Story continues from Chapter III : Meet The Press
"The tragedy of Powermonger," explains Molyneux, "was that it was released far too early." Powermonger would serve to strengthen the design principles that began with Populous, if only by example. Populous proved that a good game could be perfected through extensive testing and balancing. Powermonger was never given that chance. The situation surrounding its creation would serve as an early indication that Molyneux's ideals were somewhat out of line with the needs of a large publisher, an issue which would become far more apparent a few years down the line. The original concept behind Powermonger was for another real-time wargame, but instead of influencing a huge population, you would have individual troops under your command, with different weapon types, armor, formations, and the like. Electronic Arts was entirely behind Bullfrog at this point and gave Molyneux the necessary resources to turn a project around in a timely fashion. The emerging design philosophy at Bullfrog would take to heart the old adage that the first part of creation is putting in, the second part is taking out. It was entirely acceptable for a game to undergo major changes throughout its development cycle, as constant playing revealed weaknesses in the game system and areas that needed to be bolstered. As such, testers would begin playing games in their earliest stages, even with placeholder interfaces and art, just to get an early sense of what would work and what wouldn't. In this case, the placeholder interface was a confusing array of iconic buttons. In the original design, most of these functions would eventually be taken over by the computer, leaving you to deal with larger issues. "I had intended to take out all of those icons, so that you could build up your armies and build up your weapons and take over towns and villages. But I didn't have time to do it." The pressure from Electronic Arts for a follow-up to the massively popular Populous caused Bullfrog to release the first version of Powermonger that wasn't buggy. Molyneux sees the final product as a great idea that wasn't given enough time to come into its own: "It could have been a really nice game. There are some amazing things in here, amazing little ideas, like the idea of communicating with your generals with carrier pigeons. But it was a big disappointment, and it's the game I'm most ashamed of." It may not have been the game it was intended to be, but a great strategy game lurked beneath Powermonger's somewhat confounding interface. It sold quite well, received much critical acclaim, and won Computer Gaming World's award for Strategy Game of the Year in 1991, just as Populous had done in 1990. To the outside world, Bullfrog was shaping up to be a source of consistent innovation. On the inside, though, the company was returning to the tried and true. | |
Name: Sivachandran Nick: Friendster: Indian_MC Age: 20 Birthday: 20.02.1985 Zodiac: Picses Bloodtype: X+ Website: N/A Listening: Nelly: Na-NaNa-Na Writing: Writing this blog Playing: LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth Reading: I don't read books Mood: Tired Quote: "Intelligence can be acquired, but creativity, its a gift" Alexander John Text-based MMORPG: Darkthrone Best Cheat Site : Happysurfer 1. Upcoming games screenshot : Dimitri and Fable's Expansion Set 2. Chapter V of his history February 2005 l March 2005 l MMORPG DarkThrone : FrostLord Friendster : Indian_MC people online hits. Powered By: 
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