Opera Fatal
| Opera Fatal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Ruske & Pühretmaier | ||
| Publisher | Eureka Velcro | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1996 | ||
| platform | Mac OS , Microsoft Windows | ||
| Game engine | QuickTime | ||
| genre | Digital educational game , point-and-click adventure | ||
| Subject | music | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Mouse , computer keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
64 MB RAM, 500 MHz, 16x CD-ROM, sound card | ||
| medium | CD-ROM | ||
| language | German, English, Italian | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
| information | ISBN 3-12-135042-0 | ||
Opera Fatal is a computer game from the genres of digital learning games and point-and-click adventure by the developer Ruske & Pühretmaier from 1996. The game is intended to convey knowledge about music theory and the history of classical music .
Course of the game
The framework story is the dream of an opera conductor, the “Maestro”: the night before the premiere of Beethoven's “ Fidelio ” the score is stolen. An unknown adversary has left questions all over the opera house, the correct answer to which should lead the maestro to hide the score.
In the first-person perspective, it is the task of detective to move through the nightly opera house in order to look for pieces of paper on which the questions to be answered and the corresponding clues are. On the way there are also classic mechanical or inventory puzzles to be solved, for example opening locked doors, controlling a lifting platform or playing triads on heating pipes.
There are a total of seven levels in the form of previously locked levels of the opera house, each of which can be reached by answering ten questions.
presentation
The opera house is used as a metaphor for the content to be conveyed. This differs from the conceptually related games "Chemicus", "Physikus" and "Biolab". The game shows a realistic, but also humorous look behind the scenes of an opera house with cloakrooms, stocks, technology from the basement to the backdrop tower. The target group are children and young people.
The surface is in comic style and is moderately animated. The sound consists of quotes from classical music (sometimes only individual bars of famous works) and newly composed samples, with noises underlining the eerie backdrop of the supposedly empty opera house. Many objects are clickable and make noises or small animations.
In addition to the CD, the game comes with a manual in which the player can write down notes so that they can be better remembered on the way through the opera house. It also contains solution tips.
Library
A musicological library is available in the game, which makes it easier to answer the questions with the help of explanatory texts, graphics and audio examples (40 minutes in total). In addition to the actual library on music theory and music history, the library consists of the instrument room and the maestro's CD collection. In addition to knowledge of music theory, music history and music practice, the player's hearing is also trained. Sometimes there are interactive elements.
reception
The game was published in 1996 by the distributor Heureka-Klett as the first adventure in the publishing program at a price of DM 98. An Italian version was published in 1997 and an English version in 1998. “Opera Fatal” developed into a cult game: in 2004, eight years after its original publication, an anniversary edition appeared .
The 1997 Macro-Media-Award Kinder-Software-Ratgeber gave the game the highest rating “6 mice”. Spieltest.com wrote: “As exciting and surprising as a thriller. As grand as an opera and as instructive as a whole school year. Opera Fatal lures you into the world of music and engages you in an adventure full of sounds, music history and harmony. ” Die Zeit particularly praised the“ edutainment ”part and recommended it for children aged ten and over.
The conceptual idea of the opera house was praised. The search puzzles were sometimes found to be easy, sometimes difficult, and the learning content was often perceived as superficial.
The game was awarded 1st prize in the Edutainment category at the InterAktiva trade fair in 1996 , the Macro Media Award and the special award from Apple Benelux for “Most Innovative Multimedia Development for Apple Computers”. In 1997 the game on the Digita was awarded the German Educational Software Prize and the Comenius Medal for exemplary educational media, and was also nominated for the Milia d'Or at the Cannes trade fair.
literature
- Barbara Schnell: The computer game Opera Fatal is a great music lesson on CD-ROM. The heating valve whistles . In: Die Zeit No. 5, 1997.
- Inga Alpers: Opera Fatal. Media skills in childhood and adolescence . Presentation, June 18, 2013.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Thissen, Frank: Screen Design Manual . Communicating Effectively Through Multimedia. Springer, Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-540-43923-4 , pp. 63, 65 .
- ↑ Valentino Dunkenberger: Opera Fatal (criticism). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original ; accessed on October 9, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d e Jenny 100: Opera Fatal review. In: www.gameboomers.com. Retrieved October 9, 2015 .
- ↑ Furtwangen: The play laboratory becomes a leisure arena after learning. The game laboratory at the university goes into operation on Tuesday: with equipment that computer gamers enjoy. In: Südkurier Online. Retrieved October 8, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Andreas Hoppe: Opera Fatal. In: www.music-journal.com. Retrieved October 9, 2015 .