Black & White (video game)

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Black & White
Black & White Coverart.png
Developer(s) Lionhead Studios
Publisher(s) EA Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Sold-Out Software
Designer(s) Peter Molyneux
Composer(s) Russell Shaw
Series Black & White
Platforms Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) Windows
    Mac OS
      Genre(s) Simulation, god game
      Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

      Black & White is a 2001 video game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows. The game was published by Feral Interactive in 2002 for Mac OS. Black & White is a god game that combines elements of artificial life, strategy, and fighting games. The player acts as a god and takes control over villages. The goal is to defeat Nemesis, a god who wants to destroy all others and take over the world. A primary theme is the concept of good and evil, and the atmosphere is determined by the player's behaviour and which side is taken. Black & White features a unique gameplay element; a creature whose personality is shaped by the player's interaction, and plays an important role as a servant. Multiplayer is supported over a local network or online. The game took more than three years to develop and was highly anticipated. Development was led by Peter Molyneux, who had been fascinated with influencing people in a world since Populous, from which the game takes many elements. Black & White received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising the depth, artificial intelligence, and uniqueness. Ports for the Sega Dreamcast and Sony PlayStation were in development but cancelled. Black & White won awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and was followed by an expansion, Black & White: Creature Isle, and a sequel, Black & White 2.

      Plot

      The player begins the game as a newly created god, born from the prayers of a family. After saving the family's drowning son, the player follows the grateful family to their village. Soon after, the player chooses a creature. The player later discovers a large creature, who tells of a god known as Nemesis, his former master. He desires to reign supreme as the one true god by destroying all others. Nemesis becomes the principal antagonist. The player is told of the Creed - an energy source with the ability to destroy gods. Nemesis then destroys his former creature and attacks the village. A mysterious vortex opens that the player enters to escape Nemesis. The vortex transports the player to a second island, where he is greeted by another god, Khazar. Khazar reveals that he sent the vortex to the player and asks for aid against another god, Lethys, Nemesis' underling, in exchange for resources to rebuild the village. Later, Nemesis destroys Khazar and steals Khazar's piece of the Creed. Lethys then kidnaps the player's creature, taking it through a vortex to another land. In the third land, the creature is held in stasis by three magical pillars. After the creature is freed, Lethys gives the player a piece of the Creed and opens a vortex to a land where another can be found. The player returns to the first land, now cursed by Nemesis; fireballs and lightning rain from the sky. After the curses are lifted and the piece of the Creed is claimed, Nemesis appears and invites the player to his realm. On the last island, Nemesis curses the player's creature, causing him to slowly change alignments, shrink, and grow weaker. When the final piece of the Creed is obtained, the player destroys Nemesis, and is then left as the last remaining god in the world.[1](pp2–8)[2](pp113–195)

      Gameplay

      Screenshot of a typical village at the beginning of the game.

      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 perform other actions.[2](pp9,12) A patch was released that allows the Hand to be controlled by an Essential Reality P5 Glove, a virtual reality glove.[3]

      The player progresses through the story by using 'Gold Story Scrolls', which initiate a significant event. Another type is the 'Silver Reward Scroll', which are not required, but reward the player upon completion of its task.[1](p12) 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 good god or an evil one. The land and interface will shift according to the player's alignment. For example, a good god will have a white marble Temple. An evil god's Temple will be dark-coloured sprouting spikes and looking intimidating. The player can use a balance of good and evil, trying to stay in the grey area, and is never forced to use either. There are two advisers, one good and the other evil, who try to persuade the player to do things their way.[1](pp4,5,14,30)[2](p26)

      The player controls villages, and the primary goal is to expand them by making buildings and getting the villagers to breed to increase their population. Key buildings are houses (where the villagers live), the Village Centre (which displays the god who controls the village and the miracles available), and the Village Store (which stores food and wood which are required to feed the villagers and build buildings respectively, and the villagers' desires are displayed). Buildings are created in the Workshop, which uses wood to create scaffolds, which are then placed to create a blueprint. Villagers then build it using the available wood. The player can make a villager a disciple, who is assigned to perform a specific task such as fishing or breeding. The player can relocate villagers to another village. Wonders are special buildings which grant a specific benefit that provides a big advantage.[2](pp30–41,50–60) The most important building is the Temple, which is is the centre of the player's power and is surrounded by sites where villagers worship. This generates the power needed to cast miracles. How many villagers worship is controlled at the Village Centre. Which miracles are available depends on those available at the player's villages. The Temple features rooms such as the Save Room, and the Challenge Room, which provides details of activated scrolls. If the Temple is destroyed, the player loses the game.[2](pp26–29,33)

