Software:Worms: The Director's Cut

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Worms: The Director's Cut
Developer(s)Team17
Publisher(s)Ocean Software
Designer(s)Andy Davidson
SeriesWorms
Platform(s)Amiga with AGA-chipset
Release1997
Genre(s)Artillery, strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Worms: The Director's Cut is an artillery strategy game, a sequel to Worms, developed by Team17 and published by Ocean Software. It was programmed by Andy Davidson and released in 1997 for the Amiga platform only.

The player has control of a team of worms and takes turns at attacking either computer or human opponents controlling other teams. The game builds upon Worms (1995) and adds various graphical and gameplay developments. The Director's Cut received positive reviews, but only sold 5,000 copies worldwide - primarily due to the game being sold at the extreme end of the Amiga's lifespan.

In 2021, it was announced that Worms: The Director's Cut would be one of several Team17 games included on the A500 Mini.[1]

Gameplay

The Director's Cut features turn based combat in the same style as its predecessor, Worms. The game has a 2D side-on view of the battlefield where players fight worms against each other. The game can be played against the computer, or with multiple players taking control of teams of four worms. The worms can use various weapons, some of which are limited in quantity. Each worm has a life meter and the team with the last surviving worm(s) is the winner.[2]

The landscape of the battlefield affects the style of battle that takes place. Similar to Worms, The Director's Cut generates landscapes in a range of styles such as "snow" or "beach". The game also adds a level designer which allows the player to design their own battlefields. There are various settings and options which allow the player to customise how a battle is fought. These include altering the power and availability of weapons, increasing or decreasing time limits and adjusting landscape settings.[2]

Development

The Director's Cut was programmed by Andy Davidson and enhanced the engine, graphics and gameplay of the original Worms. The game was developed solely for AGA Amiga systems and so was designed to take advantage of the more advanced graphics that these systems could produce.[3] Davidson wanted to improve the original Worms to the best possible quality: "What I'm trying to do here is create the best Amiga game ever. It will also be the best version of the original Worms available on any platform".[3]

There are 14 new weapons added in The Director's Cut, including the Holy Hand Grenade, common in the Worms series afterwards. There were also developments to the level maps. "Cavern" levels were supported, which allowed for matches to be played within a cave. The Director's Cut also featured a "graffiti" style level editor so the player could design their own levels with few restrictions. There were also graphical developments with the number of colours on-screen increased to 300. The game features nine level parallax scrolling.[4]

Andy Davidson posted a screenshot of the game's title screen to Instagram in June 2018 with an updated version number of 1.5 Alpha and a build date of May 2.[5]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CU Amiga91%[6]
Amiga Format90%[7]

Worms: The Director's Cut was received well by critics, with Amiga Format and CU Amiga awarding the game 90% and 91% respectively.[7][6] The game was seen as an improvement over the features of Worms, with many gameplay elements praised. The developments in the presentation also received positive criticism, in particular the added graphical layers was highlighted as an example of a "cosmetic correction".[6] Despite the positive reviews, The Director's Cut only sold 5,000 copies worldwide.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Jared (August 10, 2021). "The Amiga 500 Is Returning as a Mini-Console". IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/amiga-500-returning-mini-console-worms-another-world-chaos-engine-zool. Retrieved August 10, 2021. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sharp, Paul. Worms: The Director's Cut manual. Team17. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dykes, Alan (September 1996). "Preview - Worms: The Next Generation". CU Amiga (EMAP) (79): 32–33. https://archive.org/details/cuamiga-magazine-079/page/n31/mode/2up. 
  4. ↑ "Worms: The Director's Cut Official Website". Team17. http://worms.team17.com/wormsdc.html. 
  5. ↑ rockandrollmachine on Instagram - retrieved June 4, 2018
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Broughton, Matt (December 1996). "Game Review - Worms: The Director's Cut". CU Amiga (EMAP) (82): 30–31. https://archive.org/details/cuamiga-magazine-082/page/n29/mode/2up. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Smith, Andy (December 1996). "Worms: The Director's Cut". Amiga Format (Future Publishing) (92): 36–37. https://archive.org/details/amigaformatmagazine-092/page/n35/mode/2up. 
  8. ↑ "Worms: The Directors Cut profile". Dream17. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100523125024/http://www.dream17.info/softography.php?id=34. Retrieved 2008-03-02. 
  • 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 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]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

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. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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