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Black & White Goes Gold
jaredcat writes "According to bwcenter.com and an article on ZDNet's GameSpot, Peter Molyneux's eagerly awaited Black & White has finally gone gold and will be shipping in North America on 3/27/01. I know what I'll be doing for spring break..." I just read that ZDNet article linked above - the ASPCA will be protesting this game, mark my words.
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.
That's odd. They seem happy to sell "workstation" and "server" copies of identical software at radically different price points.
my first thought was of the invention of the babel fish:
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed at the next zebra crossing.
jebus, I miss douglas adams
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I remember some time ago (e3) there was a /. article speculating b&w going os. Molyneux was quoted at thecitidal.net (by RP) that ....
/. comments are there to read.
"The first thing is my ambition to make the whole of Black & White, the AI engine, the 3D engine, the physics engine, open-source. Then anybody can download and use that stuff. To use it in a commercial product, you have to pay us a royalty, but, you know, absolutely free for enthusiasts to use."
couldn't get to the citidal link but the
peterrenshaw ~ Another Scrappy Startup
Every voice asking to have it ported adds to the developers case.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
honestly though, there needs to be more moderation tags, both positive and negative, as the comment above would read much better as +1 Weird.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
You also get to raise an animal to become your servant. The way you treat the animal and what you teach it will determine how it grows. Oh, and after you pick the animal that you want it grows to be Godzilla size, so it's a bit more than your average animal.
The best thing to do is go to one of the fansites, the one that i visit is liongames.com. The game has been really hyped up, but from the screenshots and previews i've read it seems to live up to it, guess we'll all find out in a couple of weeks.
Since your UID is smaller than mine, I can only conclude that you're trolling. -s20451 (410424)
I guess you signed the petition first and copied the link only afterwards? ;-)
i . Otherwise you'll sign the petition as Brian Kimmel, of Wichita, KS 67203, United States.
The correct direct link would be http://www.tuxgames.com/petitions/viewpetition.cg
Or, as suggested, go to http://www.tuxgames.com/ and click on from there (there's a lot more of petitions going!).
I doubt, therefore I may be.
Especially the Ultima Series.
Up through Ultima 7, the games were great. Then EA bought them out.. And what happens?
U8 is no longer a roleplaying game, its an arcade game. Ultima Online is released with only a cosmetic similarity to the game and the concept behind the game series. Funny how a company can take a game series with a rich and powerful virtuous theme and turn it into an online game that becomes the exact opposite.
And Ultima Ascention. Don't even talk to me about how badly they screwed THAT up.
Origin had what it needed. A steadily growing loyal fanbase. People who knew how to design and tell a story through an interactive game environment. And most importantly, a strong leader who had been with the project since the inception.
And now, that fanbase has been decimated, storytelling is overrated as long as the game has the best 3D graphics available today, and of course, the leader has quit after the company he guided for two decades is destroyed because someone upstairs thought that it was best to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
And whatever happened with Sierra? I remember saving up my money as a kid and begging my parents to drive me to the computer store so I could buy a new game released by this company.
Even after a new interface was introduced, the games didn't lose their spirit.
But thats all gone now too. Perhaps they weren't making enough money. I don't know. Storytelling doesn't take a lot of money. It doesn't require a team of hundreds of programmers. It doesn't require movie studio equipment and it doesn't require blockbuster movie budgets.
What it requires is a well organized team, a leader with the appropriate vision, creative people who have something to contribute, and artists who can say more with less. Once upon a time, we couldn't render 100fps realtime 3D in 32 bit color. So we had to make up in story what we couldn't convey in realism. But it was certainly more fun back then.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
I remember the Black & White website being a lot more informative, with screenshots and a game description.
Now it's got this weird celtic/native picture, and a bunch of guys chanting like it's a frat party and they're chugging beer... what gives?
I don't even want to think what that gnome is doing under the screen...
Kind of a waste of news if we don't slashdot the petition and get to play the game ;-)
well the whole idea is that the game is about good vs evil. that's why the white box (ie, the "good" box) has money donated to charity, while the back box (ie the "evil" box) donates nothing. sure it's a gimmick, but at least it's a thoughtful gimmick :)
but really, if they wanted to do it properly both would be the same price, but the white sales would still put $5 towards a charity whereas the black ones would just be an extra $5 in their pockets :)
- j
Another anti-marriage game. I wonder how I'll be able to justify this one.
