The most difficult game of all time

Robot odyssey

New York programmer David Auerbach (David Auerbach) recalls a computer game, for the passage of which it took him 13 years and which determined his future as a programmer.

At age six, David saw a learning game called Rocky's Boots from the Learning Company on an Apple IIe computer with 128 KB of memory. This game introduced children to the basics of formal logic. Two years later, the same company released a masterpiece called Robot Odyssey , in which it took a step from the theory of formal logic to the practice of programming. To go through all the levels of this game, even the most talented players needed years. David Auerbach was able to do it for 13 years. True, I had to use some outside help.

David is confident that any child who became interested in this game in childhood will inevitably become a programmer. And among adults, the interest in Robot Odyssey clearly indicates that a person should change his occupation and go to engineers / programmers.
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In any case, Robot Odyssey is one of the most creative games of the Apple IIe era, that is, in the mid 80s.

In the story, the player in a dream falls into the mysterious city of Robotropolis. To return home, he is offered five levels of difficulty: medium, difficult, very difficult, impossible and impossible-2. In principle, for a couple of years with a great desire, you can pass the first three levels, but impossible levels are beyond fiction. Those geniuses who were able to solve puzzles at difficult levels, the company-developer issues special certificates. For example, in 2002, one player received a certificate as the 34th person in the world who completed the game.

Each level was developed by a separate employee of the Learning Company, so the levels have little in common. For example, the devil's fourth level created a 16-year-old scholar schoolboy Sean Gordon (Shaun Gordon). It is at this level that most players are stuck forever.

The leaders of the Learning Company believe that it is unlikely that any of the company's employees even completed this game at all levels.

To solve puzzles they give three (sometimes four) robots, which you can add to the contacts and program. From left to right: this is Sparky, Scanner and Checkers. They can move, recognize walls, pick up and throw away objects, and also communicate with each other.


Sparky, Scanner and Checkers

By programming, we mean not the usual high-level programming, but the very low-level code, at the level of the logic gates (AND, OR, NOT) that make up the microchips. So Robot Odyssey is not only programming, but also electrical engineering. Gates implement primitive operations from formal logic or Boolean algebra.



Boolean algebra is exceptionally simple. It deals with two opposite values: TRUE and FALSE, but here in the case of the flow of electricity this turns ON and OFF. Robots have engines for movement, so by connecting robots to one or another logic valve, which receives a value from the outside, you can control the movement of the robot depending on external conditions.

By controlling the logic gates, you can solve various tasks that are simple to begin with, but more and more complex as you progress through the levels.



When you need to solve really complex tasks, moving robots, the programming possibilities of these logic gates seem very limited, they are not enough. But the highlight is that with their help you can program anything you like, if you keep your brains moving. Writing complex programs on such simple elements literally “melts” the brain, says David Auerbach.

For example, the game allows you to "imprint" created by the electrical circuit in the chip for asbtraktsii. The illustration shows one of these chips, which uses many OR logic gates for stereo recording .



The idea of ​​the game is to simulate the multifaceted complexity of the world with the help of the simplest elements. The ideas embodied in those times found continuation in some modern games, such as Minecraft.