Scooby Doo: Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom
Encyclopedia
Scooby Doo! Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom is a 1999 mystery
computer game developed
by Engineering Animation, Inc.
(EAI) and published
by SouthPeak Interactive
. The game was released for Microsoft Windows
and was the first commercial Scooby-Doo
game for the Windows operating system
. It is intended for young children up to young teens.
adjacent to an apparently abandoned amusement park
. Approaching the farmhouse for help with their van
, the gang learns that the Gobs, the residents of the home, own the adjacent park, Gobs O' Fun. However, the park is being haunted by a phantom
, scaring customers away. Without any customers, the Gobs are on the brink of bankruptcy
, which will force them to sell the park.
The gang agrees to help the Gobs find the culprit in exchange for help getting their van repaired.
Players wander the park looking for clues that might pinpoint who the culprit is. The park is divided into nine sections, each with a different theme or main attraction, such as a Ferris wheel
or a roller coaster
. Each player may explore a different area, or the same one.
Some areas also contain neighbors and employees wandering in the deserted park, all of whom have motives for wanting the park closed. For example, the banker wants to build a shopping mall
on the park site and the neighboring farmer
wants to expand his farmland.
In addition to finding clues, the players can acquire trap
pieces to help in finally trapping the suspect. There are two types of trap pieces: rare and common. There is only one instance of rare trap pieces in the park; common pieces are located in several places. Each trap requires one rare piece and two common pieces. Each trap is tailored for one of the nine areas.
Also scattered about the park are a number of Scooby Snack
s. Using these, the player can coax Scooby into helping them by baiting the trap, assigning a "Wheel of Chaos" spin for other players or use them to spin the "Wheel of Fun" for themselves.
A minimum of two of the Scooby gang must participate in attempting to solve the mystery. If a single player is playing, the computer can be assigned to play an opposing character.
Turns proceed in a hotseat fashion. That is, players take turns moving their characters. Each player gets three "action points" per turn and may use them for a variety of actions. Each action costs a certain number of points. For example, picking up a clue or Scooby snack costs one point, moving from one area to another costs all three, or taking the manhole
(a shortcut to another random area) takes two points. Just walking about an area, not picking up anything, is free.
The "Wheel of Chaos" is assigned from one player to an opposing player. It costs one Scooby Snack. Spinning the wheel, much like a fortune teller's wheel, results in an unfortunate event for the receiving player, such as losing a turn, Scooby snacks or trap pieces. The receiving player may block the wheel by sacrificing a Scooby Snack.
The "Wheel of Fun" is the opposite of the "Wheel of Chaos". Spinning it gives some kind of bonus to the spinning player. It costs one Scooby snack to spin the wheel. Whenever a player has any Scooby snacks, he is given the option of spinning the wheel at the beginning of their turn.
Once the player finds three clues, they know who the culprit is and must set up a trap for them. The player must have three pieces to one trap and be in the correct area for the trap. The player must also bribe Scooby to be the bait for the trap with Scooby snacks. The number of snacks the player uses effects how likely the trap will work. Three snacks will always result in a successful trapping; one has a high failure rate.
A player may attempt to trap the phantom before getting three clues, but this will always result in a bungled trap attempt.
Once the suspect is trapped, they are unmasked and a Full motion video
(FMV) clip describes their motive. Since the culprit is different from game to game, it has high replay value.
, the game was originally slated to be called Scooby Doo: Mystery of the Gobs O' Fun Ghoul, but was changed by SouthPeak during development.
SouthPeak, with an arrangement with Time-Warner, provided the team with videotape
s of all 25 original half-hour episodes of Scooby-Doo to help them inject the game with an authentic feel.
After the initial game design
was complete, Raymer designed a full board game
of the proposed computer game. An entire game board complete with game pieces representing the Scooby characters was produced by the art team. Mike Hasson, director of EAI, later exclaimed this to be a terrific waste of time and resources. The development team brought in a group of the target demographic, children between the ages of seven and eleven, in order to test the game. Raymer acted as the gamemaster
, performing the management of the game that would eventually be handled by the computer. One member of the development team paired up with each player and acted as a mentor
, helping them know what could and couldn't be done each turn.
The focus group
was lukewarm to the gameplay, the rewards and the general feel of the game. Only minor modifications were needed before executing the proposed design.
Though the characters for the game were derived from rendered 3D
models, the game is 2D
, using sprites
derived from renderings of the 3D models. The models were also used to generate the game's FMV sequences. While some game companies were fully embracing the capabilities of 3D card
s for PCs at the time, EAI opted for sprite-based animation knowing that it was unlikely that its target market owned cutting-edge PCs and 2D animation would perform better on their computers.
