The Many Endings of MULE (Kroah 4.10.3 - 4.10.4)

[Big Head Zach]

In another thread I suggested making the endings more interesting and unique. Well, I've made my bed by insisting I had a copy of Kroah's decompilation before his HD died last year. The last word out of him was from June 1: "I'm actually working on it again... I'll post here when it will be done."

So, in a series of articles, I'm going to try and present all that French-translatey mess, so everyone can examine it. (No insult intended to the French, btw. I'm a big fan of Alizee and that dance she does.)

4.10.3 Colony Difficulties Message (Status Report)

Early Game End ("All Players Die" Ending)

If the colony has no Food MULEs installed and there is neither Food in the store nor any of the players' storage, the game immediately ends with the message: "The Colony failed due to a complete lack of Food!"

(The same goes for Energy. Smithore, not being entirely vital, cannot run out and force a game end.)

If the colony has less Food in the Store and players' storage than is needed for next round (12/16/20), then the message "The Colony has a shortage on Food." is displayed.

If the colony has less Energy in the Store and players' storage than the current number of non-Energy MULEs installed, then the message "The Colony has a shortage on Energy." is displayed.

If the colony has less MULEs in the Store than the number of owned, un-exploited plots plus the number of expected new exploitable plots (usually 4), then the message "The Store has a shortage of Smithore for MULEs." is displayed. (This is determined after the Store's smithore is used to make MULEs, and doesn't include any smithore sold to it by players that same turn.)

The Survival Endings

Minimum Colony Total Name Message 0 Prison ending Overall, the colony failed...dismally. The Federation debtors' prison is your new home! 20000 On Your Own ending Overall, the colony failed...The Federation will no longer send trade ships. You are on your own! 40000 Tent ending Overall, the colony survived...barely. You will be living in tents. Few trading ships will come your way! 60000 Bare Minimum ending Overall, the colony was a success. You have met the minimum standards set by the Federation, but your life will not be easy! 80000 Comfortable ending Overall, the colony succeeded. The Federation is pleased by your efforts. You will live comfortably! 100000 Elegant ending Overall, the colony succeeded...extremely well. You can now retire in elegant estates! 120000 Luxury ending Overall, the colony delighted the Federation with your exceptional achievement. Your retirement will be luxurious! [/size]

The game considers any score of 60000 or more to be a Winning condition, and declares the player with the highest net worth to be First Founder. Otherwise, it's considered a group loss.

It might be interesting to assign victory point values for the different endings and the finishing positions of the players in those endings. Also, having the character animations doing things in different places based on that ending. Suggestions?

[Coyotek4]

Thx for that!  I never knew there even existed a doomsday message.  Certainly I have seen the food, energy, and smithore shortage messages (though not since coming here).

[orthros]

Was the "Debtors Prison" message ending available on the original MULE?  I saw all of those end-game messages at one time or another (some more than others *Cough*) but never that one.

[Intergalactic Mole]

It probably could only happen in a 4 player game where everyone sat there and did nothing for the whole game..... And so that's probably why you never saw it.   

[poobslag]

i like the idea of different character animations based on how well the colony does. maybe the jumping animation would only happen for $60,000 and above, and maybe if you hit $120,000 then everybody's jumping, because everybody cooperated to get a good score.

or maybe the character could be dressed differently, or have stuff in the background - you know, wearing fancy clothes or have a palace/mansion in the background, stuff like that

really, though, i don't like that idea so much. the more left to the imagination the better! the original flavor text leaves a lot the imagination, i think that's a good thing! let the players decide what "luxurious" means.

[Kroah]

Was the "Debtors Prison" message ending available on the original MULE?  I saw all of those end-game messages at one time or another (some more than others *Cough*) but never that one.

Yes, this ending is available on the original Atari MULE.

[MuleyMan]

Long ago I decided to change MULE!  Make an adult version.  I called it ELUM!
In all the messages in the program, there was one that stood out.
It said "The Colony Has Failed"!  I had never seen that happen before. I tried to make it happen and could not.  The thing was, this message could happen in ANY round and end the game early.
So, I am guessing that noone makes food and the food is used up by round 3. Then the game could end in round 4 but I couldn't get it to happen with an Atari 4 player game.  Mebbe I will try again.

[itzLGND]

lol iv never got the 120000

[tmor2003]

i only made 120k once. i remember recording the report on my vhs before starting a new game