game Attributes
The following attributes can be used to map the evolution of Minesweeper. Blue cells are confirmed attributes for official versions of Minefield. Yellow cells are unknown.
Releases
[Machine] DEC PDP-11 (11/45)
[Machine] Commodore PET
Images
[Machine] DEC PDP-11 (11/45)
No images have been added for this release.
[Machine] Commodore PET
Credits
[Machine] DEC PDP-11 for 11/45
[Machine] Commodore PET
Collect
Personal Computer World (March 1979) || Collect ID 30 || Edition ID 59 || 1979
Trivia
- Minefield was featured on the cover of Personal Computer World (March 1979).
- Dowson told MSGAME(2022) that he wrote the game as a British Steel apprentice at their Ladgate Laboratories in Middlesbrough. His colleague Scott Bell "played and debugged" the game. Dowson had a Commodore PET 2001 at home but submitted the PDP-11/45 version to the magazine because it was connected to a DECwriter printer. PCW paid them £50.
- The original magazine article in March 1979 contains a mistake (Line 650 needs GOTO 1070). This was noted in the May 1979 issue of PCW.
- The instructions to convert to Commodore PET 2001 BASIC fail to mention that the original code is 44 columns but the PET 2001 only has 40 columns (so you need to modify the game from 10*10 to 9*9).
- Personal Computer World, Vol. 1 No. 11, (p64) - Minefield
https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1979-03/page/64/mode/2up
Code for release ID108, ID109. Date published 1979-03-00. Article and code listing. - Personal Computer World, Vol. 2 No. 1, (p7) - Acknowledgements
https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1979-05/page/6/mode/2up
Code for release ID108, ID109. Date published 1979-05-00. Minefield coding error. - Personal Computer World, Vol. 2 No. 1, (p9) - Will the computer of the future be made of Jello?
https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1979-05/page/8/mode/2up
Article for release ID108, ID109. Date published 1979-05-00. Reader complained about the Minefield magazine cover. - Periodical Guide For Computerists 1979, (p16)
https://archive.org/details/periodical-guide-for-computerists-1979/page/16/mode/2up
Catalogue for release ID108, ID109. Date published 1979-00-00. List of code published in different magazines. - Personal Computer World, Vol. 3 No. 3, (p53)
https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1980-03/page/52/mode/2up
Catalogue for release ID108, ID109. Date published 1980-03-00. List of software published in the magazine.