If M.U.L.E. comes to Momocon, it strikes me that the worst thing that could happen is that it gets unplayed -- at best, it shows itself for the addicting game it is. It is the game that does not die, and used copies regularly fetch over 200 bucks on ebay. At the very least, the Atari could be used for Ballblazer, Alleycat, and other classic 8-bit games.
If you are both Windows users, probably the best way to get and play the game is to visit Atari Mule Online:
http://atarimule.neotechgaming.com/
Atari M.U.L.E. online has an Atari emulator, the roms, and killera in a single package.
The Atari version is widely regarded as definitive -- as was usually the case with Bunten games.
The M.U.L.E. manual can be found in many places, here is one of them:
http://muttoo.on.ca/mulemanual/
You can get through the game and figure it out without the manual, but its still nice to read once you think all the elements have coalesced in your brain.
The game is incredibly subtle and has held up well over time -- especially for a game designed to run on 48k computers.
Essentially its a stock market, colonization game. You choose your race, which will have some slight advantage/disadvantage (humanoids are balanced). Then, you land on Planet Irata. Each turn you go through three phases:
Choose a plot of land. Mountains are good for mining, plains are good for electricity, rivers are good for food, etc. The more contiguous plots of land you have together, of the same type, the more productive they become. As the plots of land are highlighted, press your joystick button. In the event that two people want the same plot, the person who is doing worst gets it.
Before the next phase, each player gets a random event. Players doing extremely well are more likely to receive annoying events, while players doing poorly are more likely to get a little boon.
Once land rights are established, you'll be in the town. Grab a mule. Outfit the mule for the type of work it will do (farm, mule, solar collection, etc.). This is as simple as going into the room with the mules, and then dragging the mule into the appropriate room with the equipment. Once you have that, run outside to your plot and, once you and the mule are in it, press the joystick button. Be sure you are both firmly in the plot -- if the mule you are dragging is outside of it and you press the trigger, it runs off -- costing you a little money and most of your time for that phase. Run back to the town and enter the bar for some gambling -- you always win, its just a matter of seeing how much of a bonus you get. Again, you have a fixed amount of time, so approach this turn with a plan in your head.
Then comes the auction. This is a neat little phase. Each element, such as food or crystals, are auctioned one at a time. You choose to be on the top of the screen or the bottom of the screen -- when you start at the top, you are selling. When you start at the bottom, you are buying. The bottom of the screen has a line which is the base price the colony is going to pay. As buyers move up, the a line moves with the player who is furthest up the screen -- which dictates how much he is willing to pay for the goods. The buyers can move up to a line at the top and continue pushing against it, further inflating the price until a seller steps down from his roost to sell the goods. But once the auction begins, sellers and buyers will, potentially, converge. As buyers go up the screen, they'll be paying more for the goods. As sellers go down the screen, the value of their goods decreases. When a buyer and seller meets at a point, goods are transfered for cash until one of them breaks away. Its amazingly simple and effective, and quite fast.
Each player needs some of these elements in order to eat, power their mules, etc.
After the auctions, the round ends and people are presented with a screen showing which player is presently winning.
The kicker to M.U.L.E., and what makes it a very deep game, is that you cannot simply play as a greedy schmuck. You have to balance your personal wealth against that of the colony. When the whole colony does poorly, you suffer because of it -- the entire colony, can, in fact, collapse. It does a very good job, in fact, of simulating the stock market -- making you decide and, potentially, change economic strategies. Do you diversify your portfolio of production, do you focus on a single element, do you change your ore production to crystaline production? Do you buy from other players beyond what you need as a base requirement, because you see that the market for food will become increasingly important in the next couple rounds...
Thats the game in a nutshell. Its fairly simple to play, but a very deep and challenging game. Its not frantic multiplayer action, but is still one of the most intense multiplayer games around.
And, for the Sega fans, there was a Sega version in the works. Apparently it finished development, or came close, when Sega and Dani Dunten had disagreements about the game. Sega wanted guns and wars in the game, and Bunten would have none of it. Sega could be so stupid.
And, of course, the DC has a nice port of the Atari800 emulator -- and I believe it will work with the four ports in the Dreamcast. You just have to make certain you setup the system as an Atari 800 (the only Atari model with four ports built-in).
I really appreciate it.