Mercenary (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Mercenary is the first in a series of computer games
, published on a number of 8-bit
and 16-bit
platforms from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, by Novagen Software
. The second and third games were known as Damocles and Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis respectively.
The games were notable for their smooth vector
and polygonal graphics, vast environments, and open-ended gameplay which offered several ways to complete each game. All three titles were favourably reviewed when they were originally released, and the titles have a following in the retrogaming
community.
Within each game the player must explore a world rendered in realtime 3D graphics, completing a number of non-linear tasks in order to achieve a single main objective. The title of the series derives from the player's role in carrying out tasks as a "hired gun
". In Mercenary the player crash lands into an ongoing conflict and is able to play the warring factions off against one another to the player's own advantage. In Damocles the player is encouraged to bargain the fate of a whole world for financial reward. However, in The Dion Crisis the player has a less selfish agenda, and must gain the support of voters against the plotting of a sinister businessman.
In all three games, the player is accompanied and advised by Benson, a "9th generation PC
". This interaction is handled via a scrolling news ticker
at the bottom of the display. As well as providing assistance to the player, much of the humour within the games comes from the occasional sarcastic remarks made by Benson.
Mercenary (also known as Mercenary: Escape from Targ) is the first game in the series. It was initially released on the Atari 800 XL/XE in 1985 and later converted to the Commodore 64
, ZX Spectrum
, Amstrad CPC
, Atari ST
, Commodore Amiga and Commodore 16/116
/Plus/4
platforms. Across all versions, the game environment was presented using wire frame
graphics.
Having crash-landed on the planet Targ (en route to the Gamma System of Damocles), the player's main objective is to find a means of escape. In a trademark element of the Mercenary series, there are several ways to achieve this end. A civil war
between two factions, the Palyars (indigenous "good guys") and the Mechanoids (invading "bad guys"), affords the player an opportunity to earn money to buy their escape from Targ. For instance, each faction seeks the destruction of installations belonging to its rival, and the capture of material or other resources to support their cause. There are other routes to escape, and it is possible to combine strategies to both leave Targ and keep the wealth accrued there.
for the original game. Initially its major distinction is the new colour scheme - red-coloured ground and a pink (Atari 8-bit and ST), dark blue (Commodore 64 and Plus/4) or yellow (ZX Spectrum) sky instead of the green land and light blue sky of the original game, representing the other side of the planet.
However, after a similar objective, the differences reveal themselves subtly: there is a more intricate underground complex, a new set of puzzles to overcome and several significant changes with game objects. It was later repackaged with the original game under the title Mercenary Compendium.
Damocles (occasionally advertised as Mercenary II) is the second game in the series. It was released on the Atari ST and Amiga platforms in 1990. Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum versions were originally in development but eventually cancelled as a consequence of the declining 8-bit market. Unlike Mercenary, Damocles represented the game environment using solid vector graphics
, allowing a both more realistic and colourful world. An improved, fully texture mapped
IBM PC
version was in an advanced stage of development and scheduled for release in 1995, but was ultimately cancelled when a conflict between its developers, Novagen and Sony
/Psygnosis, arose.
Once again, the player is stranded on a planet, Eris, with an inoperable spacecraft. Unlike the first game, however, the scope of Damocles is considerably widened, offering the player an entire solar system
to explore (the Gamma System; the player's original destination before the Interlude on Targ). There is also a race-against-time element to the game as a comet
, the eponymous Damocles
(a reference the Sword of Damocles
), is hurtling towards Eris. The player is encouraged to both escape Eris and find a means to prevent Damocles from destroying the planet, if possible without destroying the comet. Although an obvious, but destructive, solution exists, Damocles has no fewer than five distinct solutions.
A notable feature of Damocles is its inclusion of relatively detailed celestial mechanics
into the game physics
. While the game also features less standard physics (e.g. teleportation
), it includes a detailed representation of the Gamma System and even includes a simplified form of special relativity
. To cross the solar system in reasonable (to the player) time, time dilation
occurs. However, given that the player has only a few hours to save Eris, extended periods at near-light speed are unwise. One of the game's many solutions even involves manipulating various planetary bodies in order to make use of the changes in gravitational pulls to divert the Damocles comet. From an aesthetic
point of view, the inclusion of celestial physics allows the player to experience attractively-rendered sunrise
s and sunset
s while on planet surfaces as well as various satellite
occultation
s.
