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Balance of Power (video game)

July 12, 2023

Balance of Power is a strategy video game of geopolitics during the Cold War, created by Chris Crawford and published in 1985 on the Macintosh by Mindscape, followed by ports to a variety of platforms over the next two years.

In the game, the player takes the role of the President of the United States or General Secretary of the Soviet Union. The goal is to improve the player's country's standing in the world relative to the other superpower. During each yearly turn, random events occur that may have effects on the player's international prestige. The player can choose to respond to these events in various ways, which may prompt a response from the other superpower. This creates brinkmanship situations between the two nations, potentially escalating to a nuclear war, which ends the game.

Crawford was already well-known, especially for Eastern Front (1941). His 1984 announcement that he was moving to the Macintosh platform to work on a new concept generated considerable interest. It was widely reviewed after its release, including an extremely positive review in The New York Times Magazine. It was praised for its inventive non-action gameplay that was nevertheless exciting and distinct. It has been named by Computer Gaming World as one of the most innovative computer games of all time.

Balance of Power was successful on the Mac, and combined with ports it ultimately sold over a quarter million units.

Gameplay

 
Gameplay screenshot (Atari ST)

The player may choose to be either the President of the United States or the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and must lead the chosen superpower for eight years, seeking to maximize "prestige" and avoiding a nuclear war. Each turn is one year long; at the beginning of each year, the player is presented with a set of incidents and crises in various countries around the globe and must choose a response to each one. Responses may range from no action to diplomatic notes to the other superpower, to military maneuvers. Each response is then met with a counter-response, which may vary from backing down to escalation. The player then gets a chance to initiate actions, and deal with the opponent's responses.

This core mechanic is similar to that of Bruce Ketchledge's 1983 game Geopolitique 1990, published by SSI. One difference from the earlier game is how negotiations are resolved. In both games, backing down in a negotiation results in a loss of prestige, which will reverberate politically. Likewise, in both games brinkmanship may result in a global war. In Geopolitique, such wars were actually fought in-game, after which the game continued. In Balance of Power, such a war ends the game instantly, with the following message: "You have ignited a(n accidental) nuclear war. And no, there is no animated display of a mushroom cloud with parts of bodies flying through the air. We do not reward failure."

Development

Crawford had made a name for himself during his years at Atari, Inc. in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His smash hit Eastern Front (1941) made him one of the few game authors known by name, and helped ensure later releases were also successful to a degree. By early 1984, Atari was rapidly going bankrupt due to the effects of the video game crash of 1983. In March they laid off the majority of their staff, including Crawford. His ample severance was enough to allow him to write a new game as a freelancer.[1]

After considering a sequel to Eastern Front or a political game about the Inca empire, he eventually decided to write a cold war "game about peace".[2] Crawford cited Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" as an emotional inspiration to the game.[1]

Considering the Atari platform a lost cause, Crawford began looking at the new 16-bit platforms that were just coming to market; he dismissed the IBM PC as too crude, the Amiga as likely to fail for business reasons, and thus chose the Macintosh as the platform to develop on. At the time this was a non-trivial decision, as there were no development tools; programmers had to buy an Apple Lisa to write code for the platform.[2]

During an April 1984 interview at the Origins Game Fair, Crawford stated that he was "working on a game for the Macintosh entitled ARMS RACE based on the philosophy that 'H-bombs don't kill people, geopolitics kills people.'"[3][4] By May the initial concept was fleshed out; the game would take place on top of a world map that could show various details,[5] events would be presented as newspaper stories following an algorithmic concept he developed after considering the headlines in National Enquirer,[6] and these events and their outcomes would be expressed in terms of "prestige points".

