M.U.L.E.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| M.U.L.E. | |
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| Developer(s) | Ozark Softscape |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts & Ariolasoft (Europe) |
| Designer(s) | Dan Bunten |
| Release date(s) | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multi player (up to four players on the Atari 8-bit version) |
| Platform(s) | Atari 400/800, Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, MSX-1, Nintendo Entertainment System, PC-8801 MKII |
| Media | Varied |
| Input | joystick, keyboard, gamepad |
M.U.L.E. is a seminal multiplayer video game written in 1983 by Dan Bunten of Ozark Softscape. It was published by Electronic Arts. While originally written for the Atari 400/800, it was later ported to the Commodore 64, the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the IBM PC Jr.. While it played like a game, it was actually an economic simulation taking place on a small colony planet.
In 1996, Computer Gaming World named M.U.L.E. as #3 on its Best Games of All Time list on the PC.
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[edit] Gameplay
Set on the fictional planet Irata (which is Atari backwards), the game is an exercise in supply and demand economics involving competition between four players, with computer opponents automatically filling in for any missing players. Players are provided with several different choices for the race of their colonist, providing different advantages and disadvantages which can be paired to their respective strategies. To win, players not only compete against each other to amass the largest amount of wealth, but must also cooperate for the survival of the colony.
Central to the game is the acquisition and use of "M.U.L.E."s (Multiple Use Labor Element) to develop and harvest resources from the player's real estate. Depending on the terrain type, a M.U.L.E. can be configured to harvest Energy, Food, Smithore (from which M.U.L.E.s are constructed), and Crystite (a valuable mineral available only at the "Tournament" level). Players must balance supply and demand of these elements, buying what they need, and selling what they don't. Players may also exploit or create shortages by refusing to sell to other players or to the "store", which raises the price of the resource on the following turns. Scheming between players is encouraged by allowing collusion between two players, which initiates a mode allowing a private transaction.
Players must also deal with periodic random events such as run-away M.U.L.E.s, solar flares, and theft by space pirates. The game features a balancing system for random events which impact only a single player, such that favorable events never happen to the player currently in first place, while unfavorable events never happen to the player in last place. This same "leveling of the playfield" is applied whenever a tie happens in the game (e.g. when two players want to buy a resource at the same price); the player in the losing position automatically wins the tie.
[edit] Influences
M.U.L.E. was revolutionary in the ease with which it allowed multiplayer interaction through a single game/computer console. Though this failed as a trend setter at the time, the game is still heralded as the first game to make effective use of the multiplayer game concept.
Although not a bestselling title, the game was very popular in its day among certain groups, and has more recently become a favorite of retrogaming enthusiasts. Various clones for modern computers exist, the most recent commercial clone published in 2002. The original's addictive theme song by Roy Glover has been widely covered by remix groups.
Dani Bunten (previously Dan Bunten) was working on an Internet version of the game until her death in 1998.
Many game designers cite the game as one of the most revolutionary ever and an inspiration for many of their games. Will Wright dedicated his game The Sims, the greatest selling computer game of all time, to the memory of Bunten.
A modern version of the game entitled Space HoRSE was developed in 2004 by Gilligames and is distributed by Shrapnel Games.
[edit] External links
- M.U.L.E. guide at StrategyWiki
- M.U.L.E. at MobyGames
- Home of the Underdogs M.U.L.E page
- "The tragic genius of M.U.L.E." article (Salon magazine)
- "The Gamer's Quarter Issue 6" - Features an article by John Szczepaniak, containing transcribed audio interviews with three of the original key team members behind M.U.L.E., along with other people involved in the project, plus a comprehensive history of the game. Article title is "Mechanical Donkeys".
