Powermonger
Powermonger [ paʊəʳ mʌŋgəʳ ] is a computer game of the British software company Bullfrog Productions in 1990. The real-time strategy based on the game engine of Populous and used a game map in three dimensions shown. The god simulation was largely developed and programmed by Peter Molyneux .
In contrast to Populous, the player does not embody a god, but a general who coordinates several military leaders with a group of soldiers. You can essentially only control these groups and, in contrast to other strategy games, you have only limited influence on the manufacture of weapons, for example. Sheep, trees and the population multiply independently.
Backstory
After a massive earthquake destroyed their kingdom, the last 20 survivors and their leaders set out to sea to find a new home. After several weeks, the seafarers discover an unknown, fertile land that is already inhabited by three peoples. The newly discovered world is divided into 195 regions, all of which can now be conquered individually.
Game engine
The graphical user interface is divided into three areas: an overview map on the left edge of the screen, the interface with 20 command buttons and a detailed map in the middle with a greatly enlarged map section. The game world is shown on an axometric map , in which the camera rotation is limited to 90 degree steps and eight predefined image scales . The topography is created three-dimensionally by 128 connected polygons , all other objects such as people, vegetation and buildings are displayed as sprites .
The game had an advanced game engine for the simulation of artificial intelligence for its time . Each non-player character (NPC) decides independently, without the player's influence, about his or her profession as a fisherman, farmer, shepherd, forester or toolmaker. The name, gender, age, loyalty, health, hometown and equipment of each NPC can be queried via a query mask. Although the terrain is not changeable like with Populous , actions have a limited effect on the environment. If, for example, a larger area is cleared, the weather changes and, depending on the season, more rain or snow falls and slows down the movements of the NPC.
Powermonger can also be played against each other in multiplayer mode using a null modem cable or a modem .
Game mechanics
conquest
The player starts on each map with a small number of soldiers, some settlements or cities are already under his control. In order to win a card, the balance of power , represented by a scale below the miniature card, must tilt completely to the side of the player. This happens either through the control of two thirds of the total population, through the conquest of almost all cities or through the annihilation of all opposing military leaders. As soon as a city is under control, its inhabitants can be recruited to attack larger cities or the opposing armies of the three computer-controlled races. Some larger cities have neutral military leaders who can be taken over and commanded after a battle has been lost and survived. You can only command as many armies as there are military leaders available, so that their survival is essential for the success of the game. If one of a maximum of five military leaders is killed, his army disintegrates and the surviving soldiers return to their hometown. In contrast to the main army, which is directly subordinate to the player, subordinate captains only execute orders with a time delay, depending on the distance to the main army. Soldiers and food can be exchanged between military leaders.
resources
Food is the most important resource in the game. In addition to using friendly cities, the player can also slaughter free-range sheep, swap food with neutral cities or kill an enemy general and plunder his food. In addition to labor and food, equipment can also be manufactured in cities. Townspeople occasionally produce equipment on their own, but to speed up production, the player can also instruct an army to invent items such as boats, cannons and catapults in a friendly town. Depending on the surrounding resources and the combat attitude (passive, neutral or aggressive), the soldiers then start collecting resources and producing equipment. Since the more important equipment can only be manufactured in one or two cities, it is of great strategic importance.
No micromanagement is required for the creation, management and distribution of equipment . If an army is ordered to equip, the soldiers automatically grab the swords, bows and lances lying around. The army commander carries all remaining equipment without limitation, but slows down as the number of items increases.
extension
The expansion PowerMonger: World War I Edition was released for the MS-DOS operating system in 1991, moving the scene from the Middle Ages to the First World War and introducing 175 new regions and weapons with a greater range with comparable gameplay .
reception
Powermonger won the 1991 Strategy Game of the Year title from Computer Gaming World, a US computer game magazine .
“From the technical point of view, PowerMonger is a real splendor, not only because of the excellent graphics, which were drawn with great attention to detail. The sound and the sound effects are also delicious: sheep bleat, birds chirp, swords crack, etc. This creates an atmosphere that has rarely been seen before. "
“Powermonger will not appeal to that many players, because it requires a longer warm-up period and, above all, much more precise planning and tacting. This is a theoretical guarantee for a very high long-term motivation, but sometimes playing Powermonger degenerates into work. The fact that the program is still more fun than most other strategy games is due to the excellent "world simulation". "
“With this implementation an important hurdle to conquering the field of strategy games has been cleared. [...] As with all games of this genre, graphics were not used here either, but with wit and extremely many opportunities to approach the goal of domination. "
Web links
- Powermonger at MobyGames (English)
- Powermonger at Pretty Old Pixels
Individual evidence
- ↑ PowerMonger: World War I Edition . In: Amiga Joker . No. 02 , 1992 ( kultboy.com ).
- ↑ Staff: Computer Gaming World's 1991 Games of the Year Awards . In: Golden Empire Publications, Inc (Ed.): Computer Gaming World . No. 11 , 1991, ISSN 0744-6667 , pp. 38-40, 58 .
- ^ Hans-Joachim Amann: Powermonger . In: Current software market . No. February 02 , 1991, ISSN 0933-1867 ( kultboy.com ).
- ^ Heinrich Lenhardt : Populous for advanced students. In: Power Play , edition 12/1990. December 1, 1990, accessed December 1, 2012 .
- ↑ Timur Özelsel: Powermonger. In: Mega Fun, edition 7/1993. July 1, 1993, accessed December 31, 2012 .
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