Black & White
| Black & White | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio |
 Lionhead Studios
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| Publisher |
 Electronic Arts
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
April 5, 2001 | ||
| platform | Windows , Mac OS X | ||
| genre | Strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
CPU: Pentium II , 400 MHz, RAM: 64 MB, operating system: Windows 95/98 / ME, hard disk: 600 MB, graphics card: 8 MB RAM, DirectX 7.0 compatible, sound card: DirectX 7.0a compatible | ||
| medium | 1 CD-ROM | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
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| information | With variant cover: black for the bad guy and white for the good God in you. | ||
Black & White (cover spelling: BLACK & WHITE - Discover the real you) is a computer game developed by Lionhead Studios . It was released in 2001 by Electronic Arts .
Black & White is a strategy game and a so-called god simulation and is thus in a row with games like Populous .
Gameplay
The player assumes the role of a god who rules his people with kindness or severity and has to assert himself against other gods. Special emphasis was placed on the aspect of being able to play as both a good and a bad god . Another important aspect of the game is the creature: an animal that works wonders for the player, is raised by him for good or evil, and fights against other creatures. At the beginning there are three creatures available. In the further course of the game you can choose from 16 different animals, such as B. tiger, cow, monkey, polar bear and many others.
A version for Dreamcast was also planned and in development, but was not completed due to Sega's exit from the hardware business. The sales price was set at 100 DM, which was significantly higher than the price of other games of the time (70–90 DM).
In 2001 the expansion Island of Creatures was released . It brought a lot of changes to the game, including new creatures.
In July 2005, Lionhead switched off the servers used for multiplayer mode.
Black & White 2
| Black & White 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Lionhead Studios | ||
| Publisher | Electronic Arts | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
October 13, 2005 | ||
| platform | Windows , Mac OS X | ||
| genre | Strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Mouse keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
CPU: Pentium 4 , 1.6 GHz, RAM: 512 MB, operating system: Windows 2000 / XP, hard disk: 3.5 GB, graphics card: 64 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible, 1.1 pixel shader , sound card: DirectX 9.0c -compatible | ||
| medium | 1 DVD-ROM | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
|
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| information | With variant cover: black for the bad guy and white for the good God in you. | ||
Black & White 2 was released in Europe on October 13, 2005 for PC and November 28, 2014 for Mac OS X.
In 2006 the expansion Battle of the Gods was released . It continues the history of the Aztecs and provides new animals and buildings.
action
The god of the Greeks, who will be played from now on, is created through a prayer of a Greek inhabitant. The Greeks lost a war against the Aztecs. These have subdued the Vikings and the Japanese. The player starts on a small island where the player chooses his creature (monkey, wolf, cow or lion) and gets to know the control elements. Then you travel to the land of the Greeks. The Aztecs attack the city of the Greeks. The player saves some residents from being murdered by the Aztecs. The creature of the Aztecs summons two volcanoes and the remaining Greeks die. You travel to different islands to get support against the Aztecs:
- Island of the Vikings: The Vikings own a smaller island. They tend to be peaceful and rarely attack. A chief leads them. The island of the Vikings is very fertile and crossed by mountains. If the Vikings have been lured into your city by impressive buildings or have been brought to their knees by military attacks, they will join the Greeks.
- Islands of the Japanese: The Japanese can be classified as more of a warlike people, but do not use their armies skillfully. They are led by two brothers. The islands of the Japanese are relatively large and offer about the fertility of the island of the Vikings. If the islands of the Japanese have been taken peacefully or militarily, these also join the Greeks.
- Aztec Islands: The Aztecs are a very warlike people. They have large armies and use them more wisely than the Japanese. Their islands are barren, and food and timber are only grown in very small parts of the islands. Your main island is strongly protected militarily. It can practically only be conquered by military means.
If the main island of the Aztecs has fallen, you can see in the extro sequence how an Aztec, like the Greeks, directs a prayer to heaven. Then a small meteor crashes onto the island. The Aztecs now also have a god who appears in the "Battle of Gods" add-on . After the extro sequence you start again on the island of the Vikings. Purchased buildings and the creature's abilities and alignment are retained.
Gameplay
In the game, tribute is used as a means of payment to unlock buildings, wonders and other content. Tribute can be obtained, among other things, by completing tasks and solving puzzles, which are offered by silver and gold scrolls in the world. Another resource is mana for conjuring wonders and spells. Mana can be gained through prayers by residents or through human sacrifice . Depending on how tasks are solved, the player's rating tends to be a good or a bad god. In addition to visual changes to the game world and the mouse pointer, one hand, this also has an impact on practical game elements.
