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Magic Carpet (video game)

October 15, 2023

Magic Carpet is a 3D flying video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1994. Its graphics and gameplay were considered innovative and technically impressive at the time of its release.[1]

Magic Carpet
European MS-DOS cover art
Developer(s)Bullfrog Productions
Krisalis Software (PS1 & Saturn)
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Designer(s)Jonty Barnes
Sean Masterson
Barry Meade
Daniel Russell
Alex Trowers
Programmer(s)Sean Cooper
Mark Huntley
Composer(s)Russell Shaw
Platform(s)MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn
Release1994: MS-DOS
1995: Expansion
1996: PlayStation, Saturn
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

An expansion pack, Magic Carpet: Hidden Worlds, was released for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1995 which added 25 levels and winter-themed graphics. A compilation package, Magic Carpet Plus, which included the main game and the expansion was used as a base for PlayStation and Sega Saturn ports that were released in 1996. A sequel was released in 1995, Magic Carpet 2: The Netherworlds.

Plot Edit

The player plays a wizard on a magic carpet flying over water, mountains and other terrain while destroying monsters and rival wizards (which are controlled by the computer) and collecting "mana" which is gathered by hot air balloons and stored in the player's own castle.

The story is told in a cutscene that depicts the pages of a book being flipped. According to this back story, mana was discovered and though it initially had beneficial uses, the quest for it made the lands barren. Worse, many corrupt wizards began turning to mana for their own nefarious purposes, eventually leading to war between them. The battling wizards began using more destructive spells and summoning deadly monsters, the latter of which often turned against them. One wizard hoped to end everything with an all-powerful spell but instead only left the worlds shattered. Only his apprentice survived and his goal is to restore the worlds to equilibrium.

Gameplay Edit

The player has to visit several small spherical "worlds" (45 in the original game [The box says 50, but levels 9, 18, 29, 34, and 40 are not actually present] and an additional 25 in the expansion). The goal in each world is to build a castle and fill it with the necessary percentage of the total mana in the current level (or "world"), restoring it to "equilibrium". The total mana level is fixed in each world. To accomplish this, the player has to possess the mana so that mana-collecting balloons bring them to the player's castle (the balloons ignore mana that are unpossessed or possessed by an enemy wizard). Mana, represented by pearls of varying sizes, may be found freely in a world but is usually released by destroying monsters and/or leveling castles of enemy wizards.

As the player expands the castle, it spawns additional balloons and armed guards that defend the castle against attacks by enemy wizards. The player character can have up to two spells equipped at a time, one for each hand.[2] Greater amounts of mana stored in the castle allow the player to expand the castle and cast more powerful spells. Besides storing mana, the player's castle also serves as a home base for the player character where he can regain health and mana. Upon death, the player character respawns at his castle. Dying without a castle forces the player to restart the level since the game does not have a mid-level save feature. As long as the player's castle is at least partly intact, the player character cannot die.

The magic carpet can be piloted in three dimensions, similar to a helicopter, although the player cannot roll and it is impossible to crash. Instead, when the carpet approaches an obstacle, it automatically ascends to fly over the obstacle.[2]

Development Edit

The game was promoted with a marketing budget of $307,600.[3]

The game supported anaglyph 3D and Autostereogram effects. 3D glasses came with the game package and VFX1 Headgear was supported.

Ports Edit

PlayStation Edit

The PlayStation version retains many of the PC version's spells. The map has changed slightly, and some of the monster graphics and enemy wizard graphics are slightly different. As in the PC game, one can only save at the end of the level. Enemy wizards now have a health-bar over their heads, so the player can see when they are close to death. This version does not support multiplayer, but does contain the Hidden Worlds expansion as a reward for finishing the game in "Normal" mode.

Saturn Edit

There was also a port for the Sega Saturn console.[4] It is largely identical to the PlayStation version, and likewise includes the Hidden Worlds expansion.[5] Gaming journalist Ed Lomas reported the technical differences from the PlayStation version as: the sky is animated in a "sliding wallpaper" fashion (whereas it moves in 3D in the PlayStation version), the sprites are more detailed, and the shadows lack the translucency effect.[6]

