Legionnaire (video game)

Last updated
Legionnaire
Legionnaire box art.jpg
Developer(s) Microcomputer Games
Publisher(s) Avalon Hill
Designer(s) Chris Crawford
Platform(s) Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Apple II
Release 1982
Genre(s) Real-time strategy, [1] real-time tactics [ citation needed ]
Mode(s) Single player

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.

Contents

Gameplay

Similar to Crawford's earlier groundbreaking Eastern Front (1941) in terms of display and general gameplay, [2] Legionnaire added a real-time computer opponent, and is one of the earliest examples of a real-time tactics (RTT) game.[ citation needed ]

In the game, the player takes the side of the Romans, playing the role of Julius Caesar and giving orders to their forces in real time. The computer plays as generic barbarian tribes, in blue, with the player's legions in pink. There are three types of units: infantry is represented by a sword, cavalry by a horse head, and Caesar's own Imperial Guard by an eagle. [3] Orders are given to the units by moving a cursor over them with the joystick and then holding down the joystick button; existing commands are displayed as a moving arrow, and new orders can be entered by pressing the joystick in the four cardinal directions. [3]

Mid-game in Legionnaire. The Roman forces are moving into position on a hill (pink is the highest elevation), awaiting the arrival of the barbarian forces moving in from the right. Cicero's legion is selected, under the pink square cursor, and the display shows that it is in the process of moving to a new location, shown in blue. Legionnaire in-game.png
Mid-game in Legionnaire. The Roman forces are moving into position on a hill (pink is the highest elevation), awaiting the arrival of the barbarian forces moving in from the right. Cicero's legion is selected, under the pink square cursor, and the display shows that it is in the process of moving to a new location, shown in blue.

Like Eastern Front, the Legionnaire playfield consists of a large grid of square cells with various terrain features displayed on it. Unlike Eastern Front, the new map includes varying altitudes, displayed as a series of contour lines. Movement is affected by the contours as well as by the underlying terrain, making positional combat an important part of the game's overall strategy. [2] The screen shows only a small portion of the entire map at one time, smooth-scrolling around it when the joystick-controlled cursor reaches the edge of the screen. Unlike Eastern Front, the map contains no cities or strategic locations, and the game starts with both forces placed at random locations on the map. [2]

While the player is entering orders for their units, the computer is calculating moves for its own units. A basic form of multitasking was implemented by having the "easy" jobs of reading the joystick and recording the user's inputs during the vertical blank interrupt (VBI), while the computer AI ran during non-interrupt time. [4] The player is forced to search the map for the enemy and then attempt to gather their units into a fighting line on favorable terrain. The challenge is doing this quickly enough, before the enemy forces arrive and attack your units piecemeal. [3] As in Eastern Front, the AI is not particularly strong, but the real-time action makes the game more difficult, as well as eliminating several "tricks" one could use to fool the AI.

The game lacks any strategic component driving the gameplay, so it is possible for the player to simply move to an advantageous position, form up a solid line, and wait. [3] Historically, Roman forces were in general much more adept in close combat than their barbarian opponents and would win any one-on-one fight. The game's scoring system attempted to make up for this, awarding higher points for faster victories. In pursuit of a higher score the player is forced to seek out and attack the barbarian units on terms that might not be as favorable and which, without quick retreats after combat, might result in encirclement or exhaustion. [3]

Development

Chris Crawford wrote an early version of Legionnaire for the Commodore PET in 1979, his platform before moving to Atari. This was a fairly simple game using character graphics and featuring a limited amount of logic. He later ported this to the Atari platform and released it as Centurion, but the game saw limited sales. [2]

After writing Eastern Front (1941), Crawford was looking for ways to use the new scrolling-map technology introduced in that game. Avalon Hill had approached Crawford with positive comments about Eastern Front, and he promised to make a game for them. After three months of preliminary work, he started development in January 1982, delivering the first version in February and a final version in June. [2] Crawford published an article on game design in the December 1982 issue of BYTE , using Legionnaire as an example. [5]

Legionnaire was the last game Crawford would release using the original Eastern Front engine. His next game for the Atari was Excalibur , which used a different model of interaction based on moving from room to room within a virtual castle. When Atari collapsed in 1984, he turned his attention to the Macintosh computer, releasing the famous Balance of Power in 1985.

