I'm still active on UA-cam, making videos about retro video games. I have a C64 playlist if anyone wants to watch more: ua-cam.com/play/PL29Nw7At9Gp30kGeqN4qfrHGb9mpIhAIx.html Or a general retro game playlist if anyone has hours to burn. Just play it in the background and take a peek now and then 😉 ua-cam.com/play/PL29Nw7At9Gp0CfAhZ1sibVsAAFsGwFc2K.html
Loved the way this game generated new maps so you never knew what you would run into. Way ahead of it’s time. C64 was my first computer and had a blast with it.
I am Dan's daughter, Melanie and my brothers and I are finally to the place where we want to give dad's games a second shot. We are working on finding the right people to do the job. M.U.L.E. is likely to be our first release, but I've heard many people mention 7 Cities. I'm open to feedback and what you would like to see in a new release. Thank you for your continued support in games that meant so much to my dad. Melanie Bunten
God, what a blast from the past. Played this so much when I was a kid. I loved stumbling across a new civilization. But I sometimes gave in to bribing my way to the chieftain and then going on reckless mode to take everyone out.
This was one of my favorite games as a kid. This game, Below the Root, the Ultima series, and the Bard’s Tale series especially. I’d love to see this game released again on a modern system.
You killed the chief. Barbarian. Very unique game, I could have never dreamed of. rip Danielle Bunten Berry also mule was awesome. One of the greatest designers.
It is likely to be our second game out. We're currently working on MULE and I really hope the flash version will be ready by July. Thanks for the comment. Melanie
Many thanks to your father... his creativity and genius with Seven Cities and, especially, M.U.L.E is so appreciated. These games are a big part of my youth and make up some of my fondest memories of growing up in the 80's. Your father was ahead of his time. All the best to you now with your endeavors. I would welcome the opportunity to purchase and play a new version of these games. Again, all the best!
One of the best games ever. I played on an Atari 800. The only bummer I remember is eventually your empire of missions would get too big to manage, and after a time your soldiers would die off and you would lose your missions. Any remake were you could setup some kind of logistical AI would be cool. I think I vaguely remember the empire cities, they were big and tough. I'm not sure if I ever found any of the cities of gold though. Another honorable mention for old school games is Blue Max.
One of the best 4X (Explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) games of all time. Why? Because it was easy to lose. Lord knows how many times I was doing well in a Seven Cities game, but disease/native bearers running away/natives declaring pretty much a holy war on me/food spoiling/etc. left me to die alone in the jungle or getting smacked upside the head with a club with my army dead around me. Also a lot of nice atmospherics about getting credit for discovering mountain ranges, plains, rivers, jungles, lost cities, and creating missions (or having the restless natives overthrow them). There was a 1993 update by Ozark and EA, but they oversimplified things and removed a lot of what made the original special.
The idea of exploring a vast landscape using just a compass and landmarks and the act of getting lost is a big part of the game. It stemmed from creator Dan/Dani Bunten getting badly lost while hiking one day. I've got a big section on Bunten and Ozark and their many great games in the History of Electronic Arts section of my video game history website, if you'd like a read: thedoteaters.com/?bitstory=computer/electronic-arts
I found one today. Try looking for a single square island with a single mountain on it. Bring lots of men because you can only visit it once so carry as much as you can out! The natives are all white and gold colored, cool.
Man, I loved this game as a kid. I figured out if you found the Inca capital and converted the chief to Christianity the rest of the Inca Empire would follow suit.
I remember playing this. I would always leave my ship with only one man and tear through villages. For some reason, they rarely ever killed my 1 guy but if I had a lot, a lot of my guys got killed. They don't make them like they used to. Ozark was the shit.
I played that game tons. Never found a single good city. Even got lost for years in south America. Even queen Isabella thought I was too agressive with the natives. Got super rich though
@@doteaters mountains you say.. Lol I found lots of those and lots of rivers etc... I got lost for over two years (game years) after losing track of where I was on the map during a trek to far into the unknown. I got rich though by following a course of genocide against every native village I found. To the point where Queen Isabella chastised me for my actions (but still enjoyed the loot I handed over) I didn't listen to the warning though figuring I could just buy my way out of the war crimes. Alas I believe from what I remember that I got executed on my second return to Spain after slaughtering everyone on the following trip too. My crew must have ratted on me. It couldn't have been the natives they all died horribly from either my swords or disease. Poor bastards. Anyway what happened when you found a city of gold? How was it different from the regular settlements?
Oh yeah, having at least one native bearer (hopefully many more!), you can pause walking and they'll tell you if something is nearby. There would never be more than one per "square" on the map. (I think they were 8x8.)