Atari Jaguar CD Edit

A port for the Atari Jaguar CD was in development after Atari Corporation made a deal with Electronic Arts to bring some of the latter's titles to the system in the middle of 1995, with Magic Carpet being among them.[7][8][9] The port was announced during the same month for a general 1995 release and later slated for a December 1995 release.[10][11][12] Despite kept being advertised in magazine ads and catalogs,[13] in addition to internal documents from Atari Corp. still listing the port under development,[14] this version was never released. Mike Diskett, one of the playtesters of the title and programmer of the Atari Jaguar versions of Syndicate and Theme Park, revealed in a 2015 forum post at AtariAge that before Atari bought the rights to the title, he had tried porting Magic Carpet to the Jaguar during his spare time and concluded that it was impossible due to the Jaguar's difficulty with texture mapping.[15]

3DO Edit

A 3DO Interactive Multiplayer version of Magic Carpet was announced to be in development, but this port was never released for unknown reasons.[16]

Reception Edit

In the United Kingdom, it was among the nineteen best-selling PlayStation games of 1996, according to HMV.[27]

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, and stated that "Sure to be loads of fun for fans of any genre."[23]

Reviewing the Saturn version in GamePro, Tommy Glide lauded the game's massive size, wide open 3D environment, morphing terrain animations, subtle touches to the sound effects, and accessible controls. He concluded that "If you want to break out of those corridor adventures and play an original first-person shooter, test-drive this carpet of the Persian persuasion."[28] Sam Hickman of Sega Saturn Magazine approved of both the originality of the game and the accuracy of the Saturn port, summarizing that "as a conversion, Magic Carpet is actually very good. As a game in its own right it's nigh on brilliant." She criticized the absence of multiplayer mode, but praised the inclusion of additional levels and a new spell, as well as the more streamlined spell system, and described it as one of the Saturn's most visually impressive games to date.[26] Maximum assessed that the Saturn version is graphically less impressive than the PC and PlayStation versions, but carries over the gameplay flawlessly. They praised the game itself for its deep and original yet enjoyable gameplay, summarizing it as "a perfect mix of strategy and mindless blasting."[22]

Reviewing the PlayStation version, the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly commented that the controls and interface are confusing at first, and that the graphics become pixelated when getting close to objects, but three of the four felt that it was an overall enjoyable game.[21] Tommy Glide gave it the same ratings as the Saturn version in all four categories, and reiterated his praises for that version.[29] Next Generation commented in a brief review that "Magic Carpet has a lot of challenging action. But a weird control scheme and so-so graphics fail to deliver."[25] However, the magazine's review of the Saturn version in the same issue was much more positive, praising the originality, demanding strategy, massive length, and "airy, mystical quality".[24]

In 1996, Computer Gaming World named Magic Carpet the 137th best game ever. The editors wrote, "Darned weird rules were offset by a rich, 3D world to explore and conquer."[30] In 1996, GamesMaster ranked Magic Carpet 26th in their "Top 100 Games of All Time."[31]

