Stellar Crusade

Last updated
Stellar Crusade
Stellar Crusade cover.jpg
Developer(s) Norm Koger
Publisher(s) Strategic Simulations
Platform(s) MS-DOS, Atari ST, Amiga
Release
Genre(s) 4X
Mode(s) single-player, multiplayer

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.

Contents

Gameplay

Two spacefaring empires, the Corporate League and the People's Holy Republic, clash as both expand into the same area. Players always control the Corporate League; either the computer or another player can control the People's Holy Republic. Gameplay is divided into two phases: economic and movement. The economic phase consists of managing planets, their production, and their resources. The movement phase allows players to position their space fleets. Once both phases complete, combat is resolved. The game is turn-based. [1]

Release

The game was initially released for the Atari ST and was ported to MS-DOS by October 1988. [2] The Amiga version was ported by January 1990. [3]

Reception

Hosea Battles of Computer Gaming World criticized the game's manual as being useless in explaining the highly complex gameplay but said that Stellar Crusade can be "very satisfying" if one puts forth the substantial effort needed to understand it. [1] Computer Gaming World editor Russell Sipe later cited "inside sources at SSI" as saying that a dozen pages had been removed from the manual to make it "less imposing". [4] George Miller of STart wrote that it is "not a beginner's game" but recommended it to veteran strategy gamers who are looking for a challenge. [5]

Mike Woodhouse reviewed Stellar Crusade for Games International magazine, and gave it 4 stars out of 5, and stated that "this is a game that almost couldn't fail with me. I'm glad to report that it didn't." [6]

Computer Gaming World's retrospective on strategy games in 1992 described it as "simply not fun" even when ignoring the problems with the documentation. [7] In an early-2000s retrospective, Bruce Geryk of GameSpot called it "a failed experiment" due to its complexity but said it was the first 4X game to focus so strongly on economics and resource exploitation. [8]

Related Research Articles

Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to play. The term "real-time strategy" was coined by Brett Sperry to market Dune II in the early 1990s.

<i>Master of Orion</i> 1993 video game

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.

<i>Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula</i> 1989 video game

Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula is a 1989 science fiction video game developed by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts as the sequel to the successful Starflight. It features a combination of space exploration, role-playing and strategy within a futuristic setting. The player commands a spaceship capable of traveling to the game world's 150 solar systems, communicating with or attacking other spaceships, and landing on planetary surfaces which may be explored with a crewed rover for plot clues, minerals and alien lifeforms. Game mechanics and the overall look and feel closely resemble the earlier Starflight game, but many new features are introduced including an interstellar trade-based economy, new sentient alien races, and new spacecraft accessories and artifacts. The player is tasked with discovering the ultimate source of the advanced spacecraft technology and unlimited fuel supply which provide a military advantage to the Spemin, a hostile alien race threatening to annihilate or enslave humanity. A major part of the game consists of earning enough money to pay for spaceship upgrades and crew training by engaging in interstellar trade and barter with various alien cultures at their planetary trading posts.

<i>Curse of the Azure Bonds</i> 1989 video game

Curse of the Azure Bonds is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.

<i>Sid Meiers Pirates!</i> 1987 video game

Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game created by Sid Meier for the Commodore 64 and published by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were combat vehicle simulation video games. The game is a simulation of the life of a pirate, a privateer, or a pirate hunter in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was widely ported to other systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4X</span> Genre of strategy-based video and board games

4X is a subgenre of strategy-based computer and board games, and include both turn-based and real-time strategy titles. The gameplay involves building an empire. Emphasis is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of military and non-military routes to supremacy.

<i>Dungeon Master</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Dungeon Master is a role-playing video game featuring a pseudo-3D first-person perspective. It was developed and published by FTL Games for the Atari ST in 1987, almost identical Amiga and PC (DOS) ports following in 1988 and 1992.

<i>Star Wars</i> (1983 video game) 1983 video game

Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter video game designed by Mike Hally and released in arcades in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games, Star Wars has been included on lists of the greatest video games of all time.

<i>Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail</i> 1990 video game

Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail is a graphic adventure game released in 1990 by Sierra On-Line. It was the first game in the Conquests series designed by Christy Marx and her husband Peter Ledger. The only other game in the series was 1991's Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood. Marx did the majority of the design work while Ledger created the game and package art.

<i>S.D.I.</i> (video game) 1986 video game

S.D.I. is a 1986 action adventure computer game developed and published by Cinemaware. The game is set during the Cold War.

<i>Carrier Command</i> 1988 video game

Carrier Command is a 1988 video game published by Rainbird for the Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC compatibles, ZX Spectrum, Macintosh, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. Carrier Command is a cross between a vehicle simulation game and a real-time strategy game where players control a robotic aircraft carrier.

<i>Their Finest Hour</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain is a World War II combat flight simulation game by Lawrence Holland, released in October 1989 for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS systems. It was the second game in the trilogy of World War II titles by Lucasfilm Games, the others being Battlehawks 1942 (1988) and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (1991). The game was released with a 192-page manual written by Victor Cross, that provided a detailed historical overview of the battle and pilots' perspectives. An expansion pack, Their Finest Missions: Volume One, was released in 1989.

<i>Imperium</i> (1990 video game) 1990 video game

Imperium is a 4X strategy video game published by Electronic Arts in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS.

<i>Knights of the Sky</i> 1990 video game

Knights of the Sky is a World War I combat flight simulator designed by Jeff Briggs and published by MicroProse in 1990 for MS-DOS. Ports to the Amiga and Atari ST followed in 1991.

<i>MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy</i> 1990 video game

MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy is a 1990 space science fiction role-playing video game based on the Traveller series and was produced by Game Designers' Workshop licensee Paragon Software for Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS operating environments. The game is set within the Official Traveller Universe and features character creation and other aspects of game mechanics compatible with prior Traveller products. The player controls up to five ex-military adventurers whose objective is to save their civilization, the Imperium, from a conspiracy instigated by the Zhodani, a rival spacefaring race, and aided by the actions of a traitor named Konrad Kiefer. Gameplay features real-time planetary and space exploration, combat, trading, and interaction with various non-player characters in eight solar systems containing twenty-eight visitable planets.

<i>Final Assault</i> 1987 video game

Final Assault, known as Chamonix Challenge in Europe, originally Bivouac in French, is a mountaineering simulation distributed by Infogrames and Epyx in 1987 for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Thomson and ZX Spectrum. The original release of the game was copy protected.

<i>Sword of Aragon</i> 1989 video game

Sword of Aragon is a turn-based strategy and role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations in 1989. It is also considered to be of the 4X genre. Set in the fictional land of Aragon, the games casts its protagonist as the duke of a city named Aladda. After assuming rule over the city and avenging his father's death, the protagonist embarks on a quest to unify the land through conquest. Accomplishing this goal entails developing cities, recruiting armies, and directing the troops on the fields of battle to victory. First published for MS-DOS, the game was ported to Amiga machines. Reception towards Sword of Aragon tended to be more positive than negative; reviewers called it an exciting game, but criticized its method of copy protection and cited problems with its documentation. There were also opinions that the game was more of a niche product, catering to hardcore strategists.

Pool of Radiance is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms campaign settings of Dungeons & Dragons; it was the first Dungeons & Dragons video game series to be based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.

<i>Terrorpods</i> 1987 video game

Terrorpods is a 1987 shooting game with simple business simulation by Psygnosis. Originally developed for the Amiga and Atari ST, it was later ported to the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and MSX.

References

  1. 1 2 Battles, Hosea (August 1988). "Jihad Junction". Computer Gaming World . No. 50. pp. 24–25.
  2. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (October 1988). "The Role of Computers". Dragon . No. 138. pp. 73–74.
  3. "Newsfile". Amiga User International . Vol. 4, no. 1. January 1990. p. 12.
  4. Sipe, Russell (October 1988). "Letters". Computer Gaming World . p. 6.
  5. Miller, George (November 1988). "Ships, Planes, Strategy and Scrabble: Stellar Crusade". STart . Vol. 3, no. 4. pp. 94–95.
  6. Woodhouse, Mike (December 1989). "Computer Games". Games International (11): 54.
  7. Brooks, M. Evan (November 1992). "Strategy and Wargames: The Future (2000–)". Computer Gaming World . No. 100. p. 108.
  8. Geryk, Bruce. "History of Space Empire Games". GameSpot . Archived from the original on October 23, 2007.