Crawford had difficulty in finding a publisher for Balance of Power, due in no small part to the lingering effects of the 1983 crash. Random House eventually agreed to publish it, but there was considerable ill will between Crawford and the editor assigned to him, who had no prior experience with video games. Random House ultimately cancelled the contract and demanded that Crawford return its $10,000 advance payment, almost causing him to lose his home.[7] His wife demanded he get a "real job".[8]

The work was saved by a friend at InfoWorld, who heard of his troubles and published a two-part column on the game. The article was seen by a producer at the newly formed Mindscape, who agreed to publish it. Betas were ready in February 1985 and were polished through the spring and summer. The game was released in September and was an immediate sensation given that the world was then at the height of the Cold War. The fame was in no small part helped by a review in The New York Times Magazine written by David L. Aaron, Jimmy Carter's Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, who called it "about as close as one might get to the cut-and-thrust of international politics without going through confirmation by the Senate."[9][10]

The game was an immediate hit on the initial Macintosh and Apple II platforms. A release for Microsoft Windows 1.0 in 1986 made it a multiplatform best seller. These were followed by versions on the Atari ST (1987) and Amiga, among others. In total, the game sold over $10 million during its heyday, during a time when total sales for all gaming hardware and software combined was about $500 million.[10]

In 1986, Crawford published a book, also called Balance of Power, which details the internals of the game great depth. It explains the background of the politics, the formulas used to calculate prestige and related parameters, and an account of its (lengthy) gestation.[11]

Around 2013, Crawford released source code of several of his games into the public domain, including Balance of Power.[12]

Reception

Computer Gaming World stated that Balance of Power "stands in a prestigious circle: that of the most innovative computer games of all time. If there were Academy Awards for computer games, BOP would get my votes for Best Picture and Best Director of 1985".[13] A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game four stars out of five,[14] a 1994 survey gave it three stars,[15] and in 1996 the magazine listed the game's Game Over scene as #11 on its list of "the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming".[16]

Roy Wagner reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "This game is HIGHLY recommended."[17]

Dragon recommended the game and called it a "superb game of global strategy that goes beyond other games, wherein thoughtful, calculated geopolitics could prevent a worldwide nuclear war!"[18] as well as "a truly entertaining and thought-provoking simulation of world geopolitics which involves the player in a quest to prevent a worldwide nuclear holocaust, while promoting either the U.S.A. or Russia to world prominence. This is a marvelous program that everyone should experience at least once."[19]

BYTE praised the game in 1986, describing the Mac version as "the best game I had ever seen on any computer ... by all means, get the program".[20] Info gave the Amiga version four-plus stars out of five, approving of the complex gameplay with a good user interface. While complaining of the lack of sound from the "obvious Macintosh influence", the magazine concluded that it was "An excellent game".[21]

Bob Ewald reviewed Balance of Power in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 81.[22] Ewald commented that "In conclusion, if this type of game appeals to you most of the problems are worth suffering through. However, if you're a hardcore wargamer who isn't interested in diplomacy, I suggest that you pass on this one."[22]

Compute! presented opposing views of the game in May 1988. The magazine included Balance of Power in its list of "Our Favorite Games", calling it "an impressive recreation of the world's geopolitical landscape ... call one too many bluffs and you'll see the chilling message You have ignited a nuclear war".[23] Orson Scott Card, however, wrote in his review of the game that Crawford—"the best designer of simulation games I've seen"—was "leaning over your shoulder and bullying you into playing the game his way. He has a sweet delusion that as long as the United States is very nice and doesn't do anything to offend them, the Russians will go home. And if you don't play that way, why, he'll stop the game with a nasty remark about how the world was just destroyed by nuclear war". He added that since no nuclear war had been fought Crawford could not know what would cause one, and "there are a lot of experts who claim that the Soviets seem to behave a lot nicer when we stand up to them than when we disarm", but that "[Crawford] is so sure he's right that Balance of Power isn't a game, it's propaganda".[24]

In 1989 Compute! stated that the 1990 edition's multipolar features were welcome additions to the game.[25] That year Card stated that the magazine's 1988 list caused him to reevaluate the game when playing the 1990 edition, stating that it had "the most detailed, carefully extrapolated future world I've worked with". While still criticizing geopolitical "absurdities" such as forcing the United States to passively accept Soviet troops in Syria (contrary to what happened during the Yom Kippur War) and advisors in Mexico or start nuclear war, Card now concluded that such outcomes probably reflected computer limitations rather than Crawford's political views. He advised players to pretend that Balance of Power was set on an alien planet "astonishingly similar" to Earth, and to play solely based on the game's assumptions about the world.[26] Chuck Moss disagreed with Card's revised view, describing Balance of Power in Computer Gaming World in 1992 as "reflect[ing] extreme bias on the part of [its] designers". He called it a "pacific treatise ... nuclear war erupted if the U.S. so much as sent five million dollars to Panama".[27]

