Obsidian (computer game)
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| Obsidian | |
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| Developer(s) | Rocket Science Games |
| Publisher(s) | SegaSoft |
| Engine | mFactory media creation suite |
| Release date(s) | December 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure, Puzzle game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS, Windows |
| Media | CD-ROM (5) |
| System requirements | Windows version: Windows 95, 16 MB RAM, 4x CD-ROM drive, mouse, keyboard |
Obsidian was a 1996 computer game created by Rocket Science Games for Mac OS and Windows platforms.
The genre of the game was a first-person 3-D graphical adventure game, with a large puzzle element. The puzzles were designed (at least in part) by Scott Kim. The soundtrack was developed by Thomas Dolby.
The game spanned five CDs, and featured pre-rendered environments, audio, and full-motion video (both live action and CGI). In a surprising move, the official strategy guide was packed with the game. The strategy guide itself is also worth noting due to the inclusion of numerous small essays throughout the book, providing background on such subjects as nanotechnology, Jungian psychology, and the nature of artificial intelligence.
One of its notable puzzles was a minigame which used a "twenty questions" algorithm (similar to what would eventually be used in 20Q). The game came preprogrammed with a set of guesses, but after losing it would ask the player for criteria that would have led it to a correct guess--and then recorded that information into a text file. Because of this, the game was able to (theoretically) "learn" how to become so good as to beat the player every time.
Contents |
[edit] Storyline
The year is 2066. You are scientist Lilah Kerlins. (This "you are" is somewhat literal, as the entire story unfolds through the eyes of the unspeaking Lilah, giving the player a narrating role somewhat similar to that found in the later Half-Life games). You and your partner, Max, have just launched the Ceres satellite into orbit around the Earth. The satellite is designed to release nanobots into Earth's atmosphere in order to counteract depletion of the ozone layer and air pollution. Because the satellite has been endowed with a powerful artificial intelligence, it is thought that all further control may safely be ceded to the satellite itself. Thus, you and Max go on vacation in the woods of a mountain (one of the first areas to be positively affected by Ceres).
As you check your e-mail on your PDA at the campsite, you hear Max scream in the distance. Running to check on him, you suddenly come across a large black outcropping on the side of the mountain. This object is the "Obsidian" which the game is named for. Suddenly the glass opens, and you fall inside. The game begins.
Unfortunately, Ceres' artificial intelligence has become sentient, with all the traditional problems that causes. In an attempt to figure out who she (the A.I. refers to itself in the female tone) is, Ceres has used her nanobots to create a world. The way in which you explore it will help her to explore herself, her creators, and what it means to think. However, there is something more sinister occurring within Ceres' mind. She seems to be discovering all the faults and downsides of humanity, and asking herself whether or not the Earth wouldn't be better off without people on it.
The game is extremely linear until the end. At that point, you are given the option to either talk Ceres out of destroying humanity, or cede that she is correct. Depending on which you choose, the game plays one of two endings. The "good" ending is that you return to the original world, with Max by your side. The "bad" ending is that you return to a world which has been "rebooted" by Ceres, who in its misguided urge to cleanse the planet has erased the very source of the pollutions - mankind.
[edit] Environments
The environments in the game are all pre-rendered computer-generated backgrops, like those found in Myst or Starship Titanic. The atmosphere shifts wildly in each zone, though they are all surreal. One zone is a bureaucracy-themed cubical room which takes full advantage of the 3D environment by requiring the player to walk on the walls and ceiling, and the entire "room" rotates to change the player's point of view. Another zone deals with oil, and is set in a lonely desert. One deals with creativity and is set in a museum which recreates the mind of Ceres, and so on.
[edit] Characters
Max and Lilah are the only two human characters shown in the game. The world inside Obsidian is populated almost entirely with "vidbots"--robots with televisions for heads. The two major exceptions to this are Bismuth, a cobbled-together robot with a lamp for a head, and the Conductor. Not only that, but at the very beginning of the game, before reaching the obsidian, you can watch a couple of videos of other scientists that Max and Lilah work with.
[edit] Advertising, reception and awards
As the game was one of the last ventures by the fledgling Rocket Science and SegaSoft teams (and no doubt because of the popularity of the similar game Myst), Obsidian was released with a flurry of advertising. The motivating phrase in the advertisements was "Your rules do not apply here," (accompanied by e.g. a picture of a lamp emitting darkness) which fit neatly into the storyline and atmosphere of the game. One specific advert (the "Egg Shattering Man" TV advertisement[1] directed by Rocky Morton) won three Gold Clio awards.
The game was not a commercial success; however, it was lauded by critics such as those from Computer Gaming World [2], GameSpot [3] and PC Gamer [4].
