Kaiser (computer game)
| Emperor | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Creative computer design |
| Publisher | Ariolasoft |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1984 |
| platform | Atari 400/800 , Commodore 64 , Schneider / Amstrad CPC , Amiga |
| genre | Economic simulation |
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer ( hot seat , up to 9 players) |
| control | Keyboard, joystick |
| medium |
Atari 400/800 : 1 × 5¼ " diskette Commodore 64 : 1 × 5¼" diskette / 1 × Compact Cassette Schneider / Amstrad CPC : 1 × 3 " diskette / 1 × Chrome Tape Atari XL / XE : 1 × 5¼" diskette Atari ST and Amiga : 3 × 3½ " floppy disk plus cardboard game board plus wooden game pieces |
| language | German, English, for Schneider / Amstrad CPC French |
Kaiser is one of the early business simulation and development games from the German-speaking world and, like other representatives of these genres, such as B. Hanse - distributed by the Ariolasoft label . The original version was created by Markus Mergard (source code), Claudio Kronmüller (graphic design) and Dirk Beyelstein (project management).
Gameplay
In Kaiser, 1 to 9 players (in the original Atari 400/800 version) or 1 to 8 players (in later versions) compete for supremacy in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . The aim of the game is to be appointed German Emperor . To do this, the player must assert himself against his human opponents. The game is controlled by joystick or the keyboard. Each player takes over a German principality and starts with the same starting conditions: 15,000 thalers and 10,000 hectares of land.
The game is divided into several sections. First, the harvest yield is calculated so that the possible surplus can then be sold or hoarded. Land ownership can also be expanded from this screen. The latter is important because one market can be built per 1,000 hectares of land. A city consists of five markets and three mills. The expansion of one's own principality is therefore heavily dependent on land acquisition. The same applies to crop yield and population growth, which is also influenced by the distribution of grain. In the next screen, the player is informed about relevant events in his country: population development, income from markets and mills, military expenditure. After that, the player can decide in another screen how tough the judiciary should act, how high the customs duties and the income and VAT should be. Then a rudimentary map of the principality is displayed. On this one can examine his possession; a certain size is scrolled .
The next menu offers several options. The player can acquire mills and markets and also raise and train his military or send them into maneuvers. For both areas, certain options are only available after the acquisition of certain titles. In another submenu you can save the score and view the census. Wars can also be waged at Kaiser, this option can be found in the military. First it is determined who you want to attack, whether enough troops and money are available and whether you can even reach the opposing country. The other players can also decide whether they want to be an ally of the defender or the attacker. However, warfare is not necessary to achieve the goal of the game. At the end of a game round, the program checks whether you meet the requirements for a title. If this is the case, there is a congratulatory screen with a small melody, after which the next player can control his country. When all players have made their moves, a new year begins. If you spend too much money as a player, expensive markets or mills are forcibly sold at low prices; if the debt is high, the player must skip a round. The sudden death of the alter ego is also possible.
The background music for the program is limited to three melodies during the intro, extro and title allocation. The sound effects include clicks, crunches and artillery sounds. The game manages without a lot of graphics and mostly consists of only eight colors and a lot of text on the user interface. The only animation can be found in the war section when the troops are marching.
variants
In addition to the 8-bit version of the game originally developed for the Atari 400/800 and later ported to the C 64 , there are some official and unofficial successors. For Atari ST and Amiga there is a successor of the same name, which adds a few aspects to the game. Years later, numerous remakes for MS-DOS , various Windows systems and Android appeared for IBM-compatible systems . The first unofficial version appeared for Amiga and Atari ST as "Kaiser II" and expanded the game to include the bank and the so-called debt tower . For the latter, developer Carsten Strotmann published the source code under the GPL as free software in 2003 .
To this day, numerous freeware versions of the original, but also the unofficial offshoot, have appeared. Thus oriented Kaiser by Stefan Maday heavily on original and mixes some features of warlords and Heroes of Might and Magic with one, but there are in addition to the hot seat but only play-by-email . On the other hand, the remake "Kaiser II - The Return" by Steffen Beck, which is more based on its namesake, offers a real network game mode.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Test in ASM 5/88, available online at kultboy.com
- ↑ GameKaiserZwo on strotmann.de (2003)