If the player is classified as a good god, one should take care to place buildings in a variety of ways. The better this variation, the happier people are. They then move faster and do their job more efficiently. Climbing plants grow on public buildings and water features appear on the roofs. The floor is optically brightened. As an evil god, building variations are not of particular concern. The focus is on the construction of buildings to strengthen the population and to supply the army with food. The city looks rather dreary and the floor of the city is crossed by very small lava flows.
Wonders and spells can only be cast by the player in their own area of influence, which is limited by a green ribbon. Also, new buildings can only be erected within this boundary, while walls can also end outside the controlled area. In order to expand the sphere of influence, it is possible to conquer other settlements with an army or to impress them so much through miracles and the completion of tasks that they will join you voluntarily. The player's classification as a good or bad god does not necessarily determine the preferred course of action during the expansion. A good god can also expand his territory with troops, as well as an evil god win new settlements by impressing, even if this actually contradicts the represented mentality of the god.
Spells and wonders consume mana when used, which prevents overuse. Through human sacrifice at one's own altar it is possible to generate a lot of mana in a relatively short time, but this is accompanied by a strong tendency towards an evil deity. The different spells and wonders range from the magical creation of a forest to fireballs to the healing of all living beings in an area. The player affects every action by "drawing" special symbols directly on the game world. In Black & White 2, a large part of the game is handled via such gesture control .
Another very important aspect is the rearing and training of a self-chosen creature. The creature here is an oversized animal, such as B. a monkey, which acts mainly self-sufficient in the world and is only rarely controlled by the player with direct instructions. Through praise or punishment, the player can train his creature to behave as desired, for example to fertilize grain fields with his own manure, to use trees as dumbbells for strength training, or to consider killing people as a taboo and to refrain from doing so. Magic spells can also be learned through repeated presentations in the immediate vicinity of the creature.
The creature can be put into one of five modes, the effects of which can be enhanced by Tribute:
- Free will: The creature acts according to the learned behavior pattern and moves independently through the world.
- Solo entertainer: She entertains the people around him. This increases the satisfaction of the residents.
- Collector: It collects ore, grain and wood within its range of motion and stores it in the player's warehouse.
- Builder: When a player places a building within the creature's range of motion, the creature gathers raw materials and uses them to build the building. This process is significantly faster than when residents erect the building on their own. As a god, the player can also support the construction of the building, but in contrast to the creature, he uses additional resources for this.
- Soldier: It attacks enemy armies and walls within its range of motion.
Through constant feeding and training, the creature becomes stronger and stronger and thus more effective in dealing with enemy armies and the creatures of other gods.
Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods
| Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Lionhead Studios | ||
| Publisher | Electronic Arts | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
April 27, 2006 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| genre | Strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Mouse keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
|
||
| medium | 1 DVD-ROM | ||
| language | German | ||
| Age rating |
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Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods is an add-on for Black & White 2 released in 2006 . It continues the history of the Aztecs and provides new animals, buildings and magic. You play the god of the Greeks again.
action
First, you have to decide whether you want to be a good, bad, or balanced God. Then you choose a new creature or import one from a saved game in Black & White 2.
According to the Aztec's prayer, an evil god strikes a temple as a meteor, whereupon the dead come to life. The island of the Japanese is the first goal of the new god, it must be recaptured by the player. Once the island has been retaken peacefully or militarily, the god of the Aztecs sets off for the land of the Vikings. After this island was liberated again, one arrives in the land of the Greeks. Only after this has been unified does the evil God disappear.
As a bonus, you can then visit another island, where you face the Aztecs mainly militarily.
Gameplay
The evil god actively intervenes in the world and hurls spells at the cities controlled by the player. The god's creature is an undead monkey.
Trivia
- The ore resource is criticized by fans in Black & White 2 and its add-on. Since ore, unlike wood and food, cannot grow back, the sizes of cities and armies are limited.
- After hours of playing it can happen that suddenly your own name is whispered in the game. This mostly happens after 8:00 p.m. the range of names is mainly limited to well-known names such as Tim or Sarah, if these were chosen as player names. If you don't choose a name or an unusual one at the beginning, this Easter Egg will not appear.
Awards Black & White
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Game Critics Awards :
- Best exhibit in 2000
- Best strategy game 2000
- Most original game of 2000
- Best PC Game 2000
- Most original game 1999
- Best Game 2000
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Original Black & White Goes Offline ( Memento from July 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (July 26, 2005)
- ↑ Answered prayers: Black & White 2 revealed on the Mac App Store! Feral Interactive , November 28, 2014, accessed December 1, 2014 .
- ↑ The Unheimliche Voice ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
