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Black & White (video game)

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Black and White
Developer(s)Lionhead Studios
Publisher(s)EA Games, Feral Interactive (Mac)
Designer(s)Peter Molyneux
Platform(s)PC / Mac
ReleaseMarch 25, 2001
Genre(s)Real-time strategy, God game
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

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. Its sequel is Black & White 2.

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 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 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.

Conscience

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). 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 the player's head or "We're not on the phone, send a message after the tone. Beep.", "No pain no gain.", etc.). If the player performs a very evil or good deed, such as killing a mass of people, or healing a huge group, the advisors may comment on the player's actions. For example, the Good advisor says "Is this any way to run a religion?" if the player does an evil deed when their alignment is good; or the evil advisor says, "What's up?" if the player does good deeds and they are evil.

While each of the two entities will attempt to sway the player to do what they think is right, neither one will lie about important tasks or situations; even the evil conscience, while a bit begrudging in the fact, always tells the absolute truth -- though he will attempt to word it in a way that better suits his view.

The story

The player begins the game as a newly created god, born from the prayers of a family whose son was attacked by sharks. After rescuing him, 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 a player and 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 opens 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.

The Creature

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):

The rhinoceros is not available directly in Black and White, but one can be obtained using a creature changer, and it will work fine.

The remainder 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, 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; 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 system works very well and allows the player to have a good amount of control over the creature's development. The player must be careful however, as slapping the creature too much can injure it.

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, but 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[citation needed], featuring the largest amount of variable data based on user input. The creature also grows a personality. Players can morph them into jolly, playful creatures, or silent ones.

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 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 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 or a total lack of them (and subsequently prayer power.)

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.

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. 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.

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.

Influence can prove to be challenging at some points of the game. Other gods may attack the Creature when he enters their influence (When influences are crossed, and the creature is in the cross, the other god may not attack). This can proves to be a challenge, as the creature cannot impress much while on fire, and may seek to put out the flames, rather than continue his duties. Creatures without the knowledge of the water miracle will need to find a lake, while a creature with the knowledge of it can cast it, and quickly get back to work. A creature that knows the heal miracle will also last much longer.

Miracles

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 worshiping, 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 players 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

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.

The following Disciples are available:

  • Farmer: This will tell the villager to tend to the crops. They will usually work on anything that needs work, then pray.
  • Builder: This will tell the villager to build the town. Whenever a new unbuilt building appears, they will fetch wood and begin construction or continue. However, if there is no wood, they will switch to Forester to find enough wood, then continue.
  • Forester: This will tell the villager to lumberjack. They will go around the land and chop down trees, any spare wood (Fallen trees, boards, or uncut branches) will be scavenged. Players can make portals around the world near forest to shorten the trip and make a villager's life last longer. Foresters are known to be abducted in multiplayer, and die from animals, starvation, or other players when traveling.
  • Breeder: This will tell the villager to begin mating. This can be assigned to both genders, but is more fruitful when there is a male breeder, as female breeders take time off for pregnancy. If information tabs are turned on, any female with a P next to her stats is pregnant.
  • Craftsman: This will tell the villager to tend to the Workshop(s) in town. They will fetch wood from the village store and feed it to the workshop. Creating scaffolds which are needed to build. Many times, without a good supply of wood, they will waste the rest of the supply, not leaving any for builders to build. However, scaffolds can be recycled.
  • Fisher: If the village is near a shoreline, villagers assigned to fishing will fish from the ocean for food. Unlike farming, fishing can keep a good supply, but not as much as one whole farm can supply. This is a good way for new villages without farms to gather food.
  • Missionary: This will tell the villager to become a missionary to the village the player places them in. Slowly, they will gain belief in that village. But they will convert over to that player's control.
  • Tradesman: This will tell the villager to become a trader. They will pick up supplies they don't need from their home store, and drop it off in exchange for what they need. For example, if a village has lots of wood, but is short on food, Traders may take wood and find a village with lots of food, drop off the wood, and take food. Like the Forester, they will travel around the land, and portals inside villages will help them accomplish jobs faster and live longer. They can encounter the same fate Foresters can.
  • Worshipper: This will tell the villager to worship. Unlike others, this will be assigned by raising the village's totem in the town center. Worshippers require food. In return, they will give the player much needed Prayer Power to cast spells.

