Search for the Titanic

1989 video game

1989 video game

Search for the Titanic

Developer(s)| Codesmiths
IntraCorp
Publisher(s)| Capstone Software
Programmer(s)| Jeff Jones
Sean Puckett[3]
Platform(s)| MS-DOS, Commodore 64
Release| February 1989: MS-DOS[1]
1989: C64[2]
Genre(s)| Adventure
Mode(s)| Single-player

Search for the Titanic is a graphic adventure developed by Codesmiths and IntraCorp and published by its subsidiary Capstone Software in 1989. It was released for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, then ported to the Commodore 64. Versions for the Apple II and Amiga were planned, but never reached development (or just cancelled and not completed in the case of the announced Apple II port).[4][5] Accolade, Inc. helped to distribute the game.[6] Much of the gameplay is based on Robert Ballard's expedition to locate the wreck of the RMS Titanic.[7]

## Gameplay[edit]

The game does oceanographic simulation. The player has to build up reputation and resources by exploring sunken ships on an expedition to find the Titanic. To gain funds, the player needs sponsorship with good reasons to carry out the voyage. If that works out, the player needs the right equipment, adequate supplies, an ideal vessel and competent personnel on a limited budget. Next the player navigates through the sea and finds a suitable place to dive and find a shipwreck. The game includes 75 shipwrecks, over 100 maps and charts and 47 ports to stop at. Problems can occur during the expedition including the crew's health declining, bad weather and running out of supplies and funds.[8] Some of those shipwrecks include Spanish treasure and Noah's Ark.[9]

## Development[edit]

President of Intracorp, Leigh Rothschild was fascinated by historical shipwrecks and earned a degree in history the University of Miami. Being president of the large electronic company, Rothschild had access to a lot of multimedia. He built up his inspiration from whatever literature and videos on diving and shipwrecks he could dig up. It wasn't until June 1987, that Rothschild actually came up with an idea on the Titanic. For this project he needed recent photos of the shipwreck and expertise from an oceanographer. He turned his attention to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, whom his brother Kenneth had worked with previously and were conveniently located near enough for him to contact on a daily basis. Woods Hole were keen on the idea of a video game based on their exploits and Intracorp got the required rights. At the request of Robert Ballard, Intracorp changed it so that no treasure collecting occurred in the gameplay, in order to set a good example for players and future oceanographers.[10]

Coding the game required the help of Codesmiths programmers Jeff Jones and Sean Puckett. Before their assignment, they did have a keen interest in the Titanic ocean liner. The proposal took ten days to produce. By November 1988, a substantial amount of programming had been completed. Puckett drew the maps of the game by hand. The simulated weather was the hardest feature to implement. All organisation names in the game were created so as not to coincide with real-life companies. Jones and Puckett had difficulty accurately researching the diving equipment, so they had to make educated guesses. Ballard's photos were no good for digitizing in their current format, so Codesmiths had the slides converted to contact prints (placed on one sheet of light-sensitive paper) at a photographic lab. Then the page of contact prints were placed inside a scanner with a special digitizing program to input them into a computer. The digitized images were then resized with dithering applied.[10]

## Release[edit]

An Amiga version of Search for the Titanic was introduced at the Winter CES in January 1989.[11] The IBM PC compatible version was highlighted at the ACE Game of Show in 1989. [12] The Commodore 64 version was shown at the European Computer Trade Show in April 1990.[13]

## Reception[edit]

Reception

Review scoresPublication| Score

|

The Games Machine| 68% (DOS)[14]
ACE| 647 (C64)[8]
Zzap!64| 50% (C64)[15]
Run| B (DOS)[16]
AwardPublication| Award

|

Game Players| PC Excellence Award[17]