Actually, only three people after the +1 bonus.
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Don't you just hate it when people brag about something they're supposed to do?
I just read that ZDNet article linked above...
You're a Slashdot editor. You're supposed to read the god damn article! God damn editors bragging about something they're supposed to do!
:-)
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RA2 is a helluva lot better then Tiberian Sun. If RA2 *DOES* suck (I dissagree, but anyway) then it certianlydoesn't deserve to bite in all caps.
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ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
"Basically Black and White is a God game. You are a God and your power is based on the amount of people who believe in you. What you do with your power is entirely up to you. You can be Good, Evil, or any combination in between."
Arent all their games like this? I think it really is time they did a new game, rather than Yet Another Populous?!
and give me a clue what Black and White is all about, and why the ASPCA will hate it?
The web site certainly didn't seem too informative, or perhaps it's flash movie lasted longer than my attention span.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
buy linux games instead please, or we'll be stuck with windows forever.
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In Baulders Gate it caused the scripts to freeze and you to get stuck and have to reload.
Doh, that is NOT a good thing.
I want to be able to at least have the CHOICE to join the dark side. WTF is with the bad guys always trying to kill me relentlessly? Shit, sure I may be the "Chosen One" but for a few quid I'll be more then willing to give up my holy noble task and join the bad guys. And what is more, I want to be able to KEEP PLAYING after I have become an evil dude! Unlike Fallout where joining the mutants causes a negative ending right away!! Heck. I was hoping to turn into some sort of mutant creature and keep playing like that. I wanted to infiltrate the Knights of Steel (or whatever their names where) and start killing them off. I actualy AGREED with the Mutants in Fallout, err, and yet I was penalized for that. Doh.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
The american civl liberties union? The people who faught the the CDA? I don't seem them trying ot ban anything anytime soon.
Rate me on Picture-rate.com
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
The idea was nixed because retailers were balking at having the same game with two different prices. Too bad, since that was a really cool idea. ... why? Because there are people out there who will buy them both. ;p
As far as I know, though, it will be shipping in the black and white boxes, but at the same pricepoint (like Starcraft's Terran, Zerg, and Protoss boxes)
Oh well, I've got my copy preordered from EB and I really don't care what color box it is... I just plan on playing a right evil bastard of a God =)
Stores didn't want to deal with the price differenes? Easy answer! The Black Box (evil) comes with a 5 dollar mail in rebate. Then, THEY can play good or evil and decide which rebates to honor! The White box has that 5 dollars to to charities. (guy who has been ripped off on too many mail in rebates)
I find this comment especially interesting, given that my first take on the fact that "Black and White" has gone gold is more a kudos to the people responsible for advertising and hyping the game, rather than a credit to the game itself.
Hell, look at the people who went nuts trying to get tickets to Phantom Menance, only to find themselves subjected to a few hours of Jar-Jar Binks.
I certainly hope I'm wrong and that there're a lot of very happy gamers out there, but I can easily imagine both very good and very bad games that fit within the hype and details I've heard about "Black & White". (And I mean that in a qualitative sense, not a moral one, so no jokes about the very bad game being the one that ships in the black box.)
So in general, I just find it hard to get excited about a game that hasn't been released, yet. It's too easy to get burned and you really don't gain anything from the anticipation (unless you like sitting around going, "Let's see: If I save an extra 4 percent of my income, I should be able to buy the necessary extra top-of-the-line 3D cards and monitors to support the rumored Quake 5 360-degree continual view feature.").
No that would defeat the purpose of the gimmick! The point is that you must choose between giving to charity or saving money. If you choose to save $5 you get the black, or evil box. If you choose to donate $5 you get the white, or good box. If they were both the same price, it would be an easy decision.
I'd read that at one point that they were going to have two versions of the game: a black box and a white box. The white box would be $5 more, which went to charity.
Loved the idea, but I've heard nothing about it since. Anyone able to confirm or deny this plan of action?