Wonders

Wonders can boost a players 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.

  • Japanese Wonder: Powers all healing miracles, decreases food desire, and increases birth chances. Also increases the duration of creature miracles.
  • Egyptian Wonder: Powers teleports, flock of birds and most of the creature miracles, reduces damage to Creature.
  • Greek Wonder: Powers the wolf miracle, increases ability to impress villages.
  • Tibetan Wonder: Powers shields and the bird miracle, reduces cost to maintain shields.
  • Norse Wonder: Powers wood, food, and water miracle, and increases food from farms and shoals.
  • Celtic Wonder: Powers storm and forest miracles, and increases wood from trees.
  • Indian Wonder: Powers lightning miracles, booms population, and increases villager walking speed.
  • Aztec Wonder: Powers megablast and fireball, and increases effectiveness of worshipers.

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. Wonders do not benefit the Creature. 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 buildable land as the player's Temple.

Weather

Weather is a feature in the game that is random unless the player sets the game to use the local weather for their zip code. Weather that can occur are storms, rain, and snow. The game runs on a random weather system. Weather can occur at different levels. Rain will help fields, while storms could be dangerous. Snow will cover villagers and buildings, wearing off when it is done snowing. Weather cannot be controlled, however, the player may summon storms that can simulate rain, or cause lightning, which will fry the villagers.

Reception and controversy

Having based reviews of the game on a rudimentary gameplay experience, critics initially awarded the game with high praise, averaging 90%.[1][2] After the game's release, players disagreed strongly, averaging scores of under 75%.[3][4] Some critics, having spent more time with the game after the publication of their reviews, were readily eating crow: Black & White was selected by GameSpy as the most overrated game of all time[5] and IGN mentioned the game in one of their podcasts discussing overrated games.[6] This incident has made Black & White a preeminent example of the gaming press going out of control with hype.

Other

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
  • [[BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards 2001 for Interactivity and Moving Images
  • The Electronic Multimedia Awards. (EMMA) Gold Award Of Excellence
  • ECTS 2001 for PC Game of the Year Power Unlimited Benelux,PC Game of the Year CD Action Eastern Europe,PC Game of the Year PC Games Germany,PC Game of the Year KwVideogiochi.it Italy,PC Game of the Year PC Hemma Scandinavia, PC Game of the Year Solo Juegos.com Spain
  • PC World (US) for Best game of 2001
  • ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES, Nominated for six awards. It won Computer Game Of The Year and Innovation in Computer Gaming
  • THE GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE AWARDS (US) four awards. Excellence in Programming (won), Excellence in Game Design (nominated), Game Of The Year (nominated), Game Innovation Spotlight (won)
  • Gamespy, Gamer's Choice Of The Year (Strategy)
  • GAMES MAGAZINE (USA) Game Of The Year
  • NY times, Reviewers choice of the year's best videogame.
  • PC Gameplay UK, Game of 2001
  • Cnet's top five games of the summer, #1.
  • CGW, voted number one by readers of CGW.
  • Tied highest PC game review score ever on IGN.com [9.7/10] (With Half Life 2 & BioShock)

References

  1. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/blackandwhite?q=black%20&%20white
  2. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/914356.asp?q=black%20%20white
  3. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/showvotes.asp?itemid=914356
  4. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/usercomments.jsp?id_string=2602:PnWGYR7ywy3z3wlI3VwJqg**
  5. ^ http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/september03/25overrated/index.shtml
  6. ^ http://games.ign.com/articles/768/768446p1.html

Selected Fan Sites

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