Dragonriders of Pern

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When diplomatic maneuvers fail you, you may be forced to resort to a duel — a wounded leader is unable to take any actions for a long time –, but this may jeopardize your status with peaceful leaders. Finally, conclaves may be called up after certain events like the death of a Weyrleader. Next, enter the name of your dragon when prompted, allowing only ten characters here. Correct dragon names end in “th”. (ex. Mnementh, Kadith, Orth, etc.) Play Dragonriders of Pern online

The first book, Dragonflight, is primarily focused on the efforts of Benden Weyr's new dragon master to form an alliance to fight the soon-to-arrive Thread. It has been hundreds of years since the last approach of the two planets, and the planet is ill-prepared for its return. In the novels, the world of Pern is in a semi-feudal state of development. The majority of the population belongs to one of many Holds, which are similar to principalities or duchies. Dragonriders of Pern is a video game published by Epyx in 1983 based on Anne McCaffrey's book series of the same name. The game was released for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64. Thread fighting occurs at the end of each year. During this phase of the game, you mount your dragons and you must pursue the falling Thread and char it in midair with the dragon’s fiery breath before it lands. Originally formed as Automated Simulations in 1978 as a partnership between Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, the company had initially concentrated on wargame titles like Starfleet Orion. The release of the famed Temple of Apshai in 1979 took the company away from its hardcore market into a more action-oriented space. Concerned about brand dilution, the company introduced the Epyx brand to cover these titles. As these were very successful, the Epyx brand became more widely used than its parent company's name. [2]The Weyrs are dedicated to the raising and training of dragons, whose fiery breath is the only effective weapon against the Thread. Only the combined forces of many Weyrs could hope to deal with the Thread on a global basis, but internecine political battles between the Holds, Weyrs, and powerful Guilds prevent any sort of global response. A board game based on the same basic premise was also released in 1983 by Mayfair Games. Like the Epyx game, the board game concentrated on the diplomatic efforts of one to seven players, with the same basic victory conditions. Unlike the Epyx version, there was no action sequence. [3] The parallels between the gameplay dynamics of the two games are striking, but existing sources do not record whether or not this was due to a collaborative effort. Dragon Riders of Pern ends after a certain number of turns (also to be selected at game beginning), when a player reaches a certain number of “Victory Points” awarded for forging alliances, or when a certain number of Holds are infested by threads. Dragonriders names

You can facilitate negotiations by organizing special events: To win the confidence of a Lord Holder who fancies dragons, invite him to a Hatching. Weddings also provide opportunities to score diplomatic points. The game consists of two major phases: Negotiation/Intrigue, where you negotiate with Lord Holders or Craftsmasters, and Thread Fighting. where you fight the Thread from infesting your lands. The game was considered a forerunner of similar games based on novels. [1] A sequel for the Commodore 64, Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, was cancelled and not completed. [2] Plot [ edit ] Dragonriders was one of the last games designed to the original vision of the thinking man's game company. Although Dragonriders garnered critical praise, its release was overshadowed by the pure-action game Jumpman, a huge success. Connelley left with his team soon after, and this was his last game at Epyx. [2]The Atari version had some bugs in which Holds you were allied with would suddenly become unallied and thread would be grounded even though you had kept all the thread off the ground during the arcade sequence.

While negotiations are taking place, a map of Pern periodically appears, highlighting a Hold where Thread is falling. Any of the Weyrs can choose to send dragons to fight the Thread, and how many to send. The outcome of these battles has a major influence on the Weyr's perception among the Holds, so sending dragons to allies, or potential allies, has a major outcome during the next turn. When the turn ends, thread is fought. [1]Miss a Thread and it may destroy you… or hit the ground and turn the land to dust. At the beginning of the game, you can select the difficulty of the Thread fighting or disable it entirely. By 1982 the company had grown very large and Freeman left to work on his own (forming Free Fall Associates). Although Connelley was ostensibly in control of the company, in effect he had removed himself from the day-to-day operations to focus on development. This led to the formation of an internal development team under his direction, known as "The Connelley Group". [2] During this period, the company continued moving its focus from simulations and wargames to action titles. By 1983 the company's management was focusing on the Epyx brand, and changed the name of the company to match. [2] A Dragonrider conclave will cancel all ongoing events for all Weyrs. A Lord Holder conclave will only cancel events involving Lord Holders and the Master Harper. Time passes in realtime during the strategic phase, but you can pause the game.

Gameplay [ edit ] A thread fight. The dragon is in the upper right corner of the screen in the frontmost of three "depths". Thread is falling on two of these depths; the larger Threads (like those lower on the screen) at the front, and smaller Threads (examples at the top) in the middle depth.

Like the books, Dragonriders focuses on the strategic need to form alliances between the Holds, Weyrs, and Guilds. It also had the option of periodic action sequences in which the player has to fight the Thread directly. Name must be no longer than eight characters and must be in the correct dragonrider honourific. (Apostrophe in the second or third position. ex. F’lar, Sh’gall, T’bor, etc.) Dragonriders was developed during a key period of the development of Epyx, what amounted to a "battle for the creative vision of Epyx". [2]