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 was to be any commercial market for computer games (!).
- Instead P.O. Frederiksen offered the game to another corporation, Danadata, which distributed it. The game was very popular in Denmark
Whatever happened to the source code? The access to the Danish source code is gone, because the compiler that P.O Frederiksen used in the 1980's doesn't exist anymore. In an interview he is concerned with the hasty technological change of our times, for example that CDs cannot stay readable more than 100 years. He mentions, that our common digital memory may last much shorter than our 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 link to a slowing down utility that maybe can help you: www.textmodegames.com/download/moslo.html