View source for Necrobius (found build of unreleased click-and-point adventure game; 1996)

{{InfoboxFound
|title=<center>Necrobius (build)</center>
|image=Inlay.jpg
|imagecaption=High-resolution scan of the included inlay.
|status=<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span>
|datefound=16 Mar 2014
|foundby=Daniel Auld
}}
'''''Necrobius''''' is an (officially) unreleased 1996 click-and-point adventure/mystery game, featuring psychedelic visuals and cryptic puzzles. It was created by Daniel Auld, now Chief Architect of NeuralEssence LTD. For a time, the game was rumored to have been released in Japan, though this claim has since been proven false.

The game is played from the perspective of an unnamed character journeying through the mind of one Professor Necrobius, on a quest to uncover the secret to preventing the death of their planet.<ref>[http://thefreelibrary.com/MICROPROSE+SOFTWARE,+INC.+SHOWCASES+NEW+RELEASES+AT+E3-a016954748 thefreelibrary.com archive of a May 1995 Microprose media release on then-upcoming games (including ''Necrobius'').] Retrieved 16 Mar '14</ref>

Until 2014, not a lot more was known about the game, although a demo was found to have been released alongside the July 1995 issue of ''PC Gamer'' magazine, available for download through archive.org.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/cdrom-pcgamer08 archive.org mirror of the July 1995 ''PC Gamer'' disc, including a demo of ''Necrobius''.] Retrieved 16 Mar '14</ref> As a result of this, following the initiation of an online search effort, Lost Media Wiki user Dycaite decided to email the creator themselves, to try and find out exactly what happened to this game, why it was never released and why it faded into obscurity.<ref>[http://hg101.proboards.com/thread/11186/necrobius-western-eastern-mind hg101.proboards.com thread on ''Necrobius''.] Retrieved 16 Mar '14</ref>

Daniel Auld promptly responded to emails, answering many questions about the game. He revealed that the game had not been released in Japan but was rather in the works with a Japanese company early on before being revoked and transferred to Microprose in the U.S. It was also revealed that the game was roughly 95% percent complete (i.e. completable start to finish, but still in need of a little polishing), but nearing the official release had become "bogged down in legal wrangling," resulting in its release being postponed indefinitely, in what Auld describes as a "very cut throat and quite dishonest" industry. Notably, an official strategy guide (written by Steven Schwartz) was discovered by online sleuths to have been in the works and was perhaps even completed before the game's cancellation, with an intended release of June 1995.<ref>[http://loot.co.za/product/steven-schwartz-necrobius/ytjt-1029-ga70 loot.co.za page on the unpublished ''Necrobius - The Official Strategy Guide'', written by Steven Schwartz.] Retrieved 16 Mar '14</ref>

Daniel then went on to confirm that he was still in possession of beta copies of the game circa May 1996 and that said beta (utilizing the Macromedia Director engine) was compatible with Mac OS 9 and most Windows releases (with the exception of Windows 7, in which "the transitions are ugly").

Daniel was then asked if it was possible to purchase a copy of the beta or whether it was still tied up in legal issues. Not only was he willing to provide a copy, but he was willing to do so free of charge. Dycaite promptly accepted his offer, and roughly one week later, a copy of the game turned up in his mailbox, with a printed-out inlay.

Upon receiving the game he decided to query Auld on what his stance would be on him 'leaking' the game to the public, to which he replied favourably, stating that he was perfectly happy for me to do so, as "the whole point of making ''Necrobius'' was for as many people as possible to enjoy it, so it was quite disappointing when the distribution got shut down."

Therefore, Dycaite made the disc image available for download via mega.co.nz;<ref>[https://mega.co.nz/#!KE4jjRYa!N8t_Mz1awtG_Mg0Q_9OLiX9nQFFK2dgf13UmKK_x9UQ mega.co.nz download link to a disc image of the beta; 323MB.] Retrieved 16 Mar '14</ref>, Big, big thanks to Daniel Auld, without whom we would not have a playable, near-complete version of this fascinating game (nor would it even exist, for that matter).

==External links==
*[http://mediafire.com/download/xhfsesri1g061p2/Necrobius-Strategy-Doc.pdf MediaFire download link to 48 pages of ''Necrobius'' production documentation.] Retrieved 22 Jul '16

==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Found media]]
[[Category:Found video games]]