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I don't see any reason for the ASPCA to complain. I mean really, who here believes that the game Black and White would entice youngins around the world to commit cruelty to animals? Since when is enslaving the soul of a wild beast and feeding it with pure magic until it grows in a pathetic attempt to escape the confines and restrictions of it's natural body considered "cruelty". It's doing them a favor really. What mouse or bunny rabbit wouldn't want to tower over it's former predators, crushing them into a bloody pulp under it's hideously enlarged paws? No cruelty that I can see.
I checked out the article on Black and White and I saw the same old lousy graphics that every Quake clone has had. That is, it isn't even close to photorealistic -- too many polygons visible. Can anyone with knowledge of the industry tell me when we can expect games with good graphics? I want it too look like full-motion video, not a game.
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Private Essayist
EA ruins every company they get. Westwood ruled (Dune II, C&C). Oh look, EA buys Westwood, damn, now it BITES (C&C:RA2). Bullfrog was brilliant(Populous, Dungeon Keeper). Oh look, EA buys Bullfrog, now it SUCKS (DK2).
I'm only hoping Lionhead can get off one great game before EA ruins it as well, with its lowest common denominator marketing style. B&W is the only comp game I intend to spend any money on this year... I was thinking on WC III, but after Blizz's recent actions and the suckiness of D2, I'm done with Blizzard. Not to mention WC III appears to be heading the wrong way (away from massive tactical epic warfare, towards small parties of warriors necessitated by each one being rendered like a Q3a bot). id's DOOM III is all set to be the biggest joke of a game in years. So it looks like we're all riding on Peter Molyneaux to strike creative gold again, either that or the Miller brothers can come out of the woodwork with another Myst clone. Other than that, I see very little of interest on offer this year.
Yawn...
Where have all the good game makers gone?
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
"I don't see any reason for the ASPCA to complain. I mean really, who here believes that the game Black and White would entice youngins around the world to commit cruelty to animals?"
...the same people who think digital images of fake child porn will entice pedophiles and thus should be illegal.
Oh, you meant that rhetorically? Either way, expect to see the game banned in places if the ACLU ever takes a look at it.
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
It's a new god sim, but everyone expects god sims from Molyneaux, that's his expertise... what makes B&W unique is your CHOICE.
In Populous, you were sometimes vengeful, but usually just power-oriented. Not really good or evil.
In the Dungeon Keeper games, you were very clearly focussed on pure, diabolical Evil. All the way.
B&W is cool because you can choose which path to walk... Good, Evil, or really anything in between as far as I've been able to figure out. This alone should more than double the replay value, as you take tactics in Good and see how they work in Evil. IE., how effective might a certain grand strategy be when applied by force and terror, or with caring and peace? Fascinating, Captain.
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
"No points for originality, but how are they bad?"
Heheh, answered your own question.
What EA does is buy a little company that has made one or two creative games, then strings them along for as long as making unimaginative hack sequels remains profitable. EA *never* takes a risk on an "untested" game idea that isn't sure to sell like hotcakes; you will never see anything imaginative or new out of them. At EA, the marketing guys are in firm control of the game development guys, and it shows.
And I for one am VERY tired of same-old, same-old. My comp. game collection has grown to the range of over 70 titles. It will take something new and/or imaginative to make me open my wallet for a whole 50 bucks. I'm certainly not paying 50 bucks for a slick EA clone of a game I already have. C&C:RA2, DK2, and Diablo 2 (though EA doesn't own Blizz yet) were all so terrible, it's completely turned me off sequels.
It's up to the Peter Molyneux's and Sid Meiers of the world to think up something NEW for us. We need a creative mind, unhindered by questions of whether a game is a tried and tested big seller, to come up with something worth playing. Instead we have John Romero sitting back and brainstorming: Gamers want remakes! Nope, sorry, John. Go away.
-Kasreyn
P.S. If you don't think C&C:RA2 bites hard enough to bite in allcaps, play through the single player campaigns and watch the cut movies. Then watch them again. Keep a barf bag close at hand.
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
Better the ASPCA than those deran9ed Scientologist. Better yet, who's gonna search for the patent on the role-playing of god and sue?
360 degrees of Karma