Hey bud. I know this game well and have a working 64. I do not have this game sny more lost it back in the late 90s But i was wounding i wanted to talk about it onnmy channel. Can i use sone footage from this its well made. And im only going to use bits a piece's. If you gimme the ok youll get a big thanks in the credits
I don't remember how many times I played this - the "orignal" version was the best; there was some trick that I found where you could take over villages almost 100% of the time but I don't remember what it was. Something with a certain way to attack them...
I remembered it: keep slaughtering the natives till they admit defeat. Re-enter the village untill you find that all the natives are avoiding you. Kill a single native, go to the center of the village and keep offering gifts untill the chief appears. He will automatically 'convert his village' and offer you to build a mission.
Is there anyway to buy this game of even play it for free online somewhere? I loved this game. Couldn't remember the name for like 20 yrs...and then one day found it. Now I just can't find it at all.
@@VL1975 or you could dig through this for the disk image and emulate it ia802905.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/11/items/Commodore_C64_TOSEC_2012_04_23/Commodore_C64_TOSEC_2012_04_23.zip
LMAO Back then most of us 15 year olds would spend hours just popping village after village of natives. I played this on a Commodore 64. Every time I tried to play the game legit and do trading with the villagers, the popping natives option was just more fun.
Professional games were all coded in machinecode. Like hexadecimals. Of course the game's not in basic. It wouldn't be able to handle all the natives' sprites or the active weather during seatravels.
I cant believe I watched the entire video...dan bunten was truly a visionary...I spent countless hours playing this game....and, to this day, I have a hard time finding a better game than M.U.L.E....shit graphics, but that's all we had at the time....I actually think it made things better
You can see at 8:39 my typical bloodthirsty strategy for this game. It inevitably would end up that I would slowly make my way to the chief and murder him, thereby making it easier to conquer the demoralized native population.
Belated reply: if you had done this to a village repeatedly, at one time when you enter it again, it would all be quiet and the natives would try to avoid you. Make your way to the center. Kill a single native and bargain with the chief by offering gifts. Then the natives would 'spontaneously convert' and you could make a mission there! However, inevitably, when returning home, the crown would warn you to stop your hostile treatment of the natives. I was even jailed for a year because I kept forcibly 'converting' the natives.
oh my god i got lost when playing in the "new" new world, like NOT the real united states, froze up and unplugged our Atari XL1200 and went downstairs, crying telling my dad "i broke the computer dad cause i got lost!!" haha, good memories, i was 9 years old. :)
I'm still active on UA-cam, making videos about retro video games. I have a C64 playlist if anyone wants to watch more:
ua-cam.com/play/PL29Nw7At9Gp30kGeqN4qfrHGb9mpIhAIx.html
Or a general retro game playlist if anyone has hours to burn. Just play it in the background and take a peek now and then 😉
ua-cam.com/play/PL29Nw7At9Gp0CfAhZ1sibVsAAFsGwFc2K.html
Loved the way this game generated new maps so you never knew what you would run into. Way ahead of it’s time. C64 was my first computer and had a blast with it.
Same.
The sound when your ship is at sea was always soothing to me when I played this as a kid.
Which makes it all the more alarming when thunderous storm clouds suddenly appear and chase you!
This intro will live forever. This game will live forever.
No doubt.
Bomba, bomba y agua fuera! Vayan los cargos al mar que nos ymos a negar...
Agreed. I had the IBM PC jr version. This game was way ahead of its time and massively underrated.
I am Dan's daughter, Melanie and my brothers and I are finally to the place where we want to give dad's games a second shot. We are working on finding the right people to do the job. M.U.L.E. is likely to be our first release, but I've heard many people mention 7 Cities. I'm open to feedback and what you would like to see in a new release.
Thank you for your continued support in games that meant so much to my dad.
Melanie Bunten
Hi Melanie. Did any games get made?
God, what a blast from the past. Played this so much when I was a kid. I loved stumbling across a new civilization. But I sometimes gave in to bribing my way to the chieftain and then going on reckless mode to take everyone out.
This was one of my favorite games as a kid. This game, Below the Root, the Ultima series, and the Bard’s Tale series especially.
I’d love to see this game released again on a modern system.
You have great taste in games!
You killed the chief. Barbarian. Very unique game, I could have never dreamed of. rip Danielle Bunten Berry also mule was awesome. One of the greatest designers.
I was obsessed with this game as a kid. I'd love to see an upgraded version of it released now.
That would be awesome !
You played the game much more aggressively than I used to.
It is likely to be our second game out. We're currently working on MULE and I really hope the flash version will be ready by July.
Thanks for the comment.
Melanie
The game concept is still great with many little details.
When this game came out I was 15.
