Software:Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance

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Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance
Developer(s)Synergistic Software
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Designer(s)Robert C. Clardy
Kirt Lemons
Programmer(s)Alan B. Clark
Greg Hightower
Gary Powell
Artist(s)Kirt Lemons
Composer(s)Christopher Barker
Craig Utterback
SeriesBirthright
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Windows
Release
  • NA: July 31, 1997
  • EU: 1997
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy, turn-based tactics
Mode(s)Single-player

Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance is a 1997 strategy video game developed by Synergistic Software and distributed by Sierra On-Line. The game is based on the Birthright campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons and was released for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows.

Plot

Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance is a turn-based strategy game where the player is part of a royal bloodline and one of the heirs to a throne, with the goal to take over the world.[1] Players take on the role of ruler, or regent as they are called in Birthright, of a nation in the Land of Anuire on the continent of Cerilia. The objective of the game is to gather power and influence while the other regents try the same. In order to accomplish this objective, the player may use warfare, diplomacy, magic, manipulation of holdings such as guilds and temples, the establishment of trade routes. All of these actions take place in a turn based fashion on the world map, with the exception of the adventuring, which is done in real time 3D.

Gameplay

The adventure game engine was a Doom engine clone: a 2D/3D engine which has essentially a flat layout map which used three resolutions of avatars that were hot swapped in depending on the distance from the viewer and the amount of memory on the hardware. Also there were flying wyverns and spiders which crawled on the ceilings as well as the floors. However, during gameplay, if the player failed to equip their spell caster with the necessary spells before adventuring those spells were unavailable to them and forced the player to leave and re-equip.

Map view

There was also a battle component to the game. When armies met on the world map, the player could choose to let the computer roll dice to determine the outcome based on the characters' attributes, or the player could enter a battlefield. The battles were real time and fought on a grid that was copied from the paper game. The game engine used the same engine as the adventure game, the battlefield being essentially one large room. The sprites were used to represent the unit's health. As the unit was wounded, the sprites were "killed" off until it was destroyed or a dice roll forced them to flee the field. The defending army would get to pick the terrain type. There were fields, marshes, woods and mountainous terrain. An elf army would get a bonus for fighting in woods, dwarves get a bonus for the mountains. There were some obstacles like water or trees through which the army could not advance or lost its charge bonus.

In order to win the game, a certain amount (depending on difficulty level) of (game) points were required to be collected, for example by taking control of territories allied to or belonging to the Gorgon. There were a number of ways to win the game.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGWStarStarStar[2]
PC Gamer (US)68%[3]
Computer Games Strategy PlusStarStarStarHalf star[4]

PC Gamer US's Keith Sullivan argued that Birthright features all characteristics of a classic strategy game. He found its strategy elements to be "amazingly detailed", but criticized them for lacking clear documentation, and he called the role-playing section Birthright's "weakest portion".[3] In Computer Gaming World, Gavin Hachiya Wasserman echoed Sullivan's complaint, writing that the game has "great potential" that goes unrealized. He criticized its "low production values" and "daunting micro-management", and summarized it as a product for "hard-core fans of AD&D" only.[2]

Peter Smith of Computer Games Strategy Plus called Birthright "a challenging game to love" and that it takes time and effort to adjust it regarding its difficulty. He considered the game "a product on store shelves [that is] still in development", but praised the ambition of its designer Bob Clardy, who he compared to Gary Grigsby and Norm Koger.[4]

According to GameSpy in 2004, "players justifiably ignored Birthright: Gorgon's Alliance, which eventually sunk into well-deserved obscurity".[5]

References

  1. ↑ Tresca, Michael J. (2010), The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games, McFarland, p. 144, ISBN 978-0786458950, https://books.google.com/books?id=8H8bzqj6S4sC&pg=PA144 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wasserman, Gavin Hachiya (October 22, 1997). "Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance". Computer Gaming World. http://www.gamespot.com:80/strategy/birthrig/review_cgw.html. Retrieved 2018-11-07. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sullivan, Keith (December 1997). "Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance". PC Gamer US. http://www.pcgamer.com:80/reviews/184.html. Retrieved 2018-11-07. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Smith, Peter. "Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance". Computer Games Strategy Plus. http://www.cdmag.com:80/articles/003/151/birthright_review.html. 
  5. ↑ Rausch, Allen (2004-08-18). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part IV". Game Spy. http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/540/540115p3.html. 

Further reading

  • Carnes, Shawn F.; Elliott, Glenn (December 1997). "Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance". The Duelist (Wizards of the Coast) (20): 114. 
  • 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 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]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

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. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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