      Miracles available include providing food or wood, healing people, and shields to protect an area. Miracles can only be cast, and most other actions can only be performed within the player's area of influence. This area can be expanded by increasing the size of owned villages, or by taking over others. An area of influence is shown by a barrier of the player's colour. Miracles can be selected at the Temple or Village Centre, or by performing certain gestures with the hand.[2](pp17,33,35,64,65,67,68) The general goal of a level is to gain control over every village on the island. This is accomplished through acts that persuade the villagers to believe in the player. Villagers can be swayed by everything from helping with day-to-day tasks, to terrorising them with fireballs and lightning storms.[2](pp16,43) Artefacts (special objects that glow in the owner's colour) and missionary disciples can be used to impress villages.[2](pp42,43,56) Villagers become bored with repetitive attempts to impress them. For example, if boulders flying overhead become too frequent, their effect is lost. This forces the player to mix up methods used to convert a village.[2](p43,44)

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      The game features a skirmish mode, where the player battles other gods for control of an island, a multiplayer mode over a Local Area Network (LAN) or an online service,[2] and The God's Playground, where the player practises aspects of the gameplay.(pp6,7)[1](p10)

      Creature

      One of Black & White's core features is the ownership of a creature. Three creatures are available to select from near the beginning, and others can be obtained by completing Silver Reward Scrolls. The current creature is swapped with the new one if the player desires. The pet starts out small, and grows as the game progresses. Each creature has strengths and weaknesses; apes are intelligent and proficient at learning, but lack strength, and tigers are strong but slow learners.[2](pp82–100)

      As a god, the player can teach his creature to perform tasks such as keeping the village store full, and performing miracles. The creature is taught what and when to eat and how to attack or impress the enemy's villages. Fighting skills may be taught in one-on-one battles with other creatures; attack and defence abilities can be improved. Teaching is performed by using a Reinforcement learning system - if the creature does something the player does not want, he can slap the creature. On the other hand, if the creature does something the player approves of, it can be stroked. The creature remembers the response to various actions and gradually changes its behaviour accordingly.[2](pp101–111) With time and repetition, it can perform complex functions that allow it to serve as the player's avatar. A leash is used to command the creature to go to specific place, and can be tied to a building to restrict movement. There are three types: one encourages the creature to pay attention when actions are demonstrated, another to behave benevolently, and the other the direct opposite.[2](p82-102) Statistics are available at the Creature Cave in the Temple. The Temple provides a pen, which is the creature's main rest area.[2](pp27,83) The game reinforces the choices and learning of the creature by providing visual feedback, and the creature has an alignment separate from the player's. Evil wolves sport glowing eyes and large fangs and claws; good ones turn a startling shade of purple and glow gently.[2](p102)

      Lionhead Studios used the Belief-Desire-Intention model based on work of Michael Bratman to simulate creatures learning and decision making. A creature forms an intention by combining desires, opinions and beliefs. Beliefs are attribute lists that store data about various world objects. Desires are goals the creature wants to fulfil expressed as simplified perceptrons. Opinions describe ways of satisfying a desire using decision trees. For each desire, the creature selects the belief that it has the best opinion about — thus forming an intention or goal.[4](pp567–578)

      Development

      Black & White took over three years to develop, and was released on 30 March 2001. The goal was to develop a unique game where players felt they are in a world where they could do anything. Peter Molyneux liked the idea of controlling people in a world from Populous, and was interested in good and evil, and came up with the idea that it could be used to influence atmosphere. The game was developed by a team of twenty-five programmers under a budget of approximately £4 million. Slow development was needed because Peter Molyneux wanted the right team, which consisted of six people to start with. Development began at his house, and in February 1998, the team moved into Lionhead's offices. Now totalling nine people, the team then discussed the game and its content. Ideas such as lip-synchronised characters were proposed but thought impossible. As more people joined the team, Peter Molyneux wanted Lionhead's friendly atmosphere to remain, and their policy of only recruiting people who could fit in with existing members meant that the team had their own way of working. The team questioned and competed with each other, and the result was better quality work than expected. Peter Molyneux described the workload by saying "the team did the work of a group twice their number".[2](p2)[5][6]