Many thanks to your father... his creativity and genius with Seven Cities and, especially, M.U.L.E is so appreciated. These games are a big part of my youth and make up some of my fondest memories of growing up in the 80's. Your father was ahead of his time. All the best to you now with your endeavors. I would welcome the opportunity to purchase and play a new version of these games. Again, all the best!
Love this game. In fact, I'm going to play it right now on my C64 :D
great game,. Thanks for posting the load screen. many EA games ate up my childhood afternoons. so much asesome. ty.
One of the best games ever. I played on an Atari 800. The only bummer I remember is eventually your empire of missions would get too big to manage, and after a time your soldiers would die off and you would lose your missions. Any remake were you could setup some kind of logistical AI would be cool. I think I vaguely remember the empire cities, they were big and tough. I'm not sure if I ever found any of the cities of gold though. Another honorable mention for old school games is Blue Max.
"A man can lose himself in a game like this."
One of the best 4X (Explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) games of all time. Why? Because it was easy to lose. Lord knows how many times I was doing well in a Seven Cities game, but disease/native bearers running away/natives declaring pretty much a holy war on me/food spoiling/etc. left me to die alone in the jungle or getting smacked upside the head with a club with my army dead around me. Also a lot of nice atmospherics about getting credit for discovering mountain ranges, plains, rivers, jungles, lost cities, and creating missions (or having the restless natives overthrow them). There was a 1993 update by Ozark and EA, but they oversimplified things and removed a lot of what made the original special.
The idea of exploring a vast landscape using just a compass and landmarks and the act of getting lost is a big part of the game. It stemmed from creator Dan/Dani Bunten getting badly lost while hiking one day. I've got a big section on Bunten and Ozark and their many great games in the History of Electronic Arts section of my video game history website, if you'd like a read: thedoteaters.com/?bitstory=computer/electronic-arts
my favorite music from one of my favorite game from long ago......i had the atari 800 version though
this was my 2nd favorite game on the c64 growing up my favorite was cid myers pirates gold so awsome
You have great taste in computer games!
I played this game so much.
Loved this game! (and mule) and the intro!
I remember I found at least one city back when I was a kid playing this, you end up with a giant cache of gold.
This game is FUCKING LEGEND!
Yup ! Congratulations
I found one today. Try looking for a single square island with a single mountain on it. Bring lots of men because you can only visit it once so carry as much as you can out! The natives are all white and gold colored, cool.
Glorious
Glorious is right. It's one of the best on the C64.
I think i remember playing this in study hall, circa 1986.
Ich habe das Spiel geliebt!!!!! ❤️😎👌
Man, I loved this game as a kid. I figured out if you found the Inca capital and converted the chief to Christianity the rest of the Inca Empire would follow suit.
Really ? Never realized you could do that
You're supposed to offer the native gifts and befriend them!
YDIW
Gets 2000 gold from the king to discover new lands and bring glory to the crown. First thing he does when he leaves the palace is go to the pub.
Any men I left behind even with food were dead when I returned, never figured out how to establish a civilization when returning home.
I've been looking all my life and have never found the name of the piece of music that plays on the starting screen.
“La bomba" by the Catalan composer Mateu Fletxa el Vell (1481-1553)
I remember playing this. I would always leave my ship with only one man and tear through villages. For some reason, they rarely ever killed my 1 guy but if I had a lot, a lot of my guys got killed. They don't make them like they used to. Ozark was the shit.
But it's sooooo much easier to pacify them through violence and pillage their gold!
I played that game tons. Never found a single good city. Even got lost for years in south America. Even queen Isabella thought I was too agressive with the natives. Got super rich though
I found a lost city of gold in the mountains once, I think.
@@doteaters mountains you say.. Lol I found lots of those and lots of rivers etc... I got lost for over two years (game years) after losing track of where I was on the map during a trek to far into the unknown. I got rich though by following a course of genocide against every native village I found. To the point where Queen Isabella chastised me for my actions (but still enjoyed the loot I handed over) I didn't listen to the warning though figuring I could just buy my way out of the war crimes. Alas I believe from what I remember that I got executed on my second return to Spain after slaughtering everyone on the following trip too. My crew must have ratted on me. It couldn't have been the natives they all died horribly from either my swords or disease. Poor bastards.
Anyway what happened when you found a city of gold? How was it different from the regular settlements?
@@machfiver753 If I remember correctly it was just another city, heavily populated and when you subdued the natives there was a giant gold cache.
Is this game being remade or something like that? Great concept i think.
One of the greatest games ever!
Oh yeah, having at least one native bearer (hopefully many more!), you can pause walking and they'll tell you if something is nearby. There would never be more than one per "square" on the map. (I think they were 8x8.)
Hey bud. I know this game well and have a working 64. I do not have this game sny more lost it back in the late 90s
But i was wounding i wanted to talk about it onnmy channel. Can i use sone footage from this its well made. And im only going to use bits a piece's.
