Black & White (computer game)
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| Black and White | |
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| Developer(s) | Lionhead Studios |
| Publisher(s) | EA Games, Feral Interactive (Mac) |
| Designer(s) | Peter Molyneux |
| Release date(s) | March 25, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) ELSPA: 11+ |
| Platform(s) | PC / Mac |
| Media | CD |
Black & White is a computer game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts and Feral Interactive. It was a god game released in 2001, which included elements of artificial life, strategy, and beat 'em up games.
The player takes on the role of a god, ruling over an island populated by various tribes. The player's control over the island is manifested in the Hand, an animated on-screen hand which can move or throw people and objects, tap houses to wake their occupants, cast miracles, and do many other things. Use of the keyboard and buttons in the game is purposely low; to add to the sense of realism, the mouse-controlled hand can perform every function in the game.
Generally speaking, the goal of a level is to gain control over every village on the island. This is accomplished through the performance of impressive acts that will cause the villagers to believe in the player. Villagers can be swayed by everything from helping them with day-to-day tasks to terrorising them with fireballs and lightning storms. Another important element of the gameplay is the player's Creature — a pet of sorts that can be trained to do almost anything, thanks to the game's complex AI, developed by Richard Evans. This Creature is trained by being placed on a leash while the player demonstrates the action the Creature is to learn using the Hand. With time and repetition, it can perform complex functions that will allow it to serve as the player's avatar in the world.
At the center of the player's empire is the Temple, the building at which tribesfolk worship and the Creature sleeps. To increase the verisimilitude, menus and statistics are replaced by specialized rooms in the temple. Each race under the player's control will construct a worship area in the temple, where magical or 'prayer' energy is accumulated that can be used for miracles.
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[edit] The Advisors
The gameplay is often helped along by two advisors to the player. They are the stereotypical conscience: one is a saintly, bearded old man seated on a cloud, and the other is a demon. They offer conflicting advice on how to play the game; depending on which option the player chooses, his or her reputation as a good or evil deity is established (see below). Though they are supposedly the player's conscience, they act as distinct entities, occasionally getting into fights or exploring ahead of the player. If the game is left untouched for several minutes, they will get into various different conversations with each other (i.e., talking about having a bad night of sleep in your head or "We're not on the phone, send a message after the tone. Beep.", "No pain, no gain.", etc).
[edit] The Story
The player begins the game as a newly created god, born from the prayers of a family whose child was attacked by sharks. After rescuing the child, the grateful family leads the player to their village. There, the player goes through a brief tutorial and chooses a Creature. It is revealed that the player's path is determined by activating assorted scrolls: "Gold Story Scrolls" are essential elements to the progression of the game, and "Silver Reward Scrolls" offer side quests that, when completed, offer the player an assortment of benefits.
The player's happy existence among the villagers is shaken by the discovery of a massive Creature, who tells of a god known as Nemesis, his former master, who desires to destroy all other gods and reign supreme as the one true god. Nemesis becomes the principal antagonist in the game, though he is not confronted until the final level. In the mean time, the Creature Trainer offers to train you and your Creature in the ways of the gods, teaching about the casting of miracles and creature combat. When he speaks of the Creed -- a mysterious, divided energy source with the ability to destroy gods -- he is destroyed by Nemesis, who goes on to attack the player's village with lightning. A mysterious vortex opens; in desperation, the player collects what resources and followers he can and enters it.
The vortex transports the player into a second island. He is greeted by another god, Khazar, who sent the vortex to save the player. Khazar tells of how he is under attack by Lethys, a follower of Nemesis, and asks for the player's aid in exchange for the resources to rebuild the player's village. He follows to teach the player further points on village construction and miracle use. After a certain time has passed, Nemesis destroys Khazar, taking a piece of the Creed that Khazar had and leaving the player to cope with Lethys alone. When Lethys is seriously threatened, he kidnaps the player's creature, taking it through a vortex to another land. The player may choose to hastily follow Lethys or wait and amass extra resources to take with him; though the vortex will close quickly, it will open again after Lethys' temple is destroyed.
In the third land, it is revealed that the Creature is being held in stasis by three magical pillars, each powered by the prayers of a village. The player must take over all three villages to free the Creature. After this, Lethys gives the player a piece of the Creed and open a vortex to a land where another can be found. He asks in return that he be left one village, a request that the player can allow or deny. If the player takes control of Lethys' final village, Lethys is destroyed forever (though either way he will not make a reappearance). The player then follows the vortex into a fourth island.
The fourth island is actually the first land, only cursed by Nemesis. Fireballs and lightning rain from the sky, which has been turned blood-red. To overcome this, the player must complete three separate quests to deactivate the curses. Finally, the second piece of the Creed can be obtained by aiding a cursed village (the inhabitants were turned into living skeletons). When the piece of the Creed is claimed, Nemesis appears, saying that the player and he are the only remaining gods and inviting the player to his realm. A vortex is opened, through which the player goes to the fifth and final island.
In the fifth island, Nemesis curses the player's Creature, causing him to slowly change alignments, shrink, and grow weaker. Three villages hold the keys to undoing these curses, though many more must be taken over to defeat Nemesis. When the final piece of the Creed is obtained, the player activates them to destroy Nemesis once and for all, leaving the player as the last remaining god in the world.