A major feature for the game was dynamic lighting for the park. With this feature enabled, the game evokes a mysterious, creepy tone authentic to the cartoon series
.
The development team for Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom was almost identical to that for Clue
, also by EAI, but published by Hasbro Interactive
. The one addition to the team was Romalus Taylor, who programmed
some AI and network
code for the game. In addition, the game used the same in-house game engine
for Mystery, EAGLE. It was heavily modified and enhanced over the year of development to support the new game.
The game includes extensive credits, however some of the more notable contributors include:
Interestingly, most of the development team (McArthur, Raymer, Nash and Thompson) went on to work for Hasbro Interactive when EAI closed their game development studio after this game was completed.
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
computer game developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Engineering Animation, Inc.
Engineering Animation, Inc.
Engineering Animation, Inc. was a services and software company based in Ames, Iowa , United States. It remained headquartered there from its incorporation in 1990 until it was acquired by Unigraphics Solutions, Inc. in 1999...
(EAI) and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by SouthPeak Interactive
SouthPeak Interactive
SouthPeak Games is a video game publisher of titles in Europe and North America.-History:SouthPeak Games, which was originally a subsidiary of SAS Institute, has been publishing games since 1996 and has worked with multiple development studios, including EAI Interactive, Psyonix Studios and...
. The game was released for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and was the first commercial Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
game for the Windows operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. It is intended for young children up to young teens.
Backstory
The "Mystery Inc." gang find themselves stranded near an old farmhouseFarmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
adjacent to an apparently abandoned amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
. Approaching the farmhouse for help with their van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
, the gang learns that the Gobs, the residents of the home, own the adjacent park, Gobs O' Fun. However, the park is being haunted by a phantom
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
, scaring customers away. Without any customers, the Gobs are on the brink of bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, which will force them to sell the park.
The gang agrees to help the Gobs find the culprit in exchange for help getting their van repaired.
Description
The player or players can take on the role of any of the members of the Mystery Inc. gang, except for Scooby-Doo himself. Scooby instead helps each member of the gang from time to time.Players wander the park looking for clues that might pinpoint who the culprit is. The park is divided into nine sections, each with a different theme or main attraction, such as a Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
or a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
. Each player may explore a different area, or the same one.
Some areas also contain neighbors and employees wandering in the deserted park, all of whom have motives for wanting the park closed. For example, the banker wants to build a shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
on the park site and the neighboring farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
wants to expand his farmland.
In addition to finding clues, the players can acquire trap
Trap (tactic)
A trap is a device intended to catch an intruder or prey. "Trap" may also refer to the tactic of catching or harming an adversary. Conversely it may also mean a hindrance for change, being caught in a trap.-Device:*Animal trapping*Bird trapping...
pieces to help in finally trapping the suspect. There are two types of trap pieces: rare and common. There is only one instance of rare trap pieces in the park; common pieces are located in several places. Each trap requires one rare piece and two common pieces. Each trap is tailored for one of the nine areas.
Scooby Snack
The Scooby Snack is a hamburger sold primarily in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a popular fast food item with students.- Composition :The Scooby Snack consists of a hamburger, a sliced sausage, a bacon rasher, a potato scone, a fried egg and a slice of processed cheese, all contained within a floured...
s. Using these, the player can coax Scooby into helping them by baiting the trap, assigning a "Wheel of Chaos" spin for other players or use them to spin the "Wheel of Fun" for themselves.
A minimum of two of the Scooby gang must participate in attempting to solve the mystery. If a single player is playing, the computer can be assigned to play an opposing character.
Turns proceed in a hotseat fashion. That is, players take turns moving their characters. Each player gets three "action points" per turn and may use them for a variety of actions. Each action costs a certain number of points. For example, picking up a clue or Scooby snack costs one point, moving from one area to another costs all three, or taking the manhole
Manhole
A manhole is an opening used to gain access to sewers or other underground structures, usually for maintenance.Manhole may also refer to:* Manhole , a metal band from Los Angeles* The Manhole, a computer game...
(a shortcut to another random area) takes two points. Just walking about an area, not picking up anything, is free.
The "Wheel of Chaos" is assigned from one player to an opposing player. It costs one Scooby Snack. Spinning the wheel, much like a fortune teller's wheel, results in an unfortunate event for the receiving player, such as losing a turn, Scooby snacks or trap pieces. The receiving player may block the wheel by sacrificing a Scooby Snack.
Once the player finds three clues, they know who the culprit is and must set up a trap for them. The player must have three pieces to one trap and be in the correct area for the trap. The player must also bribe Scooby to be the bait for the trap with Scooby snacks. The number of snacks the player uses effects how likely the trap will work. Three snacks will always result in a successful trapping; one has a high failure rate.