If you gimme the ok youll get a big thanks in the credits
I don't remember how many times I played this - the "orignal" version was the best; there was some trick that I found where you could take over villages almost 100% of the time but I don't remember what it was. Something with a certain way to attack them...
I remembered it: keep slaughtering the natives till they admit defeat. Re-enter the village untill you find that all the natives are avoiding you. Kill a single native, go to the center of the village and keep offering gifts untill the chief appears. He will automatically 'convert his village' and offer you to build a mission.
those where the days!
A pub in Catholic 1492 Portugal???
Is there anyway to buy this game of even play it for free online somewhere? I loved this game. Couldn't remember the name for like 20 yrs...and then one day found it. Now I just can't find it at all.
You can buy it on Ebay.
archive.org/details/msdos_Seven_Cities_of_Gold_Commemorative_Edition_1993
@@swk38 I think that's a later version. I've played that. I want the Commodore 64 version from like 1985.
@@VL1975 here is the PC version from '85 archive.org/details/msdos_Seven_Cities_of_Gold_The_1985
@@VL1975 or you could dig through this for the disk image and emulate it ia802905.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/11/items/Commodore_C64_TOSEC_2012_04_23/Commodore_C64_TOSEC_2012_04_23.zip
Does anyone have just the opening music anywhere?
I wish I did. I would love to hear a full orchestra play it. I know it must be a rendition of some classical tune. Does anybody know?
ua-cam.com/video/QOMysDm9KCQ/v-deo.html
“La bomba" by the Catalan composer Mateu Fletxa el Vell (1481-1553)
@JAF1970
Mule is online availiable now. google for 'planet mule'. very good port/remake.
Ready Player Two brought me here.
Good to see Cline hasn't lost his eye for great, defining video games.
I remember popping natives with a stick
Who's the REAL barbarian?
LMAO Back then most of us 15 year olds would spend hours just popping village after village of natives. I played this on a Commodore 64. Every time I tried to play the game legit and do trading with the villagers, the popping natives option was just more fun.
Plus that popping sound is freaking hilarious!
+Dark Jedi It was definitely the easiest path. And the darkest, obviously.
LOL :)
1:37 Parallax scrolling in C64 BASIC?!
Professional games were all coded in machinecode. Like hexadecimals. Of course the game's not in basic.
It wouldn't be able to handle all the natives' sprites or the active weather during seatravels.
I cant believe I watched the entire video...dan bunten was truly a visionary...I spent countless hours playing this game....and, to this day, I have a hard time finding a better game than M.U.L.E....shit graphics, but that's all we had at the time....I actually think it made things better
You can see at 8:39 my typical bloodthirsty strategy for this game. It inevitably would end up that I would slowly make my way to the chief and murder him, thereby making it easier to conquer the demoralized native population.
Belated reply: if you had done this to a village repeatedly, at one time when you enter it again, it would all be quiet and the natives would try to avoid you. Make your way to the center. Kill a single native and bargain with the chief by offering gifts. Then the natives would 'spontaneously convert' and you could make a mission there!
However, inevitably, when returning home, the crown would warn you to stop your hostile treatment of the natives.
I was even jailed for a year because I kept forcibly 'converting' the natives.
Anyone know if you can play this game for free on the net?
probably can emulate.
archive.org/details/msdos_Seven_Cities_of_Gold_Commemorative_Edition_1993
Anyone ever find any cities of gold in the game?
Immediately after first landfall, return home for another 3000 loan
Sounds like a plan. Gotta keep the chest full!
@@doteaters The advantage is you can return with enough crew and goods to trade
oh my god i got lost when playing in the "new" new world, like NOT the real united states, froze up and unplugged our Atari XL1200 and went downstairs, crying telling my dad "i broke the computer dad cause i got lost!!" haha, good memories, i was 9 years old. :)
@matthewcobrien That's not how it really happened.
"AMAZE THE NATIVES" !
7 years before civilization. Quite an impressive achievement
I used to just slaughter 1000's of natives in that game.
I blame them for getting to close to me.
what was the point of this game...i still dont know and i played it for hours and hours
To me it was always to maintain my ability to search the interior landscape for the titular cities of gold, and then find them.
To find a New World and return with Gold and Glory for the Crown.
lol i was guilty of attacking and ransacking villages and cities. LOL
Generating a New World will take eight hours.
-do not touch the disk drive-
Seems like it did.
Lol, so many dead chiefs.
Yep, the old "daintily step past the natives to the chief, slaughter him, and then quickly subdue the natives" routine.
@@doteaters my father taught me to bring tonnes of gifts and play a peaceful approach. So much more difficult.