This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2017) |
Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021 | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Thinking Machine Associates |
Publisher(s) | Thinking Machine Associates |
Designer(s) | George Moromisato |
Series | Anacreon |
Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
Release | 1987 |
Genre(s) | Strategy |
Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021 is a video game written by George Moromisato for MS-DOS and published by Thinking Machine Associates in 1987. Anacreon is a turn-based game in which human and computer players explore the galaxy, conquering worlds and putting them to use to fuel their war machines. it resembles Stellar Conquest and Hamurabi . [1] It was inspired by Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of novels.
A Windows remake, Anacreon: Imperial Conquest in the Far Future, was released by George Moromisato in 2004. Beta-testing for Anacreon 3, a new web-based version, started in late 2012.
The gameplay focuses on optimizing resource management on a network of conquered worlds in order to fuel further conquest. As worlds are discovered and (hopefully) conquered, they are put to uses that best suit their climates, natural resource bases, and technology levels, with networks of transport fleets relaying various types of material from world to world. These captured worlds and vulnerable transport fleets must be protected against incursions from competing players, both human- and computer-controlled. Success in Anacreon requires a good grasp of micromanagement strategy.
Combat, both fleet versus fleet and planetary invasions, is handled in a simple tactical display, with the defender's ships and/or planetary defenses arranged in distinct orbits. Only the attacker has any control over the course of combat. The defender may send an empire-wide allocation of ships into various orbits, but defending forces are handled automatically by the computer. Unlike many games in similar genres, combat is almost entirely a matter of numbers. Though movement between orbits and the kind of ships targeted are left up to the attacker, combat is resolved automatically with very little chance involved. The player with the more powerful fleet will almost certainly win, though if the odds are close enough, it is possible for an attacker to lose due to mismanagement.
Many features now commonplace in science-fiction 4X games— Master of Orion , Pax Imperia , Galactic Civilizations —can be found, arguably, originally in Anacreon. The game includes four different kinds of planetary defense, each with different ranges and potencies, five kinds of warship, two transport classes, and two grades of ground troops. Ships range in speed from slow warp drives (one sector per turn) to fast jump drives (ten sectors per turn), and making the best use of the different ship classes is one of the more important features of the game.
Basic resources consist of chemicals, metals, supplies, and "trillum", the latter of which serves as fuel for the game's interstellar ships. Chemicals, metals, and supplies may be produced ad infinitum, but each world comes with trillum deposits of a fixed value which, once depleted, cannot be restored. For this reason, the control and distribution of trillum resources becomes of essential importance, especially late in the game. The game also includes a resource called "ambrosia", a performance-enhancing drug used to both boost planetary production and produce higher quality soldiers.
A variety of space megastructures can be built, ranging from minefields and simple space stations to star gates and artificial planets.
Released in 1987/1988, the game was later with version 1.3 released as freeware. [2] It is written in Written in Turbo Pascal.[ citation needed ] The source code was released for the MS-DOS version.[ citation needed ]
Jerry Pournelle of BYTE stated in January 1989 that Anacreon "is filled with excellent ideas, mostly well implemented, and then spoiled by inattention to some vital detail". While admitting that he had "just spent the last 2 days (and nights) playing" the game—"really a darned good implementation of the Stellar Conquest idea"—Pournelle cited the "annoyingly buggy [and] incomplete" user interface, inability to easily select a planet, need to micromanage units unlike Empire: Wargame of the Century , and other issues that he stated showed a lack of proper playtesting and were common to products from small startup companies. He nonetheless named Anacreon as his game of the month, concluding that "despite its problems, it's playable and the flavor is good, much like Beam Piper's old Space Viking series. Also, the author is busily fixing bugs even as I write this". [1]
In 2004, George Moromisato released an update to the game making it run natively in a Windows 9x environment. Some of the changes were largely functional, e.g. the ability to use the mouse, bug fixes, graphical updates, etc. But one change radically altered the gameplay, namely the ability to store more than 9999 of a given ship or resource type in a single fleet or planet, something not allowed by the mechanics of the original 1987 release and its patches. This corrected a major problem with resource distribution, as no single planet could produce more than 9999 of anything in a single turn, creating critical resource bottlenecks. It also significantly affected strategy and tactics, as it makes it possible to assemble enough cheaper, weaker ships in a single fleet to defeat a smaller number of more expensive, stronger ships, something previously only possible on a very small scale.
In late 2012 George Moromisato announced that he would be revamping his oldest game and releasing a beta-test version of Anacreon 3 written for web browsers making it accessible from mobile devices and tablets.
Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction strategy game in which the player leads one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing technology, exploring and colonizing star systems.
