Virtual Reality Zone/VRZONE.ISO/mac/PC/EMAGS/lw9405/gamer.txt

Text File | 1994-04-24 | 8KB | 205 lines

Six and half centuries ago, the kingdoms of England
and France had a minor disagreement about the true
successor to the throne of France. When they
couldn't settle this dispute amicably, they did
what any self-respecting medieval royalty would do.
They went to war.

Thus started one of history's greatest conflicts --
the Hundred Years War.

The Stuff Gamers Dream Of

In actual fact, the Hundred Years War wasn't really
a war at all but a series of battles, sieges, and
minor invasions that see-sawed back and forth for
116 years (1337-1453) without any real winner
emerging.

While the war was technically between two kingdoms,
many of the campaigns were conducted by the
nobility, each with differing personal agendas and
shifting loyalties. With so many variables there
are an almost unlimited number of tactical or
strategic possibilities that could change the
course of history. It's the stuff of scholarly
debates and deep philosophical discussion. And it'd
make a really cool computer game.

Historian Al Nofi recognized the potential while
researching this period many years ago. So did
renowned war game designer James Dunnigan and
programmer Dan Masterson. When they teamed up to
create a multi-player simulation, the stuff of
history became the stuff gamers dream of -- The
Hundred Years War, called HYW by aficiandos -- here
on GEnie.

What It Isn't

HYW is not easily labelled. It's not a typical war
game, but contains elements of conventional
wargames with armies, battles, sieges, and movement
conducted on a hexagonal grid map of medieval
Europe. It isn't a typical PBEM (Play-by-Email),
but the Bulletin Board and GE Mail are used
extensively by player characters to conduct private
and public Court business. It isn't a Fantasy Role
Playing Game, but players assume the identity of
real characters with numerically-ranked
characteristics and skills. It isn't a military or
historical simulation, an interactive adventure,
political conquest or a bookshelf board game. But
it contains elements from each of these genres.

So what is HYW, exactly? To quote from the game's
documentation, it's a "multi-generational
simulation in which your character will age and die
over time to be replaced by one of the children you
have sired. It includes an economic war of nerves
against rebellious peasants and land-grabbing
peers, political maneuvering to gain Royal favor,
with the ultimate objective of improving your power
base, through marriage, conquest, and wise
alliances."

HYW is as much fun as it is unique. It's easy to
play; difficult to master.

What It Is

There are up to four individual games running at
any given time that can take anywhere from a few
weeks to several months to complete. Each game
employs seasonal 'turns' that span 90 game-days and
is updated daily (for the fast games) or bi-weekly
(for the slow games). New games start almost every
month, and are often preceded by a Free Weekend
where GEnie waives standard hourly connect charges
for players.

Players assume or are assigned the identity of one
of 107 French, English or 'Other' nobles -- real
characters taken from the pages of history with
historically accurate land holdings, wealth and
power. Players can also volunteer to play the
French and English King and Crown Prince.

Following election of the kings (which is conducted
on the Bulletin Board) players swear allegiance to
their respective monarchs with the hope of gaining
Court positions, fame and fortune. Or they can
choose to go it alone, selling their loyalty and
their armies to the highest bidder.

Each of the 107 Player Characters (PCs) has certain
land holdings (called fiefs) for which they are
responsible. The player can set taxes and adjust
the amount of money spent in each fief on Keep
level, Garrison, Officials, and Infrastructure. The
balance of taxation to spending determines how
successful the fief will be: Tax too much or spend
too little, and you'll have a rebellion to put
down.

A Cast of Thousands

In addition to the Player Characters, there are
roughly 6000 NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the
game. These NPCs can be hired and assigned to act
as bailiffs to help manage fiefs, army commanders
to help conduct sieges and quell rebellions, even
spies or assassins to perform political dirty
deeds.

Some NPCs are special. They are the Player
Characters' family members and are eligible for
marriage (or seduction). One especially unique
feature of HYW is that characters grow old, get ill
and die. When that happens to a PC, players can
choose to assume the identity of any other member
of their family. As long as there are sons or
daughters, or a surviving spouse, the family
survives and the player continues playing.

Both PCs and NPCs possess individual
characteristics and skills that affect how well or
poorly they perform various tasks. A character with
strong characteristics and lousy skills won't
perform as well as one with average characteristics
and great skills. The trick is to find NPCs with
the best of both, whether for marriage or for hire.

All game actions -- from invading a fief or raising
an army, to proposing marriage or sending messages
-- are performed using a system of menus. Some
actions, like travel, are immediate; others aren't
completed until the turn is updated.

Travel is accomplished with the aid of a simple
ASCII display of a player's existing location and
surrounding fiefs. Each compass direction is
assigned a number and movement is a matter of
entering that number from the keyboard. Without a
map, however, it's easy to get hopelessly lost. HYW
is a BIG game.

More Than Menus and Moves

The Bulletin Board is an integral part of the game.
All public and political communication between
Nobles is conducted there. Players use it to hold
elections, plan campaigns, plot assassinations and
kidnappings, exchange insults, look for mates,
declare allegiances, and borrow money -- all IC (in
character), of course.

As Karen, the HYW Dean of Heralds, posted recently:
"This a simulation of 14th century Europe and is
more often than not a game of politics and
personalities, not just menu moves." You can raise
an army and take a fief, but the Bulletin Board
will determine how successful you are at holding on
to what you've got.

Players looking for a little extra-curricular
online interactive activity should check out the
Interactive Court. There, they can chat with other
players, play games of chance, engage in duels,
take part in jousting tournaments, quaff some ale
or get into brawls. A simple but flexible list of
Conference-type commands affords a unique
opportunity for role-playing.

Looking For Help in all the Right Places

Game mechanics in HYW are simple. New players can
just jump right in and have fun learning as they
go, but the underlying rules and options are quite
extensive. It's advisable at some point to download
the current documentation and one of the many maps
from the Software Library.

There are other forms of assistance. Game Heralds
are almost always online and are willing to help
with virtually any question or problem a player may
have. There are regular Real-Time Conferences
(RTC), weekly Gatherings held in the Interactive
Court in each game, and the HYW Help Desk every
Saturday at 3PM Eastern time in Room 2 of the RTC
area.

Windows users can benefit from a Windows Help File
(File 625 HYWHELP1.ZIP), available as a free
download by selecting menu item #5 (Game Documents)
on Page 946. And a Windows-based Graphics Front-End
is planned for beta release this month.

Everyone's a Winner, Babe

One of history's greatest conflicts has become one
of GEnie's greatest online games. The original
conflict took 116 years and ended without a winner;
by contrast, the online game only takes a few weeks
to complete, and everyone's a winner!