Ballerburg
Encyclopedia
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
by Eckhard Kruse for the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
. Being a public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
program, it was distributed free of charge.
Ballerburg was designed for two players, both of which can be human or computer-controlled. In the game, two enemy kingdoms
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, separated by a mountain, try to destroy the castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
of the enemy by exchanging cannonballs
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...
. Two conditions can lead to victory: either you pulverize the opponent's king by directly hitting him with a cannonball, or you ruin the enemy kingdom's economy until the king capitulates automatically. There is a choice of various castles, each of them outfitted with multiple cannons, one destroyable storage room for each, gun powder, cannonballs and money, and a vane
Vane
Vane may refer to:* Cooper vane* Vane anemometer* Weather vaneA vane is also each of the parts besides the shaft in a pennaceous feather...
. One cannon can be fired per turn, which is done by adjusting the firing angle and amount of powder. An additional challenge is generated by the wind, which changes its strength each turn. The game also simulates a simple economy system: Prices to replenish the stock of balls and powder and replace destroyed cannons and vanes alter each turn. You have the possibility to build (destroyable) derrick
Derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...
s for more income and can raise or lower taxes, which will be reflected in the morale of your people. Unhappy people would abandon you and instead join your opponent. The monochromatic graphics and sound were up to standard for that time.
Although (or because) the principle of Ballerburg was rather simple, the unusual mix of genres was addictive and enjoyed great popularity in that time and still has fans nowadays.
Later on, several games with a similar concept were programmed, the latest one was published by Ascaron
Ascaron
Ascaron Entertainment was a video game developer based in Germany. Founded as Ascon and later renamed in October 1996 due to the possible confusion with the Swiss company Ascom AG, the company produced titles primarily for the PC until it was made insolvent in 2009.-Background and history:Ascaron...
in (2001), bearing the same name as the original.