References Edit

  1. ^ "Rugged". Next Generation. No. 13. Imagine Media. January 1996. p. 164. Bullfrog's original Magic Carpet will always be remembered for its innovative style and engaging gameplay.
  2. ^ a b "Restore Your World to Equilibrium with Magic Carpet". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine. No. 4. Emap International Limited. March 1996. pp. 72–81.
  3. ^ "Data Stream". Next Generation. Imagine Media (3): 18. March 1995.
  4. ^ magic-carpet 2007-10-14 at the Wayback Machine on mobygames.com
  5. ^ "That's Magic!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 3. Emap International Limited. January 1996. p. 11.
  6. ^ "Letters: They're Not Biased". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 8. Emap International Limited. June 1996. pp. 32–33.
  7. ^ . Computer and Video Games. No. 163. Future Publishing. June 1995. pp. 12–13. Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  8. ^ François, Tommy; Msika, David (June 1995). "Reportage - E3 - Atari: Le Virtuel, Ça Marche". CD Consoles (in French). No. 8. Pressimage. p. 43. from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  9. ^ Vendel, Curt (August 26, 1995). "Payment Schedule for Jaguar games to Developers" (PDF). atarimuseum.com. (PDF) from the original on 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  10. ^ "Feature - XT Generation Report - Atari Jaguar". MAN!AC (in German). No. 20. Cybermedia. June 1995. p. 40.
  11. ^ Nepožitek, Marek (July 1995). "Konzole - Jaguar+CD - CD a virtuální realita již tento rok?". LeveL (in Czech). No. 6. Naked Dog, s.r.o. p. 44. from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  12. ^ Gore, Chris (August 1995). "The Gorescore - Industry News You Can - Upcoming Jaguar Software Titles". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 79. L.F.P., Inc. p. 14.
  13. ^ Charnock, Tom (March 2016). "Atari Jaguar UK Preview Booklet". atarijaguar.co.uk. from the original on 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  14. ^ Dragon, Lost (July 5, 2017). . atari.io. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  15. ^ disky (May 2, 2015). "Magic Carpet on Jaguar CD? Alex Trowers Lead Designer answers my question". AtariAge. from the original on 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  16. ^ "Dossier - Ils Arrivent Sur 3DO - Magic Carpet". CD Consoles (in French). No. 3. Pressimage. January 1995. p. 95.
  17. ^ . Allgame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014.
  18. ^ . Allgame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014.
  19. ^ Clarkson, Mark (February 1995). "A Magic Carpet Ride" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 127. pp. 122–6. (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  20. ^ "Magic Carpet". Edge. No. 15. December 1994. p. 70. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Magic Carpet Review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 82. Sendai Publishing. May 1996. p. 32.
  22. ^ a b "Maximum Reviews: Magic Carpet". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine. No. 5. Emap International Limited. April 1996. p. 149.
  23. ^ a b "Finals". Next Generation. No. 2. Imagine Media. February 1995. p. 95.
  24. ^ a b "Every Sega Saturn Game Played, Reviewed, and Rated". Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 64.
  25. ^ a b "Every PlayStation Game Played, Reviewed, and Rated". Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 58.
  26. ^ a b Hickman, Sam (April 1996). "Review: Magic Carpet". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 6. Emap International Limited. pp. 72–73.
  27. ^ "Editorial". Computer and Video Games. No. 183 (February 1997). United Kingdom: EMAP. 10 January 1997. pp. 6–7.
  28. ^ "ProReview: Magic Carpet". GamePro. No. 92. IDG. May 1996. p. 66.
  29. ^ "ProReview: Magic Carpet". GamePro. No. 93. IDG. June 1996. p. 58.
  30. ^ Staff (November 1996). "150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. No. 148. pp. 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.
  31. ^ "Top 100 Games of All Time" (PDF). GamesMaster (44): 77. July 1996.

