Software:Planet's Edge

Planet's Edge
Developer(s)	New World Computing
Publisher(s)	New World Computing
Director(s)	Eric Hyman Jon Van Caneghem
Designer(s)	Neal Hallford Eric Hyman Kenneth L. Mayfield Jon Van Caneghem
Programmer(s)	Eric Hyman Todd Hendrix
Artist(s)	Kenneth L. Mayfield Jonathan P. Gwyn Louis Johnson
Writer(s)	Neal Hallford
Composer(s)	George Sanger Howard Fredrics Tim Tully Rob Wallace Greg Alper Paul Potyen Neal Hallford Paul Lehrman(?)
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, FM Towns, PC-98
Release	1992
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Planet's Edge is a 1992 space science fiction role-playing video game developed by New World Computing with Eric Hyman as the lead designer. The game's plot centers on investigating the sudden disappearance of planet Earth, by venturing out into the universe from a Moon base. There are two main play modes: real-time exploration and combat using various spacecraft, and turn-based exploration, problem solving, and combat on the surface of dozens of planets. The game features a variety of objects, weapons, and missions, though it lacks any detailed experience or stats system for the four characters the player controls.

Plot

Just prior to the start of the game, a mysterious alien spaceship approaches the Earth to conduct an experiment which goes terribly wrong and causes the Earth to disappear into a wormhole trap. A scientific research team based on the Moon determines that the only way to bring the Earth and all its inhabitants back involves recreating this failed experiment, but experimental apparatus, called the Centauri Drive, has been destroyed in this accident. Nonetheless, Moonbase scientists are able to salvage enough technology from the wrecked alien craft to construct their own rudimentary spaceship. A four-member scientific team commanded by the player is put together to find and obtain the parts necessary to rebuild the Centauri Drive and thereby save the Earth. This is the primary goal of the game.

The story begins in the Solar System, but the fictional setting encompasses over a hundred stars and their associated planets and civilizations in the surrounding galaxy. The game world divides the interstellar space surrounding the Sun into eight sectors characterized by particular alien civilizations possessing varying degrees of technological sophistication. Each of the eight sectors is associated with a particular subplot which must be solved in order to gain access to each of the eight pieces necessary to complete the construction of the Centauri Drive.

Gameplay

The game begins on Moonbase with the player in command of a spaceship crewed by a four-member scientific team. Here the player has the options of allocating available resources to the construction of new spaceships, weapons or other items, or of cloning crew members. Cloning randomly changes the statistical values assigned to the attributes and skills of the four team members commanded by the player; it does not change their identities. These statistics remain constant throughout the game unless the team members are subsequently re-cloned.

Once a spaceship has been outfitted and launched, the player controls it in real-time from an overhead, third-person, perspective by issuing commands to team members selected from a menu. The ship can travel from one solar system to another and can be maneuvered into orbit around various planets. Some planets have useful resources which can be mined from orbit or locations to which the four member team can beam down. Along the way, other alien spaceships may be encountered. Some offer opportunities for trade or obtaining information, but others have piratical or hostile intentions. If combat ensues, it is resolved in an action sequence similar to that found in Starflight or Star Control in which the player must destroy the attacking vessels.

When a planet with a suitable beam-down location is encountered, the four person scientific team may beam down and explore it. The player controls the team members from an overhead isometric view similar to that used in a number of other role-playing video games including Ultima VI. Movement, interaction with objects and non-player characters, and ground combat are all turn-based. Commands are issued to team members via a selection of clickable icons displayed on the screen or hotkeys.

An important aspect of gameplay involves mining planets for resources and acquiring new technology for the purpose of constructing more powerful ships, weapons and armor. These items allow the player to venture successfully into the more technologically advanced sectors and obtain all parts necessary to complete the construction of the Centauri Device.

Development

This game evolved from an effort to develop a computer adaptation of Star Fleet Battles. Following Neal Hallford's work on Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan, he was promoted to designer by New World Computing founder Jon Van Caneghem and was tasked with beginning development on both Planet's Edge and Might and Magic III. However, Ron Bolinger was later brought in to complete the design of Might and Magic III so that Hallford could focus his efforts on Planet's Edge's story, dialogue and game maps.

Reception

In the July 1992 issue of Computer Gaming World, reviewer Chris Lombardi referred to Planet's Edge as a "solid, charming game with a few lumps in the dough". He commended its "rich story, good play balance and many hours of game play", but also drew attention to a few bugs in the game mechanics and shortcomings in the game's graphics and user interface. In another review published in PC Magazine, Barry Brenesal is generally positive about the game, but considers its "single weak element" to be its handling of ground character movement. On planetary excursions, team members often become separated when the party is traveling through doors or corridors with multiple paths. Reviewer Scott A. May, writing for Compute!, declared the game to be a "minor masterpiece of size, imagination, and diversity of play" marred by a "few rough spots" including "a clumsy, limited character interface" for controlling team members during planetary exploration. The game was also reviewed in 1992 in Dragon #182 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.

It was nominated in November 1992 for Computer Gaming World's role-playing game of the year award because it reveals new creativity in the types of worlds to be explored and puzzles to be solved.

External links

• 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. 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". This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. 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. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

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. 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. 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.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. 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). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. 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. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions