Commodore 64 M.U.L.E. (1983) (Electronic Arts)
3Description
M.U.L.E. is a diversified enconomic simulation with an inventive background and surely belongs to the most interesting games, which have ever been written for the C64.
Course of the game
Start of the game: the spaceship lands on Irata
the store, the main menu of the gameUp to 4 players can take part in a game (that is at a computer) at the same time. Their task is colonisation of the planet IRATA (which is Atari read backwards). Every player takes over the role of a settler, whose character can be chosen from 8 different species with different skills. The most important utensils of the settlers are the M.U.L.E.s. This abbreviation is short for Multiple Use Labor Element, but does not without reason read as "Mule". This because sometimes MULEs can be very stubborn. At the start of a round 4 of the 44 plots are raffled off. During this the focus goes from plot to plot and whoever presses the fire button quickest, will be awarded the plot.
The following phase will be played by every player alone, while the others have to watch. First a MULE has to be bought in the town and then it needs to be equipped for a certain purpose, depending on what resource should be cultivated on that plot. The resources are needed for further settlement, only when there is a surplus they should be sold on the market. A countdown sees to it that the player makes quick decisions. MULEs, that have not been installed on a plot after time has run out, run away and the land will lie waste in this round.
In the subsequent trading round, trading phases for every single resource are played. Every player can define at the beginning, if he will function as seller or buyer. The local shop will be buyer and seller, so the price ceiling and the lower price limit are set. The shop can only sell as many units as were sold to it in the previous rounds. So it can be worth not selling a good for a few rounds, to boost the price, as the resources are urgently needed by the players: without energy the MULEs do not cultivate anything, the reserves of food determine how much time a player has in his single phase. MULEs are made from smithore, a high smithore price leads directly to a high price for M.U.L.E.s.
Crystite (only tournament) is a mere luxury good, with which you can make the biggest profits. The Crystite price is the only resource in the game which is not bound to the principle of demand and supply. But beware: In every round there is an incident. If the planet is attacked by pirates, all Crystite stock will be stolen.
The winner is the player who has acquired the most capital at the end of the game.
There are three difficulty levels:
Beginner
The game ends after 6 rounds, plots are alloted at the beginning of every round, food, energy, smithore, price limits, fixed MULE prices.
Standard
12 rounds, land auctions, 14 M.u.l.e ´s in the shop (new ones through smithore), price fluctuations, no price ceilings. The pirates can appear and steal smithore.
Tournament
same as standard, only additionally with Chrystite (further mineral), smithore samples, private trade. When the pirates appear, they steal Chrystite.
Design
... an auction ...
... some details from M.U.L.E ...
You can choose between eight different characters with different advantages and disadvantages, there are always four characters playing simultaneously at the auctions, the computer replaces the missing human players, three difficulty levels, catchy background music, good cartoon-like graphics and fast movement of the sprites.
Hints
Controls
- to abort the intro, press the fire button
F3 - to choose the beginner, standard or tournament version
F5 - to set the number of players from 0 to 4. (When choosing 0, the computer plays a demonstration game, missing players are substitued by the copmuter).
F7 - to start the game.
In the game