mTropolis
| mtropolis | ||
|---|---|---|
| Engine developer | ||
| Companies that used it | Various | |
| Games that use it | Dozens | |
| Date added to ScummVM | 2022-08-05 | |
| First release containing it | None | |
mTropolis, (pronounced like the English word "metropolis"), was a multimedia creation tool by mFactory. It had a userbase of a few thousand during the mid-to-late 90s but was outcompeted by Macromedia's Director. A few games were built on mTropolis with high profile titles including Obsidian and Muppet Treasure Island. Though mTropolis lent itself to the development of HyperCard-like point-and-click games, the tech was a fully-featured multimedia project creation suite that was used for various niche projects.
Games targeted by the engine
See mTropolis/Games.
History
mTropolis was released to the public at 1995's Macworld Expo in San Francisco. The mTropolis "authoring system" was designed for Mac System 7 and supported both 68K and PowerPC CPUs. Despite the Mac-centric development ecosystem, runtimes or "playback systems" were available for Mac and Windows. A web target and accompanying Netscape plugin was also developed.
mFactory's assets were purchased by Quark in 1997 who released mTropolis v2.0 in 1998. This was a final update and the end of all support for the product. A usergroup attempted to purchase the mTropolis IP and possibly make it open-source but negotiations fell through.
Versions
- mTropolis v1.0: January 1995
- mTropolis v1.1: May 1996
- mTropolis v1.1.1: October 10 1996
- mTropolis v1.1.2: December 16 1996
- mTropolis v1.1.3: September 5 1997
- mTropolis v2.0 Beta 3: December 2 1997 (save-disabled)
- mTropolis v2.0: March 1998
Resources
- Common Files in mTropolis Software
- List of Non-Game mTropolis Software
- Magazines Including mTropolis Game Demos
External Links
Articles
- Game Developer Magazine: "Goodbye, mTropolis" by Kevin S. Willis of Ransom Interactive (1998-06)
- King of Dragon Pass (Blog): An Architecture Overview (2011-02-06)
- Salon: The Software that Refused to Die (1998-10-06)
Emulating a 68K or PPC Mac to Run the mTropolis Authoring Software
The authoring software isn't needed to run any games though it may be useful for research about the engine.
- The Patch Bay: A Guide to Legacy Mac Emulators
- E-Maculation wiki: Basilisk II Setup
- E-Maculation wiki: SheepShaver Setup