Damocles contains many real-world references, particularly drawn from the UK
in the 1980s. For example: the president of the planet Eris is named Margaret, after Margaret Thatcher
(British Prime Minister
from 1979 to 1990); and there is a bank called Lawson Bank, after Nigel Lawson
(British chancellor of the exchequer
from 1983 to 1989; though a real Lawson Bank does exist). Some of the references are more elusive; for example, several stores are called "GUM Stores", after the real Russia
n Gosudarstvennyj Universalnyj Magazin
department store
s. Despite these references, the game universe has no actual connections with Earth
, since the player is given information that the Gamma System was actively explored before the present day
(e.g. on approaching a particular moon, Benson informs the player that a space flight company was already present there in 1190). According to the poster that accompanied the game, the events of Damocles take place on 27 April 2099.
s, offering the player a few more tasks to complete within the game. Usually these tasks put the player in difficult or unusual situations from which they had to extricate themselves.
Mercenary III (also known as Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis or Damocles II) is the third and final game in the series. It was released on the Atari ST and Amiga platforms in 1992. Mercenary III is set in the Gamma System again and is based on an improved version of the engine used by Damocles: this time the roads of the various cities are populated by vehicles such as taxi
s and bus
es; observation and attack spacecraft are present in the skies; and interaction (albeit to a limited degree) with other characters is possible.
After Eris' President Margaret steps down, the player becomes involved in a political crisis on the planet Dion, pitting their wits against a power-hungry politician running for president. The goal of Mercenary III is to prevent this politician from being elected
to office. Similarly to the earlier titles, there are several ways of achieving this, with both straightforward and oblique solutions. No mission disks were released for this concluding chapter of the Mercenary series. According to the poster that accompanied the game, the events of Mercenary III take place on 15 January 2101.
The villain of this game is a character who appeared in Mercenary: PC BIL, short for the Palyars Commander's Brother-In-Law.
) published a review of a nonexistent sequel as an April Fool's Day prank. The plot of this game, supposedly titled Mercenary IV: The Eleventh Planet, would have been about the invasion of the Gamma system by the inhabitants of a planet with an erratic orbit that entered the system once again. In reality, the plot was inspired by Zecharia Sitchin
's book The Twelfth Planet, while the images were doctored screenshots of a custom Duke Nukem 3D
level and the never released PC version of Damocles.
, includes all three games, selectable through a drop-down list
, and features graphics and gameplay identical to that of the Atari ST versions of the games, with the additional option to fix some bugs that were originally present. The MDDClone has also been translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian and Polish.
from Zzap!64
magazine. RUN reviewer Bob Sodaro noted the replay value of Mercenary, writing "Prior to marking up the maps [included with the game], you should make a number of photocopies so you'll have clean copies when playing subsequent adventures".
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
, published on a number of 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
and 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
platforms from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, by Novagen Software
Novagen Software
Novagen Software Ltd was a British software developer which released a number of computer games on a variety of platforms from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s....
. The second and third games were known as Damocles and Mercenary III: The Dion Crisis respectively.
The games were notable for their smooth vector
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
and polygonal graphics, vast environments, and open-ended gameplay which offered several ways to complete each game. All three titles were favourably reviewed when they were originally released, and the titles have a following in the retrogaming
Retrogaming
Retrogaming, also known as old-school gaming, is the hobby of playing and collecting older computer, video, and arcade games. These games are played either on the original hardware, on modern hardware via emulation, or on modern hardware via ports or compilations...
community.
Overview
The Mercenary series consists of three main games and a number of add-on datasets. While each game is self-contained, they make occasional references to other games in the series and are connected in terms of their freeform, open-ended gameplay, visual appearance and general ambience.Within each game the player must explore a world rendered in realtime 3D graphics, completing a number of non-linear tasks in order to achieve a single main objective. The title of the series derives from the player's role in carrying out tasks as a "hired gun
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
". In Mercenary the player crash lands into an ongoing conflict and is able to play the warring factions off against one another to the player's own advantage. In Damocles the player is encouraged to bargain the fate of a whole world for financial reward. However, in The Dion Crisis the player has a less selfish agenda, and must gain the support of voters against the plotting of a sinister businessman.