A reviewer from The Games Machine gave the game a score of 68% saying that the game lacks gameplay and gets boring, but may be worth checking out if you are looking for something different.[14] A reviewer from Zzap!64 gave the game a score of 50% finding the graphics and screens uninteresting and the gameplay boring.[15] An ST Log reviewer described the game as an off-beat adventure with enough detail to consume a computer-bound treasure hunter for hours.[18]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reviewed the game for its geographical accuracy.[19]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Special Report" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 56\. Golden Empire Publications. February 1989. p. 9.
2. ^ "Taking a Peek" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 59\. Golden Empire Publications. May 1989. p. 6.
3. ^ "Sean M. Puckett Resume". Retrieved January 8, 2020.
4. ^ "News - Intracorp, Inc". Commodore Magazine. No. 28\. Commodore Magazine Inc. April 1989. p. 8.
5. ^ Capstone 1993 Product Line (PDF). Capstone Software. 1993. p. 7.
6. ^ "Buyer's Guide". PC Zone. No. 1\. Future plc. April 1993. p. 119.
7. ^ Randall, Neil (December 1989). "Search for the Titanic Gameplay". Compute!. No. 115\. ABC Publishing. pp. 110, 112.
8. ^ a b "Search for the Titanic - Capstone/CRL". ACE. No. 31\. Future Publishing. April 1990. p. 70.
9. ^ Hedrick, Steve (June 1990). "Gazette Reviews". Compute!'s Gazette. No. 84\. ABC Publishing. p. 62.
10. ^ a b "Titanic: The Quest of the Century". Commodore Magazine. No. 28\. Commodore Magazine Inc. April 1989. pp. 54–55, 90–94.
11. ^ Polsson, Ken. "Chronology of Amiga". Archived from the original on May 14, 2019.
12. ^ "Game of the Show". Compute!'s Gazette. No. 84\. ABC Publishing. July 1990. p. 62.
13. ^ Canavese, Filippo (July 1990). "European Computer Trade Show '90". Guida Videogiochi. No. 13\. Gruppo Editoriale Jackson. p. 31.
14. ^ a b Rigby, Paul (April 1990). "Still Flying High". The Games Machine. No. 29\. Newsfield Publications. p. 86.
15. ^ a b "Search for the Titanic - Zzap!64". Zzap!64. No. 59\. Newsfield Publications. March 1990. p. 25.
16. ^ Ryan, John (February 1990). "Stay Dray While Exploring the Deep Seas". Run. No. 74\. IDG Communications. p. 20.
17. ^ Rigby, Paul (March 1990). "Game Player's First Annual". Game Players PC Strategy Guide. Vol. 3, no. 2\. Imagine Publishing. p. 13.
18. ^ "The World of Adventure" (PDF). ST Log. No. 31\. May 1989. p. 53.
19. ^ "Commodore Clips". Compute!'s Gazette. No. 70\. ABC Publishing. April 1989. p. 10.

## External links[edit]

* Search for the Titanic at MobyGames

* v
* t
* e

Titanic

* First class facilities
* Second and Third class facilities
* Grand Staircase
* Animals aboard

Sinking|

* Iceberg
* Changes in safety practices
* Lifeboats
* Lifeboat No. 1
* British inquiry
* United States inquiry
* Wreck of the Titanic
* Legends and myths
* Conspiracy theories

Deck officers|

* Edward J. Smith (Captain)
* Henry Tingle Wilde (Chief Officer)
* William McMaster Murdoch (First Officer)
* Charles H. Lightoller (Second Officer)
* Herbert Pitman (Third Officer)
* Joseph G. Boxhall (Fourth Officer)
* Harold G. Lowe (Fifth Officer)
* James Paul Moody (Sixth Officer)
* Joseph Bell (Machine Room Manager)

Crew members|

* Frederick Barrett
* Harold Bride
* William Denton Cox
* Sid Daniels
* Frank Oliver Evans
* Frederick Fleet
* Luigi Gatti
* Robert Hichens
* Violet Jessop
* Archie Jewell
* Charles Joughin
* Reginald Lee
* Evelyn Marsden
* William Mintram
* Jack Phillips
* Frank Winnold Prentice
* Arthur John Priest
* George Symons

Musicians|

* Wallace Hartley
* John Wesley Woodward

Passengers|

| Fatalities|

* Allison family
* Thomas Andrews
* John Jacob Astor IV
* David John Bowen
* Archibald Butt
* Thomas Byles
* Roderick Chisholm
* Walter Donald Douglas
* Annie Funk
* Jacques Futrelle
* Sidney Leslie Goodwin
* Benjamin Guggenheim
* John Harper
* Henry B. Harris
* Wallace Hartley
* Charles Melville Hays
* Ann Elizabeth Isham
* Edward Austin Kent
* Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche
* Francis Davis Millet
* Harry Markland Molson
* Clarence Moore
* Eino Viljami Panula
* Arthur Ryerson
* W. T. Stead
* Ida Straus
* Isidor Straus
* John B. Thayer
* Frank M. Warren Sr.
* George D. Wick
* George Dunton Widener
* Harry Elkins Widener
* Duane Williams
* George Henry Wright

