The Seven Cities of Gold (video game)

The Seven Cities of Gold or Seven Cities of Gold, also abbreviated 7COG was a computer strategy game by Dan Bunten and her development company Ozark softscape, which was published by Electronic Arts in 1984. It was produced by Joe Ybarra. The player slips into the role of a Spanish explorer in the late 15th century. The name of the game goes back to the myth of Cibola.

The well-balanced and well-integrated into the gameplay map styling in the context of the real-time character is considered decisive progress in the development of computer games. Many of the game elements used in Seven Cities of Gold appear later in designed by Sid Meier classic Pirates! to which again became a model for countless similar games themselves.

Versions and ports

The game was developed in 1984 for the Atari 800 as a port but it was available shortly after its release for Apple II and Commodore 64. The following year it was published for Amiga 1000, Apple Macintosh, and as a boot version for IBM-compatible PC. Compared to the original Atari version, there were at the ports but each small limitations that you had to accept as a compromise to the different hardware in purchasing.

In 1993, Ozark software with support from SEGA Interactive Development Division again a completely newly developed Commemorative Edition with higher resolution graphics and background music for DOS out.

Gameplay

With the blessing of the Spanish royal family, the player must first take care of the equipment, food and crew of his ship before he can break into the New World. In Spain can visit to various buildings illustrated in the lateral 2D view. From right to left the home of the player, the Palace, pub, the equipment house and finally at the port the ship. With the expiry of the view switches to a view from above of the map. After crossing the Atlantic, the player begins with the exploration of the coast and then enters the first time the newly discovered land. There, it is important to establish mission stations and forts to make contact with the indigenous people and collect riches through trade or conquest. Depending on the success beckons when they return to the Old World a promotion and there are more resources for the next crossing available. The game allows you to fully unravel the playable map and finally to be appointed by the Spanish court to the governor or even the Viceroy of the New World. But there is neither a clear end game still a rigidly prescribed sequence. The player is left to himself whether he 'd better be careful passing move when visiting Indian villages by the inhabitants to the chief and drive with him peaceful trade, or aggressively invade, an enraged population massacred and wants to plunder their inventories.

As a special feature of The Seven Cities of Gold at that time was the development of the game character with the game progresses, and the opportunity to also to generate a new random map to start the game instead of the Americas simulated map. Unlike other games, with pre-programmed playing fields, The Seven Cities of Gold enabled again and again to discover a "New World" without a collected in previous games knowledge about the location of resources or decisive places brings an unrealistic advantage.

Awards and criticism

The original game was in 1985 awarded by the American magazine Computer Gaming World as Strategy Game of the Year (Strategy Game of the Year ). The Commemorative Edition for DOS won the Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game of 1993 (Best military or strategic computer game, 1993).

In 1996 Computer Gaming World awarded the match to rank 61 of the best 150 games of all time.

However, the remake earned in Europe also significant criticism. The German magazine Power Play was the graphic as too plain and antiquated the user interface without mouse support. PC Player evaluated the game play even as stupid and was agreed with the French Tilt that the music is annoying and you should better be content only with the memory of the original itself.