Albion (video game)

• OS: MS- DOS version 5.0 or Windows 95
• CPU: 486 or higher
• VGA 512 colors
• RAM: 8 MB
• Min. 3 MB of free hard disk space
• 2 -disc CD -ROM drive
• Mouse

Albion is a role-playing game from Blue Byte. It was released in 1995 for MS- DOS PCs. The game was touted as the unofficial successor of Amber Star and Amber Moon, as the developer of the Amber games had worked on it.

Action

The player takes on the role of Tom Driscoll, a member of the crew of the mining spaceship Toronto. Before landing of Toronto on a still unexplored, seemingly hostile planet, he will fly to explore with an inspector of the Earth government to the surface, but it dies in an accident. Instead, the scientists Rainer Hofstedt is instructed to accompany Tom. As the shuttle dips into the planet's atmosphere, but fails the shuttle control and it will crash.

When they get out of the shuttle, they find that they have landed in a flowering jungle. Shortly thereafter, the Shuttle, Tom and Rainer explodes become unconscious. However, they are rescued by the Iskai, feline humanoids who inhabit a part of the planet. To find the landing site of Toronto, the two embark on a journey through this strange world. During which they discover that even people living on the planet that are reminiscent of the Celts of the earth, but are gifted magic.

Finally, Tom discovers that the planet is destroyed by the mining of raw materials to the Toronto and tries to prevent this. It is learned that the inspector had discovered that the planet harbors life and was murdered by the Artificial Intelligence when he tried to take contact with the earth. In a final battle against the artificial intelligence of the spaceship Tom and his companions are defeated, however, reaches a magic seed in the reactor of Toronto. The ship is then overgrown and destroyed by plants. The people on board begin a new life at Albion.

Gameplay

Albion is a computer role-playing game, but the player can not design their own characters. The main character Tom Driscoll and all adventitious during the game accompanying the player characters are specified by the program. Following the accession of a character to the group of players, however, has full control over the equipment and determines the development of the figure. The group consists of a maximum of six people.

The character development is based on experience points, which can be acquired through successful battles, but also by solving puzzles. The points can not be awarded directly to the skills you need in a teacher. But that training improves not the real strength in the removable skills such as melee or ranged combat, but the marksmanship. Attributes such as strength or intelligence can be influenced difficult and lengthy, they are at each character almost invariably fixed, but the number of attacks per round increases with the Level.

The game is played alternately in three views: for overland maps and neutral places esp. from a two dimensional isometric overview perspective and in dungeons from a 3D first-person view. Both sections are played in real time, there exists a day-night cycle. For the turn-based battles, a six by six large fields, checkered field is displayed, on which the battle tactics can be specified. Before each round, the actions of each person of the group are determined by the player. Here you choose between close or ranged combat, magic, movement, escape, or do nothing. After the player has set all the actions of his round, they are running after confirmation from the computer. The order in which the actions are played out, arises from the velocity value of their own and the opponent's pieces. The visual reproduction of the Round Promotions finally takes place in the 3D dungeon view before the tactics screen is called to plan the next round again.

The player interacts with the game world through a point and click interface. The right mouse button calls as needed on a context-sensitive menu, available in the different interaction possibilities to choose from. Dialogs can be displayed with a text box. Often the players are different predetermined response options. In addition, the player can specifically ask for self-chosen terms. The input is the keyboard.

Developer

• Producer: Thomas Hertzler
• Project Manager: Erik Simon
• Programmer: Jurie Horneman, Marcus Pukropski
• Graphic: Thorsten " GOGO " Mutschall, Tobias Richter
• Musicians: Matthias Steinwachs

Technology

Albion was developed for DOS and Windows 95, for at that time typical range of PC hardware. It also runs on newer Windows operating systems, but problems with the service or in support of current graphics or audio hardware. An exchange of the enclosed DOS4GW DOS extender by the alternative DOS/32A can improve performance as well as the use of a DOS emulator like DOSBox, which also solves the problem of hardware incompatibilities. For the Amiga only a free demo version of Albion exists.

2011 one of the fans from the x86 version by static recompilation recovered and adapted for the ARM architecture version for the Pandora handheld is available.

Reception

Petra Schlunk of the Computer Gaming World awarded 3.5 out of 5. She described the game as a little old fashioned with a lengthy battle system and partly to large themed levels on but it offers a contrast to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Diablo and a content rich and profound role-playing game that is recommended for genre lovers.

• PC Games 75 %
• PC Joker 89 %
• PC players 75 %
• Power Play 80 %

Particularly refreshing was felt the combination of sci-fi and fantasy elements in Albion, as well as the detailed elaboration of different races and cultures.