A player may attempt to trap the phantom before getting three clues, but this will always result in a bungled trap attempt.
Once the suspect is trapped, they are unmasked and a Full motion video
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
(FMV) clip describes their motive. Since the culprit is different from game to game, it has high replay value.
Development
Designed by Rick RaymerRick Raymer
Rick Raymer is an American video game designer. He's worked for developers and publishers alike such as EAI, Hasbro Interactive, iROCK Entertainment and Vicious Cycle Software.Raymer got his start in game design at EAI around 1996...
, the game was originally slated to be called Scooby Doo: Mystery of the Gobs O' Fun Ghoul, but was changed by SouthPeak during development.
SouthPeak, with an arrangement with Time-Warner, provided the team with videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
s of all 25 original half-hour episodes of Scooby-Doo to help them inject the game with an authentic feel.
After the initial game design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
was complete, Raymer designed a full board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
of the proposed computer game. An entire game board complete with game pieces representing the Scooby characters was produced by the art team. Mike Hasson, director of EAI, later exclaimed this to be a terrific waste of time and resources. The development team brought in a group of the target demographic, children between the ages of seven and eleven, in order to test the game. Raymer acted as the gamemaster
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
, performing the management of the game that would eventually be handled by the computer. One member of the development team paired up with each player and acted as a mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
, helping them know what could and couldn't be done each turn.
The focus group
Focus group
A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...
was lukewarm to the gameplay, the rewards and the general feel of the game. Only minor modifications were needed before executing the proposed design.
Though the characters for the game were derived from rendered 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
models, the game is 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
, using sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
derived from renderings of the 3D models. The models were also used to generate the game's FMV sequences. While some game companies were fully embracing the capabilities of 3D card
Graphics processing unit
A graphics processing unit or GPU is a specialized circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory in such a way so as to accelerate the building of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display...
s for PCs at the time, EAI opted for sprite-based animation knowing that it was unlikely that its target market owned cutting-edge PCs and 2D animation would perform better on their computers.
A major feature for the game was dynamic lighting for the park. With this feature enabled, the game evokes a mysterious, creepy tone authentic to the cartoon series
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
.
The development team for Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom was almost identical to that for Clue
Clue (computer game)
Clue is a computer game based on the board game of the same name. Its formal name is Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion or Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange. It runs on Microsoft Windows. It was developed in 1998 for Hasbro Interactive by EAI...
, also by EAI, but published by Hasbro Interactive
Hasbro Interactive
Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company.Hasbro Interactive was formed late in 1995 in order to compete in the computer and video game arena. Several Hasbro properties, such as Monopoly and Scrabble, had already...
. The one addition to the team was Romalus Taylor, who programmed
Game programming
Game programming, a subset of game development, is the programming of computer, console or arcade games. Though often engaged in by professional game programmers, many novices may program games as a hobby...
some AI and network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
code for the game. In addition, the game used the same in-house game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
for Mystery, EAGLE. It was heavily modified and enhanced over the year of development to support the new game.
The game includes extensive credits, however some of the more notable contributors include:
- Harvey Lee, Executive ProducerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
, SouthPeak Interactive - Virginia McArthur, ProducerGame producerA video game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game.The earliest documented use of the term producer in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Arts in 1982...
, EAI Interactive - Rick RaymerRick RaymerRick Raymer is an American video game designer. He's worked for developers and publishers alike such as EAI, Hasbro Interactive, iROCK Entertainment and Vicious Cycle Software.Raymer got his start in game design at EAI around 1996...
, Game Designer - Chris Nash, Lead ProgrammerLead programmerA lead programmer is a software engineer in charge of one or more software projects. Alternative titles include Development Lead, Technical Lead, Senior Software Engineer, Software Design Engineer Lead , Software Manager, or Senior Applications Developer...
- Joshua Jensen, Lead EAGLE LibraryLibrary (computer science)In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....
ProgrammerGame programmerA game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"... - Dink Thompson, 3D Modeling3D modelingIn 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...
, AnimatorAnimatorAn animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an... - Mike Tirenin, Lead Artist
- Cynthia Meier, 2D/3D Artist
- Darren Eggett, Programmer
- Romalus Taylor, Programmer
- Michael Horn, Programmer
- Mike Reed, additional programming
- Greg Thoenen, additional programming
- Emily Modde, Level Designer
- Jason Wintersteller, Graphic Designer
- Cole Harris, Level Designer and Lead Tester
Interestingly, most of the development team (McArthur, Raymer, Nash and Thompson) went on to work for Hasbro Interactive when EAI closed their game development studio after this game was completed.