GOLD OF THE AMERICAS review
By Wayne Short
Copyright (c) 1992 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
GOLD OF THE AMERICAS is a four player game of the exploration and conquest of the New World. It is written by Stephen Hart and Ian Trout of the Strategic Studies Group, a software company based in Sydney, Australia.
The copy that I had for review was the Apple IIGS version but there is also Macintosh Version. The IGS version uses the desktop interface and has SHR colour graphics in 320 mode and dazzling sound effects courtesy the new system tool 35.
As one of the players you may command the great expeditions of England, France Spain or Portugal. The game is played over 30 turns during the time period 1500-1800 (each round represents the time frame of 10 years). Your job is to Colonize as much of the new world as possible for the glory of your Country and your King. It is a game of strategy and with a touch of luck... or fate if you like!
While exploring the "New World" you have many enemies and no friends. Your expeditions can be lost without trace, hostile natives or disease can wipe out your struggling colonies, privateers can loot your trading ships and of course other players can launch raids and invasions against your territories. Worse still, any money that you manage to wrest from this harsh environment is likely to be swallowed by a greedy King, whose tax rates are nothing less than extortionate.
However, there are compensations. Some activities put money into a special, privately maintained slush fund that is normally exempt from the tax-man's evil scrutiny. And if you are struggling to balance your budget, you can always take it from other players with the aforementioned privateers, raids and invasions.
Four players are involved with each round of the game with each player assuming the role of one of protagonist countries (England, Spain, etc.). You may choose any combination of human or computer opponents prior to the commencment of each game. There are three (3) levels of skill selectable for your computer opponents. If you are interested in seeing how the game works, select 4 computer players and just sit back and watch.
The game is completely controlled by use of the mouse, no keyboard entry is required. The mouse is used to select or drag icons or between various radio buttons from dialog boxes.
To prepare for a turn each player is presented with a screen which has the following:
a. The left hand half of the screen contains a map of the new world. The land is divided into colony areas. Each area may be green indicating it is explored or white indicating it is unexplored. If a colony is actually present this is represented by the flag of that particular power. There are also oceans on which you may place a limited number of warships, trading ships or privateers.
b. The right hand half of the screen provides detailed information for colony management or exploration. For example if you click on an area within the map, the lower right hand portion of the screen will provide information on the health of the colony... this includes gold or mineral wealth, number of colonists, or stage of economic development. The top right-hand portion of the screen presents you with a series of icons indicating additional resources available
(acquisitions) for the forthcoming turn: Armies, Colonists, Trading Ships, Warships, Privateers, Slaves and Explorers. Some of these are mode available free to you by your monarch while others must be purchased from available funds.
After acquiring resources, the player opts which colonies to place these upon by dragging the appropriate icon from the right hand screen to the area on the map. Colony Management is limited to one of three options: exploit (put the boot in), develop or placate. Placate is a bribe to keep the natives from revolting (if there are any) or to maintain the loyalty of your colonists.
The key to victory is of course acquiring the most number of colonies. Victory points are awarded at one for each colony held. Additional points are also awarded for the stage of development of the each individual colony. It pays to develop your colonies as they provide both funds and victory points!
You may acquire these colonies through your own development or through invasion, however, you are limited to invasions only when you are at war with a particular nation and it is adjacent to your borders. In the "Historical Scenario" this occurs at certain periods during the game. For the last 5 turns of any game all nations are at war with each other, therefore substantial mounts of territory may change hands. Also territories may declare independence if you are unable to keep them placated.
You may play the game using the strict historical conditions i.e. To avoid disputes about who owned the New World, Pope Alexander VI, on 7th June 1494, ratified with Spain and Portugal the treaty of Tordesillas. The "Line of Tordesillas" ran north-south, cutting across the mouth of the Amazon at 50 degrees longitude. The area to the east of this line belonged to Portugal, the area to the west to Spain. Following Historical guidelines also influences the quality of explorers available to each Colonial Power throughout the course of play, for example, Spain gets the best explorers early in the game.
The average playing time for a complete game is 2 to 3 hours. Individual games may be saved and resumed. It is a fascinating game to play but very difficult if you are playing against the computer. More fun is derived if you select the computer opponents of lesser ability.
The game comes with two disks. One is the System disk for booting and the other is the actual game disk. A well written 16 page manual completes the package.
The software is not copy protected so it may be placed on your hard drive for your convenience.
Product: Gold of the Americas
Authors: Stephen Hart/ Ian Trout
Publisher: Strategic Studies Group
Hardware: Apple IIGS 1.0 Meg of memory, 2 x 3.5 inch disk drives
Sotware: Operating system 5.02 minimum required
Cost: $59.95 Austalian
Available from: Napoleons Military Bookshop,
336 Pitt Street,
Sydney N.S.W. 2000
Phone (02) 264-7560
or
Strategic Studies Group
P.O. Box 261,
Drummoyne, N.S.W.
2047, Australia
Phone (02) 818-7199

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