Black & White

Black & White
Developers: Lionhead Studios, Zonic (Mac) Publishers: Electronic Arts, Feral Interactive (Mac) Platforms: Windows, Mac OS Classic, Mac OS X Released in US: March 27, 2001 Released in EU: April 6, 2001 This game has unused areas. This game has unused objects. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused items. This game has unused abilities. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prerelease article This game has a bugs page

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

To do: There's a fair amount of unused dialogue. There's a sound bank editing and extraction utility. Rip out more unused text for the sections where there is just "In the name.txt, you can see..." Some unused text is still undocumented. For example, text for your creature building home by itself, and a lot of tooltip texts. Unused models. Search for more unused quests. Development article.

Black & White is a god game in which the player owns a creature and attempts to convert people to his cause. Nothing to do with Pokémon.

Also has a less well-regarded sequel.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Bugs

Unused Text

Creature Isle Expansion unused content. Even more text...

Unused Textures

Fourth Leash

As you know, we have the leash of learning, leash of aggression and leash of compassion. But there's a texture for a fourth leash in form of a chain. Judging by its appearance and order, it's a free will leash, but its true use is still unknown.

Unused Desires

Various flags for unused desires. From left to right, speculations what these flags most likely represent:

1. Sun — unused sun desire;
2. Fetus — old offspring desire;
3. People being held in arms — unknown, but could be old protection desire, or unused desire of people to be physically held in the god's hands;
4. Person playing football — unused playtime desire;
5. Single floor house — as the civic building desire flag is present, it could be an old version of expansion (abodes) desire;
6. Glowing pyramid — most likely unused wonder desire;
7. Football — more recent version of the unused playtime desire.

Unused Meshes

Unused Animals

Vultures

• 

  MSH_A_VULTURE

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Zebras

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  MSH_A_ZEBRA

• 
• 

Structures

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  MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_PLAYTIME

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  MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_SUN

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  MSH_B_EGPT_CART

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  MSH_B_EGPT_WELL

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  MSH_B_EGPT_WINDMILL

• 
• 

  MSH_B_NORS_PIGPEN (barrel unrelated)

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  MSH_T_RICE

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  MSH_DUMMY

Miracles

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  MSH_I_MINISCROLL_BRONZE

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  MSH_I_FOOTBALL

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_BEDROLL

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_FERTILITY

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_FOOD

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_PLAY

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_PROTECTION

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_SKULL

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  MSH_I_OFFERING_VILLAGE_IMPROVE

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  MSH_I_PRIEST

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  MSH_I_SKELETON

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  MSH_I_SPELLGEM

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  MSH_I_TREES

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  MSH_I_WALL

Unused Audio

A fourth tier for powerups.

An "evil" version of telling a villager to live somewhere.

Cut quest about women being kidnapped?

The guide teaching the creature with miracle seeds, creatures are too small to hold seeds at this stage.

Possible cut quest about protecting animals?

Unused lines at the end of the land 3 intro.

Cut quest about people attacking a village and stealing supplies?

Teleport miracle reward.

Villagers desiring rest.

Villagers pleased and displeased with being provided rain.

Villagers desiring repairs.

Advisor lines pertaining to player's alignment change.

Quests

If you look into Scripts>Quests, you can see some unused ones:

• The caretaker one, where you need to save the chickens.
• Bowling. Bowling mini-game was later added to the expansion Creatures Isle.
• Chess puzzle.
• Big fish, featuring a whale. Whale model can still be found within the files.
• Thought of food, where you needed to feed the homeless people.
• Whack-a-villager, most likely something like a whack-a-mole styled game.
• Something called "Storm brewing".
• Something called "The meeting".

Additionally

• The challenge file contains a variable called "WonderBuilt" placed with other land 1 challenges. This may relate to the unused Norse wonder in the level.
• A quest for delivering a mushroom to a hippie, was likely replaced with the singing stones in land 1.
• The slavers quest also has variables for tracking how many zebras and leopards were given to them, animals that are unused.
• The ogres in the 4th land have a variable to track how many have been healed, however this doesn't work in the final game.
• A "ThesiusPuzzle" for land 4 with two stages. Likely based on the Ship of Theseus?
• A "LionPuzzle" for land 5. The Stanley wolf puzzle uses strings by the name of LionPuzzle, however strings for an unused "tilt" puzzle where the player presses a totem to make a lion move in a direction towards a sheep exist.
• A challenge to herd cows into a pen using your creature, rewarded with a cow creature to swap to.

Cut Village Desires

Unused flags show desires for playtime, rain, and sun.

    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_ABODE                 =  167,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_CHILDREN              =  168,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_CIVIC_BUILDING        =  169,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_FOOD                  =  170,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_PLAYTIME              =  171,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_PROTECTION            =  172,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_RAIN                  =  173,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_SUN                   =  174,	//	
    MSH_B_DESIRE_FLAG_WOOD                  =  175,	//	

Additional desires are worship, repair, workshop, wonder, relaxation, and sleep.

ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_92", "Food Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_93", "Wood Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_94", "Play Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_95", "Protection Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_96", "Mercy Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_97", "Expansion Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_98", "Civic Building Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_99", "Supply Worship Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_100", "Children Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_101", "Build Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_102", "Rain Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_103", "Sun Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_104", "Repair Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_105", "Supply Workshop Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_106", "Build Wonder Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_107", "Relaxation Desire: %3.0f%%")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_TOOLTIP_108", "Sleep Desire: %3.0f%%")

Unused Wonders

Some levels have "preplanned wonders" placed, however whatever conditions are required for these to appear are never satisfied, causing them to never appear.

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  Land 1

• 
• 

  Land 2

• 
• 
• 

Demo Level 2

demo2.txt provides a demo version of land 3 with differences.

• No fields exist for the Celtic village.
• No town center exists for the Celtic village and the creche takes its place.
• Prebuilt homes exist for the Celtic village, including the workshop and village store.
• The infinite wood miracle generator doesn't exist.
• The Japanese village already believes in the player.
• The Japanese and Indian villages have more homes and prebuilt workshops with 100k+ wood.
• The forest to the quest hut is different and provides a nice path to the hut.
• The Egyptian village has no town center, a workshop with 100k+ wood, and different fields.
• The blind man quest has no decorations along the path.
• The final village has no spells assigned to it. Final has lightning bolt, heal, food, and storm.
• The Celtic village has the spells fireball, heal, food, and water. Final has fireball, heal, food, water, and storm.
• The Japanese village has the loving creature spell only. Final has lightning bolt, teleport, physical shield, and spiritual shield.
• The Indian village has the spells lightning bolt and big creature. Final has fireball (increased), lightning bolt, nature, water (increased).
• The Egyptian village has lightning bolt, heal, food, storm (increased), physical shield, and wood. Final has fireball, teleport, physical shield, and spiritual shield.

demo2	land3

Citadel Rooms

Some old names/intents for the citadel rooms can be found.

ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_ROOM_UNIVERSE_TITLE", "Future Room")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_ROOM_CREDITS_TITLE", "Library")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_CITADEL_MULTIPLAYER_ROOM", "Future Room")
ADD_TEXT( 1, HELP_TEXT_NARRATOR_NONE, "HELP_TEXT_CITADEL_CREDITS_ROOM", "Library")

Debug Menu

Inside runblack.exe is a normal window menu containing items which appear to be debug functions. This menu is easily accessible in later fan patches, because they feature an option to run the game in a window. However, none of the items or their shortcuts appear to do anything.

Developer Easter Egg

To do: The unicode symbols used for the gesture combinations in this section have poor browser compatibility

The Easter Egg archive claims this is done by doing the gesture ⭣⭢⭡⭢⭣ on land one. This was unreliable and may be a variation of ⭡⭢⭣⭢⭡ or continued.

The ending with the unvoiced text "Sorry, the boss [Peter Molyneux] got the cheat removed" seems to indicate there was additional scripting (perhaps a "cheat" unlock) at previous versions of the Easter Egg.

• 

  Upon activation

• 

  Telephone box appears on the peninsula

• 

  Up close

Audio	Transcript
	Hey Jonty, Alex, I was just thinking I've just done this phone box, can we put it in the game? Yeah, cool, definitely, I'll write a script for it.
	Um, yeah, but how are we going to hide it? How about a hidden gesture? Fantastic! Okay, and, and then we can have the door open when you click on it.
	Eh... we'll have to get Olly if you want that, another graphics build. Oi, Olly!
	Yeah? Olly we need another graphics build. Why? A hidden script. Sure.
	And that's it, really.
	Okay, cool.
	I need to test that before you chuck that in, mate.
	Bug?!
	You programmers are a funny old breed.
	I'll test that before you check that in.
	Well there you have it, three and a half years of work and we even managed to fit in a hidden script. That was fun. Hey, you know what we could put in there- aw we could put a cheat in it as well.
	I don't want to spoil the game and you know what Peter's like with cheats.
	Well, Jonty, I can't play the game, I'm an engine programmer.
	It's going to take an hour or so's work, Alex, have we got the time mate? Oh we've got to, I mean, no I've got the offer between my mates to see the end of the game. I mean land four? Land five? I can't play that through. Yeah, alright, let's put it in, I just hope it's not abused.
	Hello? Hello? Look, I haven't got time for a heavy-breather, I've got a website to finish.
	What's for food tonight?
	But Jonty doesn't like curry, and I don't like Chinese.
	The two of us got out of sync again! What are we going to do?
	Look, I'm a designer! Not a bloody programmer!
	This is, this is wonderful, this so unexpected, I- I- I'd just like to thank a few people, um, Nathan and mum, dad, Lee, Non, Sam, Soccsy, Electrico, Astonish, Catterchan, MadFruit, Manuel, and Nice Guy Jive, and not forgetting Eric B.

EXE Parameters

In addition to parameters enabling the player to go straight to skirmish mode, load the pre-intro video, start a new game, and force or disable internet connections, runblack appears to contain the following parameters:

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.

• Editor - This doesn't appear to do anything. Was there once a level editor in the game? (Dungeon Keeper, Peter Molyneux's previous game, once had a built-in level editor, so it's a strong possibility)
• Convert - This does something, because it causes the game to crash. Does it take a value?
• Version - ???
• Settings - ???