[edit] The Creature
Black & White has a unique feature that allows the player to control a creature that takes form of a regular animal. These are (in order of availability):
- Ape*
- Tiger*
- Cow*
- Sheep
- Zebra
- Chimpanzee
- Turtle
- Wolf
- Lion
- Brown Bear
- Polar Bear
- Horse†
- Leopard†
- Gorilla†
- Mandrill†
- Crocodile**
- Rhinoceros**
- Chicken**
* = You will pick between these creatures early on in the game
† = Available when downloaded from a Bonus Creature CD, once downloaded visit the creature breeder in Land 1 or 4 to obtain.
** = Creature Isle add-on only
The Rhinoceros is not available directly in Black and White, one but can be obtained using a creature changer, and it will work fine. The Ogre can also be obtained using a creature changer, but the Ogre is very buggy.
The rest of the creatures can be obtained from completing various Silver Reward Scrolls.
This 'pet' of the player's starts out relatively small, probably the size of a two story house, and later grows to be the size of a skyscraper. Each creature has its strengths and weaknesses; for example, the Ape is very intelligent and learns things quickly, but lacks strength, whereas the Tiger is almost the opposite - very strong, but not the fastest learner. As a god, the player can teach their creature to do simple tasks like keeping the village store full of food and wood by simply carrying trees and throwing them into the village store. The player can also teach the creature to perform miracles, such as the food miracle, which supplies followers with a limited amount of food. The player can also teach the creature a range of beneficial, benign, or violent acts: anything from what and when to eat to how to attack an enemy's villagers using trees as weapons.
The Creature is taught by using a slap/stroke system; if the Creature does something the player does not want it to do, the player can slap the creature. On the other hand, if the Creature does something the player approves of, they can stroke the creature. Your Creature will remember whether or not you rewarded it for an action, and will not do things you slapped him for. Stroking results in just the opposite, as the creature will frequently do things you stroked him for. The system works very well and allows the player to have a good amount of control over their creature's development.
The Creature is intended to be as realistic as possible; it will display emotions, develop habits, and perform all the normal bodily functions. A neglected creature may become decrepit (although they do not catch any lasting illness, they may get out of shape) and morose, and a well-kept one will happily chase after the player's hand, hoping for a game of catch. The player can feed the creature by hand. Black & White received a Guinness World Record for the Creature technology, featuring the largest amount of variable data based on user input.
[edit] Good and Evil
The principle behind the game's name is the conflict between good and evil. Nearly every action (or lack thereof) will count towards the player's image in the people's eyes. As such, the player may be seen as a heart wrenchingly good god or an utterly evil one. The land and interface will shift according the player's alignment. A good god will have a white marble temple, a shining white hand, and a peaceful village filled with light. Conversely, an evil god will have a charred, clawed hand, a red temple sprouting spikes, and thoroughly terrified villagers. The Creature also has an alignment (independent from its owner's) and will change its appearance accordingly: an evil wolf will sport glowing eyes and massive fangs and claws, whereas a good one will turn a startling shade of magenta and glow gently.
Good players try to win over villages through constant help. Common tactics are to donate food and wood, construct buildings, protect the village from other gods, and use the Creature to entertain the villagers. Many find the path of a good god to be difficult, as a frustrating level of micromanagement is required. Villagers under the command of a good player will often remain idle and allow the player to do all the work around the village. One must also respond to any enemy aggression in a completely defensive manner rather than use violence. However, completing quests in a good manner generally yields richer rewards. On the other hand, evil players have no restrictions whatsoever. Generally speaking, Evil provides a quick and dirty way to play the game: rather than help a grieving woman find her lost brother, one can simply leave the man to his fate -- and perhaps throw the woman into the ocean to teach her to handle her own problems. The result, however, is thoroughly uncooperative villagers.
[edit] Belief and influence
An important element in the gameplay is the "area of influence". Simply put, the player can only interact with the landscape around a village in which the inhabitants believe in the player as a god. The size of the village (its area, population, and amenities therein) determine how far this area of influence extends. Obviously, this can prove a problem when impressing (or coercing) other villages into believing in the player. This restriction can be circumvented in several ways. First is simply speed: depending on the distance from the player's area of influence, the player can interact with the land outside his or her influence for a short period of time. Second is the use of the Creature, who suffers from no such limitations. Third is throwing objects. An object, once thrown, is not restrained by the influence bubble; as such, a player with good aim can theoretically pelt his opponent's village with fireballs from clear across the island.
In most levels the influence bubble is a major factor in the game, as the enemy's villages will almost never be within the influence projected by the player's first village; it is necessary to work one's way slowly across the map to win. Interestingly, good players may create villages so large or dense that their influence bubbles can stretch across a good portion of the map.
[edit] Other
The game helped to pioneer the use of mouse gesture recognition, allowing the player to cast spells using specific mouse movements.
An expansion pack, Creature Isle, was released in 2001, which shifted focus from the battles against other gods to mini games with the Creature.
A sequel, Black & White 2, was released on 7 October 2005.
A PlayStation and Dreamcast port were announced and developed, they were never released.
Lionhead is also planning to release Black & White Creatures for the PSP and Nintendo DS, while plans for developing Black & White: Next Generation for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube have since been abandoned.
[edit] Awards
- E3 2000 Game Critics Awards: Best of Show, Best Original Game, Best PC Game, Best Strategy Game
- E3 1999 Game Critics Awards: Best Original Game
[edit] External links
- Official Black & White Site
- Planet Black & White - Official Gamespy Fansite
- About Black & White
- Black & White Screenshots and Official Patches/Addons
- Technical Support
- Black & White 2
- Black & White at MobyGames
- Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods Screenshots Gallery
