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Realms (video game)
Encyclopedia
Realms is a 1991 video game produced by Graftgold
Ltd. for DOS
, Amiga
, and Atari ST
. It is considered a real-time strategy game. It was published by Virgin Games.
In it, you have to build your cities, raise taxes, create troops and fight enemy cities and troops in order to defeat your opponents.
as a weapon, but Elves are the best archers.
After completing a training mission, which allows the player to get to grips with raising armies and keeping the population feed, the player can play any of the 10 missions on offer.
Cities
Player controlled cities can be taxed, feed with the buying of grain, improved defensively with city walls and grown by cultivating surrounding land. If the population is sufficient, an army of 1000 men/women can be raised. Information about population, health rating, morale and grain amounts for the city are found by clicking on a friendly city.
Armies
A player can raise an army from a player controlled city. Infantry or cavalry can be raised. The quality of the soldiers (warriors, veterans or raw recruits) depends on city size and number of armies already raised from that particular city. The army can be equipped with a range of weapons, armour and bows. The army also needs to be paid. A well paid army will have high moral and recover it's numbers quickly after battles, whereas an lowly paid or unpaid army will disband soon after creation. An army can be paid through the pillages it carries out, but this needs to be done regularly to avoid the unit disbanding. An army's equipment level and pay can be adjusted when the army is based in a friendly city, but there are no refunds for removing more expensive kit.
Army units will appear as coloured flags when based in a city (yellow for player controlled units, red for other units). Horse image represents one cavalry unit and an image of a man represents one infantry unit. Moving the mouse over the image will give information about the number of soldiers and where it was raised. When a unit is crossing over water, a Trireme image is shown.
World Map
The world map is a 3D
world, with mountains, grassland, forests and oceans. It is also populated with cities of your realm and of your rivals. As the game happens in real-time, a handy 'message board' informs you of your army movements, famine and disease warnings, and alerts regarding sieges of your cities and the cities you're attacking. Army movements can be tracked on the map using the mouse or the keypad. Unit speed is based on the type of unit (as cavalry are faster) and the amount of armour on the soldiers (lighter units move faster). An overview map allows trade routes to be adjusted. Trade routes are important to collect tax revenues and keep control of your cities.
Attacking and defending
The objective of each mission is to conquer all of the cities on the map. Capturing a enemy city involves laying siege to it, by sending an army to attack it. Most cities will be defended by an army, which will cause a battle to occur. The player can organise their armies formation and can maneuver them before the battle begins. Armies with bows can fire a set number of arrows at the enemy to reduce their numbers, but the bowmen's range depends on the race. When morale or troop numbers for one side fall sufficiently, that side loses the battles and the troops retreat. A player can order a retreat, but this has a bad effect on the army's morale.
Depending on grain levels, morale and whether a city has walls, a city can take a while to fall to a siege. When a city falls, it can be sacked, raised to the ground or captured. If you capture a city with a different race to your own, you can raise army units with that race, enabling specialised armies to be created in the later stages of the mission.
Games can take many hours to complete, but there is a save game option to allow progress to be saved.
#194 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3½ out of 5 stars.
Graftgold
Graftgold was an independent computer game developer that came to prominence in the 1980s, producing numerous computer games on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.-The Hewson era:...
Ltd. for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, and 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...
. It is considered a real-time strategy game. It was published by Virgin Games.
In it, you have to build your cities, raise taxes, create troops and fight enemy cities and troops in order to defeat your opponents.
Introduction
Like most games of its time, Realms keeps the player occupied by showing an intro during the loading of the game. During this intro, it tells the story of a prince watching his late father, the king being immolated at sea. Mourning, he sheds a tear, and his mourning is rewarded by the gods. He is struck by lightning, which forms and serpent in hands, a emblem of his right to rule the world. A tagline appears afterwards, stating "There can only be one... just make sure it's yours." After inserting and loading the second disk, the game can start.Gameplay
First, the player must choose a race to control. Each of the six races is based on a fantasy race ala Tolkien. Each race have their own attributes, including some strengths and weaknesses. For example, Dwarves prefer having an axeAxe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
as a weapon, but Elves are the best archers.
After completing a training mission, which allows the player to get to grips with raising armies and keeping the population feed, the player can play any of the 10 missions on offer.
Cities
Player controlled cities can be taxed, feed with the buying of grain, improved defensively with city walls and grown by cultivating surrounding land. If the population is sufficient, an army of 1000 men/women can be raised. Information about population, health rating, morale and grain amounts for the city are found by clicking on a friendly city.
Armies
A player can raise an army from a player controlled city. Infantry or cavalry can be raised. The quality of the soldiers (warriors, veterans or raw recruits) depends on city size and number of armies already raised from that particular city. The army can be equipped with a range of weapons, armour and bows. The army also needs to be paid. A well paid army will have high moral and recover it's numbers quickly after battles, whereas an lowly paid or unpaid army will disband soon after creation. An army can be paid through the pillages it carries out, but this needs to be done regularly to avoid the unit disbanding. An army's equipment level and pay can be adjusted when the army is based in a friendly city, but there are no refunds for removing more expensive kit.
Army units will appear as coloured flags when based in a city (yellow for player controlled units, red for other units). Horse image represents one cavalry unit and an image of a man represents one infantry unit. Moving the mouse over the image will give information about the number of soldiers and where it was raised. When a unit is crossing over water, a Trireme image is shown.
World Map
The world map is a 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
world, with mountains, grassland, forests and oceans. It is also populated with cities of your realm and of your rivals. As the game happens in real-time, a handy 'message board' informs you of your army movements, famine and disease warnings, and alerts regarding sieges of your cities and the cities you're attacking. Army movements can be tracked on the map using the mouse or the keypad. Unit speed is based on the type of unit (as cavalry are faster) and the amount of armour on the soldiers (lighter units move faster). An overview map allows trade routes to be adjusted. Trade routes are important to collect tax revenues and keep control of your cities.
Attacking and defending
The objective of each mission is to conquer all of the cities on the map. Capturing a enemy city involves laying siege to it, by sending an army to attack it. Most cities will be defended by an army, which will cause a battle to occur. The player can organise their armies formation and can maneuver them before the battle begins. Armies with bows can fire a set number of arrows at the enemy to reduce their numbers, but the bowmen's range depends on the race. When morale or troop numbers for one side fall sufficiently, that side loses the battles and the troops retreat. A player can order a retreat, but this has a bad effect on the army's morale.
Depending on grain levels, morale and whether a city has walls, a city can take a while to fall to a siege. When a city falls, it can be sacked, raised to the ground or captured. If you capture a city with a different race to your own, you can raise army units with that race, enabling specialised armies to be created in the later stages of the mission.
Games can take many hours to complete, but there is a save game option to allow progress to be saved.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1993 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#194 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3½ out of 5 stars.