Unnatural Selection - ADG Episode 326
234Who said you can't have fun splicing genes?!
Today on Ancient DOS Games, Gemini's taking a look back at Unnatural Selection, a simulation/strategy game based around genetic manipulation developed and published through Maxis in 1993.
While this game was novel for its time the concept of turning genetic manipulation into a "game" has been done better since, though it's certainly no fault of the game itself, just more-so a fault of what the limitations were for making this play out in a decent manner on early-90s hardware.
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Additional Information and Corrections:
* If anyone knows if the ultra-rare CD-ROM release has any extra features over the disk-based copy, please let me know so I can add that info here!
* I got the "Momentum" value wrong. Apparently, it determines how likely Theroids will move in straight lines for extended distances without making new decisions about what to do, with higher meaning longer straight lines and fewer decisions, and lower meaning shorter straight lines and more decisions. This information also IS in the manual, but it's buried in the section about modifying the game's assumptions during Independent Research and isn't indexed, so you can't blame me for missing it given that you ONLY have to read through that section if you intend to REALLY mess with the underlying simulation variables! :P
* One feature I forgot to elaborate on was the Satellite Beam during combat, which you can use to manually target and temporarily max out the Fight, Mate, or Eat stat of any Theroid. While I didn't find much of a use for this while playing the game myself, thinking about strategies following my playthrough one really important use would be when dropping virus-infected Theroids into an enemy population to spread that virus, you could then immediately SatBeam them to want to mate to ensure the virus spreads ASAP.
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Pixelmusement Website: http://www.pixelships.com
ADG on Pixelmusement: http://www.pixelships.com/adg
Alphabetical Index of ADG Episodes: http://www.pixelships.com/adg/index2.html
Kris' Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/kasick
@Pixelmusement on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pixelmusement
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Chapters:
00:00 Title and Intro
02:23 Game Stats
03:47 Unboxing
04:28 Gameplay
16:05 Combat
21:46 Overall
23:39 DOSBox Configuration
24:36 Credits
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