External links Edit

October 15, 2023
magic, carpet, video, game, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, magic, carpet, video, game, news, newspa. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Magic Carpet video game news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message Magic Carpet is a 3D flying video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1994 Its graphics and gameplay were considered innovative and technically impressive at the time of its release 1 Magic CarpetEuropean MS DOS cover artDeveloper s Bullfrog Productions Krisalis Software PS1 amp Saturn Publisher s Electronic ArtsDesigner s Jonty BarnesSean MastersonBarry MeadeDaniel RussellAlex TrowersProgrammer s Sean CooperMark HuntleyComposer s Russell ShawPlatform s MS DOS PlayStation SaturnRelease1994 MS DOS1995 Expansion1996 PlayStation SaturnGenre s ActionMode s Single player multiplayerAn expansion pack Magic Carpet Hidden Worlds was released for MS DOS compatible operating systems in 1995 which added 25 levels and winter themed graphics A compilation package Magic Carpet Plus which included the main game and the expansion was used as a base for PlayStation and Sega Saturn ports that were released in 1996 A sequel was released in 1995 Magic Carpet 2 The Netherworlds Contents 1 Plot 2 Gameplay 3 Development 4 Ports 4 1 PlayStation 4 2 Saturn 4 3 Atari Jaguar CD 4 4 3DO 5 Reception 6 References 7 External linksPlot EditThe player plays a wizard on a magic carpet flying over water mountains and other terrain while destroying monsters and rival wizards which are controlled by the computer and collecting mana which is gathered by hot air balloons and stored in the player s own castle The story is told in a cutscene that depicts the pages of a book being flipped According to this back story mana was discovered and though it initially had beneficial uses the quest for it made the lands barren Worse many corrupt wizards began turning to mana for their own nefarious purposes eventually leading to war between them The battling wizards began using more destructive spells and summoning deadly monsters the latter of which often turned against them One wizard hoped to end everything with an all powerful spell but instead only left the worlds shattered Only his apprentice survived and his goal is to restore the worlds to equilibrium Gameplay EditThe player has to visit several small spherical worlds 45 in the original game The box says 50 but levels 9 18 29 34 and 40 are not actually present and an additional 25 in the expansion The goal in each world is to build a castle and fill it with the necessary percentage of the total mana in the current level or world restoring it to equilibrium The total mana level is fixed in each world To accomplish this the player has to possess the mana so that mana collecting balloons bring them to the player s castle the balloons ignore mana that are unpossessed or possessed by an enemy wizard Mana represented by pearls of varying sizes may be found freely in a world but is usually released by destroying monsters and or leveling castles of enemy wizards As the player expands the castle it spawns additional balloons and armed guards that defend the castle against attacks by enemy wizards The player character can have up to two spells equipped at a time one for each hand 2 Greater amounts of mana stored in the castle allow the player to expand the castle and cast more powerful spells Besides storing mana the player s castle also serves as a home base for the player character where he can regain health and mana Upon death the player character respawns at his castle Dying without a castle forces the player to restart the level since the game does not have a mid level save feature As long as the player s castle is at least partly intact the player character cannot die The magic carpet can be piloted in three dimensions similar to a helicopter although the player cannot roll and it is impossible to crash Instead when the carpet approaches an obstacle it automatically ascends to fly over the obstacle 2 Development EditThe game was promoted with a marketing budget of 307 600 3 The game supported anaglyph 3D and Autostereogram effects 3D glasses came with the game package and VFX1 Headgear was supported Ports EditPlayStation Edit The PlayStation version retains many of the PC version s spells The map has changed slightly and some of the monster graphics and enemy wizard graphics are slightly different As in the PC game one can only save at the end of the level Enemy wizards now have a health bar over their heads so the player can see when they are close to death This version does not support multiplayer but does contain the Hidden Worlds expansion as a reward for finishing the game in Normal mode Saturn Edit There was also a port for the Sega Saturn console 4 It is largely identical to the PlayStation version and likewise includes the Hidden Worlds expansion 5 Gaming journalist Ed Lomas reported the technical differences from the PlayStation version as the sky is animated in a sliding wallpaper fashion whereas it moves in 3D in the PlayStation version the sprites are more detailed and the shadows lack the translucency effect 6 Atari Jaguar CD Edit A port for the Atari Jaguar CD was in development after Atari Corporation made a deal with Electronic Arts to bring some of the latter s titles to the system in the middle of 1995 with Magic Carpet being among them 7 8 9 The port was announced during the same month for a general 1995 release and later slated for a December 1995 release 10 11 12 Despite kept being advertised in magazine ads and catalogs 13 in addition to internal documents from Atari Corp still listing the port under development 14 this version was never released Mike Diskett one of the playtesters of the title and programmer of the Atari Jaguar versions of Syndicate and Theme Park revealed in a 2015 forum post at AtariAge that before Atari bought the rights to the title he had tried porting Magic Carpet to the Jaguar during his spare time and concluded that it was impossible due to the Jaguar s difficulty with texture mapping 15 3DO Edit A 3DO Interactive Multiplayer version of Magic Carpet was announced to be in development but this port was never released for unknown reasons 16 Reception EditReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreAllGame nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp PS1 SAT 17 18 Computer Gaming World nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp PC 19 Edge9 10 PC 20 Electronic Gaming Monthly7 10 PS1 21 Next