Grendel's Cave

Grendel's Cave was a real-time browser-based role-playing video game and MUD. Grendel Enterprises published and ran it exclusively on the Internet. The basis for Grendel’s Cave was Anglo-Saxon mythology and Beowulf, and it was set in the historical medieval period. Scholars considered it an artistic depiction of Grendel and the poem, Beowulf, as well as a modern adaptation and a derivative work of the epic. Educational websites use Grendel's Cave as an Internet learning aid for medieval literature and they considered it an online Beowulf resource.

Grendel's Cave

Grendel's Cave Logo
Developer(s)Grendel Enterprises, L.L.C.
Platform(s)Web
ReleaseAugust 1, 1998
Genre(s)Real-time Adventure
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Literary significance

Grendel's Cave was an online Beowulf resource that goes beyond the written text by allowing players to participate in the story.[1] Scholars consider it a modern adaptation of the original Beowulf poem.[2] Glenco McGraw-Hill uses the site as part of their Study Guide for Beowulf.[3] Educational websites use Grendel's Cave as an online reference for medieval literature.[4]

History

Mars Software Products wrote the first version of Grendel's Cave in 1981 as a single-player video game for the SWTPC 6800 microcomputer. This version was a fully text-based game but included many of the features of the later Internet incarnations of the game. The developer based the game on an older pen and paper dungeon game with the same name.

In 1997, Grendel's Net took over the project and began development of an Internet version of the game. Grendel's Net conducted their development as an experiment in Classic ASP and Microsoft SQL 6.0 programming for the World Wide Web. They rolled out Version 1.0 in August 1998. This version ran until July 2001. Hacking and cheats plagued this version during the last year of its run, which finally brought about the demise of the game.[5]

In early 2005, Grendel Enterprises acquired the rights to all of Grendel's Net assets. Grendel Enterprises' programmers found the original Grendel's Cave source code on an old database server in an office closet. Soon after, they started work on Grendel's Cave v2.0. They rolled out the first beta, v1.8A, on April 1, 2005 and over the next two years followed it up by four more pre-2.0 versions, 1.8B, 1.8C, 1.9, and 2.0 betas. Finally, on November 11, 2007, version 2.0 went live. Version 2.0 contained many aspects of the original Grendel's Cave with the addition of many Norse mythological elements and NPCs.[6]

The game's graphics have remained mostly unchanged throughout its history, giving it and old and outdated look.[7]

Version 3.0 added text only and MUD style user interfaces, TTS-enabling the game.

While originally closed down on April 1, 2018, the game was revived as a subscription game at some point in 2020.

Gameplay

Gameplay involves creating Thanes, the player characters in the game, killing monsters, primarily found in Grendel's Cave, increasing value and stats and collecting items. Thanes obtain gold rings, the game's currency, by selling obtained items or Singing of Deeds before King Hrothgar. They gain magical abilities by visiting the Witch or through acquired items. Ultimately, this leads players to complete quests and earn amulets, by traveling to other worlds, and trading in those earned amulets for the Yggdrasil amulet and thus gaining the ability to kill Grendel. Killing Grendel is the ultimate objective of the game. After killing Grendel there is a secondary objective, killing Grendel's Mother, and then a tertiary objective, killing The Dragon.

At any one time there are many kingdoms running, with a Grendel in each kingdom that players can kill, of several different kingdom types. The different kingdom types range from beginner to advanced, with increasing difficulty and requirements for killing Grendel, occasionally tournament style or championship kingdoms and personal kingdoms that can be custom configured by individual players. The less advanced kingdoms are generally non-PVP, while the more advanced kingdoms allow PVP and player killing.

Killing Grendel in any of the more advanced kingdoms earns the player's Thane a place on the hall of fame. To date 202 Thanes have earned a spot on the hall of fame.

Plot and setting

The basis for Grendel's Cave is the Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf. It is set in King Hrothgar's, king of the Danes, kingdom in the early 6th century. The kingdom is in the middle of its war with Grendel. Grendel is an AI monster, who performs many tasks, most of them nasty, involving killing or harassing Thanes in the game. It contains many Norse mythology elements but also contains anachronistic elements as well as many references to historical events and items and popular culture. It encompasses Norse cosmology, with each of the nine worlds represented in the game. Player's Thanes can travel to these worlds and complete quests. Thanes can take on other than human characteristics, including Valkyrie, Berserkers, Tricksters, and Shape-Shifters, among others.

Versions
VersionStart DateEnd DateSlayer CountNotes
1.01998-08-012001-07-06
45
First Web version, Free
1.8 Beta-A2005-04-012005-06-12
20
Free
1.8 Beta-B2005-06-132005-07-15
3
Free
1.8 Beta-C2005-07-162005-11-03
1
Free
1.92005-11-042007-11-11
10
Live, pay to play version
Enhanced security features
Clone of original 1.0 version
2.0 Beta2007-02-232007-11-11None, Grendel declared winnerFree
Norse elements/Quests added
2.02007-11-112010-11-05
17
Free, pay for advanced features
2.12010-04-092011-09-12
5
Free, pay for advanced features
Expanded Quests
Easier Startup Conditions
2.52011-11-132012-06-01
50
Free, pay for advanced features
Easing of the game
Kingdom Progression
2.62012-06-012013-02-15
12
Free, pay for advanced features
Facebook App Version with Account Linking and Messaging
Increased Difficulty
2.72013-02-152013-08-17
7
Free, pay for advanced features
One Semiannual Cash Prize based on a point system and awarded at the end of the version's run
2.82013-08-172014-02-16
11
Free, pay for advanced features
Repeatable Quests
Special competition kingdoms run for a single day; Halloween and Grendel's Birthday Challenge
2.8.12014-02-162014-08-15
5
Free, pay for advanced features
Addition of a higher level and more difficult kingdom type
2.8.22014-08-162015-04-26
15
Free, pay for advanced features
Private Rooms
Chat
2.92015-04-282015-08-28
1
Free, pay for advanced features
Additional Quests
3.02015-08-282016-02-28
6
Free, pay for advanced features
Text only and MUD style user interfaces
Tribe rooms and Tribal wars
4.02016-06-012018-04-01
none
Free, pay for advanced features
New leveling system with an Einherjar status added for winning the top level kingdom and top level cash prizes
Daily Cash Prizes
5.02020present
none
Monthly subscription, $10.95, first 24 hours free
Six kingdom levels

References
  1. Wray, David (2004), Literacy: Major Themes in Education, IV: Literacy: New literacies, the impact of technology, RoutledgeFalmer, p. 208, ISBN 0-415-27712-4
  2. Sutton, John William, "BEOWULFIANA: MODERN ADAPTATIONS OF BEOWULF", University of Rochester: Rossell Hope Robbins Library, archived from the original on 19 October 2008, retrieved 16 June 2010
  3. Study Guide for Beowulf: A translation by Burton Raffel (PDF), Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, p. 4, ISBN 0-07-823546-4, archived from the original (PDF) on 2003-06-30
  4. Balser, Walter F., SchoolAtlas Academic Database, archived from the original on 16 July 2011, retrieved 17 June 2010
  5. Vanderwater, Kurt (7 June 2010). "Oklahoma Programmers Give Life to Literary Online Game". The Worx Company. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  6. Cook, John (26 January 2009). "Grendel's Cave Interview: Looking at a Classic Browser Based Game" (PDF). Raven Leaf. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  7. Webster, Blake (21 April 2010). "A Review of Grendel's Cave" (PDF). Raven Leaf. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
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