Crawford stated in 1987 that he was most proud of his work on the game: "I feel [it] has made the world a better place ... I think it has made a small number of people much more realistic in their appraisal of world affairs".[7] In 1996 Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 78th best game of all time, calling it "a wonderful game of political intrigue that felt just like the Cold War and didn't require the detail of Shadow President or CyberJudas."[28] That year it was ranked as the 75th top game of all time by Next Generation, who commented "Although the game's premises are hopelessly outdated (U.S.S.R.? What's that?) and some disagree with the politics, the AI in Balance of Power, combined with its unique play style, make it a classic."[29] In 2006, The Guardian listed it first on its list of "The 10 political games everyone should play".[30]

Reviews

  • Jeux & Stratégie #46[31]

Legacy

After Balance of Power, Crawford began work on an entirely new game, Trust & Betrayal: The Legacy of Siboot, released in 1987 and selling only a few thousand copies. Mindscape was disappointed, and pressured Crawford to do a follow-up to Balance of Power. The company pressed him hard on it, and Crawford felt that he "owed them one" after publishing Siboot. This sequel was released in 1989 as Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition on the Apple IIGS, Windows, Macintosh, Amiga and Atari ST. Crawford does not consider it a proper sequel, saying he was simply "tidying up, adding some bells and whistles."[32] Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition adds more countries, advisors, to help the player, a new "multi-polar" level that allows countries to generate events of their own (such as declaring war on other countries) and a 2-player hotseat mode.

In 1992 Crawford left the game industry to make something more interactive and artistic. After many false starts, this emerged as The Erasmatron, and later re-released under the name Storytron. Both systems were used to make complex, interactive storylines. As a demo, Crawford used Storytron to build Balance of Power: 21st Century. This version begins on 12 September 2001 and mostly involves the US's interactions with Asia and other emerging powers. It was not a success; Crawford himself describes it as "crap".[33]

