Ballerburg
Among German-speaking ex-Atari users Ballerburg is a bit like Tetris is for anyone who ever used a Windows PC in the mid-90s: They all know it, they all have played it, even if they don't care about games otherwise. Yes, it might even be a safe bet that it was more popular among non-gamers, for it ran on the hi-res monitor, which gamers usually did not choose.
For those of you not familiar with the Atari ST: This must have been the only home computer system ever that needed different monitors for its two different video modes. Lo-res (320×200) had 16 colors out of 4096 and was mainly used for games. Hi-res (640×400) was monochrome and used for spreadsheets, desktop publishing, and other office applications.
But people like to play on any platform or video mode, a fact even Steve Jobs had to learn, and so there were a number of games for the hi-res monitor too, sometimes simply because detail was more important than color, as in Oxyd, or because neither was all that important, and therefore both modes were supported, as in Balance of Power. But mainly the hi-res mode was the realm of shareware and freeware authors.
Ballerburg is an artillery game with some strategy elements, for balls and powder must be bought. The necessary money is raised by taxation. But the higher the taxes, the less taxable subjects you will have, since they will run away. Additional money can be made with derricks, but of course these derricks can be damaged or destroyed by your opponent.
Ballerburg received little recognition outside the German-speaking Atari community. But it has never been forgotten, and remakes are being made for modern computer systems.
| Artillery Games | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artillery | ![Apple ][](../platform/apple.gif) |
80 |  |
B. Goodson | |||
| Ballerburg |  |
87 | |
Eckhard Kruse | |||
| Tank Wars |  |
90 | |
Kenneth Morse | |||
| Bang! Bang! |  |
|
David B. Lutton II | ||||
| Howitzer | |
93 | |
Randall Spangler | |||
| Scorched Earth 1.5 | |
95 | |
Wendell Hicken | |||
