The Seven Cities of Gold
Another short one today but a unique game which is worth mentioning. I got this as part of a CD entitled "The EA Collection" back in 1994, I believe. Tomorrow we'll be looking at Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, followed by a really big one, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
Developer: Ozark Softscape
Platform: PC
Release Year: 1993 for the PC version (original game in 1984)
Basic Plot
Each game you played was a mission to explore and conquer the New World. You played the captain of an exploration ship, with the goal of obtaining exotic resources and setting up villages and forts in foreign lands (the Americas).
Exploring the ocean.
Gameplay
The game started with your mission being presented to you. The gameplay then involved several modes; searching the oceans for new lands, wandering continents and islands looking for resources or native villages, and then entering villages and dealing with the local people.
Each mode had its own viewing perspective for the player. I can't remember much else other than that. There was a mechanic for combat which from memory involved walking into people with your knife drawn, and there was also the ability to trade Spanish goods with the natives to try and forge peace or get local goods. The game tried to simulate the Spanish exploration era.
The start of the game, getting your mission.
Positives
It was a pretty unique gaming experience, and I liked how epic it was. Every time I read the manual I got with my EA Compilation CD I would read about this game, get excited, and attempt to play it again.
Negatives
It was way too hard. Every game I played I would find a village, and then the natives would kill me shortly afterwards. It was possibly due to the fact I was 9 years old, but still. Frustrating.