Software:Albion (video game)

From HandWiki
Short description: 1995 role-playing video game
Albion
Cover art
Developer(s)Blue Byte
Publisher(s)Blue Byte
Producer(s)Thomas Hertzler
Programmer(s)Jurie Horneman
Artist(s)Thorsten Mutschall
Composer(s)Matthias Steinwachs
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Release
Genre(s)Role-playing game
Mode(s)Single-player

Albion is a role-playing video game, developed and published by Blue Byte for MS-DOS. Originally released in German in 1995, the game was later translated to English for international release the following year. The game, which mostly involves traditional fantasy elements, such as magic, combined with a science fiction setting, sees players assume the role of a space pilot aboard a mining colony ship, who becomes stranded on a world set to be mined for its resources, despite it teeming with life and sentient races.

The game is considered a spiritual successor to the Amiga role-playing video games Amberstar and Ambermoon, bearing very similar gameplay and being developed by the same core team under the Thalion Software name.[2][3] Although intended for launch on the Amiga computer, the bankruptcy of Commodore shifted the developers to focusing on it being lauched for PC.[4]

Albion received positive reviews following its launch, earning praise for its originality in combat, story and puzzles. The game was re-released in 2015 on Gog.com with support for Microsoft Windows.

Gameplay

Albion is a role-playing video game and features a number of gameplay elements typical of that genre. The player controls a party of up to six characters, each with their own skills and abilities. With these characters they may explore the game world, fight enemies, and engage in conversation or trade. Characters earn experience points by defeating enemies or by solving certain puzzles. When a character has sufficient experience points, they will advance in level, increasing their maximum life and spell points. They will also receive training points which can be expended at a trainer to permanently increase one or more of their skills.

Albion uses a hybrid 2D/3D graphical system to depict its environments. Most interior locations are shown using a 2D overhead view, centered on the player's party. Movement is possible using either the keyboard or the mouse and the mouse is used to examine or manipulate objects within the reach of the party leader. A similar view is used when exploring the larger world outside the cities, but with objects and characters shown on a much smaller scale. Upon entering most dungeons, caves, and the exteriors of larger cities, the game switches to a real-time first-person 3D view. As in the 2D view, players may use the mouse or keyboard to move around and the mouse is used to select objects to interact with. A 2D automap is available to assist navigation in these areas.

Combat occurs when the party runs into one or more enemies. The combat system is turn-based and takes place on a five-by-six grid similar to a chess board, with the player's characters arranged at the bottom and their enemies at the top. At the start of each turn, the player selects an action for each character to perform: Attack, Move, Use Magic, Use Item, or Flee. The order in which party members and enemies execute their actions depends on their relative speeds and is an important tactical consideration. Since attacks are targeted at a grid square rather than the character or enemy in it, attacks will miss if their intended target moves before they are made, even if that target is still within reach. The movement of the player's characters is limited to the bottom two rows, but there is also an "Advance Party" option which moves all enemies one row towards the party.

Plot

Setting

Albion takes place in the distant future during the 23rd century, where human technology on Earth has developed to the point that spaceships can venture out to distant star system with hyperspace drives, funded by corporations rather than local governments. As a result the corporations focus highly on exploring space to find resources to support the money spent building the ships for such purposes, manning then with specialised AI systems that can utilize artifical bodies to interact with crew members. The game's main story focuses on the titular planet of Albion, which happens to be inhabited by two distinctive races: the Iskai, a feline-like humanoid race which use plants for furniture, sewerage systems and even homes, and have developed the means of prolonged lives through magical rituals to transfer a spirit from one body to another; and the Celts, descendants of those from Earth who transported to Albion over two thousand years ago, arriving on the planet and forming their own kingdoms and societies.

