Case Study: Necronom (Lunatic Software/Linel, 1991, Amiga)
Bibliography
Pfister, Eugen, Arno Görgen, Aurelia Brandenburg, Addrich Mauch, and Adrian Demleitner. 2024. “Case Study: Necronom (Lunatic Software/Linel, 1991, Amiga).” Billet. Confoederatio Ludens (blog). March 28, 2024. https://doi.org/10.58079/w4dm.
Abstract
by Aurelia Brandenburg, Adrian Demleitner, Arno Görgen, Addrich Mauch, and Eugen Pfister Monsters, space, and guns all wrapped up in a shoot-em-up – Necronom, published by Linel in 1991, first got high praises in 1990, but then never took off the way first reports in the press anticipated. With this case study, our team tried … Continue reading Case Study: Necronom (Lunatic Software/Linel, 1991, Amiga)
Notes
Annotations
(10/9/2024, 11:39:33 AM)
Go to annotation “In the following study we will take an analytical look at the production conditions, the product itself (i.e. the narrative, the game mechanics, the graphic design and the music), as well as the reception of the game based on the HGP-analysis model. In a next step, we search for political mythologies and ideas and ask which statements can be made about Necronom as a Swiss game, in terms of content and production methods.” (Pfister et al., 2024) HGP s’intéresse au discours ou à la façon dont les idées se manifestent et communiquaient. Mais, les trois premiers aspects sont une base appropriée pour décrire les jeux vidéo, en particulier les plus anciens.
Go to annotation “While taking obvious inspiration from the original R-Type, there are several elements of Necronom that distinguish it as a “euroshmup”.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Contextualiser à travers le genre du jeu vidéo et comment “euroshmup” est une variante localisée d’un genre populaire.
Go to annotation “Necronom was published in 1991 for the Amiga by Linel and developed by Lunatic Software. Unfortunately, only little information can be found online about the developer, as well as Linel.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Poursuivant en entrant dans les détails de la production.
Go to annotation “Both programmers are still working on the development of digital games at different companies today.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Un aspect important de la description des jeux est de les mettre en relation avec un réseau socioculturel plus large.Comment la création de ce jeu a-t-elle influencé les carrières des personnes impliquées, par exemple?
Go to annotation “Tschögl” (Pfister et al., 2024) Il est une figure clé du début de l’histoire du développement de jeux vidéo dans la partie allemande de la Suisse.
Go to annotation “According to an interview he gave to the German magazine Amiga Joker, Tschögl worked more than five months on the game.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Les magazines de jeux vidéo peuvent être une source importante de matériel paratextuel pour les premiers jeux vidéo.
Go to annotation “H.R. Giger” (Pfister et al., 2024) H.R. Giger comme un facteur intéressant, car il était suisse.
Go to annotation “Michael Tschögl was so kind as to answer our questions via email in December 2023.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Entretiens personnels comme une autre pierre d’angle concernant les informations sur la production et les produits.
Go to annotation “In summary, it can be said that the development of Necronom is paradigmatic for the end of a threshold period in (Swiss) game development from amateur development to a professionalised game culture.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Une première tentative de résumé / analyse.
Go to annotation “As was common at the time, the background story only becomes clear if you read the manual” (Pfister et al., 2024) La narration en tant que construction complexe qui émerge des dimensions esthétiques, du gameplay et du matériel paratextuel.
Go to annotation “This subplot has no real impact on the story and was probably mainly inspired by the 1985 film Enemy Mine (USA, Wolfgang Petersen, 1985).” (Pfister et al., 2024) Références intertextuelles et popculturales dans le cadre de la narration.
Go to annotation “Game Mechanics” (Pfister et al., 2024) Décrivant les mécanismes de jeu aussi exacts et secs que possible.
Go to annotation “While at first glance an R-Type clone, Necronom is in fact more of a euroshmup.” (Pfister et al., 2024) En quoi les mécanismes de jeu de ce jeu vidéo diffèrent-ils de ceux du même genre?
Go to annotation “We have a larger brownish cluster, a blue and a greenish one, and pink seems to be more or less reserved for the last level and the final boss, and the intro. The colours clearly reference science fiction tropes: metallic grey for space technologies, sand brown for ancient cultures, reseda green and electric blue for alien life forms.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Analyse à sec d’abord, puis en demandant ce que les couleurs signifient.
Go to annotation “Featured on the back of the packaging, and also mentioned in interviews regarding the game, we find listed how many levels, aliens, and end-bosses the game contains, but also how many colours and frames of animation were used:” (Pfister et al., 2024) Petit morceau sur le discours autour du développement de jeux vidéo et du marketing.
Go to annotation “It is not that evident to determine who was ultimately responsible for the “design” of a game, as in concepting the looks and functions of various aspects, and realizing them.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Faire face aux incertitudes.
Go to annotation ““Graphic design” was seen as a distinctive factor in marketing. Declaring that Necronom was “designed”26, was also a strategy to say that the game is unique, and not simply a copy of another game.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Encore un discours sur le développement de jeux vidéo et le marketing.
Go to annotation “Referring to contemporary liquid crystal displays and 7- or -9-segment letters27, red segmented letters introduce the development team. Such graphics and animations in the 1990s required some expertise and experience in graphics programming, reminiscent of the elaborate crack intros from the demoscene of the time.28” (Pfister et al., 2024) Lier l’esthétique aux scènes socioculturelles.
Go to annotation “In his study of the “Video Game Mise-En-Scene”, Ivan Girina emphasises the influence of cinematographic film language on the game and concludes – from his perspective in 2013 – that:” (Pfister et al., 2024) Et, liant l’esthétique au discours intertextuel des médias.
Go to annotation “At this point, we would like to talk about the game’s relationship to H. R. Giger.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Ramasser le fil de l’inspiration.
Go to annotation “Generally speaking, Necronom’s reception in the press was mixed.” (Pfister et al., 2024) Les magazines de jeux vidéo sont sur les principales sources pour savoir comment les jeux vidéo plus anciens ont été perçus.