| GolemLabs | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Private |
| Founded | Sherbrooke, Canada (December 20, 2000) |
| Headquarters | Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada |
| Industry | Computer and Video Games |
| Products | SuperPower, SuperPower 2 |
| Website | www.golemlabs.com |
A developer of modern geopolitical strategy games for Windows-running personal computers, GolemLabs' slogan is "Games That Think". The term privately held company refers to ownership of a business company in two different ways first referring to ownership by non-governmental organizations and second Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" The video game industry (formally referred to as Interactive entertainment) is the economic sector involved with the development, Marketing In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need A superpower is a State with a leading position in the international system and the ability to Influence events and project power on a worldwide scale SuperPower 2 is a strategic Wargame game developed by Canadian based GolemLabs and published by DreamCatcher Games A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Geopolitics is the study that analyzes Geography, History and Social science with reference to Spatial politics and patterns at various scales A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated The company released its first title, SuperPower, in March 2002. SuperPower was perhaps best known for allowing the player to play nearly any nation on Earth--previous titles in its genre had limited "playable nations" to the United States, or at least one of the world's historically or currently powerful nations like Germany, Japan, or China. A superpower is a State with a leading position in the international system and the ability to Influence events and project power on a worldwide scale Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The game also was open-ended, rather than forcing the player to play through a scripted historical event (i. e World War I or the Vietnam War). World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
Superpower met with numerous mixed reviews. Some reviewers lauded the game for its originality (the modern geopolitical simulation genre had gone largely unfilled since Shadow President's release in 1994. Simulation is the imitation of some real thing state of affairs or process Shadow President is a geopolitical simulation computer game released in 1994 for the PC by the now-defunct software company DC True ) Others panned SuperPower for bugs and functionality issues. A software bug (or just “bug” is an error flaw mistake Failure, fault or “undocumented feature” in a Computer program that prevents it A persistent complaint of players was that not all of the advertised functionality actually worked, especially that of managing a nation's economy and research. An economic system is a System that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter. The original SuperPower also met up with criticism over its incompleteness at release, which was also to resurface in SuperPower 2, its successor.
In 2004, GolemLabs released the successor to SuperPower, Superpower 2. SuperPower 2 is a strategic Wargame game developed by Canadian based GolemLabs and published by DreamCatcher Games In the vein of SuperPower, players could play virtually any nation on Earth, including the Holy See and Liechtenstein. The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent Episcopal see of the Roman Catholic The Principality of Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein) is a tiny doubly landlocked Alpine country in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland Some players enjoyed SuperPower 2 immensely and sang its praises. Most fans delighted in the multiplayer mode that allowed groups to meet on the Internet, and each play a nation, almost invariably getting into a slugfest with custom-designed army, navy, air force, and nuclear units. A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time An army (from Latin Armata "act of arming" via Old French armée) in the broadest sense is the land-based Armed forces An air force, also known in some countries as an air army or historically an army air corps, is in the broadest sense the national military or armed service A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Players would take pride in playing a relatively minor nation and conquering the world. (Some, however, pointed out that being able to play Kenya and take over the world in 30 game-years was an indication of how unrealistic the SuperPower 2 engine was. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south ) The game's devoted fans have invested prodigious time and energy into creating their own mods. Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Computer games especially First-person shooters RPGs and Real-time strategy games Most mods either address perceived shortcomings in the game's database, or create an alternate history where, for instance, the USSR never dissolved, or the South won the U. Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861 S. Civil War.
The technical depth of the geopolitical, economic, and political aspects of the simulation was groundbreaking. Unfortunately the title, like its predecessor, was bedeviled with stability issues. On the now-defunct discussion forums, many players complained that the economic component of the simulation broke down as the game progressed, sending the economy of whatever nation the player was running into autarky and collapsing GDP regardless of the player's management decisions. An autarky is an economy that is self-sufficient and does not take part in International trade, or severely limits trade with the outside world
Despite the innovation the games showed, GolemLabs' first two titles never managed to gain traction in the overall PC gaming market, attaining a cult following that may not have been sufficient to enable the company to prosper. A cult following is a group of fans devoted to a specific area of Pop culture. During much of the last half of 2005, GolemLabs was largely dormant, with its official Web site untended and in disrepair. Conversations on the company's unofficial fansite speculated that GolemLabs was in virtual hibernation to deal with unspecified legal troubles, and would resurface with more titles. A fansite or fan site (also named fanpage is a Website created and maintained by a fan (s or devotee(s interested in a Celebrity, thing or For the ability of certain operating systems see Hibernate (OS feature Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression However, as time elapsed, more and more GolemLabs fans feared the company might be sliding into bankruptcy as yet another software developer that could not leverage its innovative visions into a viable business. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against
On November 30th, 2005, a tantalizing news article appeared where the GolemLabs official forum used to be, strongly hinting that the company had found an investor or other source of capital, and would resume operations soon. Because previous indications that the company would resume operations failed to pan out, this news was met with considerable skepticism by much of GL's userbase.
However, 2006 has seen much renewed activity on the part of GolemLabs; the corporate Web site returned, resuming full operation. On March 8th, 2006, GL released the highly anticipated SDK for SuperPower 2, which is a set of tools allowing users to edit game code directly and create more detailed, powerful mods. On March 15, 2006, the reorganized GolemLabs fora were unveiled, with new features to enhance usability and security. GL has also announced that a third title is under development. This title is known as The In-laws, and is to be a game outside the geopolitical simulation genre of SuperPower and SuperPower 2. The GolemLabs forums continue to be active, with many players sticking around in the largely popular off-topic section.
There have been numerous player-created fan sites relating to both SuperPower and SuperPower 2, but currently one of the only major ones still lasting for SuperPower 2 is GL-Portal, a fan-site/portal with a databank and a forum.
External links
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