Planet M.U.L.E.

Last updated
Planet M.U.L.E.
Planet M.U.L.E. logo.png
Developer(s) Turborilla
Producer(s) Blue Systems
Designer(s) Danielle Bunten Berry
Artist(s) Sven Ruthner
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Release
  • Initial: 2009
  • Latest Version (1.3.6): May 28, 2013
Genre(s) Turn-based strategy
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Planet M.U.L.E. is an online multiplayer strategy game by Swedish studio Turborilla. It is a remake of the 1983 video game M.U.L.E.

Contents

Gameplay

The gameplay of Planet M.U.L.E. closely follows that of the original M.U.L.E. . [1] [2] Improvements over the original include improved, animated graphics and network play over the Internet. [3] However, in the original game, the different characters had different advantages during gameplay (for example, Packers were better at producing food), whereas in Planet M.U.L.E. there are no advantages to choosing one character type versus another. The game is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. [1]

Development

The game was initially produced as an unofficial remake, though early on the developers sought and obtained the consent of Melanie Bunten Stark, daughter of M.U.L.E.'s designer Danielle Bunten Berry. [1]

Related Research Articles

A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same story as the original but uses a different cast, and may alter the theme or change the story's setting. A similar but not synonymous term is reimagining, which indicates a greater discrepancy between, for example, a movie and the movie it is based on.

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures.

In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program was originally designed for. The term is also used when software/hardware is changed to make them usable in different environments.

Star Fox is an arcade style rail shooter and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto, produced and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic animals, led by chief protagonist Fox McCloud. Gameplay involves many adventures around the Lylat planetary system in the futuristic Arwing fighter aircraft, in other vehicles, and on foot. The original Star Fox (1993) is a forward-scrolling 3D rail shooter, but later games add more directional freedom.

<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">Video game remake</span> Closely adapted game

A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software shares essentially the same title, fundamental gameplay concepts, and core story elements of the original game, although some aspects of the original game may have been changed for the remake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Bunten Berry</span> American game designer and programmer

Danielle Bunten Berry, formerly known as Dan Bunten, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E., one of the first influential multiplayer video games, and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold.

Fire Emblem is a fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, the series currently consists of seventeen core entries and five spinoffs. Gameplay revolves around the tactical movement and actions of characters across grid-based battlefields, while incorporating a story and characters similar to traditional role-playing video games.

<i>Star Fox 64</i> 1997 video game

Star Fox 64, known as Lylat Wars in the PAL regions, is a 3D rail shooter video game developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Star Fox series and a reboot of the original Star Fox for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

<i>Metroid: Zero Mission</i> 2004 video game

Metroid: Zero Mission is an action-adventure game developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1) and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance on February 9, 2004. It is a remake of the original Metroid (1986), and retells the story with updated visuals and gameplay.

<i>Jetpac</i> 1983 arcade-style shooter video game

Jetpac is a shooter video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game and released for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20 in 1983 and the BBC Micro in 1984. It is the first game to be released by Ultimate Play the Game, the company which later became Rare. The game follows Jetman as he must rebuild his rocket in order to explore different planets, while simultaneously defending against hostile aliens. It was written by Ultimate co-founder Chris Stamper with graphics designed by his brother, Tim Stamper. Reviewers praised Jetpac's presentation and gameplay, and it won "Game of the Year" at the Golden Joystick Awards in 1983.

<i>The Seven Cities of Gold</i> (video game) 1984 video game

The Seven Cities of Gold is a strategy video game created by Danielle Bunten Berry and Ozark Softscape and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. The player takes the role of a late 15th-century explorer for the Spanish Empire, setting sail to the New World in order to explore the map and interact with the natives in order to win gold and please the Spanish court. The name derives from the "seven cities" of Quivira and Cíbola that were said to be located somewhere in the Southwest United States. It is considered to be one of the earliest open world video games.

Star Ocean is a franchise of action role-playing video games developed by the Japanese company tri-Ace and published and owned by Square Enix.

Star Wars: Battlefront is a series of first- and third-person shooter video games based on the Star Wars franchise. Players take the role of characters from the franchise in either of two opposing factions in different time periods of the Star Wars universe. The series was launched in 2004 by LucasArts with Star Wars: Battlefront, developed by Pandemic Studios for LucasArts. The game received positive reviews and sold well. In 2005 Pandemic developed a sequel, Star Wars: Battlefront II, which was also critically and commercially successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samus Aran</span> Video game character

Samus Aran is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo. She was created by Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano. She was introduced as a player character in the original 1986 video game Metroid. Samus Aran is an ex-soldier of the Galactic Federation who became a galactic bounty hunter, usually fitted with a powered exoskeleton that is equipped with weapons such as directed-energy weapons and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation and the Chozo while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader Ridley, along with the parasitic energy-draining organisms called Metroids and the manipulative cybernetic supercomputer Mother Brain.

In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. While games have used open-world designs since the 1980s, the implementation in Grand Theft Auto III (2001) set a standard for the concept which has been used since.

<i>Mario</i> (franchise) Video game franchise

Mario is a media franchise, produced and published by video game company Nintendo, created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and starring the titular Italian plumber Mario. It is primarily a video game franchise, but has extended to other forms of media, including television series, comic books, a 1993 feature film, an upcoming 2023 animated film and theme park attractions. The series' first installment was 1983's Mario Bros., although Mario had made his first appearance in 1981's Donkey Kong, and had already been featured in several games of the Donkey Kong and Game & Watch series. The Mario games have been developed by a variety of developers including Nintendo, Hudson Soft, and AlphaDream. Most Mario games have been released exclusively for Nintendo's various video game consoles and handhelds, from the third generation onward.

<i>The Last of Us</i> 2013 video game

The Last of Us is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us is played from a third-person perspective. Players use firearms and improvised weapons and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated fungus. In the online multiplayer mode, up to eight players engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay.

<i>Ratchet & Clank</i> (2016 video game) 2016 video game

Ratchet & Clank is a 2016 platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is the fifteenth installment in the Ratchet & Clank series. The game is a re-imagining of the first game in the series, as well as being based on the 2016 film of the same name. The game was originally planned to be released in 2015, but was delayed, along with the film, to April 2016 in order to give the film a better marketing campaign and the game additional polish time.

<i>Final Fantasy VII Remake</i> 2020 video game

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a 2020 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. It is the first in a planned trilogy of games remaking the 1997 PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII. Set in the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar, players control the mercenary Cloud Strife. He joins AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group trying to stop the powerful mega-corporation Shinra from using the planet's life essence as an energy source. The gameplay combines real-time action with strategic and role-playing elements. Remake was released for the PlayStation 4 in April 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Webster, Andrew (20 December 2009). "Updating an icon: behind the scenes with Planet M.U.L.E." Ars Technica . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. Harac, Ian (26 May 2010). "Planet M.U.L.E." PCWorld . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. "Schwerter, Schalter, Sternenschiffe". c't (26): 128–139. 2013.

See also