Software:Cruise for a Corpse

From HandWiki
Short description: 1991 video game
Cruise for a Corpse
Developer(s)Delphine Software
Publisher(s)Erbe Software
Interplay Productions
U.S. Gold
EngineCinématique evo2[1]
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
Release1991
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Cruise for a Corpse (orig. Croisière pour un cadavre) is a point and click adventure game from Delphine Software International, made for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. The game's story sees players assume the role of a French police detective who is invited aboard a millionaire's yacht, only to find themselves investigating their murder shortly after the boat sets for the sea, interrogating a wide variety of characters and seeking out clues to solve the mystery. The game was praised for its animation style and story, but criticized for its gameplay, graphics, and other issues.

Plot

In 1927, French police inspector Raul Dusentier receives an invitation for a cruise aboard the Karaboudjan III, a sailing ship owned by the millionaire Niklos Karaboudjan. Accepting the invite, Dusentier learns that Niklos has also invited his family and friends to enjoy the cruise, including: Rebecca Karaboudjan, his second wife; Daphne Karaboudjan, his daughter from his first marriage; Julio Esperanza, Daphne's boyfriend; Thomas Logan, the Karaboudjan family lawyer, and his wife Rose; Suzanne Plum, a family friend; Father Fabiani, a priest; Dick Schmock, an enigmatic guest; and Hector, the Karaboudjans' butler. Shortly after he boards the ship, Hector brings Dusentier to Niklo's cabin, revealing the millionaire was murdered.

Seconds after he is shown the body, stabbed in the back, an unknown assailant knocks both of them out; they later awaken the following morning to find the body has gone missing. Finding he has a day to solve the mystery, after the ship set sail, Dusentier spends time questioning the passengers, where he learns: Fabiani is a compulsive gambler; Rebecca and Tom are having an affair; Rose was originally engaged to another man, Raphael Lambert; Dick is the illegitimate son of Karaboudjan's late aunt Agnes, and received a fortune upon her death from illness; Daphne's mother Mercedes, Karaboudjan's first wife, died in a motor accident 15 years ago; and Hector maintained a zealous friendship with his employer.

Dusentier soon discovers someone attempted to kill Suzanne by making her fall overboard, after she became suspicious over Agnes' death; she later admits she suspected Niklos, until he was murdered. Rebecca than attempts to kill Dick, angry over him inheriting Agnes' fortune, as she and her husband were hoping to receive the money. Shortly afterwards, Dusentier is given a list of possible suspects from some of the passengers: Rose, who wanted revenge on Niklos after finding he helped her father to get rid of Raphael; Rebecca, who was ambitious and would do anything to get what she wanted; Fabiani, who lost money to Niklos in a poker game and demanded it back the evening of the murder; and Tom, who was seen carrying a knife on the day of the murder.

Hector soon sends a note to Dusentier wishing to speak to him; upon entering his cabin, the detective finds him dying, claiming Niklos was not who he was. Seeking answers, Dusentier gains access to the ship's hold, finding crates carrying tins, each one hiding a grenade, along with a film reel concerning a skilled actor and ventriloquiest named Dimitri Ostrovitch. Suzanne is eventually killed, leaving behind "N.K." scratched into her cabin's floorboards. Investigating Niklos' cabin, Dusentier discovers a secret dressing room, discovering the millionaire had dealings with the mafia along with a puppet that belonged to Dimitri. When shown this, Daphne recognizes it from her childhood, claiming she saw her father being killed by the puppet's owner; however, she assumed it was a bad dream, but after the incident, she found Niklos cold and receptive to her, days before she was sent to a boarding school.

Having gathered enough evidence, Dusentier reveals to all that Dick Schmock is actually Dimitri Ostrovitch. 17 years ago, he and Mercedes killed her husband so they could be together, with Dimitri using his acting skills to become Niklos Karaboudjan. A year after the murder, Dimitri had Mercedes murdered after she betrayed him for another man - Hector, who was blackmailing Dimitri. After spending Niklos' wealth, Dimitri poisoned Agnes hoping to get her fortune, but didn't expect Dick Schmock to be her sole heir. Thus, Dimitri had Hector help him to arrange Dick's murder so he could pose as Agnes' son; Dusentier was brought onto the ship to investigate the murder, but knocked out before he knew the corpse he found was Dick's not Niklos'. Dimitri then later murdered Suzanne, who guessed his identity, and Hector, who had gotten greedy, leaving clues in an attempt to implicate the others.

After the case is resolved, the story's ending reveals: Dimitri is sentenced to life in prison following the investigation; Rose divorces her husband and remarries, while Tom becomes a tramp; Daphne and Julio marry; Fabiani leaves his priesthood to become a professional gambler; and Rebecca marries another rich man, but with caution. Dusentier, meanwhile, leaves the police force, deciding to take up work as a private investigator.

Reception

Computer Gaming World called Cruise for a Corpse "an admirable recipe for a classic adventure of murder most foul". The magazine liked the rotoscoped animation, but criticized the EGA graphics and "atrocious" code wheel-based copy protection, and concluded that while "Dedicated whodunit aficionados" would enjoy the game, "the general adventure gaming audience" would find it "tedious".[2]

References

  1. ↑ Cine – ScummVM
  2. ↑ James, Jeff (December 1992). "U.S. Gold's Cruise for a Corpse". Computer Gaming World: 72. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140702235556/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=101. Retrieved 5 July 2014. 
  • Cruise for a Corpse at Amiga Hall of Light
  • 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. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.





Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Cruise_for_a_Corpse&oldid=4630051"