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Black & White is a computer game developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts and Feral Interactive. It is a God game released in 2001, which included elements of artificial life, strategy, and Versus fighting games. The game was followed by an expansion, Black & White: Creature Isle, and a sequel, Black & White 2.
Gameplay
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 (usually) mouse-controlled hand can perform every function in the game. In later patches, the Hand can also be controlled by an Essential Reality P5 Glove, a consumer-level virtual reality glove that is no longer for sale.
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 centre 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 village 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.
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 who refers to the player as "Leader", and the other a slightly tubby demon who calls the player "Boss". 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).
Black & White has a unique feature that allows the player to control a creature that takes the form of a regular animal. These are (in order of availability): Ape, Tiger, Cow, Sheep, Zebra, Chimpanzee, Tortoise, Wolf, Lion, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Horse, Leopard, Gorilla, Mandrill, Crocodile (Only available in Creature Isle), Rhinoceros (Only available through hacking or in Creature Isle), Chicken (Only available in Creature Isle), and Ogre (Not meant to be a playable creature and, as a result, causing a lot of bugs. Only usable through hacking). Most of the creatures can be obtained from completing various Silver Reward Scrolls, although the quest that allows the player to obtain the wolf creature suffered from a scripting bug that prevented it from being completed until patch 1.1 was released. This pet of the player's starts out relatively small, around 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; teach the creature to perform miracles; as well as 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 may also be taught fighting skills for one on one battles with other creatures, the Creature's attack and defence abilities can each be trained and improved. 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, the Creature can be stroked. The player's Creature will remember whether or not it was rewarded for an action, will not do things that it was slapped for, and will frequently do things when stroked for doing them.
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 to 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 black temple sprouting venomous red 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 purple 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, send missionaries, and use the Creature to entertain the villagers. However, villagers become bored with the same attempt to impress them being repeated. In other words if boulders flying overhead become too frequent, they will lose their effect. This forces the player to mix up the methods he uses to convert a village. One can use a balance of good and evil, trying to stay in the gray area. The game presents so many different ways to please a village, however, that the player is never forced to use evil or forced to use good.
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. The first way is 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.
Miracles are spells that can benefit the player. Some miracles come in one-shot miracles, which come in bubbles. Dispensers create multiple one-shot miracles. Other miracles can be cast from worship sites. Worship sites can be powered by villagers worshipping, or sacrifices. Players can sacrifice trees, animals, and villagers. Spells that are charging will require more prayer power, and will show its progress by how fast the rings are flowing into the player's hands. Miracles can also be upgraded through quests, or already available. Upgrades cost more worship prayer, but are much stronger. Fireballs are bigger and come in more numbers. Upgraded food dispenses more food. To upgrade, the player must make the gesture for the upgrade, similar to casting miracles without activating them from the worship site or town center. Upgraded miracles can be hidden in miracle bubbles, which is shown if the bubble has a ring in it.
Disciples play an important role in a player's progress. Villagers can be assigned to certain task created by the player or creature. These will change their daily schedule. For example, if a villager is assigned to be a farmer, they will farm, and perhaps pray at the town circle the rest of the day. Builders will sit around town until new projects have appeared. Disciples main usage is to allow the player work on gaining new towns, or work on another and have the town care for itself using this job system. Nine types of Disciples are available, such as Farmer, Missionary or Craftsman: each one has a skill that is useful to the player.
Wonders can boost a player's influence, belief, and miracle powers, along with other things. Wonders are built after seven scaffolds have been combined. Each tribe has their own wonder, and it can be built in other towns. Some wonders' effects will double with more wonders. Each wonder is named after a contemporary or ancient polytheistic society. Wonders require huge amounts of wood, but usually pay off to the player in another way. If the town is taken, the wonder will convert to the new owner. Most wonders do not benefit the Creature, the Egyptian and Japanese being the only ones that can. In addition, the size of the wonder is set when it is built and is decided by the village's influence and belief -- they range from being "merely" the size of larger homes to gargantuan constructs taking up as much build-able land as the player's Temple.
Weather is randomly generated unless the player sets the game to use the local weather (specified by zip code or post code). Possible weather conditions include storms, rain, and snow. Rain helps fields grow, while storms can harm villagers and buildings. Snow covers villagers and buildings and eventually disappears. A player has limited control over the weather, depending on the spells at his or her disposal; Gods may summon (localized) storms, rain, and lightning.
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06-03-2009, 11:15 PM
(PC) Black & White (1-CD) (2001)
Linear Mode