Reception

Computer Gaming World in 1982 described Legionnaire as "a game that anyone can sit down and play without reading endless instructions or learning complex strategies". The reviewer stated that "the real time action in this game is my favorite point ... I know I'll be at the computer for an hour at the most", and concluded it was "as challenging as Eastern Front and immensely more playable". [6] In 1990 and 1993 surveys of strategy and war games, however, the magazine gave the game two-plus stars out of five, calling it a "marginally historical simulation of Roman tactics". [7] [8] Compute! compared the game to Eastern Front and felt it would "appeal to a much broader audience because the game is faster-paced, has fewer units to control, and is, therefore, a faster game." [3] Softline called Legionnaire "a well-documented and thought-out program ... easy to learn and difficult to play well", with graphics that were "a fine piece of work", and concluded that "On a scale of 1 to 100, this is a 95". [9]

Creative Computing's review was mixed, calling it a "successful effort" but pointing out several issues. [10] InfoWorld's lengthy review was much more positive, rating it highly in its checkbox review, but giving a somewhat more muted conclusion that "Legionnaire is a special game for a certain kind of player." [11] BYTE mocked Legionnaire's cover art as being of poor quality, but called the game "great entertainment, even for those who haven't been war-game fans before". [12] A later review called it "the perfect solitaire game", citing as improvements on Eastern Front multiple scenarios and durations and real-time play, and concluded that Legionnaire "is a wonderful game that ... combines the graphics and movement of arcade games with the depth of strategy games". [13]

By contrast, BYTE columnist Jerry Pournelle, a fan of Avalon Hill board games, disliked Legionnaire. He stated that its real-time made it "an arcade game masquerading as a game of strategy", and described the Apple II version's interface and graphics as poor. [14] The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984 gave the game an overall A rating, criticizing the "annoying" sound but praising the graphics, and concluded that it was "a very good introduction to war game playing". [15]

Legacy

Legionnaire was nominated for "Best Adventure Game for Home Computer" at the 1983 Origins Game Fair. [16] Even as the game was being released, however, Crawford expressed his doubt that it would have the lasting power of Eastern Front. [2] He later wrote in Chris Crawford on Game Design that he considered it competent, but "Neither the original version nor the Avalon-Hill version of the game was a great game ...certainly no masterpiece. It was good experience for me, but I would have spent my time better had I moved on to something that fired my imagination." [17]

In 2013, Crawford publicly released the source code of several of his games, including Legionnaire. [18]

Related Research Articles

<i>Star Raiders</i> 1980 video game

Star Raiders is a space combat simulator video game created by Doug Neubauer and published in 1980 by Atari, Inc.The player assumes the role of a starship fighter pilot, protecting starbases from invading forces called Zylons. Piloting and combat are shown in the 3D cockpit view, while a 2D galactic map showing the status of the Zylon invasion. Neubauer made the game during in his spare time at Atari, inspired by contemporary media such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, as well as the 1971 mainframe game Star Trek. Originally released the Atari 400/800 computers, Star Raiders was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST.

<i>M.U.L.E.</i> 1983 video game

M.U.L.E. is a 1983 multiplayer video game written for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers by Ozark Softscape. Designer Danielle Bunten Berry took advantage of the four joystick ports of the Atari 400 and 800 to allow four-player simultaneous play. M.U.L.E. was one of the first five games published in 1983 by new company Electronic Arts, alongside Axis Assassin, Archon: The Light and the Dark, Worms?, and Hard Hat Mack. Primarily a turn-based strategy game, it incorporates real-time elements where players compete directly as well as aspects that simulate economics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Crawford (game designer)</span> Computer game designer

Christopher Crawford is an American video game designer and writer. Hired by Alan Kay to work at Atari, Inc., he wrote the computer wargame Eastern Front (1941) for the Atari 8-bit family which was sold through the Atari Program Exchange and later Atari's official product line. After leaving Atari, he wrote a string of games beginning with Balance of Power for Macintosh. Writing about the process of developing games, he became known among other creators in the nascent home computer game industry for his passionate advocacy of game design as an art form. He self-published The Journal of Computer Game Design and founded the Computer Game Developers Conference.

