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M.U.L.E.
Boxart
Developer(s)	Ozark Softscape
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts & Ariolasoft (Europe)
Designer(s)	Dani Bunten
Platform(s)	Atari 400/800, Commodore 64, IBM PCjr, MSX-1, NES, PC-8801 MKII
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multi player
Media	Varied
Input methods	Joystick, keyboard, gamepad

M.U.L.E. is a seminal multiplayer video game by Ozark Softscape. It was published in 1983 by Electronic Arts. It was originally written for the Atari 400/800, and was later ported to the Commodore 64, the Nintendo Entertainment System and the IBM PC Jr.^[1] While it plays like a strategy game, it incorporates aspects that simulate economics.

Gameplay

A Multiple Use Labor Element, the eponymous M.U.L.E.

Set on the fictional planet Irata (which is Atari backwards), the game is an exercise in supply and demand economics involving competition among four players, with computer opponents automatically filling in for any missing players. Players are provided with several different choices for the race of their colonist, providing different advantages and disadvantages that can be paired to their respective strategies. To win, players not only compete against each other to amass the largest amount of wealth, but must also cooperate for the survival of the colony.

Central to the game is the acquisition and use of "M.U.L.E."s (Multiple Use Labor Element) to develop and harvest resources from the player's real estate. Depending on how it is outfitted, a M.U.L.E. can be configured to harvest Energy, Food, Smithore (from which M.U.L.E.s are constructed), and Crystite (a valuable mineral available only at the "Tournament" level). Players must balance supply and demand of these elements, buying what they need, and selling what they don't. Players may also exploit or create shortages by refusing to sell to other players or to the "store," which raises the price of the resource on the following turns. Scheming between players is encouraged by allowing collusion between two players, which initiates a mode allowing a private transaction. Crystite is the one commodity that is not influenced by supply and demand considerations, being deemed to be sold 'off world,' so the strategy with this resource is somewhat different—a player may attempt to maximize production without fear of having too much supply for the demand.

Each resource is required to do certain things on each turn. For instance, if a player is short on Food, there will be less time to take one's turn. Similarly, if a player is short on Energy, some land plots won't produce any output, while a shortage of Smithore will raise the price of M.U.L.E.s in the store and prevent the store from manufacturing new M.U.L.E.s to make use of one's land.

Players must also deal with periodic random events such as run-away M.U.L.E.s, solar flares, and theft by space pirates. The game features a balancing system for random events that impact only a single player, such that favorable events never happen to the player currently in first place, while unfavorable events never happen to the player in last place. This same "leveling of the playfield" is applied whenever a tie happens in the game (e.g. when two players want to buy a resource at the same price); the player in the losing position automatically wins the tie.

Development

According to Jim Rushing (one of the four original partners in Ozark Softscape), M.U.L.E. was initially called Planet Pioneers during development.^[2] It was intended to be similar to Cartels & Cutthroats, with more graphics, better playability, and a focus on multiplayer.^[3] The real-time auction element came largely from lead designer Dani Bunten's Wheeler Dealers. The board game Monopoly was used as a model for the game, for its encouragement of social interaction. It also inspired features such as the different species (as the different tokens in Monopoly).^[3]

The setting was inspired by Robert A. Heinlein's Time Enough for Love, wherein galactic colonization is in the style of the American Old West: A few pioneers with drive and primitive tools. The M.U.L.E. itself is a cross between the genetically modified animal in Heinlein's novel and a Star Wars Imperial Walker. Another Heinlein novel, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, provided the decision to not have any government or external authority.^[3]

Influences

M.U.L.E. was unusual in the ease with which it allowed multiplayer interaction through a single game computer console. Though this failed as a trend setter at the time, the game is still heralded as the first game to make effective use of the multiplayer game concept.

Although not a bestselling title, the game is a favorite of retrogaming enthusiasts. Several clones for various computers exist including the versions Subtrade and Traders. The original's theme song by Roy Glover has been covered by remix groups.

Bunten was working on an Internet version of the game until her death in 1998. In 2005, a netplay component called Kaillera was integrated into the Atari800WinPlus emulator, enabling the original game to be played over the Internet.^[4]

Many game designers cite the game as one of the most revolutionary ever and an inspiration for many of their games. Will Wright dedicated his game The Sims to the memory of Bunten. The M.U.L.E. theme song was included in Wright's later game, Spore, as an Easter egg in the space level..

A modern version of the game entitled Space HoRSE was developed in 2004 by Gilligames and is distributed by Shrapnel Games.^[5]

An online remake of the game called Planet M.U.L.E. was released on December 6, 2009. The game is free for download and runs on all major platforms.^[6]

Reception

M.U.L.E. was widely lauded by players^[7][8] and the gaming press.^[9] In 1996, Computer Gaming World named M.U.L.E. as #3 on its Best Games of All Time list. Despite acclaim, the game only sold 30,000 copies.^[10] M.U.L.E. was named #5 "Ten Greatest PC Game Ever" by PC World in 2009.^[11]

References

External links

• M.U.L.E. guide at StrategyWiki
• M.U.L.E. at MobyGames
• M.U.L.E. online
• "The Gamer's Quarter Issue 6" - Features an article by John Szczepaniak, containing transcribed audio interviews with three of the original key team members behind M.U.L.E., along with other people involved in the project, plus a comprehensive history of the game. Article title is "Mechanical Donkeys".
• Article at The Dot Eaters detailing Bunten, EA and a history of M.U.L.E.
• Planet M.U.L.E. official site providing a distribution of the modified recent game.

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

M.U.L.E.
Developer(s)	Ozark Softscape
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Strategy
System(s)	Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128, NES, MSX
Players	1-4

Wikipedia has an article about:

M.U.L.E.

An analogy that best describes the significance of M.U.L.E. is that M.U.L.E. is to early home computer games, what Monopoly is to boardgames: A game that turns a potentially dry subject such as economics, and turns it into a fun game of conniving and backstabbing your friends. M.U.L.E. was developed in 1983, primarily by Dan Bunten of Ozark Softscape, and published by the then-fledgling establishment known as Electronic Arts. (Dan passed away as Danielle Bunten in 1998.)

The concept behind M.U.L.E. was simple, but it would go on to breed very complex strategies. Four colonists land on a barren planet, and go on to build a colony around a town square. In order to survive, each player must purchase M.U.L.E.s, which stands for Multiple Use Labor Element, and outfit them with a particular job program, and put them to work on each of their plots of land. M.U.L.E.s could be outfitted to harvest food, electricity, and smithore. Each commodity was essential to successful (and economic) life on the colony. As a result, players could choose to sell their surplus of supplies to other players who might be in need, or sell excess to the colony store for later purchase.

Players who worked cooperatively, would often find their colony prospering, but would contain very little wealth. Once the greed factor of each player kicked in, the picture changes dramatically. By hording one commodity, or many, players could trade off the colony's overall success for their own financial gain. This would typically drive other players to attempt independence from the market by being self-sufficient, or go to war with one greedy player by stockpiling a commodity that the other player might be in need of to force a negotiation. The complexity increases in the Advanced game with the addition of the Crystite commodity. This guide will go in to all of the specifics of how these kinds of situations could potentially arise.

M.U.L.E. was a runaway hit in the early home computer game market, first appearing on the Atari 8-bit line of computers, which allowed for four player simultaneous play with its four joystick ports. It appeared on the Commodore 64 soon after. It also appeared as a specially made game for the IBM PCjr. In Japan, it was produced for the MSX home computer. And when four player support was added to the NES through adapters such as the Four Score and the NES Satellite, an updated, yet faithful adaptation of M.U.L.E. graced the successful console.

Story

Four colonists have been selected to take a transport ship to planet Irata, where they will be left to fend for themselves for 12 months in an attempt to build a successful colony. If they succeed, great wealth will be their reward, but if they get too greedy, the colony will be doomed to failure. Each colonist must make use of the Multiple Use Labor Element robots known as M.U.L.E.s to harvest essential commodities such as food, electricity, and smithore, which form the basis of the colony's economy. Will the colonists work together to help the colony flourish and prosper? Or will one or more players' greed get the best of them and sacrifice the colony's well being for their own financial benefit?

Table of Contents

Gameplay summary

• Each player starts by choosing a race to play as. (Computer players always choose the Mechtron race)
• The transport ship drops each player off and the game begins.
• At the start of each round, each player is entitled to one free plot of land (provided that there are four or more available plots of land).
• A plot of land may or may not come up for auction.
• At the start of each player's turn, a good event may randomly occur if the player is in 3rd or 4th place, or a bad event may randomly occur if the player is in 1st or 2nd place.
• The player may use as much turn time as he has available (dictated by the amount of food he has) to purchase M.U.L.E.s, outfit them, assign them to his plots, and any other activity he or she chooses such as hunting the Mountain Wampus for extra money, or ending his turn by gambling at the pub.
• When all players have taken their turn, the production phase begins. Each M.U.L.E. produces an amount of commodity, dictated by how well suited the land is to producing that commodity, and the amount of electricity the player has stored, and a few other factors.
• Just before or just after production, a random event may occur which impacts the outcome of production.
• When the production phase is over, the auction phase begins, where players may buy or sell their commodities to other players or to the colony store. When the auction phase is over, the next round begins.
• The game is over when 12 rounds have passed (6 in the beginner game).