Modem Wars

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Modem Wars
Developer(s)	Ozark Softscape
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Dan Bunten
Platform(s)	C64, DOS
Release date	1988
Genre(s)	Real Time Strategy
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Rating(s)	N/A

Modem Wars is a 1988 Real Time Strategy game developed by Ozark Softscape and published by Electronic Arts for the IBM PC and Commodore 64 platforms.^[1]

Arguably the first real time multi-computer war game distributed by a major computer game publisher, Modem Wars (Dune in 1989 and Utopia in 1982 provide other extremes) was played over a modem connection between two machines (via telephone or null modem serial connection), with both players controlling a group of robotic units trying to eliminate the opponent's command center. Features such as fog of war, varied unit types, terrain, and formations, all now standards in the genre, were implemented despite the daunting technical limitations of late 80's computers.

Of specific technical interest, Modem Wars has been lauded for it's mechanism of using 4 byte packets for each 'move', deltas to determine game stats, and storage of those deltas to allow for after-game replays.^[2]