www.ebbemunk.dk Kaptajn Kaper Details Page Kaptajn Kaper Details Page

Kaptajn Kaper Details Page

Danish version download (50 kB) : Unzip and run go.bat English version download (60 kB) : Unzip and run go.bat

"Kaptajn Kaper i Kattegat" is a Danish computer game created 1981 in Danish and English versions. The title means "Captain Privateer in the Cattegat".

History:

The privateers in the Cattegat: The Cattegat is the sea between Denmark and Sweden north of Zealand. After the British navy conquered Denmark in 1808 and wrecked the then powerful Danish navy, the Danish king allowed privateering against British ships. The privateers used rowing boats mounted with a cannon. They were rather dangerous for the British warships in calm weather. The history of the Kaptajn Kaper computer game: The computer game is written by Peter Ole Frederiksen in BASIC around 1981. The programming was done on an IBM XT Personal Computer with DOS version 1.

P.O. Frederiksen was working with IBM, and he wanted his employer to distribute the game and start producing more games, but IBM was not interested. The management meant, that there would not be any commercial market for computer games (!).

Instead P.O. Frederiksen offered the game to another corporation, Danadata, which distributed it for free with all new computers sold. The game became very popular in Denmark. Whatever happened to the source code? The access to the Danish source code is gone, because the BASIC compiler that P.O Frederiksen used back in the 1980's does not exist anymore. In an interview he is concerned with the hasty technological change of our times. He states that our common digital memory may last much shorter than the common memory saved in books and on papyrus. Thinking about it, how long will we have programs that can read CDs?

Ready to Enter the Harbour?

The game contains risk taking, a little action, and strategy. Playing the game today raises real challenges, as computers now are so fast that it is nearly impossible to enter the harbour with the loot.

Here is a slow-down utility that may help you: www.textmodegames.com/download/moslo.html

Links

The English sourcecode is accessible at P.O. Frederiksen's own website www.kaptajnkaper.dk/download.htm.

Rune P. Olsen has written a Java Applet version: www.javakaper.dk in both Danish and English.

Other sources, all in Danish:

The Game

These screenshots stem from www.kaptajnkaper.dk/billeder.htm

Intro

Map of the Cattegat

Bringing up the guns

Continue fight or return to your ship?

Ready to enter the harbour?