Software:Fountain of Dreams

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This page is about the 1990 MS-DOS video game. For the fictional location from the Kirby series, see Fountain of Dreams (Kirby).
Short description: 1990 video game
Fountain of Dreams
Developer(s)Electronic Arts[1]
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Designer(s)Dave Albert
Banjo Bob Hardy
Platform(s)MS-DOS
Release1990
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Fountain of Dreams is a 1990 role-playing video game developed and published by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS as a successor to 1988's Wasteland.

Gameplay

Starting location

The gameplay is similar to that of Wasteland since Fountain of Dreams was originally intended to be a sequel. It is considered to be "very unforgiving" near the beginning, making it hard to get started in the game without dying.[2]

Plot

The game is set in post-nuclear war Florida, physically separated from the continental United States by intensive bombing during World War III that sparked an enormous earthquake. Central Florida itself was hit heavily with neutron and chemical weapons, in order to destroy the life there and preserve the technology.[3] 50 years later after "The Change", life on the island of Florida is threatened by mutations due to residual ionizing radiation. Adding to the threat are the deranged Killer Clowns, as well as three organized crime factions: the DeSoto Family, the Obeah Orders, and the Bahia Mafia. The player controls a small band of adventurers who set out to find the purifying waters of the legendary "Fountain of Dreams" to stop the spread of mutation.

Development

The game was originally intended as a follow-up to Wasteland, but neither Interplay nor any of the creative team that created Wasteland worked on it. In effect, the game engine is similar, but was created from scratch, and in 2003, Electronic Arts dropped all claims that the game had any connection to Wasteland.[4] Fountain of Dreams was part of the beginning of a trend at EA to produce in-house sequels to its previous titles.[5]

Reception

Fountain of Dreams was met with negative reception as it was a much shorter and smaller game than Wasteland.[6][7] Computer Gaming World in 1991 described it as inferior to the predecessor, stating it "incorporat[ed] all the worst features of that game, and not much of the good." The magazine noted that the game had no copy protection, "but then, a product like this probably doesn't need any."[8] In 1993, the magazine called the game "a horrible post-nuke loser" with an "inane plot, ridiculous combat, and terrible ending".[9] In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 41st-worst game of all time, stating "Wasteland got stupid as killer clowns, a silly plot, and fear of Disney ruined the sequel."[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Fountain of Dreams for PC Information, Fountain of Dreams Specs". GameSpot.com. 1969-12-31. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/fountainofdreams/tech_info.html. Retrieved 2013-10-06. 
  2. ↑ "The History of Fallout - Page 2". Gamebanshee.com. http://www.gamebanshee.com/editorials/28209-the-history-of-fallout/page-2.html. Retrieved 2013-10-06. 
  3. ↑ "Fountain of Dreams manual". http://www.pamedia.com/electronicgaming/computergames/fod/fod_dl/fountain_of_dreams_manual.txt. Retrieved 2013-10-06. 
  4. ↑ "IGN Presents the History of Fallout". Uk.ign.com. 2010-07-21. http://uk.ign.com/articles/2010/07/21/ign-presents-the-history-of-fallout. Retrieved 2013-10-06. 
  5. ↑ "The Artful Gamer · Electronic Arts, the Destroyer of Worlds, sets its eye on BioWare". Artfulgamer.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20140202181634/http://www.artfulgamer.com/electronic-arts-the-destroyer-of-worlds-sets-its-eye-on-bioware/. Retrieved 2013-10-06. 
  6. ↑ "Induction Ceremony!". Computer Gaming World: 157. February 1993. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=103. Retrieved 6 July 2014. 
  7. ↑ "The Wasteland Ranger HQ-Grid / Fountain of Dreams". Wasteland.rockdud.net. 2004-06-17. http://wasteland.rockdud.net/fountain.html. Retrieved 2012-07-26. 
  8. ↑ Scorpia (January 1991). "Scorpion's View / Scorpia Empties the Fountain of Dreams". Computer Gaming World: 11. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1991&pub=2&id=78. Retrieved 17 November 2013. 
  9. ↑ Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World: 34–50. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=111. Retrieved 25 March 2016. 
  10. ↑ CGW 148: 50 Worst Games of All Time.
  • 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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