|
''Bolo'' is a video game created for the BBC Micro computer by Stuart Cheshire in 1987, and later ported to the Macintosh in its most popular incarnation. It is a networked multiplayer game that simulates a tank battlefield. It was one of the earliest simultaneous multiplayer networked games. A similarly named tank game was created for the Apple II in 1982. Cheshire says this was "an unfortunate coincidence",〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 MacBolo Instructions )〕 and that his Indian wife inspired the name. As Cheshire noted in his original documentation for the game, "Bolo is the Hindi word for communication. Bolo is about computers communicating on the network, and more important about humans communicating with each other, as they argue, negotiate, form alliances, agree strategies, etc."〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 Frequently Asked Questions )〕 == Description == In Bolo, the player commands a tank that can be driven around a battlefield within an orthogonal, top-down view. This gives the visual impression that the battlefield is being viewed from above with the player's tank being controlled remotely. The tank is relatively well armored and will take a number of "hits" before being destroyed. Tanks can also be destroyed by driving them into deep sea. The tank's primary weapon is its cannon, which fires only in the direction the tank is pointed and has a fairly fast rate of fire. The tank also carries mines as a secondary weapon, which can be dropped on the move, or planted by an engineer who runs from the tank and "drills" the mine into the ground. In games where the "Hidden Mines" setting is activated, such mines are invisible to other players until they drive quite close to them (often too close to stop in time). Hidden mines remain visible to the player who planted them, and to other members of his team. Ammunition, both for the cannon and mines, can be refilled at a limited number of supply bases scattered around the map. The bases also repair damage to tanks, but this depletes the "armor" of the base. Bases' supplies of ammunition and armor refill slowly. The strategic goal of the game is to capture all of the bases on the map. Unclaimed "neutral" bases may be claimed by simply driving one's tank over them, after which the player and his/her team may draw upon such "friendly" bases' resources. "Hostile" bases can be captured by shooting them until their armor supply is reduced to zero, after which any player may drive over them to claim them for one's own team. Bases that have recently re-armored damaged tanks are more easily seized since their armor supplies take some time to regenerate. A primary tactic of the game is the capture and planting of pillboxes, which are also scattered around the map. Pillboxes are initially neutral and will shoot at any tank that approaches them. Like the supply bases, pillboxes can be shot at until destroyed, after which they can be redeployed and become friendly to that player's team. Unlike the bases, pillboxes can be picked up by the tank's engineer and then moved to more strategic locations. In the early Macintosh versions, the pillboxes were fairly easy to kill; in later versions, pillboxes progressively increase their rate of fire as they are attacked, eventually becoming extremely deadly. Players have developed an array of tactical tricks to accomplish speedy pillbox capture, such as ''the decoy'' (where a player draws fire away from the pillbox while an ally shoots it) and various ''pilltakes'' (where one or more walls and/or friendly pillboxes are placed so that they block the hostile pillbox's shots but allow the tank to shoot past it at the hostile pillbox). The engineer, better known as the "LGM" (for "little green man") can also perform building tasks. In order to do this he must first be sent into a forest to cut trees, which act as cash in the Bolo world. He can then build roads in order to speed travel, or concrete walls to protect bases and form traps. The engineer can be killed on these missions, and a replacement will parachute in after a time delay. Killing enemy engineers has also developed its own set of tactics, one of the nastiest being to plant a mine in a forest where an enemy is known to be collecting trees. Internet games typically begin with a period in which teams are set up while players remain in deep sea, generally returning to agreed-upon starting points prior to an agreed-upon signal initiating active gameplay. The next phase is usually a ''base run'' where players attempt to quickly seize as many neutral bases as possible. After this initial phase, various strategies may be employed. Most involve the quick capture of a number of neutral pillboxes, which may be used defensively to prevent opponents from aggressive attacks on one's bases, which can quickly result in resource depletion. Pillboxes are frequently used offensively, however, by pushing them forward toward an opponent's bases, using their firepower to control territory. Games frequently feature fronts of opposing pillboxes – when one side breaks through or flanks the opponent's front, they will often deploy pillboxes to ''spike'' bases and force the opposition to refuel farther back. Eventually, the successful team will push more pillboxes forward and/or seize ill-defended enemy bases, progressively limiting the territory of its opponent until all of the enemy's bases are captured or under fire. Although it is possible to set a time limit, this feature was rarely used. Instead, the game ends when one side has successfully captured all of the supply bases, preventing the other team from gaining ammunition. In practice, most games generally end before all the bases have been captured, as the losing team concedes that its supply situation has become untenable due to a combination of lost and spiked bases. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bolo (1987 video game)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|