Tzar: Burden of the Crown
Encyclopedia
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game for the 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...
published by Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
and developed by the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n game developer company Haemimont Games
Haemimont Games
Haemimont Games is a Bulgarian video game developer founded in September 1997 and based in Sofia. The company primarily concentrates on producing medieval and ancient history strategy games and has about 50 employees, making it Bulgaria's largest video game developer.-Games:-External links:* * *...
. It was released March 31, 2000. The game was not an extreme success; however, it got mild recognition and audience when it was published as a demo in several gaming magazines.
The gameplay is set up in a fictional medieval age. The basic goal is to conquer the neighbouring kingdom
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...
s and destroy all traces of them, or destroy their 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...
s, depending on selected playing mode. There are many different buildings and characters you can produce, each depending on which of the 3 races you choose to be: European, Asian or Arabian. The main differences are the types of special buildings available, and the types of troops you can make. There is also a campaign option for single players in which the player must complete specific goals, such as destroying an enemy force, or protecting a citadel from attack. The game also includes a map editor where players can create their own map to play on with strategic rivers, forests, and resources to build their armies with.
The game is best known for the first ever implementation of a full experience system for every unit in a RTS game.
The game doesn't have the commonly known system of Warcraft III for heroes but still every unit has the potential to reach level twelve and thus gaining a heroic status. There is no limit of the "hero" units a player can have, as long as they can keep them alive.
The game was considered by Linux Game Publishing
Linux Game Publishing
Linux Game Publishing is a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ports, publishes and sells video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsors the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games...
to be ported to Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, it was however rejected due to concerns within the company about its game-play and after hearing negative comments about the game from the Linux gaming community.