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''Battle Isle'' is a series of
turn-based strategy Strategy video game is a major video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy genre is most commo ...
/
tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics In chess, a tac ...
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s developed in the 1990s by
Blue Byte Ubisoft Blue Byte GmbH (Blue Byte until 2017) is a German video game holding company owned by Ubisoft. It was founded in October 1988 by Thomas Hertzler and Lothar Schmitt as a developer and ís best known for developing the '' Anno'' and ''Th ...
and released for
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...
and
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
and later for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. The settings are wars on a fictional planet, Chromos.


Plot

The ''Battle Isle'' storyline is set on a fictional planet called Chromos, whose society is technologically slightly more advanced than that of contemporary
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
, possessing the knowledge of advanced robotics (
robots" \n\n\n\n\n\n\nrobots.txt is the filename used for implementing the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the website they are allowed to visit.\n\nThe sta ...
), computers ( AIs) and limited spaceflight (enough to set up space colonies on the moon of Chromos). The individual games represent various wars that took place on Chromos.


Gameplay

The first three games are played on a hexagonal grid for a map. Players not only control the combat units (ranging from
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
and
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...
s to
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s, fighters and
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...
s,
armored train An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with vehicle armour, heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. So ...
s, surface
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...
s and
submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
s, stationary gun turrets), but (especially in the later games) also many support
logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
units (ammo and fuel transports, scout and radar units, road and construction vehicles, and others). Units have various weapons and can gain experience (which in later games can be transferred over in a campaign). Fuel and ammo is limited, and logistics require careful attention. Players also control buildings, where units can be repaired, and sometimes, produced. Weather conditions change, affecting unit movements (for example, a sea or river can freeze, immobilizing ships but allowing light units to move through it).
Fog of war The fog of war is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary Intent (Military), inten ...
is prevalent and players have to use scouting units to gain information about the battlefield. Some of those options were added in expansions or sequels. Players have various tasks, ranging from eliminating all opponent forces to capturing specific buildings or protecting certain units or places. In some missions events from outside the battlefield can suddenly change the situation, giving players new objectives, reinforcements, allies or enemies. In some battles there are more than two sides, each with their own objectives, not all of them directly involved in hostilities - some of them can be even allied. At the same time, those allegiances can change because of some events or actions. ''Battle Isle'' one had the screen divided into two parts, one for each player. The turns were also divided into move and attack phases. While one player moved his units, the other commanded his own troops to carry out his actions. ''Battle Isle 2'' gave the player the entire screen, and merged move and attack phases, and introduced the 3-D display of combat. ''Battle Isle 3'' was very similar to ''Battle Isle 2'', with improved graphics, more units and a new storyline. ''Battle Isle: The Andosian War'' was entirely set in the 3-D environment and combined elements of real-time and turn-based strategies. The AI is relatively weak, relying on mass frontal assaults. After a player survives the first few turns and the AI's overwhelming numbers using protected artillery and terrain advantage, the computer is usually unable to mount a proper defense.


History

'' Battle Isle'' was Blue Byte's first big success in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. It was completed in 1991. Inspired by the
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese game '' Nectaris'' for the
PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched ...
, ''Battle Isle'' spawned numerous add-ons, sequels (most notable are '' Battle Isle 2'' from 1993 and '' Battle Isle 3'' from 1995) and imitations. Of those among the most notable is Blue Byte's own '' History Line: 1914-1918'' from 1993, which moves the
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
ish climate of ''Battle Isle'' into the times of
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Others include the
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
projects of ''Crimson Fields'' and ''Advanced Strategic Command''. After the release of ''Battle Isle 2'', Blue Byte decided to release a Windows version on CD'. This was one of the first games for Windows (3.11/95 and NT). The program was to be converted to Windows while the maps were to be replaced with new ones and a new storyline was to be written. The project was led by Patric Lagny who wrote the video player for ''Battle Isle 2'' and had many of the original graphic artists from the ''Battle Isle 2'' team. While the program was being developed, Blue Bytes Marketing Department suggested to name this product ''Battle Isle 3'' instead of marketing it as a ''Data CD for Battle Isle 2'' with Windows support. Over 600,000 copies were sold. Two data disks were released for ''Battle Isle'', and one for ''Battle Isle 2''. ''Battle Isle 3'' represented the most developed variant of ''Battle Isle 2''. However, in the late 1990s, Blue Byte decided that the old model was no longer sufficient and decided to change the model of the series. In July 1997, an entry in the ''Battle Isle'' franchise was in the works by Blue Byte for the
Panasonic M2 Panasonic M2, earlier known as 3DO M2, is a multimedia terminal and cancelled video game console. It was initially developed by The 3DO Company as a peripheral chip for the 3DO hardware before turning into a standalone successor system. In Janu ...
, but it never happened due to the cancellation of the system. In 1997 a new ''Battle Isle'' game was released as a 3-D tactical squad game: '' Incubation'', similar to '' UFO: Enemy Unknown'' and, later in 2000, ''Battle Isle: The Andosia War'' which tried to bridge the gap between turn-based strategies and
real-time strategies Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pl ...
. Both titles, while mildly successful, alienated many older players who had come to expect that the ''Battle Isle'' brand would represent traditional,
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
style games. Blue Byte attempted to use the ''Battle Isle'' brand name on yet another game (and genre), this time a
MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
'' DarkSpace'', which for a time was known as ''Battle Isle V: DarkSpace'', but after Blue Byte was bought by
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
the ''DarkSpace'' became an independent project. The first games were available for the
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...
and
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
. Later,
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
became the target for the games. In 2013, Stratotainment, LLC, a mobile game company owned by Thomas Hertzler (co-founder of Blue Byte), announced the development and the reboot of ''Battle Isle''. ''Battle Isle: Threshold Run'' was scheduled for iOS release that year. After several delays, including an unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign, the project was halted in September 2014. In 2015, Stratotainment announced a spiritual successor to ''Battle Isle'' titled ''Gamma Protocol''. In 2016 the trademark ''Battle Isle'' was acquired by Ubisoft.


Reception

Overall, the ''Battle Isle'' series has received positive feedback in reviews. In a 1992 survey of science fiction games ''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
'' gave the title three-plus stars out of five, writing that "it was enjoyable for the persistent gamer looking for new worlds to conquer". A 1994 survey gave the game two-plus stars out of five, stating that "there is still a blandness in the final result". The series has sold 650,000 copies worldwide.


Games

* '' Battle Isle'' (1991,
strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...
) * '' Battle Isle Data Disk I'' (1992, strategy) * '' Battle Isle Data Disk II'' (1993, strategy) ** Also known as ''Battle Isle '93: The Moon of Chromos''. * '' Battle Isle 2200'' (1994, strategy) ** European title: ''Battle Isle 2'' * '' Battle Isle II Data Disk I'' (1994, strategy) ** Also known as ''Battle Isle II: Titan's Legacy'' or ''Battle Isle II Scenery CD'' * '' Battle Isle 2220: Shadow of the Emperor'' (1995, strategy) ** European title: ''Battle Isle 3: Shadow of the Emperor'' * '' Incubation: Time Is Running Out'' (1997, tactics) ** European title: ''Incubation: Battle Isle Phase Four'' * '' Incubation: The Wilderness Missions'' (tactics) ** Expansion pack to ''Incubation'' * '' Battle Isle: The Andosia War'' (2000, strategy) ** German title: ''Battle Isle: Der Andosia-Konflikt'' * ''Battle Isle: Threshold Run'' (planned 2013 reboot, project cancelled)


Legacy

In 1992, '' History Line: 1914-1918'', a
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
game with the ''Battle Isle '93'' engine, was released by Blue Byte. Battle Isle has inspired two free
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
clones: * ''Advanced Strategic Command'', first released in 1998, has two modes of play: one very similar to ''Battle Isle'' and its own, with more complex management of resources. It is available for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
. * ''Crimson Fields'', first released in 2001, follows the original ''Battle Isle'' game mechanics closely, except that it doesn't allow for building of new buildings. The game is available on a variety of platforms, including
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
,
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
,
BeOS BeOS is a discontinued operating system for personal computers that was developed by Be Inc. It was conceived for the company's BeBox personal computer which was released in 1995. BeOS was designed for multitasking, multithreading, and a graph ...
,
Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...
and AROS. It is also
ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desig ...
to a number of embedded devices:
Sharp Zaurus Sharp Zaurus is a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) made by Sharp Corporation. The Zaurus was the most popular PDA during the 1990s in Japan and was based on a proprietary operating system. The first Sharp PDA to use the Linux operati ...
,
Nokia 770 The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the LinuxWorld Summit in New York City on 25 May 2005. It is designed for wireless Internet browsing and email functions and includes software su ...
,
Windows CE Windows CE, later known as Windows Embedded CE and Windows Embedded Compact, is a discontinued operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile and embedded devices. It was part of the Windows Embedded family and served as the software foun ...
,
Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDA). Designed to be the portable equivalent of the Windows desktop OS in the emerging Mobile device, mobile/port ...
(
Pocket PC A Pocket PC (P/PC, PPC) is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile operating system, which is based on Windows Embedded Compact, Windows CE/Windows Embedded Compact, and that has some of the abilities of modern ...
),
Palm OS Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) is a discontinued mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. ...
5, Android, V43 and
GP2X The GP2X is a Linux-based handheld video game console and portable media player developed by South Korean company GamePark Holdings. It was released on November 10, 2005, in South Korea only. The GP2X is designed for homebrew developers as we ...
. Both clones include a
map editor In Video game, video games, a level (also referred to as a map, mission, stage, course, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progres ...
and a converter that can load ''Battle Isle'' and ''History Line'' maps. In 2013, '' Battle Worlds: Kronos'', described as a
spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...
to ''Battle Isle'', was released by King Art Games following a successful Kickstarter campaign the same year.


References


External links


Official website
(archived) * {{Ubisoft Blue Byte Cancelled iOS games Cancelled Panasonic M2 games