Bolo (computer game)

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Bolo {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}}
Developer(s) Various {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}}
Release date(s) 1982
Genre(s) Real-time tactics
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}}
Platform(s) Apple II, BBC Micro, Mac OS, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}}
Bolo is a video game originally developed for the Apple II computer by Synergistic Software in 1982. An update inspired by the original was created for the BBC Micro computer by Stuart Cheshire in 1987, and later ported to the Macintosh in its most popular incarnation. The original Bolo was a single-player game. Cheshire's Bolo is a networked multiplayer game that simulates a tank battlefield. It is thus a very early example of a real-time tactics game.

Image:Pillwar.png

While the graphics are somewhat primitive compared to modern video games, Bolo remains a popular and addictive phenomenon. Bolo has been ported to Windows and Linux by John Morrison, under the names WinBolo and LinBolo.

There are two independantly developed Mac OS X versions of Bolo. One is XBolo by Genga Software, which seems to be out of current development. The other is nuBolo by C.R. Osterwald, which is a direct port of the original Bolo 0.997 source code. Neither of these versions is capable of networking with the WinBolo or LinBolo clones (according to the XBolo readme, the author states he has not received a reply in his request for documentation of the networking function from the WinBolo/LinBolo group(s)).

Gameplay revolves around control of refueling bases and "pillboxes" (automatic gun turrets), both of which can be captured and recaptured. Players have developed an array of tactical tricks to accomplish speedy pillbox capture, such as the decoy (where a player draws fire away from the pillbox while an ally shoots it) and the pillblock (where a friendly pillbox is placed so that it blocks the hostile pillbox's shots but allows the tank to shoot past it at the hostile pillbox).

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