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- -- City of Gold --
-
-
- Sent in by: Michael Raymond
- 456 Jamesway Dr.
- Eaton, OH 45320
-
-
- Electronic Arts (EA) has another
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- winner in its latest release, 'The
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- Seven Cities of Gold'. This game is
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- a product of the Bunten brothers and
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- follows on the heels of their highly
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- successful game, 'MULE'. Mule was
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- selected as the best Strategy Game of
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- 1983 by INFOWORLD Magazine and Best
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- Multi-player Game of 1983 by ELEC-
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- TRONIC Games. The Bunten brothers have
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- once again displayed their design
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- talent in creating this new game.
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- 'Seven Cities' recreates The Age of
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- Discovery and Spanish Conquest in the
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- New World (1492-1540), plus totally
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- new worlds to conquer! The 'World
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- Maker' program is a sophisticated
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- model of geological, ecological and
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- cultural factors. For example, it
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- takes into consideration the concept
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- of 'cultural diffusion' in the loca-
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- tion and level of civilization of
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- communities. The levels of civiliza-
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- tion range from small, poor hunting
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- socities to empires built on advanced
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- agricultural foundations. The 'World
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- Maker' program is a major advance in
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- the art and science of game design.
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- The standard game permits a novice,
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- journeyman, or master player to play
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- the role of a Spanish Conquistador.
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- In this role, the player must win
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- support from the Spanish Crown, outfit
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- an expedition, and explore new worlds.
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- The player is faced with many decis-
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- ions throughout the game: how many
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- ships, men, and goods to take; build
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- forts or missions; trade with or con-
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- quer tribes, or search for mines or
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- important geographical features. Each
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- decision is important in the overall
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- success of the player in winning the
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- game. Victory is determined by find-
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- ing at least 50% of the tribes, land,
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- and special features hidden in the
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- New World by the year 1540. In the
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- course of doing all of this, you can
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- be promoted or chastised by the King,
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- gain or lose great wealth, or die! All
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- done in very exciting and realistic
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- detail!
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- The game disk comes beautifully
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- packaged with a command card and a
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- brief, twelve page manual of player
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- tips, instructions, joystick control
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- information, and bibliography. The
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- disk is two sided; side one contains
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- the game program and side two contains
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- the 'World Maker' program. The player
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- must use a blank, formatted disk to
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- transfer the 'world' created from
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- the 'World Maker' program. The whole
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- process takes about fifteen mintues to
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- do. However, once a world is created
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- it only takes a short time to load
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- the game program and insert the world
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- disk.
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- 'Seven Cities' has some very nice
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- features worth mentioning: music of
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- the period, high resolution graphics
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- (you love the natives and the maps
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- are accurate and beautiful to behold);
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- hidden villages in the journeyman and
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- master level games, and a routine to
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- save games in progress. One of its
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- most outstanding features is its im-
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- pressive re-creation of the awe in-
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- spiring vastness and danger of two
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- continents. This feeling overcame me
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- on my first, unsuccessful, voyage
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- around the tip of South America! This
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- game will certainly bring down its
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- share of awards this year.
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- The only drawback to 'Seven Cities'
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- is the time it takes to play. This
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- will not be a problem for those gamers
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- who like to learn a little bit about
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- history, economics, and geography.
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- While there is plenty of mystery and
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- action in this game, 'Arcaders' will
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- probably not have the patience to
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- learn its subtleties. It takes just
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- the right balance of force, friend-
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- ship, manpower, and planning to win
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- this game. It possesses much play
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- value and should be a part of your
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- software library!
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- 'The Seven Cities of Gold'
- by Bill and Dan Bunten
-
- From: Ozark Software and
- Electronic Arts
- 2755 Campus Drive
- San Mateo, Ca 94403
- (415-571-7171)
-
- Limited Warranty of 90 days
- Cost: $39.95
- After 90 days, replacement
- cost: $7.50
-
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