Software:Future Wars

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Short description: 1989 video game

This page is about the 1989 video game. For the 1976 PLATO-based first-person shooter computer game, see First-person (video games) § History.
Future Wars
European cover art
Developer(s)Delphine Software
Publisher(s)Delphine Software
Designer(s)Paul Cuisset
Artist(s)Eric Chahi
Composer(s)Jean Baudlot
EngineCinematique[1]
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, NEC PC-9801, Sharp X68000
Release1989
Genre(s)Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Future Wars, subtitled in Europe as Time Travellers and in North America as Adventures in Time and known in France as Time Travellers: The Menace (French: Les Voyageurs du Temps: La Menace) is an adventure game from Delphine Software International, released in 1989. The game is mainly the work of Paul Cuisset (story and programming) and Éric Chahi (graphics).

Gameplay

Future Wars is played by left-clicking for character movement, and right-clicking for character actions. The actions available in the right-click popup menu are: Operate, Examine, Take, Use and Inventory. "Use" had a subcategory which enabled the player to drag and select the items in their inventory.

Plot

The player is not given a name throughout the game and the game cursor identifies him only as "hero". According to later references the game starts in 1990.

The player starts as a window cleaner outside a skyscraper on an electric elevator platform, when "Ed the boss" opens a window and shouts at him, causing him to knock his cleaning bucket over. Initially to refill his bucket, the player then can enter the building through the now-open window and after examining a map with a missing flag-pin, discovers a secret passage leading to a hidden room with strange machines in it. There he acquires some documents in an alien language which he keeps in the inventory.

One of the machines transports the player to the year 1304, where he rescues a damsel in distress from a local monastery. He learns that she is Lo'Ann, a time traveller who came with her father Lear to thwart an alien plot to plant a long-delay time bomb, and he helps them in their mission against the Crughons. However, by learning things he should not, he must be taken to the Supreme Council of the future so that his fate is decided.

The player is then transported to the 44th century to meet the council during an attack by the Crughons. After a minor mishap and subsequently having to make his way through the ravaged city of Paris II, the player eventually boards a shuttle to take him to the council's city, only to be kidnapped by the Crughons. He is rescued by Earth forces but subsequently accused of being a Crughon spy as he is still carrying the Crughon documents with him; he is only saved from execution by Lo'Ann who vouches for him to the Council.

The Council then explains history to the player: Humans had abandoned Earth and were living in colonies when the war with the Crughons began a century ago. The war pushed them to rehabilitate the abandoned Earth. They built a "time-space energy shield" system called S.D.I. "in memory of the past" which prevents the Crughons from both attacking Earth and also teleporting themselves through the shield. However, the Crughons managed to visit Earth in different periods of the past and plant three time bombs in the location of the future three S.D.I. generators. Once activated, the bombs cannot be deactivated and the only options are to either prevent the Crughons from planting them, or to prematurely detonate them. For now, Lo'Ann managed to defuse one of them with the player's help in the Middle Ages.[nb 1] However the one from the player's era detonated, allowing the Crughons to attack. Thanks to the documents the player was carrying, the Council determine that the third bomb was planted in the Cretaceous period.

The player and Lo'Ann then travel there to foil the Crughon's attempt. After an arcade sequence and the wounding of Lo'Ann, the player boards their spacecraft and travels to their headquarters to detonate the bomb prematurely. The game ends when after successfully detonating the bomb long before hominids even evolve (and providing an alternate explanation for the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event), the player returns to the 44th century to fight further battles against the Crughons.

Notes

  1. ↑ This is a plot hole and contradiction - narration says the bombs cannot be deactivated, but Lo'Ann does exactly that to prevent the 1304 detonation.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Amiga Computing93%[2]
Amiga Format84%[3]
CU Amiga88%[4]
Zzap!6491%[5]

Upon release, Future Wars received positive reviews.[6]

Computer Gaming World's Allen Greenberg praised the game's story as good, its graphics as "very imaginative and at times absolutely striking" and its musical score as "a respectable soundtrack which many will consider superior to most of those composed and released for theatrical films" but stated the same graphical detail was frequently hiding important objects vital to solving the game and hindering the player's movement in certain cases. It also criticized the Cinematique engine as "not quite the innovation Future War's designers claim it to be—similar features have appeared in games by Sierra as well as Lucasfilm."[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Cine - ScummVM :: Wiki". http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Cine. 
  2. ↑ Green (December 1989). "Time Traveller: Future Wars / He digs deepest who deepest digs". Amiga Computing (Database Publications) (19): 36. https://archive.org/stream/amiga-computing-magazine-019/AmigaComputing_019_Dec_1989#page/n35/mode/1up. Retrieved 2017-08-06. 
  3. ↑ Walkland, Nick (January 1990). "Future Wars". Amiga Format (6): 67. 
  4. ↑ Patterson, Mark (December 1989). "Future Wars". CU Amiga (EMAP): 46–47. 
  5. ↑ "Future Wars: Time Travellers". Zzap!64 (Newsfield) (58): 23–25. February 1990. https://archive.org/stream/zzap64-magazine-058/ZZap_64_Issue_058_1990_Feb#page/n21/mode/2up. 
  6. ↑ "Future Wars". http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/futurewa.htm. 
  7. ↑ Greenberg, Allen L. (September 1990). "Interplay's Future Wars / The Transportation System at the End of the Universe". Computer Gaming World (74): 35, 59. https://archive.org/stream/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_74#page/n34/mode/1up. Retrieved 2017-08-06. 
  • 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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