Software:Dark Sun: Shattered Lands

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Short description: 1993 video game
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Cover art by Gerald Brom
Developer(s)Strategic Simulations
Publisher(s)Strategic Simulations
Producer(s)Bret Berry
Programmer(s)Russell Brown
Composer(s)Ralph Thomas
SeriesDark Sun
Platform(s)MS-DOS
ReleaseApril 1993[1]
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands is a turn-based role-playing video game that takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Dark Sun. It was developed and published by Strategic Simulations in 1993. It received positive reviews although released initially in an unfinished state. The game had a sequel, Software:Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager, in 1994. An online MMORPG taking place in the same setting, Software:Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands, was released in 1996 and hosted on the Total Entertainment Network.

Plot

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands takes place in the fictional land of Athas, a dying and hostile desert world. The locale is Draj, a city-state ruled by a powerful sorcerer-king.[2] Nearby are several "free cities", surviving in the desert thanks to the hard work of their citizens. Upon the completion of the pyramid in Draj, the Sorcerer-King desires to make a great sacrifice of blood by sweeping the desert and destroying the inhabitants of the cities not under his control. The player controls a party of up to four gladiators, condemned to fight in Draj's arena until they die, so naturally the first order of business is escape. Upon escape, the party must unite the free cities to resist Draj's army.[2]

Gameplay

Shattered Lands does not use SSI's older Gold Box engine. The game uses a top-down view of the world similar to the Ultima series. Much of the game involves interaction with other characters, giving the Dark Sun series more emphasis on role-playing and less on dungeon crawling than in the Gold Box games.[3]

The game uses a variant of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rules.[3] As with other Dungeons & Dragons computer games, combat features prominently in the game play. Shattered Lands is noted for its highly strategic combat thanks to its two-dimensional turn-based combat system. No two battles are alike, and many of the "boss battles" involve a large army rather than a few powerful mages or fighters. Proper formation and spell use is a must, particularly when attacked from several directions. Characters are also far more powerful in Dark Sun than in ordinary Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings: base stats are 4d4+4 rather than 3d6, and members of one race, half-giant, receive double to their hit die rolls. Shattered Lands also incorporates elements unique to the Dark Sun campaign setting, including unique character races (the Mul and the insectoid Thri-kreen) and extensive use of psionics.

Release

Shattered Lands was released in a somewhat unfinished state in 1993,[4] and later patched to a more workable version. It was available on both floppy disk and CD-ROM, though the CD-ROM contained no additional content and was merely used to install the game to the computer's hard drive. It was later re-released as part of the AD&D Masterpiece Collection in 1996.[5] In addition, Data East was developing console ports for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation for release in 1996,[6] but they were cancelled. The game was re-released in 2015 on GOG.com with support for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Reception

Sales

Shattered Lands debuted at #17 on PC Data's computer games sales chart for the month of September 1993.[7] It climbed to third place in October.[8]

Critical reviews

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
DragonStarStarStar[9]
CD-ROM TodayStarStarStarStar[10]
Electronic Entertainment8 out of 10[11]

Writing for CD-ROM Today, T. Liam McDonald called Shattered Lands "a refreshing new twist on familiar AD&D games", and noted its "vastly improved interface" compared to SSI's previous products.[10] Peter Olafson of Electronic Entertainment found Shattered Lands to be flawed, but he concluded that it was still "a very good game".[11]

Scorpia of Computer Gaming World in 1993 assured readers that Dark Sun "is about as far from [the Gold Box series] as you can get ... SSI is taking their role-playing line in a new direction, which is good to see". While criticizing the "inanity" of the AD&D 2nd edition rules, and insufficient documentation, she concluded that "my impression of Dark Sun is favorable. SSI is moving to a more mature form of CRPG [with] much promise for the future, and promises a good game to play right now".[3] The game was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #205 by Sandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column, who gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.[9] John Terra of Computer Shopper mostly praised the game.[2] He called the controls "instinctive" and "easy to master".[2] He went on to compliment the audio and visuals, saying the graphics are "extremely detailed" and that the sound effects "stand out, with various combat noises that enhance the atmosphere during melee".[2] He did have negative remarks about the map feature, noting that it does not automap and that it displays the positions of enemies, eliminating some of the suspense.[2]

James V. Trunzo reviewed Dark Sun: Shattered Lands in White Wolf #40 (1994), giving it a final evaluation of "Very Good" and stated that "As AD&D adventures go, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands is one of the best. Does it break new ground? Yes, technologically - that's a big plus; no from a computer roleplaying angle. It's the same old present but in a different package (though there's no denying that the package is a pretty one). If you can appreciate Dark Sun for what it is and not for what you may have expected, you won't be disappointed. If you're looking for the ultimate roleplaying adventure, it ain't been made yet!"[12]

Dark Sun was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Role-Playing Game of the Year award in June 1994, which ultimately went to Betrayal at Krondor. The editors wrote that Dark Sun "managed to capture the uniqueness of the magic system and 'scorched earth' look of Troy Denning's Prism Pentad series of novels".[13]

According to GameSpy, "Dark Sun was TSR's "post-magical apocalypse" world of brutality, blood, and incredibly violent death. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands' graphics, on the other hand, were rather cutesy—not the violent, mature affair fans were hoping for".[14]

References

  1. ↑ "PC Zone Magazine". PC Zone (1): 11. April 1993. https://archive.org/stream/PC_Zone_Issue_001_1993-04_Dennis_Publishing_GB#page/n9. Retrieved July 5, 2017. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Terra, John (March 1, 1994). "AD&D Dark Sun: Shattered Lands Review". Computer Shopper. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-15049176.html. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Scorpia (December 1993). "Good-bye Gold Box!". Computer Gaming World: 124–126. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=113. Retrieved 29 March 2016. 
  4. ↑ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7. 
  5. ↑ Butcher, Andy (January 1996). "Games Reviews". Arcane (Future Publishing) (2): 80. 
  6. ↑ "Role Players' Realm". GamePro (IDG) (73): 85. August 1995. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_073_August_1995. 
  7. ↑ Staff (January 1994). "What's Hot; PC Data Hits List of Top-Selling Software". Computer Gaming World (114): 240. 
  8. ↑ Staff (March 1994). "Leaderboard". Electronic Entertainment (3): 20. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Petersen, Sandy (May 1994). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (205): 59–62. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 McDonald, T. Liam (January 1995). "Dark Sun: Shattered Lands". CD-ROM Today (11): 106. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Olafson, Peter (January 1994). "Dark Sun: Shattered Sun". Electronic Entertainment (1): 94, 95. 
  12. ↑ Trunzo, James V. (1994). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine (40): 60-62. https://imgur.com/a/gloPwyE. 
  13. ↑ "Announcing The New Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World: 51–58. June 1994. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=118. 
  14. ↑ Rausch, Allen (2004-08-17). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part III". Game Spy. http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/539/539722p2.html. 
  • 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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