Balance of Power has been the basis for a number of play by mail versions, manually run and based on moves posted in internet forum systems. One long-running example is hosted on eRegime.[34]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Rouse III, Richard (2005). Game Design Theory & Practice. Second Edition. Wordware Publishing, Inc. p. 266. ISBN 1-55622-912-7.
  2. ^ a b Crawford 2003, p. 282.
  3. ^ "The CGW Computer Game Conference". Computer Gaming World (panel discussion). October 1984. p. 30. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  4. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 285.
  5. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 286.
  6. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 287.
  7. ^ a b "Designer Profile: Chris Crawford (Part 2)". Computer Gaming World. January–February 1987. pp. 56–59. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  8. ^ Crawford 2003, p. 296.
  9. ^ Aaron, David (December 29, 1985). "Playing with Apocalypse". The New York Times Magazine.
  10. ^ a b Crawford 2003, p. 297.
  11. ^ "Balance of Power the Book". 1986.
  12. ^ Crawford, Chris (2013). "Source Code". Retrieved February 24, 2017. 30 months ago, at the 2011 Game Developers Conference, somebody asked me to release the source code for my old games. I said I would look into it. [...] I have begun the process of preparing my source code for general distribution.
  13. ^ Boosman, Frank C. (May 1986). "Macintosh Window". Computer Gaming World. pp. 18, 45. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  14. ^ Brooks, M. Evan (June 1992). "The Modern Games: 1950 - 2000". Computer Gaming World. p. 120. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  15. ^ Brooks, M. Evan (January 1994). "War In Our Time / A Survey Of Wargames From 1950-2000". Computer Gaming World. pp. 194–212.
  16. ^ "The 15 Best Ways To Die In Computer Gaming". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. p. 107. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  17. ^ Wagner, Roy (January–February 1987). "Amiga Preferences". Computer Gaming World. Vol. 1, no. 34. p. 42.
  18. ^ Lesser, Hartley and Pattie (June 1986). "The Role of Computers". The Dragon (110): 38–43.
  19. ^ Lesser, Hartley and Pattie (December 1986). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (116): 69–76.
  20. ^ Shapiro, Ezra (December 1986). "Stocking Stuffers". BYTE. p. 321. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  21. ^ Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R.; Malcolm, Tom (January–February 1987). "Amiga Gallery". Info. pp. 90–95.
  22. ^ a b Ewald, Bob (1987). "Balance of Power: Geopolitics in the Nuclear Age". Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer. Diverse Talents, Incorporated (81): 44–45.
  23. ^ "Our Favorite Games". Compute!. May 1988. p. 12. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  24. ^ Card, Orson Scott (May 1988). "Do You Want to Change the World? Two Games Let You Try". Compute!. p. 9. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  25. ^ Keizer, Gregg (January 1989). "Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition". Compute!. p. 80. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  26. ^ Card, Orson Scott (June 1989). "Light-years and Lasers / Science Fiction Inside Your Computer". Compute!. p. 29. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  27. ^ Moss, Chuck (November 1992). "Spectrum Holobyte's Crisis in the Kremlin". Computer Gaming World. p. 34. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  28. ^ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. pp. 64–80. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  29. ^ Next Generation 21 (September 1996), p.44.
  30. ^ Stuart, Keith (October 26, 2006). "The 10 political games everyone should play". The Guardian.
  31. ^ "Jeux & stratégie 46". August 1987.
  32. ^ Rouse III, Richard (August 30, 2004). Game Design: Theory and Practice, Second Edition. pp. 168–269. ISBN 9780763798116.
  33. ^ Crawford, Chris. "Storytron: What Went Wrong". Storytron.
  34. ^ "Balance of Power XV". www.eregime.org/index/.

Bibliography

  • Crawford, Chris (2003). Chris Crawford on Game Design. New Riders.

