Play Redux: THE FORM OF COMPUTER GAMES by David Myers

Author:David Myers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University of Michigan Press
Published: 2018-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

STRATEGY GAMES

Early and prototypical examples of computer strategy games include Hammurabi, Civilization, SimCity, Master of Orion, and many other games in which game rules and game play transform, to a greater or lesser extent, the game rules. This transformation process is simultaneously critical to the strategy genre and contrary to the function of narrative as a theory of causes. Again, close examination of a single example is informative. Let me use the Master of Orion series as an example of the difficulties involved in attempting to frame strategy game play within the values of a backstory.

Master of Orion (MOO), published in 1993, was a fairly typical (now classic) game with 4X strategy (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate).19 It was released with a minimal backstory. Players could choose to be one of several intergalactic species (the Alkari, fast but weak bird-like creatures; the Bulrathi, slow but strong bearlike creatures; etc.) in competition over some limited number of star systems.

Page 95 →Thrown into this zoological mix were the remnants of a technologically superior uber-race, the Orions, who were eventually replaced by the player winning the game. There was a bit more about the origin of the mysterious Orions and such, but none of the game’s early backstory had any real impact on game play. MOO play consisted of, as all strategy game play does, valuing the advantages and disadvantages of one species, weapon, and/or tactic against the advantages and disadvantages of some other. Most important, this balancing act of determining the relative value of game objects could be done most thoroughly and accurately with no reference to the game’s backstory whatsoever.

During play, in fact, the MOO backstory became increasingly superfluous. The competition among the intergalactic species within the game could have easily taken place within a fantasy world or an ancient civilization or beneath the surface of an isolated pond of scum. What mattered was not the setting or the characters or the plot but the relationships among the game’s signs and symbols as adjudicated by the game rules—and, of course, how these relationships were transformed (i.e., valued in real-time) during play.

The original MOO was popular enough to generate a sequel, Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares (MOO2), in 1996. And just as in the case of the Ultima game series, the extension of play from MOO to MOO2 generated a more detailed backstory. In MOO2, the Orions were supplemented by the evil Antarans, another technologically advanced race, which was eventually replaced by the player winning the game. While the core game mechanics remained the same, a variety of embellishments extended play within the familiar context of the original game. And while the MOO2 backstory implied a meaningful connection between the two games, neither game required knowledge of the other to play. Both games were independently and widely praised.

In 2003 came Master of Orion III (MOO3), which was considered both by reviewers and by players to be broken. Why was MOO3 such a dismal failure, while MOO and MOO2 were such major

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