<i>Excalibur</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Excalibur is a 1983 resource-management strategy video game for the Atari 8-bit family. It was designed by Chris Crawford and developed with the help of Larry Summers and Valerie Atkinson. Like Crawford's earlier Eastern Front (1941), Excalibur was published by the Atari Program Exchange.

<i>The Art of Computer Game Design</i>

The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford is the first book devoted to the theory of computer and video games. The book attempts to categorize computer games and talks about design precepts that serve as guidelines for game designers. It was originally published in Berkeley, California by McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media in 1984. The original edition became available as a free download from a site maintained by Washington State University, Pullman in 1997. In 2011 the free download was removed and the text is currently available as a Kindle e-book.

<i>Tanktics: Computer Game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front</i> 1976 video game

Tanktics: Computer Game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front is a 1976 two-player tank battle computer wargame by Chris Crawford. It was Crawford's first video game. He initially self-published it as Wargy I. It was published by Avalon Hill in 1981 as Tanktics.

<i>Eastern Front (1941)</i> 1981 video game

Eastern Front (1941) is a computer wargame for the Atari 8-bit family created by Chris Crawford and published through the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. A scenario editor and assembly language source code for the game were also sold by APX as separate products.

<i>Caverns of Mars</i> 1981 video game

Caverns of Mars is a vertically scrolling shooter for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. It was written by Greg Christensen, with some features later added by Richard Watts, and published by the Atari Program Exchange (APX) in 1981. Caverns of Mars became the best selling APX software of all-time and was moved into Atari, Inc.'s official product line, first on diskette, then on cartridge.

<i>Patton Versus Rommel</i> 1986 video game

Patton vs. Rommel is a computer wargame designed and programmed by Chris Crawford for the Macintosh and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. Versions for MS-DOS compatible operating systems and Commodore 64 were developed by Sculptured Software and published in 1987.

<i>Crossfire</i> (1981 video game) 1981 video game

Crossfire is a multidirectional shooter created by Jay Sullivan for the Apple II and published by On-Line Systems in 1981. Using keyboard-based twin-stick shooter controls, the player maneuvers a ship in a grid-like maze. Versions with joystick-control use the stick for movement and switch to firing mode when the button is held down.

<i>Scram</i> (video game) Atari 8-bit nuclear reactor simulation game from 1981

Scram: A Nuclear Power Plant Simulation is an Atari 8-bit family game written by Chris Crawford and published by Atari, Inc. in 1981. Written in Atari BASIC, Scram uses differential equations to simulate nuclear reactor behavior. The player controls the valves and switches of the reactor directly with the joystick.

<i>Computer Bismarck</i> Naval computer wargame

Computer Bismarck is a computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) in 1980. The game is based on the last battle of the battleship Bismarck, in which British Armed Forces pursue the German Bismarck in 1941. It is SSI's first game, and features turn-based gameplay and two-dimensional graphics.

<i>Pac-Man</i> (Atari 2600 video game) Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man

Pac-Man is a 1982 maze video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. under official license by Namco, and an adaptation of the 1980 hit arcade game of the same name. The player controls the title character, who attempts to consume all of the wafers in a maze while avoiding four ghosts that pursue him. Eating flashing wafers at the corners of the screen causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue and flee, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points. Once eaten, a ghost is reduced to a pair of eyes, which return to the center of the maze to be restored.

<i>B-1 Nuclear Bomber</i> 1980 video game

B-1 Nuclear Bomber is a flight simulator developed by Avalon Hill and Microcomputer Games and released in 1980 for the Apple II and other computers. The game is based on piloting a B-1 Lancer to its target and dropping a nuclear bomb. The USSR is one of the target countries.

<i>Astro Chase</i> 1982 video game

Astro Chase is a multidirectional shooter written by Fernando Herrera for the Atari 8-bit family. It was published by First Star Software in 1982 as the company's first game. Parker Brothers licensed it, releasing cartridge versions for the Atari 8-bit family and Atari 5200 console in 1983 and a Commodore 64 version in 1984. Exidy licensed it for arcade use with its Max-A-Flex cabinet.