External links

July 12, 2023
balance, power, video, game, balance, power, strategy, video, game, geopolitics, during, cold, created, chris, crawford, published, 1985, macintosh, mindscape, followed, ports, variety, platforms, over, next, years, balance, powerdeveloper, chris, crawfordpubl. Balance of Power is a strategy video game of geopolitics during the Cold War created by Chris Crawford and published in 1985 on the Macintosh by Mindscape followed by ports to a variety of platforms over the next two years Balance of PowerDeveloper s Chris CrawfordPublisher s MindscapePlatform s Amiga Apple II Apple IIGS Atari ST MS DOS Macintosh MSX PC 88 PC 98 Windows 1 0ReleaseSeptember 1985Genre s StrategyMode s Single player Two playerIn the game the player takes the role of the President of the United States or General Secretary of the Soviet Union The goal is to improve the player s country s standing in the world relative to the other superpower During each yearly turn random events occur that may have effects on the player s international prestige The player can choose to respond to these events in various ways which may prompt a response from the other superpower This creates brinkmanship situations between the two nations potentially escalating to a nuclear war which ends the game Crawford was already well known especially for Eastern Front 1941 His 1984 announcement that he was moving to the Macintosh platform to work on a new concept generated considerable interest It was widely reviewed after its release including an extremely positive review in The New York Times Magazine It was praised for its inventive non action gameplay that was nevertheless exciting and distinct It has been named by Computer Gaming World as one of the most innovative computer games of all time Balance of Power was successful on the Mac and combined with ports it ultimately sold over a quarter million units Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development 3 Reception 4 Reviews 5 Legacy 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Citations 7 2 Bibliography 8 External linksGameplay Edit Gameplay screenshot Atari ST The player may choose to be either the President of the United States or the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and must lead the chosen superpower for eight years seeking to maximize prestige and avoiding a nuclear war Each turn is one year long at the beginning of each year the player is presented with a set of incidents and crises in various countries around the globe and must choose a response to each one Responses may range from no action to diplomatic notes to the other superpower to military maneuvers Each response is then met with a counter response which may vary from backing down to escalation The player then gets a chance to initiate actions and deal with the opponent s responses This core mechanic is similar to that of Bruce Ketchledge s 1983 game Geopolitique 1990 published by SSI One difference from the earlier game is how negotiations are resolved In both games backing down in a negotiation results in a loss of prestige which will reverberate politically Likewise in both games brinkmanship may result in a global war In Geopolitique such wars were actually fought in game after which the game continued In Balance of Power such a war ends the game instantly with the following message You have ignited a n accidental nuclear war And no there is no animated display of a mushroom cloud with parts of bodies flying through the air We do not reward failure Development EditCrawford had made a name for himself during his years at Atari Inc in the late 1970s and early 1980s His smash hit Eastern Front 1941 made him one of the few game authors known by name and helped ensure later releases were also successful to a degree By early 1984 Atari was rapidly going bankrupt due to the effects of the video game crash of 1983 In March they laid off the majority of their staff including Crawford His ample severance was enough to allow him to write a new game as a freelancer 1 After considering a sequel to Eastern Front or a political game about the Inca empire he eventually decided to write a cold war game about peace 2 Crawford cited Bob Dylan s Blowin in the Wind as an emotional inspiration to the game 1 Considering the Atari platform a lost cause Crawford began looking at the new 16 bit platforms that were just coming to market he dismissed the IBM PC as too crude the Amiga as likely to fail for business reasons and thus chose the Macintosh as the platform to develop on At the time this was a non trivial decision as there were no development tools programmers had to buy an Apple Lisa to write code for the platform 2 During an April 1984 interview at the Origins Game Fair Crawford stated that he was working on a game for the Macintosh entitled ARMS RACE based on the philosophy that H bombs don t kill people geopolitics kills people 3 4 By May the initial concept was fleshed out the game would take place on top of a world map that could show various details 5 events would be presented as newspaper stories following an algorithmic concept he developed after considering the headlines in National Enquirer 6 and these events and their outcomes would be expressed in terms of prestige points Crawford had difficulty in finding a publisher for Balance of Power due in no small part to the lingering effects of the 1983 crash Random House eventually agreed to publish it but there was considerable ill will between Crawford and the editor assigned to him who had no prior experience with video games Random House ultimately cancelled the contract and demanded that Crawford return its 10 000 advance payment almost causing him to lose his home 7 His wife demanded he get a real job 8 The work was saved by a friend at InfoWorld who heard of his troubles and published a two part column on the game The article was seen by a producer at the newly formed Mindscape who agreed to publish it Betas were ready in February 1985 and were polished through the spring and summer The game was released in September and was an immediate sensation given that the world was then at the height of the Cold War The fame was in no small part helped by a review in The New York Times Magazine written by David L Aaron Jimmy Carter s Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs who called it about as close as one might get to the cut and thrust of international politics without going through confirmation by the Senate 9 10 The game was an immediate hit on the initial Macintosh and Apple II platforms A release for Microsoft Windows 1 0 in 1986 made it a multiplatform best seller These were followed by versions on the Atari ST 1987 and Amiga among others In total the game sold over 10 million during its heyday during a time when total sales for all gaming hardware and software combined was about 500 million 10 In 1986 Crawford published a book also called Balance of Power which details the internals of the game great depth It explains the background of the politics the formulas used to calculate prestige and related parameters and an account of its lengthy gestation 11 Around 2013 Crawford released source code of several of his games into the public domain including Balance of Power 12 Reception EditComputer Gaming World stated that Balance of Power stands in a prestigious circle that of the most innovative computer games of all time If there were Academy Awards for computer games BOP would get my votes for Best Picture and Best Director of 1985 13 A 1992 survey in the magazine of wargames with modern settings gave the game four stars out of five 14 a 1994 survey gave it three stars 15 and in 1996 the magazine listed the game s Game Over scene as 11 on its list of the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming 16 Roy Wagner reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World and stated that This game is HIGHLY recommended 17 Dragon recommended the game and called it a superb game of global strategy that goes beyond other games wherein thoughtful calculated geopolitics could prevent a worldwide nuclear war 18 as well as a truly entertaining and thought provoking simulation of world geopolitics which involves the player in a quest to prevent a worldwide nuclear holocaust while promoting either the U S A or Russia to world prominence This is a marvelous program that everyone should experience at least once 19 BYTE praised the game in 1986 describing the Mac version as the best game I had ever seen on any computer by all means get the program 20 Info gave the Amiga version four plus stars out of five approving of the complex gameplay with a good user interface While complaining of the lack of sound from the obvious Macintosh influence the magazine concluded that it was An excellent game 21 Bob Ewald reviewed Balance of Power in Space Gamer Fantasy Gamer No 81 22 Ewald commented that In conclusion if this type of game appeals to you most of the problems are worth suffering through However if you re a hardcore wargamer who isn t interested in diplomacy I suggest that you pass on this one 22 Compute presented opposing views of the game in May 1988 The magazine included Balance of Power in its list of Our Favorite Games calling it an impressive recreation of the world s geopolitical landscape call one too many bluffs and you ll see the chilling message You have ignited a nuclear war 23 Orson Scott Card however wrote in his review of the game that Crawford the best designer of simulation games I ve seen was leaning over your shoulder and bullying you into playing the game his way He has a sweet delusion that as long as the United States is very nice and doesn t do anything to offend them the Russians will go home And if you don t play that way why he ll stop the game with a nasty remark about how the world was just destroyed by nuclear war He added that since no nuclear war had been fought Crawford could not know what would cause one and there are a lot of experts who claim that the Soviets seem to behave a lot nicer when we stand up to them than when we disarm but that Crawford is so sure he s right that Balance of Power isn t a game it s propaganda 24 In 1989 Compute stated that the 1990 edition s multipolar features were welcome additions to the game 25 That year Card stated that the magazine s 1988 list caused him to reevaluate the game when playing the 1990 edition stating that it had the most detailed carefully extrapolated future world I ve worked with While still criticizing geopolitical absurdities such as forcing the United States to passively accept Soviet troops in Syria contrary to what happened during the Yom Kippur War and advisors in Mexico or start nuclear war Card now concluded that such outcomes probably reflected computer limitations rather than Crawford s political views He advised players to pretend that Balance of Power was set on an alien planet astonishingly similar to Earth and to play solely based on the game s assumptions about the world 26 Chuck Moss disagreed with Card s revised view describing Balance of Power in Computer Gaming World in 1992 as reflect ing extreme bias on the part of its designers He called it a pacific treatise nuclear war erupted if the U S so much as sent five million dollars to Panama 27 Crawford stated in 1987 that he was most proud of his work on the game I feel it has made the