Win 95 QL | SPQR (1996) Save Rome with a Time Machine to find scrolls
4Before we begin, in 1995 to 1997 adventure gaming wanted to tap into the Educational sector to make it sell more ... the most famous dev from that time to nail this was Cryo (Versailles, Atlantis, Egypt, Aztec,China: The Forbidden City) ... other devs limped behind with theirs own ideas, since they where always outsold by Cryo... So what is this. Back in 1995 developer CyberSites made a Online Adventure :
You can play it here https://ancientworlds.net/aw/SPQR/GamePage ...
And after its massive success (since free) ported it to other systems... as a CD game for your PC ... a Digital recreation of Rome with a Time Machine twist of you collecting scroll to stop a cabal that wants to burn the city down ... was it a massive success ... do 70k sold copies a success make ? Guess not , since after it the devs saw a different market with a better revenue stream... Online Adverts . Let Cryo make those games ... we will make our AncientWorlds as a Online Social Site, build around ancient cultures : Rome (this game), Hellas, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Celtia, Orient, Germania, Americas, The New Worlds
Making for each one a Online adventure , till the 2001 dot com crash...
More info :
"Before long, it became clear that the contributors to The Rostra were not only interested in discussing the game, but shared an deep interest in the ancient world. To facilitate greater community interaction and cohesion, AncientSites.com was launched, providing a suite of homegrown early social media features such as Grams (instant messages), Homesites, Groups, Friends Lists, Cities and Hoods and a Who'sOnline Panel. Even though the community grew quickly, AncientSites was shuttered during the dotcom crash in January 2001.
In autumn 2002, the 100,000 registrants of the community were invited by the founders of AncientSites to a reconstructed version of the community called AncientWorlds.net, which continued the tradition of AncientSites and thrived until 2015, when it's flame was doused due to technical issues. In total, AncientWorlds received 57,236,013 page views from 16,538,996 unique visitors (.25% of the Earth's population) and 40,377 registered members during its tenure! "
So was it good ... the game was well ... no ... since what made the game was its Social Aspect that let you communicate with others...
In plain words the game :
The player is also told about the Navitor, a machine that allows them to wander around Rome in the comfort of the workshop. Once activated it can pick up objects and use them in other places, travel in time and view each of the suspects' diaries.
When the player has activated the Navitor, their first task is to find the suspects' diaries. After this, they automatically update. There are also quests each month, consisting of a screen shot. The player must find the location portrayed in the screen shot and complete a puzzle or task to gain more clues and/or an important object. The events in Rome can be read both through the diaries and in the city newspaper, and can often help with the month's quest. Occasionally, the Navitor will crash, and the player must fix one of the machines around the workshop in order to fix the Navitor itself. Each of the machines represents a season, and only the correct machine for the season can be fixed.
Using Lucius's instructions, the player can enter Cornelius's workshop. On entering the workshop, however, the Navitor sees itself. The resulting paradox causes the Navitor to explode, although the player is unharmed. Amongst the debris are the five 'gifts' from each of the suspects, collected throughout the game, along with the initial of their owner. The player must now choose who they think is the Calamitus by clicking on their gift. On choosing a suspect, a short video will play where the suspect says how they would destroy Rome if they were Calamitus. The player must then use the chosen gift to foil their plans.
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