      Problems were encountered, and the team doubted the game would get released. The entire game, including the tools and libraries had to be written from scratch. The team took a trial and error approach; they tried something and changed what didn't work, which was how they learnt as they didn't have rehearsals. Mistakes were considered costly. The programmers found better ways of coding, and were trying to make the most of their talents. Peter Molyneux remarked of the team after the bugs were fixed, "we felt like people who'd run a marathon and could see the finish line, but it didn't seem to be getting any closer". The team didn't want to use panels for casting miracles and wanted a gesture system. Peter Molyneux commented that he'd have been very disappointed if the system was dumped, but in the end, they got the feature working "beautifully". Integrating the storyline was found to draw the player in a way they hadn't expected, and lead to characters such as the advisers. The creature's artificial intelligence was a gamble; Peter Molyneux commented that they wanted to "advance the technology to its extreme", and Richard Evans built the technology into a "character which appeared to live and learn like, say, a clever puppy". Large amounts of effort were devoted to getting features such as the weather import working.[7][8]

      Work on the story began in October 1999, and took longer than expected. The team estimated two months, but soon realised they didn't have the necessary skills. Bullfrog's James Leach, who had previously worked on titles such as Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital, was recruited. He wrote many challenges, all the dialogue, and enabled the team to make the advisers characters rather than just sources of information.[6]

      The game reached the alpha stage in December 2000. The team then found more than three thousand bugs and had six weeks to fix them. As the end was near, and fearing that they could kill the game, bug lists were sent to every member. The team had a chart which was updated daily. The biggest problem was that it created more bugs. Peter Molyneux commented that "It was as if the game just didn't want to be finished and perfected". The end product was so large that they "almost felt lost within the code", which consisted of over a million lines, and took over an hour to compile. The music, dialogue, and sound effects were compressed to fit on one CD.[6]

      The team exceeded the look they desired. Peter Molyneux considered that they might have been "insanely ambitious" in this regard, because much bespoke software needed to be written and the system requirements were high. He stated that they went from "bizarre ideas", to "the best game I have ever seen". The villager's artificial intelligence had to be capped by giving some control to the Village Centre due to there being no limit on the number of villagers. On the creature's artificial intelligence, Peter Molyneux commented "part of the game itself learns from everything you do and tailors itself to you", and called the creature "an astonishing piece of work". Peter Molyneux commented that the last months of development were "the hardest any of us has ever had to work", and that "without the right team, this game never would have happened".[7]

      A PlayStation version was in development and scheduled for release in summer 2001,[9] and a Dreamcast version in late 2001.[10] Both were cancelled.[11][12]

      Reception

      Reception
      Aggregate score
      Aggregator Score
      Metacritic 90/100[13]
      Review scores
      Publication Score
      AllGame 4.5/5 stars[14]
      CGW 5/5 stars[15](p74)
      Edge 9/10[16]
      Game Informer 9/10[17]
      GamePro 5/5[18]
      Game Revolution A[19]
      GameSpot 9.3/10[20]
      GameSpy 91%[21]
      GameZone 9/10[22]
      IGN 9.7/10[23]
      PC Gamer (US) 94%[24]
      X-Play 5/5 stars[25]
      The Cincinnati Enquirer 4.5/5 stars[26]
      Playboy 85%[27]
      Gamezilla 94%[28]
      Inside Mac Games 8.25/10(Macintosh)[29]
      Awards
      Publication Award
      BAFTA Interactivity[30]
      BAFTA Moving Images[31]
      Computer Gaming World Editor's Choice[15](p74)
      PC Gamer Editor's Choice[24]
      Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Computer Game of the Year[32]
      Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Computer Innovation[33]
      IGN Best of E3 Most Innovative[34]
      IGN Best of E3 Best PC Game[34]
      Electronic Multimedia Awards (EMMA) Gold Award of Excellence[35]
      PC World Best Video Game of 2001[35]

