Danielle Bunten Berry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Danielle Bunten Berry
Born	(1949-02-19)February 19, 1949 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died	July 3, 1998(1998-07-03) (aged 49) Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Other names	Dan Bunten
Occupation	Game designer, programmer
Known for	M.U.L.E. The Seven Cities of Gold
Awards	AIAS Hall of Fame Award (2007)

Danielle Bunten Berry (born February 19, 1949 – died July 3, 1998) was an American game designer and programmer. She was known for creating some of the earliest and most important multiplayer video games. Her most famous games include M.U.L.E. (1983) and The Seven Cities of Gold (1984).

In 1998, Danielle received a special award for her lifetime achievements from the Computer Game Developers Association. Later, in 2007, she was honored by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. They added her to their Hall of Fame, recognizing her big impact on the world of video games.

Early Life and First Steps in Gaming

Danielle Bunten Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She later moved to Little Rock, Arkansas when she was in high school. She was the oldest of six children. To help her family, Danielle worked at a pharmacy. She also took on a leadership role with the Boy Scouts.

Danielle loved playing games with her family when she was a kid. She once said, "When I was a kid, the only times my family spent together that weren't totally dysfunctional were when we were playing games. Consequently, I believe games are a wonderful way to socialize." This shows how much she believed in the power of games to bring people together.

She went to the University of Arkansas and earned a degree in industrial engineering in 1974. While studying, she even opened her own bike shop called Highroller Cyclerie. After college, she started programming text-based video games just for fun. Before becoming a full-time game designer, she worked for the National Science Foundation, creating city models.

A Career in Game Design

In 1978, Danielle sold her first game, Wheeler Dealers, to a Canadian company. This game was for the Apple II computer. It was an early multiplayer game where several people could play at once. It even needed a special controller, which made it more expensive than other games at the time. Only about 50 copies were sold.

After making a few more games, Danielle started her own software company called Ozark Softscape. This company caught the attention of Electronic Arts, a big game company. M.U.L.E. was Danielle's first game for Electronic Arts. It was first made for the Atari 8-bit family computers because they had four controller ports, perfect for multiplayer gaming. Later, it was also made for the Commodore 64. Even though it sold about 30,000 copies, which wasn't huge, M.U.L.E. became a very popular game and is still remembered today. Its setting was inspired by a science fiction book.

Danielle was involved in creating 12 games during her career. Ten of these games focused on multiplayer fun, meaning many people could play together. Only two of her games, The Seven Cities of Gold and Heart of Africa, were mainly for single players.

After M.U.L.E., Danielle wanted to make a game similar to what would later become Civilization. However, her partners at Ozark Softscape weren't keen on the idea. So, she created The Seven Cities of Gold instead. This game became very popular because it was easy to understand and play. It sold over 150,000 copies!

Other games followed, like Heart of Africa in 1985. Then came Robot Rascals, a unique computer and card game that only had a multiplayer mode. It sold about 9,000 copies. In 1988, she released Modem Wars, which was one of the first games where two players could play against each other using a dial-up modem. This game was ahead of its time because not many people had modems at home back then.

Danielle later left Electronic Arts to work with MicroProse. She wanted to make games that could be played on cartridge systems, like Nintendo consoles. This was a big change from floppy disk games. For MicroProse, she developed Command HQ (1990), a strategy war game that could be played over a modem or network. Her last game for MicroProse was Global Conquest (1992), a war game for four players over a network. It was the first four-player network game from a major game publisher. Danielle strongly believed in multiplayer online games. She famously said, "No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer.'"

A plan to bring M.U.L.E. to the Sega Genesis was canceled. Danielle didn't want to add guns and bombs to the game, as she felt it would change the original idea too much. In 1997, she focused on multiplayer games played over the Internet with Warsport. This was a new version of Modem Wars and was released on the MPlayer.com game network.

Less than a year after Warsport came out, Danielle was diagnosed with lung cancer. She passed away on July 3, 1998. At the time, she was working on an Internet version of M.U.L.E..

M.U.L.E.

The main idea of M.U.L.E. was for players to work with and against each other to control a planet. The name M.U.L.E. stands for Multiple Use Labor Element. The game was first made for the Atari 8-bit family computers. Later, it was also made for the Commodore 64, NES, and IBM PCjr. Up to four players can play the game. Players can choose different options and create their colony as they wish. They can pick different races, and each race gives their colony special advantages that affect the game.

Players can win the game in two main ways. The first way is by having the most money among all four players. The second way is by being able to keep their colony alive and thriving. The game focuses a lot on finding and collecting resources. Items like food, energy, and crystite are some of the things players can get to help their character. To get these items, players need a M.U.L.E. Having enough resources directly affects what a player can do. For example, if a player doesn't have enough food, they will have less time during their turn.

The Seven Cities of Gold

The Seven Cities of Gold was first planned to be another multiplayer game. It was originally a single-player game where players explored a map and collected items to make their colony stronger. The idea was that once colonies were strong, players could battle each other. However, Ozark Softscape decided this wouldn't work. So, they changed the game to focus only on developing a colony in a single-player format.

Ozark Softscape

Ozark Softscape was a team that developed computer games. It started with Danielle Berry, her brother Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson. The company was run out of Danielle's basement in Little Rock, Arkansas. Ozark Softscape had great success with some of its early games. They had a deal with Electronic Arts to publish several of their innovative games.

In the early 1990s, Ozark Softscape ended its partnership with Electronic Arts. This happened because of a disagreement about making some games for the Nintendo Entertainment System on cartridges. After that, Ozark Softscape started working with MicroProse. They produced two more games: Command HQ and Global Conquest. In 1993, another disagreement happened, this time with Sega, about making a follow-up to M.U.L.E.. After this, the company closed down. The people who worked at Ozark Softscape then moved on to other jobs in the software industry.

Personal Life

Danielle Berry was married three times and had three children: one daughter and two sons.

After her third divorce, Danielle, who had been living as male, began living as a woman. She kept a lower profile in the games industry after this change. She passed away on July 3, 1998, from lung cancer.

Games

• Wheeler Dealers (1978)
• Computer Quarterback (1981)
• Cartels & Cutthroats (1981)
• Cytron Masters (1982)
• M.U.L.E. (1983)
• The Seven Cities of Gold (1984)
• Heart of Africa (1985)
• Robot Rascals (1986)
• Modem Wars (1988)
• Command HQ (1990)
• Global Conquest (1992)
• Warsport (1997)

Recognition

Even though many of Danielle Berry's games didn't sell huge numbers, the gaming industry recognized them as being very advanced for their time. On May 7, 1998, just before she passed away, Danielle received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Computer Game Developers Association.

In 2000, Will Wright, the creator of the popular game The Sims, dedicated his game to Danielle's memory. In 2007, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose Danielle to be added to their Hall of Fame. Sid Meier, who created the Civilization video game series, officially welcomed her into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Las Vegas.

Danielle Berry was known as a friendly person who was easy to talk to. If someone recognized her in public, she was always happy to chat with them.

See also

In Spanish: Danielle Bunten Berry para niños