Software:Spirit of Excalibur

From HandWiki
Short description: 1990 role-playing video game
Spirit of Excalibur
Developer(s)Synergistic Software
Publisher(s)Virgin Mastertronic
Director(s)Robert Clardy
Programmer(s)Alan B. Clark
Artist(s)Rob Landeros
Robert Stein III
Composer(s)Christopher Barker (PC)
Mark Riley (Amiga)
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, CDTV
Release1990
Genre(s)Role-playing game
Mode(s)Single-player

Spirit of Excalibur is a 1990 role-playing game developed by Synergistic Software and published by Virgin Mastertronic for MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore CDTV, Apple IIGS and Macintosh. The player controls a host of characters with the goal of uniting Sub-Roman Britain under a single king and defending the kingdom. The game was followed by the sequel Vengeance of Excalibur in 1991.

Gameplay

DOS screenshot showing a portion of Britain on the map screen
Screenshot of a "scene level": a group of knights of the Round Table (left) meets some evil knights (right)

The geographical setting for Spirit of Excalibur is a depiction of actual southern England with its cities, castles, villages, churches and other locations scattered throughout the land. The player starts by controlling a single character, Lord Constantine III of Britain, but as the game proceeds he will be able to control many other knights and the armies they lead, including King Arthur's best friend and magician Merlin. All action takes place at two different levels: a so-called "map level" and a "scene level".

As its name implies, the "map level" shows a multi-screen overview map of Britain, which the player can explore by scrolling. The computer- and player-controlled characters move across the map from place to place and are usually marked by a shield icon with the knight or character's own insignia. To solve the puzzles and mysteries which allow him to proceed through the game, the player must visit key locations and interact with various characters, sometimes enlisting their help and sometimes fighting them. These types of action take place at the "scene level".

When two different groups meet, the player is shown a scene depicting a side view of all characters present at that location. Dialogs, individual combat, exchanges of objects, and requests for information all take place at the scene level. During the fights on this level, one of the player controlled characters combats one of the enemies. The fight ends when all the elements of a group are dead or have withdrawn. The player can choose whether to activate an automatic control or fight manually and he can also have any of his characters use an object or a magician cast a spell. Individual combat ensues between characters who are not supported by an army, but upon a meeting between two hostile armies a specific combat screen opens. If the player has control over one of the two sides, he can issue commands to his units, for example ordering a group of soldiers to charge the enemy, some knights to flank the adversary of have one of the Knights of the Round Table use an object.

All characters have specific characteristics listed in a status display: numerical values identify the character health status, his/her magical or combat abilities, the strength of his/her defences and the nobility and faith levels. While combat skill or health level are quite self-explanatory, nobility and faith play a slightly subtle role: these virtues are fundamental to each character, so much that extremely low levels of nobility or faith will have the specific knight turn evil and the player will lose control over such character. The player can lower a knight's nobility value for example by committing inappropriate actions for a noble (e.g. attacking innocent people), but he can also enhance such value by committing good deeds like helping a damsel in distress. Faith values can be altered quite similarly: in presence of supernatural creatures or tools faith can be reduced, but having a character spend some time in a church will make his/her faith stronger.

Plot

As the title suggests, the game is based on Arthurian legend. Both fictional and historical sources are used to recreate the atmosphere of the age of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and to draw out characters' names, history and relationships. The game's sources include medieval works such as Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, modern ones such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, and a number of historical treatises on Arthur of the late 1980s. The game is set in the year 539, shortly after the Battle of Camlann at which King Arthur has been mortally wounded by the traitorous Mordred. Britain urgently needs a new king who can reunite its scattered realms and bring the Round Table back to its former glory. Arthur left a successor in the person of Lord Constantine the Crown Regent.

Spirit of Excalibur consists of five different episodes each with its main quest and a number of lesser ones to solve both to achieve the episode main goal and the game aim of reuniting Britain. During the game the player first leads Constantine to Camelot where he can claim Arthur's throne, then gathers forces to defeat both the Saxon invaders and the sons of Mordred who seek to usurp the throne just as their father did. As the game progresses, enchanted beings threaten Constantine's kingdom and the player must find the magical means to stop these menaces as well, up to the final confrontation with Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay who is dabbling in dark arts. The game is won if the player can unite all the fragmented kingdoms of Britain and successfully keep Constantine alive past the last episode.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Zero83% (Amiga)[1]
DragonStarStarStarStar (DOS)[2]
Amiga Action70% (Amiga)[3]
Amiga Power62% (Amiga)[4]
StarStar (Amiga)[5]

Computer Gaming World praised Excalibur's VGA graphics and described it as a "technical wonder", but criticized the documentation and game for not explaining the goal.[6] The DOS version of the game received 4 out of 5 stars in Dragon.[2] Amiga reviews were varied from average to very positive and included the scores of 70% in Amiga Action,[3] 62% in Amiga Power,[4] and 83% in Zero.[1]

Jim Trunzo reviewed Spirit of Excalibur in White Wolf #24 (Dec./Jan., 1990), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "Fans of the Arthurian legends will thrill to the authenticity and feel of the game. All gamers will love the challenge and presentation of Spirit of Excalibur."[7]

Sequel

Main article: Software:Vengeance of Excalibur

The sequel was developed also by Synergistic Software and published by Virgin Games for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS and Macintosh computers in 1991. It begins after Morgan has been slain and all her evil magic was undone, which also means the demon lord Shadowmaster was set free and becomes the powerful new main antagonist.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Spirit of Excalibur". Zero (Dennis Publishing Ltd) (20): 59. June 1991. https://archive.org/details/zero-magazine-20/page/n57/mode/2up. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (July 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (171): 57–64. https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine171#page/n63/mode/2up. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Spirit of Excalibur". Amiga Action (Europress Interactive) (21): 38. June 1991. https://archive.org/details/Amiga_Action_Issue_21_1991-06_Europress_Interactive_GB/page/n39/mode/2up. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ramshaw, Mark (May 1991). "Game Reviews: Spirit of Excalibur". Amiga Power (Future Publishing) (1): 86. https://archive.org/details/Amiga_Power_Issue_01_1991-05_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n85/mode/2up. 
  5. ↑ "The Bottom Line: Last Year's Games - Spirit of Excalibur". Amiga Power (Future Publishing) (2): 103. May 1991. https://archive.org/details/Amiga_Power_Issue_02_1991-06_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n101/mode/2up. 
  6. ↑ Threadgill, Todd (May 1991). "Arthur, Arthur!". Computer Gaming World (82): pp. 64, 66–67. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1991&pub=2&id=82. Retrieved 17 November 2013. 
  7. ↑ Trunzo, Jim (December 1990 – January 1991). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine (24): 54. https://imgur.com/a/vdTkAMl. 
  • 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. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari



Warning: Default sort key "Spirit Of Excalibur" overrides earlier default sort key "Mobygames".



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Spirit_of_Excalibur&oldid=4142552"