Warcraft: Orcs & Humans

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
The box art for Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Developer(s)	Blizzard Entertainment[1]
Publisher(s)	NA Blizzard Entertainment EU Interplay Entertainment[2]
Designer(s)	Blizzard Entertainment[3]
Version	1.21 (PC) / 1.06 (Mac)
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Mac OS[1]
Release date(s)	NA 1994[3] EU 1995
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy[3]
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer[3]
Media	CD-ROM/4 Diskettes 1.44 MB
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy game (RTS), developed by Blizzard Entertainment and published by Blizzard and Interplay Entertainment. The MS-DOS version was released in November 1994 and the Macintosh in late 1996. Although sales were only moderate, reviewers were mostly impressed, and the game won some awards and was finalists for others. The sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, became the main rival to Westwood Studios' Command & Conquer series, and this competition fostered a RTS boom in the mid to late 1990s.

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was the first RTS title to offer multiplayer games, which quickly became considered essential across the genre. The game introduced other innovations in mission design and gameplay elements, which were adopted by other RTS developers.

The game also launched Blizzards' distinctive approach to design and production of RTS games, and influenced the enormously successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. The company's main emphases in these games were on skilful management of relatively small forces and on development of characterization and storyline within and between games played in the same universe.

Gameplay

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real time strategy game (RTS),^[3] that is, the contenders play at the same time and continuously, so that players have to move quickly.^[4][5] One player represents the Human habitants of Azeroth, and the other controls the the invading Orcs.^[6][7] Each side tries destroys the other, by collecting resources and then building an army.^[3] In addition both sides have to ward off dangers from wild monsters, but sometimes can use some monsters as troops.^[8][9][10] The game plays in a medieval setting with fantasy elements. Both sides have melee units and ranged units, and also spellcasters.^[4]

Modes

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans gameplay incorporated the award-winning Dune II "build base, build army, destroy enemy" paradigm, and expanded it to include other modes of game play.^[3] These included several new types, including conquering rebels of the player's race; rescuing and rebuilding besieged towns; rescuing friendly forces from an enemy camp and then destroying the main enemy base; and limited-forces missions, in which neither side could make further units, and making efficient use of one's platoon was at a premium.^[11] In one mission, the gamer had to kill the Orc chief's daughter.^[12]

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was also the first game to support multiplayer contests, allowing two gamers to compete by modem or local networks,^[13] and proved much more challenging that the artificial intelligence (AI).^[6] Multiplayer and randomly-created skirmishes were supported by another of the game's innovations, a random map generator.^[3][12]

Storyline

The Orcs originated from another world, where the majority were bloodthirsty warriors riven by strife. However, their Warlocks remained aloof, devoted to the research of magic. The Warlocks noticed a rift between the dimensions and, after many years, opened a small portal to another world. One Warlock explored and found a region whose Human inhabitants called Azeroth, and from which the Warlock returned with strange plants as evidence of his discovery.^[14]

The Orcs enlarged the portal until they could transport seven warriors, who massacred a Human village. The platoon brought back samples of good food and fine workship, and a report that the Humans were defenceless. The Orcs' raiding parties grew larger and bolder, until they assault Azeroth's principal castle. However, the Humans had been training warriors of their own, especially the mounted, heavily-armed Knights. These, assisted by Humans Sorcerors, gradually forced the Orcs to retreat through the portal, which the Humans had not discovered.^[14]

For the next fifteen years, one faction Orc demaded that the portal be closed. However a chief of exceptional cunning realised that the Humans, although out-numered, prevailed by superior tactics and organization. He united the clans, imposed discipline on their army and sought new magics from the Warlocks and Necromancers. Their combined forces were ready to overthrow the Humans.^[14]

User interface

Orcs (red) attack a Human town and its defenders (blue). The flaming building is close to collapse, and the burnt ground to its left is the remains of a razed building. The numbers across the top are the gamer's reserves of lumber and gold. The unit marked with a light green box is currently selected, and its details appear in the lower left panel. The upper left panel is the mini-map, which shows the all the territory fought over, mostly not yet discovered by the gamer, and enables the gamer to select a part of the territory to view.

The main screen has three areas: the largest, to the right, is the part of the territory on which the gamer is currently operating; the top left is the minimap; and, if a building or unit(s) is selected, the bottom left shows their status and any upgrades and the actions that can be performed.^[15] The status details include a building's or unit's health, including its progress if being constructed, and any upgrades the object has completed.^[11] The Menu control, at the very bottom on the left, provides access to save game, load game and other menu functions.^[15]

Initially most of the main map and minimap are blacked out, but the visible area expands as the gamer's units explore the map. The mini-map shows a summary of the whole territory, with blue dots for the gamer's buildings and units and red dots for enemy ones. The gamer can click in the main map or the minimap to scrolling the main map around the territory.^[15]

All functions can be invoked by the mouse. Keys can also invoke the game setup, some of the menu options and some gameplay functions including scrolling, pausing the game and bookmarking parts of the map. ^[15] Gamers can select single units by clicking, and groups of up to four by shift-clicking or bandboxing.^[12][15] To move units, gamers can shift the mouse to select units on the main map, move to the unit menu to select an action action, and then back to the main map to specify the target area; but shortcut keys can eliminate the middle mouse action in this cycle.^[11][15]

Economy and power

Warcraft strategy is based on the allocation of resources to produce buildings and units in a timely and efficient manner in order to defeat an opponent in combat. ^[3] Resources include wood and gold, collected from non-combatant builders who deliver the resources to the town center.^[4] Both mines, from which gold is dug, and forests, where wood is chopped, are limited resources which become depleted over time. Gamers need to collect these resources efficiently, and to retain forests as defensive walls in the early game when combat forces are small.^[11]

Resources are then used to develop a variety of buildings, which differ between the Orc and Human game paths. The lower-level buildings for Humans and Orcs have the same functions, but different graphics.^[3] The most advanced buildings produce spell-casters and their spells, and are different for the two races.^[6] The Town Hall stores resources and produces units that collect resources and construct buildings. Each Farm provides food for up to four units, and additional units cannot be produced until enough Farms are built.^[16][17]

A variety of units, including melee, ranged, mounted, and siege units can be developed for combat. Additionally, both Orcs and Human have unique spellcasters, which are trained in advanced buildings unique to each species, and which can be constructed only with assistance from other buildings.^{[16][17][18][19]}

Warcraft supports four spell-casting units, each with a different kind of magic. Human Cleric and Orc Necrolyte can both defend themselves by magic and also see distant parts of the territory for short periods.^[20][21] The Cleric's other spells are protective, healing the injured and making himself invisible,^[20] while the Necrolyte raises skeletons as troops and can make other units temporarily invulnerable, at the cost of severely damaging them when the spell dissipates.^[21] The Human Conjurer and Orc Warlock have energy blasts, wider-range destruction spells and ability to summon small, venomous monsters. The Conjurer can summon a water element, while the Warlock can summon a demonic melee unit.^[20][21]

Development and publication

Blizzard Entertainment was surprised that no company, including Westwood Studios, released a competitor to Dune II^[3][6] – although in fact Westwood had quietly been working on Command & Conquer since the completion of Dune II.^[22] To take advantage of the lull in RTS, Blizzard produced Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. While later "...craft" games were famous for complex stories presented lavishly, the first member of the series had no script and was improvised in the recording studio by one of the game's producers.^[23] Demos in summer 1994 whetted appetites for the completed version, released for MS-DOS in November 1994^[3][6] and for the Macintosh in 1996.^[12] The game was published by Blizzard in North America and by Interplay Entertainment in Europe,^[2] and Sold-Out Software republished the MS-DOS version in March 2002.^[24]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
MobyGames	79%[1]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Game Revolution	A-[25]
PC Gamer US	92%[1]
Mac Gamer	92%[1][12]
Coming Soon	91%[1]
Joystick	85%[1]
PC Games (Germany)	85%[1]
Abandonia	80%[1][26]
High Score (Mac)	80%[1]
Just Games Retro	78%[1][11]
Dragon	[27]

Reviews did not appear until months later, but the game became far the company's greatest success so far, and for the first time made the company's finances secure.^[6] This motivated Blizzard to develop a sequel, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.^[3] MobyGames's collection of reviews shows scores from 92% to 75%, except that MobyGames estimated a score of 40% for a Swedish review.^[1][28] Warcraft: Orcs & Humans won PC Gamer’s Editors' Choice Award, Computer Life’s Critics' Pick and the Innovations Award at the Consumer Electronics Show, Winter 1995. It was a finalist for Computer Gaming World’s Premier award, PC Gamer’s Strategy Game of the Year and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Best Strategy award.^[29]

The game was reviewed in 1995 in Dragon #219 by Jay & Dee in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Both reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.^[27] The game was also reviewed in Dragon #220 by Paul Murphy in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. According to Murphy, "Warcraft: Humans & Orcs is great fun— absorbing and colorful."^[30]

The early stage of a game can be slow, as the player must produce a few basic buildings and peasants in order to gather resources, and then start building combat units.^[11] Meanwhile the AI does not to spend so much effort on gathering resources and often starts with more buildings, which forces the gamer to spends more of each contest on the defensive.^[11]

While the basic units of the two sides were also identical, there were suggestions that the balance of the more advanced forces favored the Orcs, especially the Orc Daemon.^[11]

The user interface had an unsophisticated appearance, but worked in most respects.^[11] However the selecting of no more than four units at a time was restrictive.^[11] There was no queuing of construction or research.^[11]

Some reviewers thought the game's AI was unintelligent and predictable,^[3] and one wished for a facility to set the difficulty level.^[12] Others found the AI's raids were well managed, and usually found the weaknesses in the gamer's position.^[11] Quite often two or three of the gamer's units would attack without orders, while the rest still nothing.^[12] One reviewer found pathfinding adequate,^[12] while others found it very poor,^[3] and one considered this as typical of RTS games.^[31]

On both the DOS and Macintosh versions, the game ran very slowly during large battles.^[12][11]

The good stereo sound helped gamers to locate events that occured outside the current viewport.^[12] Some reviewers like units' speech effects, especially in response to repeated clicks,^[31] while others found this monotonous.^[11][12]

Game Revolution’s review of the Mac version complained that Warcraft: Orcs & Humans’s graphics, which were ported from the DOS version's VGA, did not exploit the Macintosh's superior resolution.^[25] However, Game Revolution and Mac Gamer agreed that visual shortcomings did not reduce Mac gamers' enjoyment of the engrossing gameplay. Both also complained that the Macintosh was released about a year later than the DOS version.^[25][12]

Legacy

Innovations

The only previous RTS game for the personal computer, Westwood's Dune II (1992), was futuristic. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans played in a medieval fantasy setting, which introduced hand-to-hand combat and the use of magic into RTS .^[4] While most of the game's missions were of the "build base, build army, destroy enemy" type pioneered by Dune II,^[4] Warcraft: Orcs & Humans introduced a variety of other types, including rescuing and rebuilding besieged towns, and limited-forces missions, in which neither side could make further units.^[11] Following the lead of the first-person shooter Doom (1993),^[32] Warcraft: Orcs & Humans became the first RTS game to support multiplayer contests, allowing two gamers to compete by modem or local networks.^[13] Multiplayer games and skirmishes against AI opponents were supported by another of the game's innovations, a random map generator.^[3][12]

Multiplayer games became an indispensable element of all RTS games.^[6] Westwood's Command & Conquer also adopted use of non-standard mission types,^[33] and the same company's Red Alert (1996) also included skirmishes.^[34] Microsoft's Age of Empires (1997), described as "Warcraft with a hint of Civilization,^[35] included non-standard mission types, skirmishes and a random map generator.^[36]

Sequels

In autumn Westwood released Command & Conquer, and in December 1995 Blizzard responded with Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. The competition between these two sequels made the RTS genre popular,^[31] and the two series defined the genre.^[37] Blizzard's new game's enhancements included: excellent artwork rendered in SVGA graphics; improved sound including amusing responses from units; a much better AI; and new mechanisms such as patroling (moving continuously along a route for surveillance or defense).^[38]

Blizzard style of RTS games

While Warcraft: Orcs & Humans was a modest success, it laid the ground for Blizzard's enduring approach to RTS.^[31] Features of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans developed into Blizzard's style of RTS, in which personality was a distinctive element. The increasingly picturesque responses to repeating of clicking a unit became a trademark of the company. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans introduced characters that later appeared in the enormously successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. The company's manuals presented detailed backstories and artwork.^[31] Starcraft used a futuristic theme, but placed the same emphasis in characterization. In all the Blizzard RTS games and in World of Warcraft, units must be managed carefully, rather than treated as expendable hordes. Blizzard has produced fewer expansion packs than Westwood, but integrated the story of each with its predessors.^[39]

References

Bibliography

The manual is organized as two separate books with separate page ranges, but in one binding. Both parts contain common sections such as the technical requirements and game set-up instructions.

• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (Humans). Irvine, California: Blizzard Entertainment. 1994.  (Mac version)
• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (Orcs). Irvine, California: Blizzard Entertainment. 1994.  (Mac version)

External links

• Official Lore: The Dark Portal and the Fall of Stormwind.
• Game Manual History on Warcraft's game box
• Warcraft: Orcs & Humans on WoWWiki, a Warcraft wiki
• WarCraft - Orcs and Humans - Gameplay - video clip
• WarCraft 1: Orcs and Humans - music clips