Ballerburg
| Ballerburg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio | Eckhard Kruse |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1987 |
| platform | Atari ST |
| genre | Artillery - strategy hybrid |
| Game mode | Hot seat , single player |
| control | mouse |
| system advantages preconditions |
Atari ST with 512 kB RAM |
| language | German |
Ballerburg is an artillery computer game from 1987 for the Atari ST by Eckhard Kruse . It was written in the C programming language and published as a public domain .
description
Two opposing kingdoms separated by a mountain try to destroy the castle of the other kingdom with cannon balls. Ballerburg is designed as a game for two people who take turns taking turns ( hot seat style of play). The players can also be represented by computer opponents of different degrees of difficulty.
The simulated in the game kind of Ballerns corresponds to the shooting with historic mortars . Since you have to shoot over a mountain, the shooting takes place almost exclusively in the upper angle group ( steep fire ).
The winner is whoever hits the opponent's throne room first, if the opponent has no people left or if he gives up. The decisive parameters for the play are the shooting angle of the ball and the amount of gunpowder used. Constantly changing wind conditions make aiming difficult and may require the amount of gunpowder used for each shot to be adjusted.
Compared to other artillery games, Ballerburg is relatively complex. At the beginning you already have the choice between different castles, which, among other things, have a different number of cannons and are vulnerable to different degrees. You can only fire one cannon per round and you also have to buy bullets and gunpowder again and again and replace destroyed cannons and restore walls if necessary. To finance it, taxes are levied, the income of which is based on the size of the population and the amount of tax, with high taxes leading to an emigration of the population. You can also build up to five winding towers, which are expensive but increase your income dramatically.
In addition to the lord of the castle, there are other tactically interesting targets. You can destroy the enemy cannons, as well as the wind vane, through which a player can find out the direction and speed of the wind. Hits in cannon ball bearings or treasury destroy part of the content, which in any case costs the affected player money; a hit in the powder store even destroys the entire contents. You can also destroy winding towers, but they are difficult to hit. If the mountain, which acts as an obstacle, is hit, it also gets holes, but this is usually of no tactical importance.
The monochrome graphics were based on the Atari ST standard; Color graphics required other monitors or a TV output, although very few programs support both modes. Although Ballerburg is extremely simple and the graphics are relatively primitive compared to commercial computer games of the time, it was extremely popular and became a classic.
New edition of Ascaron
| Ballerburg (2001) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Ascaron | ||
| Publisher | Ascaron (PC), Phoenix Games (PS1) | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
December 7, 2001 (PC), 2003 (PS1) | ||
| platform | Windows , Playstation 1 | ||
| genre | Computer strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard and mouse | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
Pentium III 350 MHz, RAM 64 MB, graphics card 16 MB | ||
| medium | a CD-ROM | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
| information | New edition of the well-known game principle in contemporary graphics, idiosyncratic humor | ||
Several games with an identical idea were later published, most recently in 2001 a commercial version of the same name by the Ascaron company . It should be noted that the company made no reference to Eckhard Kruse, as it was an independent development.
In contrast to the original version, the game world here is three-dimensional and can accommodate several parties. The game runs in real time , the tactical background is expanded accordingly through spells and research. There are also a total of four campaigns . The Playstation version was distributed by Phoenix Games .
iPhone version
In April 2012, Marco Woschitz and Gerald Novak brought out an iOS implementation that is true to the original and at the same time finger-friendly.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Eckhard Kruse - Ballerburg. Retrieved November 28, 2012 .