Software:Chaos Overlords

From HandWiki
Short description: 1996 video game
Chaos Overlords
Developer(s)Stick Man Games
Publisher(s)New World Computing
Designer(s)John K. Morris[1]
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS
ReleaseMay 10, 1996[2]
February 17, 1998 (Japan)
February 17, 1998 (Europe)
May 28, 2013 (GOG.com)
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Chaos Overlords is a turn-based strategy computer game developed by Stick Man Games and published by New World Computing for Microsoft Windows and classic Mac OS in 1996. Chaos Overlords was re-released for Windows in downloadable format by GOG.com in May, 2013. [3]

Setting

Gangs working for rival Chaos Overlords engage in combat.

Chaos Overlords is set in a dystopian cyberpunk future. By 2046, private industries started to purchase bankrupt national governments. By 2050, all governments had merged under one corporation, the World United Solidarity (WUS). WUS became a corrupt monopoly, and attempted to control the population by instituting censorship and banning ownership of weapons, drugs and pornography. Former crime lords and corporate heads arose to exploit the people by creating "chaos": selling drugs, guns, and pornography, running the numbers, and engaging in extortion and blackmail. These criminals, known as Chaos Overlords, bribed WUS to avoid crackdowns. As gangs joined them and they grew in power, cities became battlegrounds for their struggles to destroy each other in pursuit of money and power.[4]

Gameplay

The player takes the role of a Chaos Overlord attempting to control a city. Gameplay involves hiring mercenary gangs and deploying them on an 8-by-8 grid of city sectors to generate income, occupy sectors and take over the city. The player can choose from 10 different victory conditions. The four timed scenarios involve attaining the most cash, sectors, support, or all three. The six objective scenarios have no time limit and require the player to fulfill a specific goal, ranging from killing all other Chaos Overlords to controlling specific sectors of importance.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Next GenerationStarStarStar[5]
Arcane5/10[6]
Computer Game Review80/100[7]
PC EntertainmentB[8]

Chaos Overlords attracted mixed reviews from the gaming press.[9] GameSpot praised its addictive qualities,[10] while Allgame noted its ability to generate strategic depth from a simple game concept.[11] Computer Gaming World criticized the game's rough presentation and monotonous graphics, but commented that dedicated gamers with the patience to look past first impressions would be rewarded with a "novel, truly strategic wargame".[12] Next Generation found the turn-based, menu-driven gameplay made it less exciting than Syndicate, but praised the variety of scenarios and support for online play, and concluded, "It's no replacement for the likes of Warcraft 2 or Duke Nukem 3D, but it's a decent showing from the creators of Heroes of Might and Magic."[5] Inside Mac Games rated the game 3 out of 5, calling it a "very challenging strategic wargame" with a "strong and honest AI opponent." The review felt the game became fun only after spending hours learning the game's mechanics and interface.[13]

Andy Butcher reviewed Chaos Overlords for Arcane magazine, rating it a 5 out of 10 overall.[6] Butcher comments that "If you've got the luxury of a multi-player link-up, Chaos Overlords has a lot to recommend it. Otherwise, there are much better strategy games around."[6]

In a retrospective for IGN, gaming journalist Tom Chick praised the clarity of the game's design, claiming its "elegant and exciting" gameplay was hampered mainly by a mouse-intensive interface.[14]

Reviews

  • The Duelist #13[15]
  • Australian Realms #29[16]

Sequel

Chaos Overlords developer John K. Morris began work on a sequel in 2006.[17] As of September 2008, development was indefinitely on hold.[18] In December 2009, Morris announced active development on the sequel with three members of the original development team (names not specified), but provided no indication of a potential release date.[19] Morris updated the Evolution Interactive blog May 5, 2010, to indicate Chaos Overlords 2 was still under development but had been put on hold for another project. The development team has also joined Facebook. A recent post (2013) hinted that the project was still on hold.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Chow & Rettig 1996, p. 3.
  2. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". 1997-02-27. http://www.ogr.com/news/news0596.html. 
  3. ↑ "Release: Chaos Overlords". GOG.com. https://www.gog.com/en/game/chaos_overlords. Retrieved May 28, 2012. 
  4. ↑ Chow & Rettig 1996, pp. 6–7.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Chaos Overloads [sic]". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (21): 154. September 1996. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Butcher, Andy (June 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane (Future Publishing) (7): 67–68. 
  7. ↑ Gehrs, Scott (June 1996). "Chaos Theory". Computer Game Review. http://www.nuke.com/cgr/reviews/9606/chaos/chaos.htm. 
  8. ↑ Brenesal, Barry (May 1996). "Chaos Overlords". PC Games. http://www.pcgamesmag.com:80/games/May96/chaos596.html. Retrieved 2018-11-23. 
  9. ↑ "Chaos Overlords". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/chaosoverlords. Retrieved 2007-02-28. 
  10. ↑ Blevins, Tal (1996-08-15). "Chaos Overlords review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/chaosoverlords/review.html?mode=gsreview. Retrieved 2007-02-28. 
  11. ↑ Honeywell, Steve. "Chaos Overlords review". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:18675~T1. Retrieved 2007-02-28. 
  12. ↑ "Nuns with guns?". Computer Gaming World (Golden Empire Publications, Inc): 188. 1 August 1996. 
  13. ↑ Kelly, Sean M. (August 1996). "Review: Chaos Overlords". Inside Mac Games 4 (8). 
  14. ↑ Chick, Tom (2000-12-01). "PC Retroview: Chaos Overlords". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/088/088546p1.html. Retrieved 2007-03-02. 
  15. ↑ Elliott, Mike; Jockusch, William (October 1996). "From the guys downstairs". The Duelist (Wizards of the Coast) (13): 84. https://archive.org/details/the-duelist-13/page/n89/mode/2up. 
  16. ↑ "Chaos Overlords". Australian Realms Magazine (29): 7. July–August 1996. https://archive.org/details/australian-realms-magazine/Australian%20Realms%20%2329%20JulyAugust%201996/page/6/mode/2up. 
  17. ↑ John K Morris (2006-09-22). "Chaos Overlords". http://chaosoverlords.com/. Retrieved 2007-02-28. 
  18. ↑ John K Morris (2008-09-11). "What am I up to?". http://evolutioninteractive.com/. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
  19. ↑ John K Morris (2009-12-11). "Chaos Overlords 2 Status Update". http://evolutioninteractive.com/. Retrieved 2010-01-08. 
  20. ↑ John K Morris (2014-03-06). "Chaos Overlords 2 Status Update". https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chaos-Overlords/118573421512394. Retrieved 2014-07-29. 

References

  • Chow, William; Rettig, Dean (1996). Chaos Overlords Manual. Hollywood, CA: New World Computing, Inc.. 
  • Chaos Overlords at Facebook
  • 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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