Wilderness Campaign (video game)
{{Short description|1979 video game}}
{{for|the 1864 American Civil War campaign in Virginia|Overland Campaign}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Wilderness Campaign
| italic title =
| collapsible =
| state =
| image = Wilderness Campaign (video game, 1979).png
| caption = Typical game screen; the green elements are randomly placed while the white elements are terrain and the White Mage's fortress
| developer = Synergistic Software
| publisher = Synergistic Software
| series =
| engine =
| platforms = Apple II (48k)
| released = {{Video game release|NA|1979}}
| genre = CRPG
| modes =
| director =
| producer =
| designer =
| programmer = Robert Clardy
| artist =
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| arcade system =
}}
Wilderness Campaign is a video game written by Robert Clardy and released in 1979 by Clardy's company Synergistic Software. It was created for the Apple II platform and is considered one of the first microcomputer-based role-playing video games.
Clardy incorporated themes from Dungeons & Dragons into the game, which later was modified and included as the opening quest of Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure (1980), a multi-part adventure / role-playing video game also written by Clardy.
Game overview
In the game, the player explores the Kingdom of Draconia with a party of unnamed adventurers, seeking a magical weapon from the Sanctuary of the White Mage to overthrow the Great Necromancer. During their exploration, players will enter abandoned ruins, battling monsters and hostile citizens and collecting gold to pay their mercenaries and purchase additional resources from villages, including food and upgraded weapons and armor. They also may seek shelter in friendly castles, whose rulers may bestow additional gold and adventurers.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/wildernesscampaign |title=Synergistic Software presents Wilderness Campaign |date=1979 |publisher=Synergistic Software |access-date=5 February 2025}}{{rp|2}} Other items the player can purchase may help the party cross difficult terrain.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/crpg_book_2.0/ |title=The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games |edition=v2.0 |editor=Felipe Pepe |date=April 2019 |publisher=Bitmap Books |access-date=5 February 2025 |chapter=Dungeon Campaign |pages=40–41 |first=Felipe |last=Pepe |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/crpg_book_2.0/page/n39/mode/2up}}{{rp|41}}
Development and release
Robert Clardy began work on Wilderness Campaign in December 1978. After it was finished, it was packaged with Clardy's earlier game, Dungeon Campaign, for commercial release by Synergistic Software.{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/softalkv2n09may1982/page/42/mode/2up |title=An Odyssey to Apventure |first=David |last=Hunter |date=May 1982 |pages=42–46 |magazine=Softalk |volume=2 |number=9 |access-date=5 February 2025}}{{rp|42–43}}
Legacy
Vince Erato incorporated the adventuring and resource management mechanics of Wilderness Campaign into the electronic board game Dark Tower.{{cite news |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/return-to-dark-tower/feature/dark-tower-disappearance-return |title='It was a mess': The disappearance and return of legendary '80s board game Dark Tower |first=Dan |last=Jolin |date=August 31, 2020 |work=Dicebreaker |access-date=5 February 2025}}{{cite court |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/592/1021/1816724/ |vol=592 |reporter=F.Supp. |opinion=1021 |litigants=Burten v. Milton Bradley Co. |court=D.R.I. |date=1985 |pinpoint=1024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [game manual] {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/wildernesscampaign |title=Synergistic Software presents Wilderness Campaign |date=1979 |publisher=Synergistic Software}}
- [playable emulation] {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/a2_Dungeon_Campaign_Wilderness_Campaign_1980_Synergistic_Software |title=Dungeon Campaign & Wilderness Campaign |date=1980 |publisher=Synergistic Software |via=Internet Archive}}
- {{cite web |url=https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2013/02/game-87-wilderness-campaign-1979.html |title=Game 87: Wilderness Campaign (1979) |first=Chester |last=Bolingbroke |date=February 10, 2013 |work=CRPG Addict (blog)}}
- {{cite book |title=Synergistic Software: The Early Games |first1=Brian |last1=Wiser |first2=Bill |last2=Martens |publisher=Apple PugetSound Program Library Exchange |date=2017 |isbn=978-1-365-96063-5}}
- {{cite web |url=https://crpgadventures.blogspot.com/2020/01/game-35-wilderness-campaign-1979.html |title=Game 35: Wilderness Campaign (1979) |first=Nathan P. |last=Mahney |date=January 11, 2020 |work=CRPG Adventures (blog)}}
Category:Role-playing video games