Software:Knights of Legend

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Short description: 1989 video game
Knights of Legend
Developer(s)Origin Systems
Publisher(s)Origin Systems
Designer(s)Todd Porter
Platform(s)DOS, Apple II, Commodore 64
ReleaseOctober 1989
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Knights of Legend, released by Origin Systems in 1989, is a fantasy role-playing video game.

Publication history

Knights of Legend was designed by Todd Porter, and released by Origin Systems in 1989 for DOS, Apple II, and Commodore 64. It was supposed to be the first in a series of related adventures,[1] but no further games were released in this series, likely due to mixed to poor reviews and weak sales.[1]

Story

The game is set in the fictional land of Ashtalarea, where the evil Pildar has imprisoned the Duke, the ruler of the land, and Seggallion, a knight who had stopped Pildar in the past. The player leads a band of adventurers who try to free the prisoners and stop Pildar.[1]

Gameplay

The game is mostly tactical, with role-playing elements. The classic races of dwarves, elves and humans available for players to make up their party of adventurers. The game also adds a novel race called "Kelder" or "Kelderheit" that has the power of flight.[1]

On the role-playing side, characters can converse with the inhabitants of towns, learn about local lore, purchase equipment, and pay to get trained in different skills. Quest-givers in various towns direct players to specific locations of the larger world surface, which lead to pre-made battlefields where an item is set to be retrieved to complete the mission. There are also random combat encounters when traveling outside towns.[1]

On the tactical side, each combat round comprises planning thrusts, parries and jumps. The actions of each character (player and monster) are set prior to the combat round. The "foresight" may reveal the set actions of slower characters (who select actions for the round first). After all character choices are set, the combat round is then executed with the pre-selected actions. Additionally, combat incorporates the concept of extensive use of fatigue. Fatigue reduces a character's effectiveness and will cause them to pass out if it reaches zero. Each quest site battlefield has a tactical feel similar to later tactical role-playing games and the Jagged Alliance series: visibility is limited to what each character can actually see.[1]

In order to save current game progress, the player's character must be resting at an inn.[1]

Reception

In the March 1990 edition of Dragon (Issue #155), Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser, who normally assigned ratings from 1 to 5, gave the Apple II version a rating of "X" for "Not recommended", pointing out the many bugs in the programming that slowed gameplay to a crawl.[2] Two issues later, the Lessers gave the PC/MS-DOS version of the game a perfect score of 5 out of 5.[3]

In the June 1990 edition of Games International (Issue 15), Theo Clarke found the game too buggy to complete, calling it "one of those sad cases where the implementation fails to support its creators' vision." He gave the game a very poor rating of 4 out of 10.[1]

Scorpia of Computer Gaming World in 1991 and 1993 called it "tactical wargaming with a thin veneer of role-playing". She stated that the constant combat became "tedious", and only recommended it for "wargamers or devoted hack'n'slashers".[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Clarke, Theo (June 1990). "Computer Games". Games International (15): 53–54. 
  2. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (March 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (155): 95–101. 
  3. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (May 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (157): 96–103. 
  4. ↑ Scorpia (October 1991). "C*R*P*G*S / Computer Role-Playing Game Survey". Computer Gaming World: 16. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1991&pub=2&id=87. Retrieved 18 November 2013. 
  5. ↑ 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. 
  • 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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