Software:World of Aden: Thunderscape

From HandWiki
Short description: 1995 video game
World of Aden: Thunderscape
Developer(s)Strategic Simulations
Publisher(s)Mindscape
Producer(s)Carl C. Norman
Designer(s)Chris Carr
Programmer(s)Russell Brown
Artist(s)Maurie Manning
Composer(s)Danny Pelfrey
Rick Rhodes
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Windows
Release1995: MS-DOS
2013: Windows
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

World of Aden: Thunderscape is a swords & sorcery role-playing video game for MS-DOS compatible operating systems developed by Strategic Simulations and published by Mindscape in 1995. The game is based on the world described in the fantasy trilogy of the same name.

Plot

The world has recently and drastically changed from medieval swords-and-sorcery to a mixed renaissance and Industrial Revolution tech level. Flintlocks and muskets are the best weapons an adventurer can hope for, but there are extremely expensive, very powerful machine guns called "storm cannons". The world has also recently fallen under the effects of the "Darkfall", an event causing thousands of demons or "nocturnals" to enter the world, along with Corrupted, those who have made a deal with the forces of the Darkfall for power-and usually a curse of some sort.

Gameplay

The player controls a party with up to six members with skills, spells, and equipment.

Release

Strategic Simulations developed World of Aden: Thunderscape. Mindscape published it in early 1995. A follow-up, Entomorph, was also released that year. The property was acquired by Kyoudai Games in 2013.

World of Aden: Thunderscape was re-released in 2013 on GOG.com with Microsoft Windows support.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
PC Gamer (US)84%[1]
Arcane6/10[2]
Computer Game Review71/86/83[3]

T. Liam McDonald of PC Gamer US wrote: "It's fun, it's different, it's well-done, and it promises great things for the future of this World of Aden line".[1] The magazine left its Game of the Year award category for "Best Roleplaying Game" empty in 1995, as the editors believed none of the year's releases were strong enough to deserve it. However, the editors nevertheless highlighted Thunderscape as "a very good game", which "gave us hope for much better games in the future".[4]

In Computer Gaming World, Scorpia wrote that Thunderscape's automap is "among the most horrible I have ever seen", and she found fault with the game's extensive length and lack of polish. While she enjoyed the first quarter of the game, she believed that its later sections devolved into an "interminable bore", which was "likely to appeal most to the devoted hack-and-slasher".[5] The magazine later included Thunderscape in its holiday 1995 buyer's guide, where a writer noted that, despite the game's "minor problems", players "could do worse than visit ... [this] emerging world".[6]

Andy Butcher reviewed Thunderscape for Arcane magazine, rating it a 6 out of 10 overall.[2] Butcher comments that "it isn't a bad game. It's fun, and mildly absorbing. But it doesn't offer anything new and soon becomes boring".[2]

In his book Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games (2008), the video game historian Matt Barton called Thunderscape and its companion Entomorph "well-crafted and highly playable games [that] attracted little interest from CRPG fans then or now".[7]

Legacy

A pen and paper role-playing game (RPG) was produced by West End Games. In 2013, Kyoudai Games acquired the rights to the game, and is the current publisher of the tabletop RPG based on The World of Aden property (as of February 2022). A year later in March 2014, Kyoudai launched the Core Rulebook of the Campaign Setting for the Pathfinder RPG.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 McDonald, T. Liam (November 1995). "Thunderscape". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on March 6, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000306042239/http://www.pcgamer.com:80/reviews/1057.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Butcher, Andy (December 1995). "Games Reviews". Arcane (Future Publishing) (1): 71. 
  3. ↑ Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (October 1995). "Aden's Anguish". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/19961221191222/http://www.nuke.com:80/compent/reviews/octarc/tscape/tscape.htm. 
  4. ↑ ((Editors of PC Gamer)) (March 1996). "The Year's Best Games". PC Gamer US 3 (3): 64, 65, 67, 68, 71, 73–75. 
  5. ↑ Scorpia (November 1995). "Nocturnal Rhythms". Computer Gaming World (136): 101, 102, 104. 
  6. ↑ Schuytema, Paul C. (December 1995). "Santa's Little Software Helper; Thunderscape". Computer Gaming World (137): 90. 
  7. ↑ Barton, Matt (February 22, 2008). Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. A K Peters. p. 279. ISBN 978-1568814117. 
  • 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




Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:World_of_Aden:_Thunderscape&oldid=787724"