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Mind you, it's still possible to have quality and originality come out of an EA. SSX is a hell of a lot of fun, for instance. But it's more evolution than revolution. The truly original stuff always comes from a Bullfrog or an Origin...

Bullfrog is owned by Electronic Arts, and indeed has been for some years now. Peter Molyneux (the original creative mind behind Bullfrog) became completely disenchanted with the E.A. way of running his company after the sale, and decided to go it alone with a new company called Lionhead games. They've just released their first game, Black & White, which is currently receiving some truly amazing reviews from the computer games press.

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Hello, I'm The Kid. I run a Black & White site called "The Citadel". As of right now, we are having server issues, but will soon be relaunching @ http://www.thecitadel.net. Now that the obligatory plug is out of the way, here's the skinny on Black & White. The following is the Newbie Guide to Black & White from thecitadel.net. It's a tad dated, but I did a once-over and freshened it up a bit. Enjoy.


Welcome to the First Edition of the Newbie's Guide to Black & White. This text is a compilation of information that those whom do not know much about Black & White tend to ask. Information has been culled from many sources to put this together, most notably the Lionhead web site and the Black & White discussion board. Please note that this is NOT an official text. None of what is posted here is written in stone; Lionhead could change it at any moment.

What is 'Black & White'? 'Black & White' is a game created by Lionhead Studios. It tends to defy genres, casting you in the role of a powerful sorcerer looking over a land of primitive tribes. You derive the power you need to cast your spells from the lifeforce generated by the tribes' villagers.
Therefore, one portion of the game is impressing (either through fear or adoration) the tribes sufficiently so that they construct a sort of monument in their village. Generally, the monument is a totem or tower of some sort. By raising and lowering the totem, you tell the villagers how many of them you want to have worshipping you (and thereby giving you power) and how hard they should worship. Of course, if you overwork your followers, they will begin to die off from exhaustion and starvation, as the more villagers are worshipping you, the fewer are off gathering food, building houses, having children, etc.
Another portion of the game is trying to screw the other sorcerers in the land. You're not alone in Eden, as this land is called, and the other sorcerers will eventually begin trying to take your hard-won villagers from you. You can fight back with powerful spells, either blasting them and their villagers to smithereens or attempting to peacefully win over their villagers, thereby starving them of their power.
The third portion of the game is that of mentor. Once you begin gaining in power, you can select any of the myriad beasts you see prowling the landscape to be your own pet Titan. You will magically enhance the creature, causing it to grow to gargantuan proportions, towering meters above the land and the villagers. But the beast comes to you stupid; you must teach him what to do and what not to do. This is done simply through slapping him when you want to discourage his behaviour and stroking him when you want to encourage his behaviour. The Titans are supposedly remarkably trainable. In one report, Peter Molyneux trained a pet ape to throw stones as a weapon. Your pet Titan will also learn the spells that you cast and use them itself as it sees fit. Teach it Fireball and it can go level villages if it likes. Teach it Create Food and it can feed your villagers for you.
This description just begins to scratch the complex surface of Black & White. You'll have to play it for yourself to really experience it.

Who made it? Black & White was first conceptualized by Peter Molyneux. It was produced by Molyneux's new company, Lionhead Studios.

Hello, I'm The Kid. I run a Black & White site called "The Citadel". As of right now, we are having server issues, but will soon be relaunching @ http://www.thecitadel.net. Now that the obligatory plug is out of the way, here's the skinny on Black & White. The following is the Newbie Guide to Black & White from thecitadel.net. It's a tad dated, but I did a once-over and freshened it up a bit. Enjoy.


Welcome to the First Edition of the Newbie's Guide to Black & White. This text is a compilation of information that those whom do not know much about Black & White tend to ask. Information has been culled from many sources to put this together, most notably the Lionhead web site and the Black & White discussion board. Please note that this is NOT an official text. None of what is posted here is written in stone; Lionhead could change it at any moment.