Netrek is an Internet game for up to 16 players, written almost entirely in cross-platform open-source software. It combines features of multi-directional shooters and team-based real-time strategy games. Players attempt to disable or destroy their opponents' ships in real-time combat, while taking over enemy planets by bombing them and dropping off armies they pick up on friendly planets. The goal of the game is to capture all the opposing team's planets.
Starflight is a space exploration, combat, and trading role-playing video game created by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. Originally developed for IBM PC compatibles, it was later ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh, and Commodore 64. A fully revamped version of the game was released for the Sega Genesis in 1991.
OGame is a browser-based, money-management and space-war themed massively multiplayer online browser game with over two million accounts. OGame was created in 2002 and is produced and maintained by Gameforge. OGame is available in multiple languages, and different nationalities have their own communities. The game does not differ between the nationality communities except in rare cases. Players are generally informed of news, rule changes, or new versions through the official forums.
Reach for the Stars is a science fiction strategy video game. It is the earliest known commercially published example of the 4X genre. It was written by Roger Keating and Ian Trout of SSG of Australia and published in 1983 for the Commodore 64 and then the Apple II in 1985. Versions for Mac OS, Amiga, Apple IIGS, and DOS were released in 1988.
Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares is a 4X turn-based strategy game set in space, designed by Steve Barcia and Ken Burd, and developed by Simtex, who developed its predecessor Master of Orion and Master of Magic. The PC version was published by MicroProse in 1996, and the Macintosh version a year later by MacSoft, in partnership with MicroProse. The game has retained a large fan base, and is still played online.
Universe is a science fiction space trading and combat game by Omnitrend Software. It was created by William G M Leslie and Thomas R Carbone. The first version was programmed in valFORTH on an Atari 800, based on a board game created by Leslie. It was Omnitrend's first game.
Master of Orion III is a 4X turn-based strategy game and the third in the Master of Orion series. Master of Orion III was developed by Quicksilver Software and published by Infogrames Interactive on February 25, 2003.
Repton is a Defender-inspired game written by Dan Thompson and Andy Kaluzniacki for the Apple II and published by Sirius Software in 1983. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, and Commodore 64.
Supremacy: Your Will Be Done, released as Overlord in the United States, is a strategy video game designed by David Perry and Nick Bruty and produced by Probe Software.
The Star Fleet computer games are starship tactical combat simulations originally created by Dr. Trevor Sorensen in the late 1970s.
Sins of a Solar Empire is a 2008 science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Ironclad Games and published by Stardock Entertainment for Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that incorporates some elements from 4X games; its makers describe it as "RT4X". Players are given control of a spacefaring empire in the distant future, and are tasked with conquering star systems using military, economic and diplomatic means.
Battle Isle is a series of turn-based tactics video games developed in the 1990s by Blue Byte and released for Amiga and MS-DOS and later for Microsoft Windows. The settings are wars on a fictional planet, Chromos.
Starfleet Orion is a 1978 science fiction strategy game written and published by Automated Simulations. It appears to be the first space-themed strategy game sold for microcomputer systems. The game was originally written in BASIC for the Commodore PET, but later ported to other early home computer platforms including the TRS-80 and Apple II. The game was something of a success, leading to a string of successes for the company, notably the major hit Temple of Apshai.
Legionnaire is a computer wargame for the Atari 8-bit series created by Chris Crawford in 1982, and released through Avalon Hill. Recreating Julius Caesar's campaigns in a semi-historical setting, the player takes command of the Roman legions in real-time battles against the barbarians.
Stellar Conquest is a science fiction board game designed by Howard M. Thompson that was published in 1974. It is a prototype of the 4X strategy game genre.
Starfleet I: The War Begins is a 1984 strategy computer game designed by Trevor Sorensen and developed by Interstel. It was released for Apple II, DOS and Commodore 64. Versions for the Commodore 128 Atari ST and Atari 8-bit family were released in 1986 and versions for the Amiga and Macintosh were released in 1987. The game was successful enough to spawn sequels which are collectively known as the Star Fleet series.
The Cosmic Balance is a game designed by Paul Murray and published in 1982 for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family by Strategic Simulations (SSI). It was later released for the Commodore 64. A sequel, Cosmic Balance II, also designed by Paul Murray for SSI, was released in 1983.
Empire: Wargame of the Century is a video game based on Empire developed by Walter Bright and published by Interstel Corporation in 1987.
Stellar Crusade is a 4X strategy video game released in 1988 by Strategic Simulations. Players control one or both of two spacefaring empires at war with each other, depending on whether it is played in a single-player campaign or multiplayer.
Official material:
Reviews
Re-implementation projects: