Category: MicroProse Software
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Old Gamers Never Die, or: Operation Market-Garden, ‘Crusade in Europe,’ and Unexpected Victories
“Many historians, with an ‘if only’ approach to the British defeat, have focused so much on different aspects of Operation Market Garden which went wrong that they have tended to overlook the central element. It was quite simply a very bad plan right from the start and right from the top. Every other problem stemmed…
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Old Gamers Never Die: A Player’s Guide to ‘Crusade in Europe’ (Part One of a Series)
Background Briefing Earlier this year, Atari – which owns the rights to many of the original MicroProse Software’s library of games – rereleased the three games in the mid-1980s Command Series trilogy of wargames: Crusade in Europe, Decision in the Desert, and Conflict in Vietnam. Designed by MicroProse co-founder Sid Meier and Ed Bever and…
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Old Gamers Never Die: or, Why I Love ‘Crusade in Europe’ & Other Musings
Why I Love ‘Crusade in Europe’ & Other Musings Hello there, and welcome to another installment of Old Gamers Never Die, an occasional series in which I write about the computer games I play and – more often than not – love. Today I’m continuing my look at Crusade in Europe, one of the first…
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Old Gamers Never Die: Pointers for First-Time Players of ‘Crusade in Europe’
Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, USA, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary…
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Classic Computer Game Review: ‘Crusade in Europe’
Crusade in Europe (1985) Genre: War/Strategy/Historical Simulation Setting: World War II, Northwest Europe Campaign (D-Day through Ardennes Counteroffensive, 1944-1945) Designed by: Sid Meier and Ed Bever, Ph.D Publisher: MicroProse Software, Inc. In 1985, MicroProse Software, Inc. published Crusade in Europe[1], a World War II-themed strategy game that allows you to play the role of a…
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Old Gamers Never Die: Hunting Soviet Sub Tenders in Arctic Ocean is No Cakewalk in ‘Cold Waters’
The Time: 13 November 1984, 1300 Lima The Place: The Arctic Ocean The Mission: Intercept and sink a Soviet Don-class (Soviet designation Project 310 Batur) submarine and any REDFLT submarines it might be replenishing and/or rearming. These sub tenders are high-value targets and are likely to have support from submarines, surface ships, and naval aircraft. If you…
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Old Gamers Never Die, or: Reliving the Liberation of Europe with MicroProse’s 1987 Classic War Game ‘Crusade in Europe’
Back in the late 1980s, when I was still a journalism student at Miami-Dade Community College in South Florida, I used to go to the nearby Miami International Mall to do a bit of shopping. My favorite places then were Waldenbooks and a software retailer called Babbage’s.[1] Before 1987, most of my trips to the…
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Old Gamers Never Die: A Discussion on ‘Beating the Odds’ in ‘Cold Waters’
Background Briefing Cold Waters, the 2017 Cold War-turned-hot submarine simulation developed and published four years ago by Australian game studio Killerfish Games (Atlantic Fleet, War on the Sea) is one of my favorite computer games. Inspired by the 1988 MicroProse game Red Storm Rising, Cold Waters puts you in command of a nuclear-powered submarine from…
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Old Gamers Never Die: ‘Cold Waters’ – One Campaign, Two Endings
Hello there, Dear Reader. It’s late afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Sunday, March 14, 2021. Right now the temperature is almost summerish: 81˚F (27˚C) under sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the west at 10 MPH (17 KM/H) and humidity at 53%, the heat index is 82˚F (28˚C). Today’s forecast calls for…
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Musings & Thoughts for Saturday, March 13, 2021, or: Mixing Movie-Making Magic with Submarine Mayhem on My Day Off
Hi, there, Dear Reader. It’s mid- to late afternoon (depending on your definition) on Saturday, March 13, 2021. Here in New Hometown, Florida it is a nice late winter day (again, depending on one’s perception of “winter); currently, the temperature is 83˚F (28˚C) under sunny skies. With humidity at 39% and the wind blowing from…
