Oil IMPERIUM / Black Gold Infos Tips&Tricks about the game!
- Overview Versions
- Screenshots
- startup instructions on today's PC's
- Infos about the game (C64/PC)
- Tips & Tricks for Oil Imperium
| Sales | Platform | Publicity | Playable OS | Requirements | Emulator Manual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reline Software | PC | 1989 | DOS | ??? | Info for Dosbox , Dosbox Instructions |
| Reline Software | C64 | 1987 | C64 | ??? | In work |
| Reline Software | Amiga | 1989 | ??? | ??? | In work |
(Original carton)
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Oil IMPERIUM was published on the C64 in the year: 1989. with C64 emulator it is no problem to get old classics to run. Black Gold was released for the PC in the year: 1989. Unfortunately it is not possible to play Oil IMPERIUM on today's PCs due to a bug... But also for old Dos games there is now a great emulator to get Oil IMPERIUM running again ! |
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Screenshots
PC Version of Oil IMPERIUM Click for slideshow |
C64 Version of Oil IMPERIUM Click for slide show |
Instruction to get the C64 version of Oil IMPERIUM up and running again on new PCs:
| To play the "old" C64 game on a PC you need a C64 emulator. With it you simulate a C64 and can therefore |
Instruction to get the PC version of Oil IMPERIUM running again on new PCs:
| 1. Download Dosbox from: Dosbox developer homepage and install. | |
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2. Open 2 Explorer windows and set both windows next to each other (WIN98SE).(see picture1) |
 (Picture 1) |
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3. The easiest way to emulate a game using Dosbox is to simply drag and drop the file to be executed over the DOSBOX.EXE (see picture 2). |
 (Picture 2) |
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4. Now "Dosbox" should open (see picture 3). This Dosbox instance now runs with the settings which are stored in the "DOSBOX.CONF" file. Default 3000 frames are set there. These can now be increased (Ctrl+F8) or decreased (Ctrl+F7). Depending on the system equipment, this value should be adjusted for each game. |
 (Image 3) |
| 5. By starting the game this way, the settings are automatically loaded from dosbox.conf. I recommend for Oil Empire to set the settings for the CPU Cycles to the following values: . cycles = 3000 cycleup = 3000 cycledown = 99 This allows you to set the CPU cycles to very low at appropriate moments, e.g. to read the ticker ticker. | |
| 6. Further information about the tool/emulator Dosbox can be found here: Dosbox |
Infos about the game (C64/PC/Amiga)
For those who haven't noticed, the oil company, in case an oil well is burning, is called "Ted Redhair" which is a reference to the famous Paul Neal "Red" Adair (Wikipedia), who had red hair and was a specialist in oil well and big fire. The interesting thing about the different versions (C64/PC/Amiga) is that they are different in terms of gameplay. The C64 version is in my opinion the most playable for the following reasons- Unlike the PC version, for example, there are frequent events and offers for a supply contract. This makes the game more interesting. In the PC version there are hardly any events, so the game is fast.
- The course of sabotage acts is shown correctly, because in the C64 version sometimes some saboteurs are discovered and you get compensation for the sabotage. E.g. in the form of Ölquellen.
- The oil fields are more expensive in the purchase price, but cheaper to maintain (PC version: inverse ratio). In my opinion this is easier to handle and I personally enjoy it more !
- The drilling animation is drawn more beautiful and can be controlled better. In the PC version the control is apparently connected to a timer control, which does not reflect the query of a joystick correctly, thus drilling becomes a horror and one is only unnecessarily annoyed.
- You can play the C64 version via emulator better than the PC version via emulator. Mainly because of the problem with the ticker in the PC version.
- The fire animation is easier to control than the PC version, you can carry more dynamite with you, so it is easier to extinguish a burning source and the fun of playing increases. In the PC version the control, similar to drilling, is not very successful.
Tips & Tricks for playing
- If the price is too low, then simply save and reload, the price will then change as it is also randomly selected each round. But it will decrease depending on the amount of fish. The more oil sources the lower the price is usually. By restarting the system this rule is circumvented and the price is höl from this time on. Since this trick has in my eyes already a little bit in common with cheating/cheating, I don't use it myself and try to play every game to the end without saving and loading the trick.
- Attention if you have too much money, then the sum jumps into a minus amount.
- If you delete a source yourself, you should not stand too close to it during the explosion of the dynamite, otherwise you will die. (don't worry, the game will continue ;-) In the later course of the game you should have the sources of oil deleted by specialists, because otherwise it costs a lot of time which is only limited per move !
- Always make sure that you have a detective, otherwise you are helplessly at the mercy of the saboteurs. It is worthwhile by aus aus, because now and then you get a few sources as compensation or you can buy from the opposing companies sources cheaply.
- It is best to try to buy oil on several continents, since different oil prices apply to each continent, so you have more chances to get better oil prices here.
- It is essential to have expertises prepared by the fields, because there are always 2 fields per area which are "rivets", these then do not cause any problems at all and only cost an unnecessary amount of maintenance.
- To avoid skipping the whole month by clicking on the calendar, you can alternatively click on the empty corner in the upper right corner, then the game continues one day. (C64 version only)
