The people

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Die Völker is a computer strategy game from the Austrian publisher JoWooD . The real-time strategy game , released in 1999, was created by the Viennese development studio Neo Software . In 2001 JoWooD published the follow-up The Peoples II - Ascent to the Kingdom . Both games were re-released in 2009 via GOG.com .

Game history

In the intro it is made clear that, as every child knows, the storks are responsible for life. So they get the order to release three different races on three planets. The order is not carried out correctly due to the storks' alcohol consumption and so all three races land on the planet "Lukkat" - the "Pimmons", the " Amazons " and the "Sajikis".

Gameplay

The player can now choose one of these races for an endless game or a campaign. The Pimmons are intelligent blue beings with a penchant for magic and alcohol (luxury good: mushroom schnapps), the Amazons are humanoid women who are close to nature with the luxury good chocolate tarts and the Sajikis are belligerent yellow insects who like to smoke cigarillos . The races have playful advantages or disadvantages, which can be seen in the strength of the warring units. The appearance of the units and the buildings is also different (pimmons: stone, amazons: wood, sajikis: cobwebs, etc.).

In the campaigns you usually have to collect a certain number of raw materials, erect a special building or defeat an opponent.

In the endless game you start with a city founder, with whom you can build a town hall at any point. At the beginning you have two porters and a builder, the number of residents can be increased through residential buildings and in schools (Sajikis: pupation site) you have the opportunity to train them to become woodcutters, stonemasons, police officers or other professions. With a laboratory and a scholar as operator, you can also research new buildings, units and technologies. For example, the people relatively soon asked for an inn (amazons: warrior table, sajikis: orgy pit) and a newspaper stand (sajikis: information cave), later also a circus (amazons: theater, sajikis: battle arena) and a temple (amazons: church). In addition, an embassy for declarations of war and peace / armistice offers as well as barracks and race-specific buildings for training units (Pimmons: magician tower, dressage arm; Amazons: alchemist tower, weapons workshop; Sajikis: cult site, breeding stable) can be built. Furthermore, the player has the option of setting up banks, warehouses and markets. Outposts can defend the city and expand the city area. Some buildings can only be erected once. These include the following: the laboratory, the embassy, ​​the bank and the knowledge cave or library, with which one can conduct research more quickly.

Extensions and special editions

The peoples mission pack

In September 1999 a mission pack for The Peoples was published . This includes three new campaigns, a new level of difficulty and the ability to save in multiplayer games. In so-called add-on campaigns, which are located in a tropical island world, two new buildings have been added: the port and the shipyard. In the shipyard, the player has the opportunity to train sea units. With the Pimmons and the Amazons these are two different types of ship, with the Sajikis sea pyro and lobster. Those war units are the strongest units in the game. Furthermore, you can train transport ships that can transport units living on land across the sea, as well as fishing boats (Sajikis: fishermen) that catch fish in the form of food. The port offers the opportunity to trade raw materials across the sea.

The peoples gold edition

On October 4, 2000, a gold edition was released which contains the mission pack as well as the original game.

distribution

Die Völker was distributed in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary (as Alien Nations ) and Austria by Dynamic Systems , in Germany by Infogrames , in Switzerland by Game City and in the USA by Simon and Schuster as Amazons & Aliens .

reception

reviews
publication Rating
Bravo Screenfun Note 1
GameStar 81%
PC action 86%
PC player 81%
Power play Single player 85%
Multiplayer 83%
Spieletipps.de 90%

Reviews

Die Völker received the grade "good" from the game magazine Power Play (Solo 85%, Multi 83%) in the 7/1999 issue.

Thomas Werner from PC Player describes the game as a gratifying result of a “conceptual odyssey from Starcraft clone to settler imitation”, even if a lot was just stolen.

In the conclusion of the PC Action test , Christian Sauerteig criticizes the controls and the lack of innovation, but praises the graphics, which in his opinion are among the best in the genre.

"Successfully, the mission objectives are not limited to the usual material battles, but occasionally offer nice surprises."

- Michael Stapf : Bravo Screenfun

Sales figures

According to Red Bull's Michael Furtenbach , the game sold almost 1 million times.

Successor and offshoot

Die Völker#Die Völker – Land der Legenden Die Völker II – Aufstieg zum Königreich

The peoples 2

In 2001 a successor appeared with The Peoples II: Ascent to the Kingdom . Internationally, in contrast to the first part ( Alien Nations ) , the game was largely marketed under the title The Nations . The game was not developed by Neo Software but by JoWooD's own studio in Vienna.

The peoples - land of legends

In 2001 a game called The Peoples - Land of Legends was published for the Game Boy Color . This was developed by Leisuresoft and, in contrast to its template, is similar to an action-adventure game.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Christian Bigge: Be fruitful and multiply ... In: PC Action . No. 06/99 . Computec Media , June 1999, p. 68–74 ( archive.org [accessed August 12, 2019]).
  2. a b Micharl Furtenbach: You are a great game developer at home! (Part 1). In: Red Bull . January 18, 2016, accessed August 12, 2019 .
  3. ^ A b Michael Stapf: Check: Die Völker . In: Bravo Screenfun . No. 7/99 , July 1999, pp. 32–33 ( archive.org [accessed August 12, 2019]).
  4. Die Völker - All information, release, PC system requirements. In: GameStar . Retrieved August 12, 2019 .
  5. a b Thomas Werner: Business simulation for beginners and advanced users - The peoples . In: PC Player . No. 7/99 . Future Verlag , July 1999, p. 82–86 ( pcplayer.de [PDF; 38.4 MB ; accessed on July 6, 2019]).
  6. Thorsten Rühl: Test The Nations. Page 4. In: Spieletipps.de . May 30, 1999, accessed August 18, 2019 .
  7. ^ The Nations ( Memento April 1, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) Official website . Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  8. Test: The Peoples 2. (Building Strategy). In: 4Players . July 2, 2001, Retrieved August 12, 2019 .