In all three games, the player is accompanied and advised by Benson, a "9th generation PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
". This interaction is handled via a scrolling news ticker
News ticker
A news ticker resides in the lower third of the television screen space on television news networks dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It may also refer to a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the front of some offices or public buildings...
at the bottom of the display. As well as providing assistance to the player, much of the humour within the games comes from the occasional sarcastic remarks made by Benson.
Mercenary
Mercenary (also known as Mercenary: Escape from Targ) is the first game in the series. It was initially released on the Atari 800 XL/XE in 1985 and later converted to the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, 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...
, Commodore Amiga and Commodore 16/116
Commodore 16
The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...
/Plus/4
Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...
platforms. Across all versions, the game environment was presented using wire frame
Wire frame model
A wire frame model is a visual presentation of a three dimensional or physical object used in 3D computer graphics. It is created by specifying each edge of the physical object where two mathematically continuous smooth surfaces meet, or by connecting an object's constituent vertices using straight...
graphics.
Having crash-landed on the planet Targ (en route to the Gamma System of Damocles), the player's main objective is to find a means of escape. In a trademark element of the Mercenary series, there are several ways to achieve this end. A civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between two factions, the Palyars (indigenous "good guys") and the Mechanoids (invading "bad guys"), affords the player an opportunity to earn money to buy their escape from Targ. For instance, each faction seeks the destruction of installations belonging to its rival, and the capture of material or other resources to support their cause. There are other routes to escape, and it is possible to combine strategies to both leave Targ and keep the wealth accrued there.
Mercenary: The Second City
Mercenary: The Second City, released in 1986, is an expansion packExpansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
for the original game. Initially its major distinction is the new colour scheme - red-coloured ground and a pink (Atari 8-bit and ST), dark blue (Commodore 64 and Plus/4) or yellow (ZX Spectrum) sky instead of the green land and light blue sky of the original game, representing the other side of the planet.
However, after a similar objective, the differences reveal themselves subtly: there is a more intricate underground complex, a new set of puzzles to overcome and several significant changes with game objects. It was later repackaged with the original game under the title Mercenary Compendium.
Damocles
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
, allowing a both more realistic and colourful world. An improved, fully texture mapped
Texture mapping
Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...
IBM PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
version was in an advanced stage of development and scheduled for release in 1995, but was ultimately cancelled when a conflict between its developers, Novagen and Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
/Psygnosis, arose.
Once again, the player is stranded on a planet, Eris, with an inoperable spacecraft. Unlike the first game, however, the scope of Damocles is considerably widened, offering the player an entire solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
to explore (the Gamma System; the player's original destination before the Interlude on Targ). There is also a race-against-time element to the game as a comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
, the eponymous Damocles
Damocles
Damocles is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote commonly referred to as "the Sword of Damocles," which was a late addition to classical Greek culture. The figure belongs properly to legend rather than Greek myth. The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of...
(a reference the Sword of Damocles
Damocles
Damocles is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote commonly referred to as "the Sword of Damocles," which was a late addition to classical Greek culture. The figure belongs properly to legend rather than Greek myth. The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of...
), is hurtling towards Eris. The player is encouraged to both escape Eris and find a means to prevent Damocles from destroying the planet, if possible without destroying the comet. Although an obvious, but destructive, solution exists, Damocles has no fewer than five distinct solutions.
A notable feature of Damocles is its inclusion of relatively detailed celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics
Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of celestial objects. The field applies principles of physics, historically classical mechanics, to astronomical objects such as stars and planets to produce ephemeris data. Orbital mechanics is a subfield which focuses on...
into the game physics
Game physics
Computer animation physics or game physics involves the introduction of the laws of physics into a simulation or game engine, particularly in 3D computer graphics, for the purpose of making the effects appear more real to the observer...
. While the game also features less standard physics (e.g. teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
), it includes a detailed representation of the Gamma System and even includes a simplified form of special relativity
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
. To cross the solar system in reasonable (to the player) time, time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
occurs. However, given that the player has only a few hours to save Eris, extended periods at near-light speed are unwise. One of the game's many solutions even involves manipulating various planetary bodies in order to make use of the changes in gravitational pulls to divert the Damocles comet. From an aesthetic
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
point of view, the inclusion of celestial physics allows the player to experience attractively-rendered sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...
s and sunset
Sunset
Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...
s while on planet surfaces as well as various satellite
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
occultation
Occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The word is used in astronomy . It can also refer to any situation wherein an object in the foreground blocks from view an object in the background...
s.