<i>De Re Atari</i> Book by Chris Crawford

De Re Atari, subtitled A Guide to Effective Programming, is a book written by Atari, Inc. employees in 1981 and published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1982 as an unbound, shrink-wrapped set of three-holed punched pages. It was one of the few non-software products sold by APX. Targeted at developers, it documents the advanced features of the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and includes ideas for how to use them in applications. The information in the book was not available in a single, collected source at the time of publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer wargame</span> Wargame played on a computer or other digital device

A computer wargame is a wargame played on a digital device. Descended from board wargaming, it simulates military conflict at the tactical, operational or strategic level. Computer wargames are both sold commercially for recreational use and, in some cases, used for military purposes.

<i>Wayout</i> 1982 video game

Wayout is a 3D first-person perspective video game programmed by Paul Allen Edelstein and published for the Atari 8-bit computers in 1982. It was released for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1983. Wayout is among the first maze games to offer full 360 degree 3D perspective and movement, and its graphics were considered state-of-the-art upon its release. There were many pseudo-3D maze games at the time, but they used a fixed perspective and limited the player to four orientations.

<i>TAC</i> (video game) 1983 combat videogame

T.A.C. is a top-down tactical combat videogame published by Avalon Hill in 1983 for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 and IBM PC. The game takes place during the Second World War and simulates clashes involving the United States, the USSR, Germany and the United Kingdom.

<i>Preppie! II</i> 1983 video game

Preppie! II is a video game written by Russ Wetmore for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Adventure International in 1983. Subtitled "The continuing saga of Wadsworth Overcash", it is a sequel to 1982's Frogger-inspired Preppie!. The game loosely continues the preppy theme, primarily through a story in the manual, but replaces the country club setting with an abstract, overhead view maze. Some obstacles from the first game appear in the second.

References

  1. ↑ Khosrow-Pour, Mehdi (July 31, 2014). Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology (Third ed.). IGI Global. p. 3071. ISBN   978-1-4666-5889-9. Legionnaire developed by Chris Crawford, published by Avalon Hill in 1982, is one of the earliest examples of real-time strategy games.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Crawford 1982, p. 13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McMahon 1983, p. 128.
  4. ↑ Crawford 1982.
  5. ↑ Crawford, Chris (December 1982). "Design Techniques and Ideas for Computer Games". BYTE. p. 96. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Willett, Bill (November–December 1982). "Legionnaire: Review and Analysis". Computer Gaming World . Vol. 2, no. 6. pp. 27–28, 30, 45. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (October 1990). "Computer Strategy and Wargames: Pre-20th Century". Computer Gaming World. p. 11. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1993). "An Annotated Listing of Pre-20th Century Wargames". Computer Gaming World. p. 136. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  9. ↑ Lynch, Donald (March 1983). "Legionnaire". Softline. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  10. ↑ James Trunzo, "Legionaire", Creative Computing, December 1983, p. 132
  11. ↑ Robert DeWitt, "With Legionnaire, fight Caesar's battles on Atari", InfoWorld, 14 February 1983, pp. 56-57
  12. ↑ Clark, Pamela; Williams, Gregg (December 1982). "The Coinless Arcade - Rediscovered". BYTE. p. 84. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Williams, Gregg (March 1983). "Legionnaire". BYTE. p. 248. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Pournelle, Jerry (May 1984). "Chaos Manor's Hard-Disk System". BYTE. p. 58. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  15. ↑ Stanton, Jeffrey; Wells, Robert P.; Rochowansky, Sandra; Mellid, Michael, eds. (1984). The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software. Addison-Wesley. p. 186. ISBN   0-201-16454-X.
  16. ↑ Jackson, Steve (Jan–Feb 1984). "Origins Story". Softline. p. 44. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  17. ↑ Chris Crawford, '"Chris Crawford on Game Design", New Riders, 2003, p. 218
  18. ↑ Crawford, Chris (2013). "Source Code" . Retrieved 2017-02-24. 30 months ago, at the 2011 Game Developers Conference, somebody asked me to release the source code for my old games. I said I would look into it. [...] I have begun the process of preparing my source code for general distribution.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.