Story

In the year 2227, the multinational DDT corporation sends the gigantic colony ship, the Toronto, to a distant planetary system to search for raw materials.[5] After the ship exits hyperspace, pilot Tom Driscoll wakes up from a vivid dream - one of many he has experienced since the trip began - to learn that the Toronto's communication system overloaded and blew up, killing a government inspector assigned to the ship. As a result, he is assigned Rainer Holdt, a junior government agent, to investigate a desert planet that the ship's AI, Ned, has found to contain vast ore deposits. When the pair leave to conduct a planetery survey, they discover the data readings do not match those of Ned's, moments before the shuttle malfunctions and crashlands on the surface.

Two months after the crash, the pair, learning that the planet holds life, find themselves amongst the iskai, a sentient species living on the planet, which they call Albion. Receiving their help, the pair are joined by the warrior Drirr and the mage Sira, as they proceed to find someone who could have seen the Toronto arrive on the planet. Their search leads them to encountering humans, descendants of the Celts, acquiring the help of the mute druid Mellthas; he and Sira develop a bond after experiencing a spiritual moment of communication between them. After preventing a conflict between the iskai and the humans, the group are brought to a meeting with a secret society called The Enlightened Ones, who offer to help Tom find the Toronto; Rainer, interested by this group, leaves to study with them, leaving Tom to take assistance from an Enlightened called Harriet.

Learning the ship landed in a desert near to a city of humans, Tom makes his way to its location with his friends to hopefully stop them mining the planet. Upon encountering an unmanned shuttle that lands upon finding him, Tom is abducted by the craft and knocked out. When he comes to aboard the Toronto, he finds the captain, Brandt, has declared him mentally unwell; no one aboard the craft are aware the planet is teeming with life. Detained in the medical wing of the newly formed colony, Tom is freed by his friend Joe, a technician, who reveals he has become suspicious of Brandt's and Ned's recent actions, along with the explosion in the communication room. Agreeing to help him, Joe joins Tom in trying to sabotage the AI's systems, but both are forced to flee from the Toronto when they learn Ned intends to go ahead with the mining operation, having supressed all data on the planet's true condition.

Reuniting with his friends, Tom discusses the situation with the Enlightened Ones. Fearful the Toronto will kill the entity that resides in the planet, they propose a plan of creating a weapon called "The Seed", which Rainer reveals will need to be put into the colony's fusion reactor to shut it down. Seeking knowledge required to forge the weapon, Tom eventually leads an assault on the Toronto, dealing with Ned's security measures and informing the colonists about the truth concerning Albion; they eventually abandon the colony. Confronting the AI, the group manage to use the weapon, destroying Ned and transforming the colony into a giant utopia of plant life. Tom, relieved the situation is resolved, decides the group's next job is to inform the human colonists that they must now make a new life on Albion.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGWStarStarStarHalf star[7]
Next GenerationStarStarStarStar[8]
PC Gamer (US)88%[6]
Computer Games MagazineStarStarStarStar[9]
PC GamesB−[10]

Writing for PC Gamer US, Michael Wolf called Albion "a fun, engrossing, and involved roleplaying experience", with "all the elements of a great roleplaying adventure."[6] In Computer Gaming World, Petra Schlunk wrote, "I found this lengthy game enjoyable to play and recommend it to lovers of role-playing games when another dry spell hits."[7] The game was a finalist for Computer Gaming World's 1996 "Role-Playing Game of the Year" award,[11] which ultimately went to The Elder Scrolls II.[12] The reviewer for Next Generation called Albion "well-thought out and definitely worth checking out", and praised it as a "bright spot in the desert" of computer role-playing games at the time.[8]

Chuck Klimushyn of Computer Games Strategy Plus considered Albion to be "a breath of fresh air for the RPG crowd", and he wrote that "those who cut their teeth on the likes of Might and Magic, Wizardry, and Ultima may find that the future looks a little brighter because of this latest offering from Blue Byte."[9] The magazine later nominated Albion as its 1996 role-playing game of the year.[13]