      Critics initially awarded Black & White with "universal acclaim" according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[13] The game's graphics, gameplay, and artificial intelligence in particular were well received. The Cincinnati Enquirer called it "a heavenly refreshing virtual toy in which to lose oneself for hours on end".[26] Playboy said "While the game is far from perfect—some may bristle at the constant micromanagement and the often ambiguous objectives you are required to meet—it is very approachable and addictive, an almost ideal virtual playground in which you can play god [sic]".[27] Maxim stated that "Though the plodding pace and cutesy atmosphere border on blasphemy, the game’s open-ended design lets you indulge your most megalomaniacal fantasies with ease".[36] IGN's Tal Blevins stated "the epic single player side of Black & White is wildly imaginative, elegant, charming, and a lot more action-packed than I thought it would be".[23] AllGame praised the game's "Absolutely stunning and gorgeous" graphics.[14]

      Edge remarked "Black & White is a colossal achievement. Original but approachable, diverse but coherent, drop-dead gorgeous but deep, and above all obscenely entertaining".[16] Game Informer's Kristian Brogger was impressed with the game's depth, remarking "There is so much depth and ingenuity oozing from every pore of this game, multiplayer might boggle your mind".[17] GameZone praised the game's "Amazingly well textured" landscapes, and called the music "fit for a god". They concluded "Black and White goes far beyond its predecessors, successfully creating a game that merges simulation, strategy, adventure, role-playing, and action genres".[22] PC Gamer praised the game's "Beautiful" graphics and "awesome" interface, and concluded it is "One of the most innovative, creative, original, and awe-inspiring games in the history of PC gaming".[24] Computer Gaming World praised the game's "Intelligent autonomous characters" and "stunning 3D landscape".[15](p78) Game Revolution praised the game's "Unbelievable presentation" and "Revolutionary AI".[19] GamePro praised the game's realism, stating, "What makes Black & White so impressive is the feeling it gives of tinkering with a real world", and complimented the game's "impressive" artificial intelligence.[18]

      Uniqueness and originality were praised. GameSpy stated "Black and White is one of the most unique—and enjoyable—strategy games we've seen this year".[21] X-Play remarked "'Black and White' is just such a polished, ambitious, and fun game, with a strong and singular vision, that it deserves a long look by every PC gamer out there".[25] GameSpot stated "No other PC game to date has so effectively combined so many seemingly incompatible elements into one highly polished game", and concluded "Black & White will continuously surprise you, and it takes a miracle for a game like that".[20] Gamezilla remarked "Black & White is a high-quality game that lives up to its hype", and concluded "Black & White is an excellent game that deserves to be in every gamer's library".[28]

      Reviewing the Macintosh version, Inside Mac Games remarked "Black & White is a gorgeous game", and commented on the addictiveness, saying "'Just one more minute' usually turned into hours".[29]

      Certain critics, after spending more time reviewing, altered their judgement: Black & White was selected by GameSpy as the most overrated game of all time in an article published in September 2003. They cited a lack of true interaction with the townspeople and poor use of the much-lauded creatures among reasons it ultimately disappointed.[37] IGN mentioned the game in one of their podcasts discussing overrated games.[38]

      Awards

      Black & White was awarded the BAFTA Interactivity and Moving Images,[30][31] and was nominated for the PC Games,[39] Music,[40] Technical Innovation,[41] and Networked Games awards in 2001.[42] The game received Computer Gaming World's Editor's choice award,[15](p74) and PC Gamer's award of the same name for scoring higher than 90%.[24] The game won the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Computer Game Of The Year and Computer Innovation awards in 2002,[32][33] and was nominated for the Animation, Character or Story Development, Game of the Year, Game Play Engineering, and PC Strategy awards.[43] Black & White was awarded IGN's Best of E3 Most Innovative and Best PC Game awards in 2000.[34] Other awards received include the Electronic Multimedia Awards's Gold Award of Excellence, and Black & White was named by PC World as the Best Video Game of 2001.[35]


      References

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      External links


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