|

Survivors|

* Rhoda Abbott
* Trevor Allison
* Lillian Asplund
* Madeleine Astor
* Ruth Becker
* Lawrence Beesley
* Karl Behr
* Dickinson Bishop
* Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson
* Elsie Bowerman
* Francis Browne
* Margaret "Molly" Brown
* Helen Churchill Candee
* Charlotte Drake Cardeza
* Lucile Carter
* Gladys Cherry
* Millvina Dean
* Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon
* Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
* Dorothy Gibson
* Archibald Gracie IV
* Frank John William Goldsmith
* Edith Haisman
* Henry S. Harper
* Eva Hart
* Margaret Bechstein Hays
* Masabumi Hosono
* J. Bruce Ismay
* Eleanor Ileen Johnson
* Louise Kink
* Louise Laroche
* Margaret Mannion
* Michel Marcel Navratil
* Alfred Nourney
* Arthur Godfrey Peuchen
* Jane Quick
* Winnifred Quick
* Edith Rosenbaum
* Noël Leslie, Countess of Rothes
* Emily Ryerson
* Agnes Sandström
* Beatrice Sandström
* Frederic Kimber Seward
* Eloise Hughes Smith
* Jack Thayer
* Marian Thayer
* Barbara West
* Ella Holmes White
* R. Norris Williams
* Marie Grice Young

Monuments
and memorials|

| Australia|

* Bandstand (Ballarat)

|

United Kingdom|

* Engine Room Heroes (Liverpool)
* Engineers (Southampton)
* Musicians (Southampton)
* Titanic (Belfast)
* Orchestra (Liverpool)

United States|

* Straus Park (New York City)
* Titanic (New York City)
* Titanic (Washington, D.C.)
* Butt–Millet Memorial Fountain (Washington, D.C.)

Popular culture
(cultural legacy)|

| Books|

* The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility (1898)
* A Night to Remember (book)
* Polar the Titanic Bear

|

Films|

* Saved from the Titanic (1912)
* In Nacht und Eis (1912)
* Atlantic (1929)
* Atlantik (1929)
* Titanic (1943)
* Titanic (1953)
* A Night to Remember (1958)
* The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
* Raise the Titanic (1980)
* Secrets of the Titanic (1986)
* Titanica (1992)
* Titanic (1997)
* The Chambermaid on the Titanic (1997)
* The Legend of the Titanic (1999)
* Titanic: The Legend Goes On (2000)
* The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg (2000)
* Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
* Tentacolino (2004)
* Titanic II (2010)
* The Six (2021)
* Titanic 666 (2022)

Television|

* "A Night to Remember" (1956)
* S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
* Titanic: The Complete Story (1994)
* Titanic (1996 miniseries)
* No Greater Love (1996)
* "A Flight to Remember" (Futurama) (1999)
* Titanic (2012 miniseries)
* Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012)
* Saving the Titanic (2012)
* Titanic: The Aftermath (2012)

Theater|

* The Berg (1929)
* The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960 musical)
* Titanic (1974)
* Titanic (1997 musical)

Music|

* "The Titanic (It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down)" (folk song)
* The Sinking of the Titanic (music composition)
* Titanic (soundtrack album)
* Back to Titanic (soundtrack album)
* "My Heart Will Go On" (song)
* "Nearer, My God, to Thee" (song)
* Titanique (musical parody)
* "Dance Band on the Titanic" (song)
* "Titanic" (song)
* Titanic Requiem (music composition)
* "Tempest" (song)
* Titanic Rising (album)

Video games|

* Search for the Titanic (1989)
* Titanic: Adventure Out of Time (1996)
* Titanic: Honor and Glory (TBA)

Museums
and exhibitions|

* SeaCity Museum (Southampton)
* Titanic Museum (Branson, Missouri)
* Titanic Museum (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee)
* Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Halifax)
* Titanic Belfast

Places|

* Titanic (Canada)
* Titanic Canyon
* Titanic Quarter, Belfast
* Cape Race, Newfoundland
* Fairview Lawn Cemetery
* Mount Olivet Cemetery (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
* Arrol Gantry
* Titanic, Oklahoma

Related|

| Ships|

* RMS Baltic
* RMS Olympic
* HMHS Britannic
* SS Mount Temple
* RMS Carpathia
* SS Californian
* CS Mackay-Bennett
* SS Birma
* SS Frankfurt
* Replica Titanic
* Titanic II
* Romandisea Titanic

|

Law|

* RMS Titanic Maritime Memorial Act
* Agreement Concerning the Shipwrecked Vessel RMS Titanic

Others|

* White Star Line
* David Blair
* Herbert Haddock
* Arthur Rostron
* Stanley Lord
* Titanic Historical Society
* Titanic International Society
* Encyclopedia Titanica
* Halomonas titanicae
* Women and children first
* Robert Ballard
* La Circassienne au Bain
* Titan submersible
* implosion

* Category

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