Albion was a runner-up for Computer Game Entertainment's 1996 "Best Role-Playing Game" prize. The magazine's editors wrote, "Albion was refreshing, not only because it helped fill a void, but because it carefully balanced story, puzzles, combat and exploration."[14] It was also nominated in this category by CNET Gamecenter, whose editors gave the prize to Meridian 59.[15]

Legacy

In 2011 a port for ARM architecture and the Pandora handheld was created by fans via static recompilation from the original x86 binary executable.[16][17] The community still updates this recompiled version and released also a Windows and Linux build in 2015.[18][19]

On July 29, 2015, Albion was re-released on the digital distributor GOG.com, albeit only the original version and DOSBox, not the newer port.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". 1998-02-10. http://www.ogr.com/news/news0896.html. 
  2. ↑ "Ambermoon credits - MobyGames". https://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/ambermoon/credits. Retrieved December 19, 2019. 
  3. ↑ "Albion retrospective". https://quackgyver.com/2023/albion-is-an-overlooked-venture-into-an-alien-world. Retrieved March 2, 2023. 
  4. ↑ "Why we called our game Albion". 12 February 2013. http://www.intelligent-artifice.com/2013/02/why-we-called-our-game-albion.html. Retrieved January 31, 2016. 
  5. ↑ "Albion". BlueByte.com. Archived from the original on 2001-02-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20010210101021/http://www.bluebyte.com/us/products/albion/p_details.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-17. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wolf, Michael (November 1996). "Albion". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on November 18, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/19991118051933/http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/1243.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Schlunk, Petra (January 1, 1997). "Albion". Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000816004412/http://www.gamespot.com/rpg/albion/review_cgw.html. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Staff (November 1996). "RPG Treasure". Next Generation (23): 277. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Klimushyn, Chuck. "Albion". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on April 9, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20050409215346/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/007/006/albion_review.html. 
  10. ↑ Olafson, Peter (October 1996). "Albion". PC Games. Archived from the original on 1996-10-18. https://web.archive.org/web/19961018180918/http://www.pcgamesmag.com/games/oct96/albion1096.html. Retrieved 2018-10-08. 
  11. ↑ Staff (April 1997). "Best of the Bunch; Finalists Named for CGW Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World (153): 32. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130513051211/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_153.pdf. 
  12. ↑ Staff (May 1997). "The Computer Gaming World 1997 Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World (154): 72, 76. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130513051133/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_154.pdf. 
  13. ↑ "Computer Games Strategy Plus announces 1996 Awards". Computer Games Strategy Plus. March 25, 1997. Archived from the original on June 14, 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/19970614161401/http://www.cdmag.com/news/0325971.html. Retrieved November 2, 2010. 
  14. ↑ Staff (July 1997). "The Computer Game Entertainment Awards 1996". Computer Game Entertainment (1): 54–58. 
  15. ↑ "The Gamecenter Awards for 96". CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on 1997-02-05. https://web.archive.org/web/19970205013139/http://www.gamecenter.com/Features/Exclusives/Awards96/indexa.html. 
  16. ↑ M-HT (2011-11-06). "Albion". openpandora.org. http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/5950-albion/. Retrieved 2014-04-03. 
  17. ↑ M-HT (2011-06-11). "Albion". repo.openpandora.org. http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=albion_sr. Retrieved 2014-04-02. "This is a port of the game's executable for Pandora (using static recompilation/binary translation)." 
  18. ↑ M-HT (2015-03-16). "Albion". pyra-handheld.com. https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/albion.64477/page-4#post-1072552. Retrieved 2017-11-11. "Here is a version for Windows, in case anyone is interested. Unpack it into the directory where Albion is installed - read the Readme for more information (use Albion.cmd to run the game)." 
  19. ↑ Albion - 1995 by Blue Byte (Source Port für x86/x64) by SagaraS on letsplayforum.de (June 15, 2016, in German)
  20. ↑ Exklusive bei GOG: Ab heute stehen neue Ubisoft-Klassiker bereit on Winfuture.com by John Woll (29.07.2015)
  • Official website (archive)
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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