world a better place I think it has made a small number of people much more realistic in their appraisal of world affairs 7 In 1996 Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 78th best game of all time calling it a wonderful game of political intrigue that felt just like the Cold War and didn t require the detail of Shadow President or CyberJudas 28 That year it was ranked as the 75th top game of all time by Next Generation who commented Although the game s premises are hopelessly outdated U S S R What s that and some disagree with the politics the AI in Balance of Power combined with its unique play style make it a classic 29 In 2006 The Guardian listed it first on its list of The 10 political games everyone should play 30 Reviews EditJeux amp Strategie 46 31 Legacy EditAfter Balance of Power Crawford began work on an entirely new game Trust amp Betrayal The Legacy of Siboot released in 1987 and selling only a few thousand copies Mindscape was disappointed and pressured Crawford to do a follow up to Balance of Power The company pressed him hard on it and Crawford felt that he owed them one after publishing Siboot This sequel was released in 1989 as Balance of Power The 1990 Edition on the Apple IIGS Windows Macintosh Amiga and Atari ST Crawford does not consider it a proper sequel saying he was simply tidying up adding some bells and whistles 32 Balance of Power The 1990 Edition adds more countries advisors to help the player a new multi polar level that allows countries to generate events of their own such as declaring war on other countries and a 2 player hotseat mode In 1992 Crawford left the game industry to make something more interactive and artistic After many false starts this emerged as The Erasmatron and later re released under the name Storytron Both systems were used to make complex interactive storylines As a demo Crawford used Storytron to build Balance of Power 21st Century This version begins on 12 September 2001 and mostly involves the US s interactions with Asia and other emerging powers It was not a success Crawford himself describes it as crap 33 Balance of Power has been the basis for a number of play by mail versions manually run and based on moves posted in internet forum systems One long running example is hosted on eRegime 34 See also EditBalance of power in international relations Balance of Power play by mail game Brinkmanship Cold War References EditCitations Edit a b Rouse III Richard 2005 Game Design Theory amp Practice Second Edition Wordware Publishing Inc p 266 ISBN 1 55622 912 7 a b Crawford 2003 p 282 The CGW Computer Game Conference Computer Gaming World panel discussion October 1984 p 30 Retrieved October 31 2013 Crawford 2003 p 285 Crawford 2003 p 286 Crawford 2003 p 287 a b Designer Profile Chris Crawford Part 2 Computer Gaming World January February 1987 pp 56 59 Retrieved November 1 2013 Crawford 2003 p 296 Aaron David December 29 1985 Playing with Apocalypse The New York Times Magazine a b Crawford 2003 p 297 Balance of Power the Book 1986 Crawford Chris 2013 Source Code Retrieved February 24 2017 30 months ago at the 2011 Game Developers Conference somebody asked me to release the source code for my old games I said I would look into it I have begun the process of preparing my source code for general distribution Boosman Frank C May 1986 Macintosh Window Computer Gaming World pp 18 45 Retrieved November 1 2013 Brooks M Evan June 1992 The Modern Games 1950 2000 Computer Gaming World p 120 Retrieved November 24 2013 Brooks M Evan January 1994 War In Our Time A Survey Of Wargames From 1950 2000 Computer Gaming World pp 194 212 The 15 Best Ways To Die In Computer Gaming Computer Gaming World November 1996 p 107 Retrieved March 25 2016 Wagner Roy January February 1987 Amiga Preferences Computer Gaming World Vol 1 no 34 p 42 Lesser Hartley and Pattie June 1986 The Role of Computers The Dragon 110 38 43 Lesser Hartley and Pattie December 1986 The Role of Computers Dragon 116 69 76 Shapiro Ezra December 1986 Stocking Stuffers BYTE p 321 Retrieved May 9 2015 Dunnington Benn Brown Mark R Malcolm Tom January February 1987 Amiga Gallery Info pp 90 95 a b Ewald Bob 1987 Balance of Power Geopolitics in the Nuclear Age Space Gamer Fantasy Gamer Diverse Talents Incorporated 81 44 45 Our Favorite Games Compute May 1988 p 12 Retrieved November 10 2013 Card Orson Scott May 1988 Do You Want to Change the World Two Games Let You Try Compute p 9 Retrieved November 10 2013 Keizer Gregg January 1989 Balance of Power The 1990 Edition Compute p 80 Retrieved November 10 2013 Card Orson Scott June 1989 Light years and Lasers Science Fiction Inside Your Computer Compute p 29 Retrieved November 11 2013 Moss Chuck November 1992 Spectrum Holobyte s Crisis in the Kremlin Computer Gaming World p 34 Retrieved July 4 2014 150 Best Games of All Time Computer Gaming World November 1996 pp 64 80 Retrieved March 25 2016 Next Generation 21 September 1996 p 44 Stuart Keith October 26 2006 The 10 political games everyone should play The Guardian Jeux amp strategie 46 August 1987 Rouse III Richard August 30 2004 Game Design Theory and Practice Second Edition pp 168 269 ISBN 9780763798116 Crawford Chris Storytron What Went Wrong Storytron Balance of Power XV www eregime org index Bibliography Edit Crawford Chris 2003 Chris Crawford on Game Design New Riders External links EditBalance of Power at MobyGames Balance of Power can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive Retrospective at IGN Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Balance of Power video game amp oldid 1163364786, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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