Total Eclipse (1988 video game)

Total Eclipse
Cover art
Developer(s)	Major Developments
Publisher(s)	Incentive Software
Designer(s)	Paul Gregory, Chris Andrew, Sean Ellis, and Ian Andrew
Composer(s)	Wally Beben
Engine	Freescape
Platform(s)	Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, C64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
Release	1988
Genre(s)	Adventure, first-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player

Total Eclipse is a first person adventure game released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS and ZX Spectrum computers in 1988. It can also be considered an early example of a first-person shooter.

The game backstory as explained in the manual is that an Ancient Egyptian priest has put a curse on a pyramid dedicated to the Sun God Re. Any object obstructing Re's shrine from the Sun would be destroyed. The protagonist is an unnamed archaeologist who learns that on 26th October, 1930, a total eclipse will obstruct the sun above Cairo, and that the curse will cause the Moon to explode, devastating Earth with debris. He decides to travel to the pyramid and destroy Re's shrine, preventing the curse.

The game starts having just arrived with a biplane parked outside the pyramid he is about to enter, two hours before the eclipse. The player has to enter and explore the pyramid, avoid traps, trigger and activate puzzles and navigate through maze-like rooms. Causes of death include dehydration, and heart attack caused by various hazards such as falling off ledges, getting crushed by falling stones and taking too many hits from poison darts. Throughout the maze the player can discover treasure to accumulate their score, and ankhs that serve as keys to locked doors.^[1][2]

Like the previous Freescape games developed by Major Developments, Total Eclipse takes place from the point of view of the main character, who can move freely within the 3D environment of the game. This time, however, the emphasis is more on adventure, puzzle-solving and survival; with multi-level environments to move around and explore.

The key elements of the game consist of:

• A water jar, with water which diminishes as the player progresses; when it is empty the player will die of dehydration. The jar can be refilled with water found around the levels.
• A heart-rate monitor, which serves as a health indicator. When the player suffers from damage or walks around a dangerous area, the rate will go higher. The player can keep it lower by resting, sacrificing some of the available time.
• A torch, with a limited battery-life, which allows you to explore some of the darker areas of the game.
• A magnetic compass for navigation
• A wrist watch and a depiction of the sun with the moon as it passes across the sun's face, both of which show the remaining time.
• A pistol which is used for manipulating the environment, such as shooting at doors, chests and mechanisms to open or trigger them. There are also a few enemies. The pistol has infinite ammo.

Items that can be found in the pyramid are

• Pairs of symbols, which the player must shoot in order to trigger something (e.g. open a locked door)
• Pools or fountains of water to fill the water jar.
• Ankhs that serve as keys to barred doors; these are finite throughout the pyramid, and part of the challenge consists not wasting them.
• The player can also find treasure, which simply serves as a side quest and only accumulates score.

Total Eclipse was the third game to use the Freescape engine, which allowed the production of full three-dimensional environments using filled polygons in which the player could move around freely. However, the engine was improved for this release, adding spheres to the collection of shapes used for building the 3D environments.^[3]

Like the previous Freescape-based games, it also gave the player the ability to 'crouch', and look up and down,^[4] as well as rotate left and right, something which was rare amongst 3D games of the time. The same engine was used for its sequel, Total Eclipse II: The Sphinx Jinx.

Amiga/ST Format gave Total Eclipse a score of 78% in its July issue of 1989, bemoaning the similarity to previous Freescape games as its biggest downfall. The reviewer, Gary Barett, concluded, "Do not misunderstand me, though, Total Eclipse is the best of Freescape games, but the originality has gone".^[5]

Zzap! awarded a higher score of 84%, praising the game's moody music and claustrophobic feel, and stating that "Dark Side comes close in terms of realism but to my mind Total Eclipse has a lot better atmosphere".^[6]

• 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.

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.

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]

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

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• Freeware remake of Total Eclipse

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