What is 'Black & White'? 'Black & White' is a game created by Lionhead Studios. It tends to defy genres, casting you in the role of a powerful sorcerer looking over a land of primitive tribes. You derive the power you need to cast your spells from the lifeforce generated by the tribes' villagers.
Therefore, one portion of the game is impressing (either through fear or adoration) the tribes sufficiently so that they construct a sort of monument in their village. Generally, the monument is a totem or tower of some sort. By raising and lowering the totem, you tell the villagers how many of them you want to have worshipping you (and thereby giving you power) and how hard they should worship. Of course, if you overwork your followers, they will begin to die off from exhaustion and starvation, as the more villagers are worshipping you, the fewer are off gathering food, building houses, having children, etc.
Another portion of the game is trying to screw the other sorcerers in the land. You're not alone in Eden, as this land is called, and the other sorcerers will eventually begin trying to take your hard-won villagers from you. You can fight back with powerful spells, either blasting them and their villagers to smithereens or attempting to peacefully win over their villagers, thereby starving them of their power.
The third portion of the game is that of mentor. Once you begin gaining in power, you can select any of the myriad beasts you see prowling the landscape to be your own pet Titan. You will magically enhance the creature, causing it to grow to gargantuan proportions, towering meters above the land and the villagers. But the beast comes to you stupid; you must teach him what to do and what not to do. This is done simply through slapping him when you want to discourage his behaviour and stroking him when you want to encourage his behaviour. The Titans are supposedly remarkably trainable. In one report, Peter Molyneux trained a pet ape to throw stones as a weapon. Your pet Titan will also learn the spells that you cast and use them itself as it sees fit. Teach it Fireball and it can go level villages if it likes. Teach it Create Food and it can feed your villagers for you.
This description just begins to scratch the complex surface of Black & White. You'll have to play it for yourself to really experience it.

Who made it? Black & White was first conceptualized by Peter Molyneux. It was produced by Molyneux's new company, Lionhead Studios.

I dunno about Ultima, but I remember reading a couple of stories on /. about something similar (here and here). Lionhead Studios is making a game called Black and White in which you cast spells at bad guys and whatever, and the more accurately you draw the glyph for the spell with the mouse, the more effective the spell would be. I think it'd be pretty cool if those guys could somehow work this into their game.

I think this is the first time I have heard BeOS mentioned by a mayor game company.

Think again, Lionhead will release Black and White for Windows, Linux, BeOS, Playstation and probably other platforms.

A direct link to the LionGames.com gallery page: Liongames.com - Media: Screenshots.

Likewise, the Lionhead Studios website.

I've been following this game for a while now. It seems real interesting, as the player apparently has the choice to do anything he wants to approach the problem, which is a sharp departure from the open door, push button games that are standard fare today. Even Half-Life was structured with a certain path through the level.

However, B&W allows you to solve a certain problem by using good powers (such as whisking a lost villager back home) or bad powers (just heaving a large tree at the villager would put an end to the problem as well).

try here

By the way, SP!



In 1999, marijuana killed 0 Americans...

Let me start by saying I found the pictures taken by Ikonos fascinating. Recent movies (Enemy of the State) and forthcoming software games ( Black and White ) have shown this capability to scale from a distant view of the earth from the moon all the way down to a view from an airplane fly-over. Amazing.

I'm glad that the Ikonos people are displaying these images. However, I am somewhat alarmed at the potential misuses for such technology in a "commercial" environment. I suppose the commercial misuses can only be as bad as the governmental misuses that are no doubt already occuring. (Who really doubts that the < insert your favorite agency here > doesnt already have recon satellites with much greater resolution and advanced sensors?)

How long should we continue to rely on crowd anonymity ? When will the people/corporations be accountable for their actions? Is the almighty dollar the only authority anymore?

Am I being too paranoid/conspiratorial/etc? I dont know...

But I do know that those pictures of War in Grozny, Chechnya were absolutely devastating. When I can worry about formatting for a website while others are worrying about food and shelter for the night, I think anything is possible.

What do you think?

Peace.

There certainly are a lot of games companies here in Guildford, but there's also a fair bit of tech research and other IT work going on.

The Surrey Research Park, near the Royal Surrey County Hospital and associated with Surrey University has plenty of tech-based companies including Red Hat UK (where I work), Mitsubishi Electric Visual Information Laboratory, the aforementioned Lionhead Studios, BOC, etc etc etc.

Also, the University itself has a rather good reputation in technology and the sciences, and has just opened a big new Biology and Nursing block, so there's plenty going down in this here town...

Black and White is kind of like a god simulation.
You are a sorcerer and through that sorcerer, you can controll the life in the eden, or as the official black and white homepage puts it, "Seventeenth Heaven." Black and White is a game that is not easily surpassed, and if it is to be open sourced, should be a great addition to the myriad of Linux games.

(Why the site's address wasn't included in the news post I don't know)

Im surprised there was no website of the company actually writing B&W...Ive heard about the game a couple of times off people on Unreal Networks. Its one of those 3d multiplayer adventure games....i think its similar to Everquest but i havent had time to read about it on their website....busy as usual...anyways it sounds like an interesting game by Lionhead and im glad game developers(like that 3dJet games engine) are starting to participate in some sort of open source even if it is just a small step...GOOD ON YAH!!!! have fun....