Damocles contains many real-world references, particularly drawn from the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the 1980s. For example: the president of the planet Eris is named Margaret, after Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
(British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
from 1979 to 1990); and there is a bank called Lawson Bank, after Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson
Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby, PC , is a British Conservative politician and journalist. He was a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Blaby from 1974–92, and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of Margaret Thatcher from June 1983 to October 1989...
(British chancellor of the exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
from 1983 to 1989; though a real Lawson Bank does exist). Some of the references are more elusive; for example, several stores are called "GUM Stores", after the real Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Gosudarstvennyj Universalnyj Magazin
State Universal Store
GUM is the name of the main department store in many cities of the former Soviet Union, known as State Department Store during the Soviet times. Similar-named stores were in some Soviet republics and post-Soviet states. The most famous GUM is a large store in the Kitai-gorod part of Moscow,...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s. Despite these references, the game universe has no actual connections with Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, since the player is given information that the Gamma System was actively explored before the present day
Present day
The term "present day" is used to describe the approximate period of time that surrounds the present. Depending on the context, this period may be as narrow as referring to the immediate moment, or as broad as referring to the current year or decade...
(e.g. on approaching a particular moon, Benson informs the player that a space flight company was already present there in 1190). According to the poster that accompanied the game, the events of Damocles take place on 27 April 2099.
Damocles: Mission Disks
Two mission disks for Damocles were released, known simply as Damocles: Mission Disk 1 and Damocles: Mission Disk 2 respectively. Each disk added a number of extra missions that could be loaded in as saved gameSaved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
s, offering the player a few more tasks to complete within the game. Usually these tasks put the player in difficult or unusual situations from which they had to extricate themselves.
Mercenary III
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s and bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es; observation and attack spacecraft are present in the skies; and interaction (albeit to a limited degree) with other characters is possible.
After Eris' President Margaret steps down, the player becomes involved in a political crisis on the planet Dion, pitting their wits against a power-hungry politician running for president. The goal of Mercenary III is to prevent this politician from being elected
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
to office. Similarly to the earlier titles, there are several ways of achieving this, with both straightforward and oblique solutions. No mission disks were released for this concluding chapter of the Mercenary series. According to the poster that accompanied the game, the events of Mercenary III take place on 15 January 2101.
The villain of this game is a character who appeared in Mercenary: PC BIL, short for the Palyars Commander's Brother-In-Law.
False sequel
In April 1998, the Italian gaming website Zzap! (managed by the same editors and in the same style of the Italian edition of Zzap!64Zzap!64
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....
) published a review of a nonexistent sequel as an April Fool's Day prank. The plot of this game, supposedly titled Mercenary IV: The Eleventh Planet, would have been about the invasion of the Gamma system by the inhabitants of a planet with an erratic orbit that entered the system once again. In reality, the plot was inspired by Zecharia Sitchin
Zecharia Sitchin
Zecharia Sitchin was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the Anunnaki, which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune...
's book The Twelfth Planet, while the images were doctored screenshots of a custom Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
level and the never released PC version of Damocles.
PC port
During the 2000s, the three games were ported to PC with the agreement of the former Novagen team. The program, called MDDClone (Mercenary, Damocles, Dion crisis Clone) is freewareFreeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, includes all three games, selectable through a drop-down list
Drop-down list
In computing with graphical user interfaces, a drop-down list is a user interface control GUI element , similar to a list box, which allows the user to choose one value from a list. When a drop-down list is inactive, it displays a single value. When activated, it displays a list of values, from...
, and features graphics and gameplay identical to that of the Atari ST versions of the games, with the additional option to fix some bugs that were originally present. The MDDClone has also been translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian and Polish.
Reception
All three Mercenary titles received strong reviews from gaming magazines across all platforms, with the original Mercenary receiving a Gold MedalGold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
from Zzap!64
Zzap!64
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....
magazine. RUN reviewer Bob Sodaro noted the replay value of Mercenary, writing "Prior to marking up the maps [included with the game], you should make a number of photocopies so you'll have clean copies when playing subsequent adventures".
External links
- MDDClone, an unofficial PCIBM PC compatibleIBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
portPortingIn computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of all three installments of the Mercenary series