Vermeer (game series)
| Vermeer | |
|---|---|
| developer |
 Ariolasoft Ascaron (Remake)
|
| Publisher |
Ariolasoft Ascaron (Remake)
|
| Designer | Ralf Glau |
| First title | Vermeer (1987) |
| Last title | Vermeer 2: The Great Art Race (2004) |
| Platform (s) |
C64 , Schneider / Amstrad CPC , Amiga , Atari ST , DOS Remake: Windows |
| Licenses | Proprietary |
| Genre (s) | Economic simulation |
Vermeer is a computer game series made up of three business simulation and strategy games . The first game comes from the German game developer Ralf Glau and was published by Ariolasoft in 1987 .
The name is reminiscent of the Dutch painter Jan Vermeer van Delft and in the original version a graphic appeared on the screen for the game title, which is reminiscent of his famous work " The Girl with the Pearl Earring ". In the game, however, the name stands for a fictional art forger named Vico Vermeer.
The original, together with the Hanse, also developed by Ralf Glau, is considered a milestone in game development in Germany and served as a model in the field of trade and business simulation for a whole range of games that were developed many years later. Not least because of the successful marketing of the publisher , a subsidiary of the Bertelsmann group that emerged from the Ariola record label , the title achieved a very high level of awareness.
Ten years later, a remake was released with the title Vermeer: The Art of Inheriting and most recently a technically modernized new edition came on the market in 2004 under the name Vermeer 2: The Great Art Race .
Game object and game goal
The action takes place in the 20s of the 20th century . The game is playable in both single and multiplayer modes. Vermeer allows up to four players, Vermeer 2: The Great Art Race up to five. Each player has the task of recovering the painting collection of his elderly and terminally ill uncle, the Berlin art collector Walter von Grünschild , which was lost in the turmoil of the First World War . The heir of his fortune and company empire is to be the one who succeeds in increasing the provided start-up capital through skillful management as a plantation owner overseas to such an extent that he can use it to auction the works that gradually reappear at painting auctions worldwide.
Course of the game
As the most important source of income, the player gets into the cultivation and subsequent trade in colonial goods. For this purpose, one acquires real estate for up to twenty-four plantations around the world for the cultivation of coffee, cocoa, silk, tea or tobacco and then sells the harvest at the major trading centers in London and New York . Even commodity futures transactions with individual customers are possible. In addition, income can be generated through stock and foreign exchange trading and there is an opportunity to win money on the racecourse.
With the wealth earned, a total of 40 paintings belonging to the uncle's former collection can gradually be bought back at auctions. If a player does not have sufficient art knowledge, he can easily be caught in a fake art . Above all, there are numerous deceptively real reproductions of the art forger Vico Vermeer in circulation. In the final bill, of course, you can only achieve reliable points with real pictures. Pictures of the forger Vico Vermeer are accepted by the uncle as long as none of the other players can produce the original. In order not to make opposing players aware of which pictures you are aiming for, you can also be represented in auctions by an intermediary.
The Great Depression and numerous other unforeseen events cause problems for the player or offer opportunities and bring him luck. Numerous gimmicks loosen up the game.
Versions
Vermeer (the original)
The first version appeared in 1987 for Commodore 64 on floppy disk or datasette . In addition to Ralf Glau, the main people involved in the programming were Paul Focketer and Andreas Kemnitz. A version for Schneider / Amstrad CPC followed in the same year . In 1988 versions for Amiga , Atari ST and PC came onto the market. The game came with a detailed manual and small prints of the paintings that make the game.
The reaction of the game magazines was quite different. Current software market admitted that the graphics were “puny”, but with a rating of 10/12 points, they were extremely enthusiastic about this “super game”. In the game supplement of the Happy Computer, however, the version for MS-DOS scored 45 and the Atari ST version even scored significantly worse with just 37 out of 100 points. It is a solid, but rather “simple trading game” and the game process is “a little monotonous after a while”. The magazine's critics admitted, however, that they generally have little left for economic simulations.
Vermeer: The art of inheriting
Almost ten years passed before Vermeer: The Art of Heirs, the first remake of Ascaron for Windows 95 on CD-ROM in 1997 .
PowerPlay only gave this issue a rating of 44% (multiplayer 49%) and added to its generally critical attitude towards the genre that the new edition of Vermeer "Mittelmess" and its music and graphics were too unimaginative.
Vermeer 2: The Great Art Race
After another seven years, the modernized new edition Vermeer 2: The Great Art Race was released in 2004 , also by Ascaron on CD-ROM for Windows.
As a change to the original game, there was also the option of completing an advanced training course for each of the six art styles represented in the game, with the help of which the player can become an art expert in the respective field. Red-green glasses included in the package then made it possible to identify the paintings displayed on the screen as forgeries and at the same time protected the manufacturer from being spread by pirates.
PC Games magazine criticized the game for having a more contemporary look, but - like the original - a conservative look and again too long waiting times between ship or train journeys. In memory of the cult status of the original game with the same content, it then received 61%.
Web links
- Vermeer series at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Vermeer (MS-DOS) . In: PowerPlay supplement to Happy Computer June 1988, archived at Kultboy.com, accessed on January 24, 2014
- ↑ Anatol Locker: Vermeer . In: Happy Computer . November 1987, archived at Kultboy.com, accessed January 24, 2014.
- ↑ Vermeer . In: Power-Play . May 1997, archived on Kultboy.com, accessed January 24, 2014.
- ↑ Vermeer 2 . In: PC Games (online), October 17, 2004, accessed January 24, 2014.