Starship Titanic is a graphic adventure game played from a first-person perspective. The player moves on the eponymous ship by clicking on locations indicated by the cursor and advancing to the next frame after a blurred transition (although this can be avoided by holding down shift during clicks). The mouse can also be used to pick up and store items in your inventory and interact with onscreen objects. In the beginning of the game, the player is given a device called Personal Electronic Thing (PET), which serves as a toolbar on the bottom of the screen. The PET has five modes: Chat-O-Mat, a text parser through which the player can talk with characters by inputting text; Personal Baggage, the inventory in which the player can add or withdraw items; Remote Thingummy, a set of functions to interact with objects and locations; Designer Room Numbers, which indicates the player's current location; and Real Life, an options menu with settings and a game save/load system.
Much of the gameplay involves solving puzzles by using items with other items or with objects and characters onscreen. Another significant aspect of the game involves talking with characters in the game, namely the bots that work in the ship and a parrot, by inputting prompts in the Chat-O-Mat mode. Additionally to conversation with characters through interpreting of user input, the parser often provides hints or explanations that come in the form of pre-recorded speech, which can help the player in progressing in the game.
The main objective of the game is to locate the missing parts of the ship's broken intelligence system in order to repair the starship. In order to advance within the game, the player must upgrade from the standard third class level to first class and thus gain access to areas that are restricted when the game begins. The game also requires the player to transport items throughout the ship through the Succ-U-Bus, a system of tubes that transfer objects placed in them to other parts of the ship; these tubes can be found in many areas of the ship. The player also needs to use the parrot to solve certain puzzles. A talking bomb can be found in the game and unwillingly armed by the player; if that happens, the player has to either disarm it or distract it during countdown to prevent it from exploding.
Plot
Starship Titanic begins in the player character's house on Earth, which is partially destroyed when the eponymous cruise ship crash-lands through the roof. Fentible, the "DoorBot", informs the player that the ship and its crew have malfunctioned and needs help to get them back to normal. Once the ship is taken back to space, the player meets Marsinta, the "DeskBot", who makes him or her a third-class reservation, and Krage, a "BellBot". The player begins the journey as a third-class passenger and thus cannot access many areas of the ship that are reserved for higher class passengers until he or she obtains a second-class promotion and eventually convinces Marsinta to upgrade him or her to first class after managing to alter her personality.
Through backstory in the ship's email system, the player learns that Brobostigon and Scraliontis, two associates of the ship's creator Leovinus, double crossed him and deliberately provoked a "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure" by hiding the body parts of the ship's humanoid intelligence system Titania in various locations within the ship, in an effort to destroy the ship and profit from its insurance. After exploring the vessel and solving puzzles, the player eventually finds all of Titania's body parts and awakens her, repairing the sabotaged ship and allowing for it to be navigated. The player then accesses the bridge and navigates the ship back to his or her home in Earth. Throughout the game, the player meets other bots, including Nobbie, the "LiftBot", Fortillian, the "BarBot" and D'Astragaaar, the "Maitre d'Bot". The player also meets a parrot that accompanies him or her throughout most of the journey.
Release
In May 1996, Simon & Schuster Interactive announced a deal to co-publish Starship Titanic with The Digital Village. Simon & Schuster presented the game along with 11 other projects at E3 1997. Release was originally slated for September 1997, but was postponed for December 1997 in time for the U.S. Christmas season. However, the game was delayed again, and in January 1998 Adams said the game "should be ready by March".
The game was eventually released on 2 April 1998 for PC, and had an official launch at a New York City event, at 550 Madison Avenue, on 20 April 1998. Simon & Schuster made an initial April distribution of 200,000 copies to be shipped to 13 countries through seven international publishers. Zablac Entertainment secured the publishing rights in the United Kingdom, while NBG EDV Handels & Verlags AG acquired the rights in German, R&P Electronic Media did so in the Netherlands and Benelux territories, and HILAD in Australia and New Zealand. Apple, Inc. announced on 8 July 1998 that Starship Titanic, along with many other games, would be released for Macintosh computers in the future. The game was released for the Mac on 15 March 1999. Sonopress developed a DVD version of the game, which was released in the UK in May 1999.
