THIS IS MY

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

 

 

 

 

  Year: 1992
Country: United States
Format: CD-ROM
Box condition: EX

What’s in my box:
CD-ROM , paperboard case , manual , hint book ,
reference card , poll card

 

TRIVIA

 

- Technical specs according to the label: CD-ROM. IBM® and Compatibles. 386 recommended. 640K RAM required. Keyboard, Mouse or Joystick. 256 color VGA. Requires Soundblaster™ or compatible for voice. Also supports AdLib™, Roland™, and Internal Speaker. 50K required per saved game. ICD enclosed. MSCDEX-compatible 2.1.

 
  IBM DOS CD-ROM (“Talkie”)


- Essentially the same box also came out for IBM DOS floppy, Amiga, and Macintosh (with different spec labels).1


- It’s the first box of the SCUMM series to feature the “Gold Guy” logo without mentioning the old company name Lucasfilm Games. The “Gold Guy” itself though premiered on the spines of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.

     
  Company logo 1991/1992 (spines)   Company logo 1991/1992
(front and back)
  New company logo


- “A Graphic Adventure by Hal Barwood”: Yes, LucasArts brought in Hal as project leader who was once a student at USC with George Lucas and began a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter.2


- LucasArts originally wanted Hal to create a game based on "Indiana Jones and the Monkey King/Garden of Life", a rejected script written by Chris Columbus for the third movie. However, after reading the script he decided that the idea was substandard and requested to create an original story together with co-designer Noah Falstein. A rough outline led to Barwood writing the actual script for Indy 4.3


- The front cover of my box is missing the “Talkie” sticker that I took off back in the day. Silly, I regret it. If you zoom in, you can clearly see where it sat.

 
  “Enhanced Edition” sticker


- The front and the back’s background features feature a map of the Aegean Sea where Indy finds Atlantis in-game (its precise location varies in each run).

 
  Map of the Aegean Sea4


- Noah Falstein on the map:
“My favorite fact about the box is the attention to detail we put into the map that serves as a background, partially blurred out. We could have picked any old map - but this is one of the Aegean Sea, centered more or less on Thera/Santorinia (which would be about where Indy on the camel appears). You can see a bit of Crete in the map along the bottom of the box. And the map is in Latin!”5


- The game's main box art was drawn by the game’s lead artist William Eaken.6 He clearly was emulating the style of Drew Stuzan, the artist responsible for the Indiana Jones film posters.

     
  Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)   Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom
(1984)
  Indiana Jones and the
Last Crusade
(1989)


- A movie-style take of the Indy 4 box art came with the box (unfortunately folded).

 
  Fate of Atlantis poster


- Hal Barwood later said thought that the Fate of Atlantis poster was better than any made for his many Hollywood films.7


- Bill Eaken’s initials can be seen next to Sophia.

 
  Bill Eaken's initials


- We can see the sunlight shining through the surface of the sea pointing to the fact that the city of Atlantis is sunken.


- The Nazi holding Sophia is not to be found in-game.


- Falstein: “The guard was based on someone in the company whose name I have forgotten (Kurt maybe?). Sophia was a mix of Sue Sesserman (our PR person) - only her hair, which was brunette, not red, but very thick, and she had a distinctive way of flipping it that we animated in the game. The rest of her image as modeled after Lucy Bradshaw, who later went on to run Maxis.8

     
  Nazi holding Sophia    


- Sophia’s necklace’s eyes are glowing which they only do when fed with Orichalcum.


- The camel rides only appear in “Wits” and “Fists”.

 
  Indy being chased in the Sahara


- The giant head puking on Indy's shoulder? An Atlantean sculpture to be found in the lava room in the inner ring of Atlantis.

     
  Lava room in Atlantis    


- The circles? A carving of the outer, middle and inner ring of Atlantis (and/or a reference to the stones that helped Indy get to Atlantis).


- According to the information on the back cover the game is set in 1939. So only one year after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.


- “Play and replay – three unique challenging paths to vanquish the Reich.” Yes, Indy 4 offered three different paths to get to Atlantis (“Team”, “Wits”, and “Fists”).


- The Atlantean scroll/slate features symbols from the game on the rollers/edges. In-game these appear first and foremost on the stones Indy uses during the game: rising sun, noon sun, setting sun, darkness, waxing moon, full moon, waning moon, new moon, city, east sea, volcano, west sea.


- The photo depicting Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones was taken on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and used on the main theatrical release poster created by Drew Struzan in 1984.

   
  Film poster for
Temple of Doom
  Photo on the back cover of
Fate of Atlantis


- The necklace is a real model made by Milton Williams.9 Already on fire and coming with three beads of Orichalcum!

   
  Sophia's necklace    


- There is no reference to which system the screenshots are taken from (obviously IBM). Only the UK box (U.S. GOLD) has a very long indication below screenshot 5 (IBM PC VGA/MCGA 256 colors).

   
  UK box10    


- Screenshots? As GIFs? Sure!

   
  Screenshot 1: Play bumper cars with Gestapo kidnappers.   Screenshot 2: Repair an ancient doomsday machone…carefully.

     
  Screenshot 3: Soar across the vast Sahara in search of mysterious ruins.   Screenshot 4: Capture a Nazi sub and find Atlantis’ secret air lock.   Screenshot 5: Hot foot it across a sizzling lava pit.


- It appears to be the first time in this SCUMM series that all screens exist precisely as shown on the box in-game.


- Screenshot 1: This is when Indy has to car chase Nazis in Monte Carlo (“Wits” only).


- Screenshot 2: The doomsday machine is actually a sentry statue that, once repaired, will open up a gate to get into the inner ring of Atlantis (all paths).


- Screenshot 3: This is right before Indy and Sophia take off with an hot-air balloon in Algiers (“Team” only).


- Screenshot 4: Steering a submarine in the Mediterranean Sea (“Team” and “Wits” only).


- Screenshot 5: Oh yes, Indy has to cross a lava pit in Atlantis’ inner ring (Sophia in the background means that he has freed her which is not mandatory, all paths). He can actually die here.

 

 

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References:
(1) “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Covers.” Moby Games. https://www.mobygames.com/game/indiana-jones-and-the-fate-of-atlantis/cover-art. 2020/07/10.
(2) French, Mike. “Interview with Hal Barwood.” TheRaider.net, published on 2008/12/15. http://www.theraider.net/features/interviews/
hal_barwood.php
. 2020/07/15.
(3) “Hal Barwood.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Barwood. 2020/07/15.
(4) “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Amiga Manual.” Moby Games. https://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/374172-indiana-jones-and-the-fate-of-atlantis-amiga-manual.jpg. 2020/07/16.
(5) Falstein, Noah. In a message sent to me in private on 2020/04/17.
(6) Lucero. Judith. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: Manual. LucasArts Entertainment Company. 1992. P. 14.
(7) Falstein, Noah. In a message sent to me in private on 2020/04/17.
(8) Idem.
(9) Lucero. Judith. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis: Manual. LucasArts Entertainment Company. 1992. P. 15.
(10) “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis Covers.” Moby Games. https://www.mobygames.com/game/indiana-jones-and-the-fate-of-atlantis/cover-art. 2020/07/10.