Conference hydra::amiga_v1

2611.0. "Balance of Power 1990" by EMC2::PELLATT (The Karmic Surfer) Tue May 30 1989 11:46

    Anyone else picked up Balance of Power 1990 yet ? 
    
    Anyway, for those that ain't... 

        
    "Balance of Power" is a simulation of the world political / military
    situation. It revolves almost entirely around a simple, but nicely
    executed map of the world and a mouse driven interface. 
                                               
    You get to play the part of either the good ol' USA or Gorby's USSR with
    the object of extending your Superpower influence across the world. Your
    success ( or otherwise ) is measured in 'Prestige Points' unless you
    manage to trigger a nuclear war ; in which case you lose, regardless. 
    
    There are four levels of play ( Beginner / Intermediate / Expert and
    Multipolar ) of increasing complexity. At the lowest level you are
    limited to providing Military Aid to a country, funding insurgents or
    sending troops in ( on either side ). 
    
    Some eighty countries are represented, each one having variable
    attributes representing its strength, importance, stability, levels of
    aid and so on, and you can mess with them all if you so desire, subject
    to money and manpower constraints... 
    
    ...every action you take can be challenged via a Superpower crisis menu,
    and a crisis will slowly escalate, until one side backs down, from
    diplomatic notes to nuclear war ( end of game - surprise, surprise ).
    Then the other side gets a go and, similarly, you can challenge any of
    their actions you find disagreeable. 
    
    The more complex levels of play allow you to make treaties, send in the
    spooks to destabilize countries, bribe them with economic aid and so on.

    The highest level ( new for this version of the game ), Multipolar, is
    staggeringly complex as it allows all eighty countries to start acting
    with greater or lesser degrees of autonomy ; so while you're getting
    down to countering the Evil Empire or the Great Satan, the smaller
    countries start fighting amongst themselves and look to extend their own
    'spheres of influence' ( thus interfering with all your carefully laid
    plans ). 
    
    
    I'm just into the Intermediate Game level and have just about got the
    hang of avoiding nuclear war - nice "ethical" touch is that if you do
    spark one off, a simple black and white note appears telling you you're
    a failure after which you have to reboot the game. Really encourages you
    to think about things twice. 

    The disk is copiable with protection being based on "Whats the first
    word on the second line of Page 23 of the Manual" type questions being
    popped out occasionally. 
             
    The game is evidently a MAC port with the colour being quite obviously
    an after-thought, although this in no way impacts game play in what is a
    challenging and addictive simulation. Not for arcadophiles but
    thoroughly recommended. 
    
    
    For anyone else playing - is there any way to keep the Soviets out of
    Iran ? They always seem to invade around 1992/1993 and are quite happy
    to nuke you if you object. May just be a feature of the lower level
    games ??? 
    
    Dave.