Generation nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp SAT PC 23 24 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp PS1 25 Maximum nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp SAT 22 Sega Saturn Magazine90 SAT 26 In the United Kingdom it was among the nineteen best selling PlayStation games of 1996 according to HMV 27 Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game and stated that Sure to be loads of fun for fans of any genre 23 Reviewing the Saturn version in GamePro Tommy Glide lauded the game s massive size wide open 3D environment morphing terrain animations subtle touches to the sound effects and accessible controls He concluded that If you want to break out of those corridor adventures and play an original first person shooter test drive this carpet of the Persian persuasion 28 Sam Hickman of Sega Saturn Magazine approved of both the originality of the game and the accuracy of the Saturn port summarizing that as a conversion Magic Carpet is actually very good As a game in its own right it s nigh on brilliant She criticized the absence of multiplayer mode but praised the inclusion of additional levels and a new spell as well as the more streamlined spell system and described it as one of the Saturn s most visually impressive games to date 26 Maximum assessed that the Saturn version is graphically less impressive than the PC and PlayStation versions but carries over the gameplay flawlessly They praised the game itself for its deep and original yet enjoyable gameplay summarizing it as a perfect mix of strategy and mindless blasting 22 Reviewing the PlayStation version the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly commented that the controls and interface are confusing at first and that the graphics become pixelated when getting close to objects but three of the four felt that it was an overall enjoyable game 21 Tommy Glide gave it the same ratings as the Saturn version in all four categories and reiterated his praises for that version 29 Next Generation commented in a brief review that Magic Carpet has a lot of challenging action But a weird control scheme and so so graphics fail to deliver 25 However the magazine s review of the Saturn version in the same issue was much more positive praising the originality demanding strategy massive length and airy mystical quality 24 In 1996 Computer Gaming World named Magic Carpet the 137th best game ever The editors wrote Darned weird rules were offset by a rich 3D world to explore and conquer 30 In 1996 GamesMaster ranked Magic Carpet 26th in their Top 100 Games of All Time 31 References Edit Rugged Next Generation No 13 Imagine Media January 1996 p 164 Bullfrog s original Magic Carpet will always be remembered for its innovative style and engaging gameplay a b Restore Your World to Equilibrium with Magic Carpet Maximum The Video Game Magazine No 4 Emap International Limited March 1996 pp 72 81 Data Stream Next Generation Imagine Media 3 18 March 1995 magic carpet Archived 2007 10 14 at the Wayback Machine on mobygames com That s Magic Sega Saturn Magazine No 3 Emap International Limited January 1996 p 11 Letters They re Not Biased Sega Saturn Magazine No 8 Emap International Limited June 1996 pp 32 33 CVG News Atari s Cat Gets The CD Cream Big Cat Claws EA Deal Computer and Video Games No 163 Future Publishing June 1995 pp 12 13 Archived from the original on 2018 10 18 Retrieved 2019 01 05 Francois Tommy Msika David June 1995 Reportage E3 Atari Le Virtuel Ca Marche CD Consoles in French No 8 Pressimage p 43 Archived from the original on 2018 09 17 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Vendel Curt August 26 1995 Payment Schedule for Jaguar games to Developers PDF atarimuseum com Archived PDF from the original on 2014 12 11 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Feature XT Generation Report Atari Jaguar MAN AC in German No 20 Cybermedia June 1995 p 40 Nepozitek Marek July 1995 Konzole Jaguar CD CD a virtualni realita jiz tento rok LeveL in Czech No 6 Naked Dog s r o p 44 Archived from the original on 2018 09 20 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Gore Chris August 1995 The Gorescore Industry News You Can Upcoming Jaguar Software Titles VideoGames The Ultimate Gaming Magazine No 79 L F P Inc p 14 Charnock Tom March 2016 Atari Jaguar UK Preview Booklet atarijaguar co uk Archived from the original on 2018 09 11 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Dragon Lost July 5 2017 The Ultimate Jaguar Unreleased Beta Source Dev Master List Page 5 atari io Archived from the original on 4 November 2018 Retrieved 2018 09 28 disky May 2 2015 Magic Carpet on Jaguar CD Alex Trowers Lead Designer answers my question AtariAge Archived from the original on 2015 05 06 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Dossier Ils Arrivent Sur 3DO Magic Carpet CD Consoles in French No 3 Pressimage January 1995 p 95 Magic Carpet Review Allgame Archived from the original on November 14 2014 Magic Carpet Review Allgame Archived from the original on November 14 2014 Clarkson Mark February 1995 A Magic Carpet Ride PDF Computer Gaming World No 127 pp 122 6 Archived PDF from the original on 2015 09 23 Retrieved August 7 2015 Magic Carpet Edge No 15 December 1994 p 70 Retrieved June 15 2021 a b Magic Carpet Review Electronic Gaming Monthly No 82 Sendai Publishing May 1996 p 32 a b Maximum Reviews Magic Carpet Maximum The Video Game Magazine No 5 Emap International Limited April 1996 p 149 a b Finals Next Generation No 2 Imagine Media February 1995 p 95 a b Every Sega Saturn Game Played Reviewed and Rated Next Generation No 25 Imagine Media January 1997 p 64 a b Every PlayStation Game Played Reviewed and Rated Next Generation No 25 Imagine Media January 1997 p 58 a b Hickman Sam April 1996 Review Magic Carpet Sega Saturn Magazine No 6 Emap International Limited pp 72 73 Editorial Computer and Video Games No 183 February 1997 United Kingdom EMAP 10 January 1997 pp 6 7 ProReview Magic Carpet GamePro No 92 IDG May 1996 p 66 ProReview Magic Carpet GamePro No 93 IDG June 1996 p 58 Staff November 1996 150 Best and 50 Worst Games of All Time Computer Gaming World No 148 pp 63 65 68 72 74 76 78 80 84 88 90 94 98 Top 100 Games of All Time PDF GamesMaster 44 77 July 1996 External links EditMagic Carpet at MobyGames Magic Carpet PlayStation can be played for free in the browser on the Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Magic Carpet video game amp oldid 1175020458, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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