Mar 27, 2021
ANTIC Interview 408 - David Maynard, Electronic Arts
Worms?
David Maynard created the game/simulation "Worms?" Published by
Electronic Arts in 1983, it was a launch title -- one of the five
initial releases from the company. David, one of EA's first
employees, wrote Worms? for the Atari 8-bit in FORTH. It was later
ported to the Commodore 64.
Worms is an interactive version of Paterson's Worms, a family of
cellular automata devised in 1971 by Mike Paterson and John Conway.
It is an unusual program, in which the player teaches wormlike
creatures how to move on a hexagonal grid -- what direction to move
in various situations. The worm's goal is to to grow and survive,
and to capture more space on the grid than its competitors. Up to
four worms could play simultaneously, with any combination of
human- and computer-controlled worms.
But the program's manual didn't tell you all that straight off. In
fact, here's the first thing you saw after opening the package:
"You will find detailed instructions enclosed. Do not read them.
Instead, sit down and get started. Don't ask how. Just start. You
know how these things work... Resist them. Do not read them for a
very long time. In fact, do not read them until you know how the
game works... Then never read the instructions. Innocence is
bliss."
David also collaborated on Cut & Paste, a word processor published
by Electronic Arts in 1984.
After our interview, David sent me a binder of Worms? development
documentation and source code for Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64, all
of which I have scanned and are available at Internet Archive and
GitHub. The originals are going to the Strong Museum of Play, at
David's request.
This interview took place on March 4, 2021.
Worms? source code for
Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64
Scans of
printed Worms? source code
Worms? Development Notes
David's blog
Worms? at AtariMania
Michael
Beeler's original Paterson's Worms paper
Martin Gardner's article in Scientific American
Darworms,
Javascript version of Worms?
Darworms
instructions and explanation
More Paterson's worm math
EA We See
Farther poster