Spellbound Studios

Credits

Compiled by
Camenati

Background

Spellbound Studios was an Offenburg-based video game developer founded in 1994 by Armin Gessert. Their earliest collaborations with Fantasy Productions and Attic Entertainment involve them creating graphics for their games before shifting to developing their own games. They went on top develop successful franchises such as Desperados and Arcania. After establishing a new mobile division based in Berlin in February 2012, the company filed for insolvency a month later before ultimately closing their doors in July of that same year. Most of the former staff would later form Black Forest Games.

1st Logo (February 4?, 1998-October 5, 2003)

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Visuals: Inside a white rectangular box is a cartoon of a tan, smiling and winking computer with a spiral for an eye. Four burst strokes surround the computer, colored green, yellow, red, and blue. Underneath the logo is "Spellbound". All of the objects forming the logo have a beveled appearance and a shadow facing the bottom right. Two black bars surround the white box in the center, the top of which feature the transparent text "the new art of entertainment" with each word varying in size and format. This is a still logo.

Variant: Airline Tycoon Deluxe features a custom variant. Here, the background appears through a TV turn on effect, followed by the brush strokes appearing individually from left to right, which repeats four times. Right before the second repeat is complete, a blue horizontal bar, behind the spinning spiral, imitating an airplane, flies in and rests below the burst strokes. The bar morphs into the company name, finishing alongside the spiral's transition to the stylised computer. The last sequence of the brush strokes has them remaining still after appearing, completing the logo's formation. To top it off, the strokes burst out of the computer by a small amount before reverting back to their normal positions. Afterwards, clouds fly past the logo and the logo crossfades into the blimp from the opening sequence.

Technique:

• Digital ink and paint for the normal variant.
• CGI for the Airline Tycoon Deluxe variant.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: Airline Tycoon Deluxe starts with TV static when the logo turns on. A click sound plays as the brush strokes appear and an airplane flying when the bar and spiral flies in. As the brush strokes burst away from the computer, a typewriter sound plays.

Availability: It appeared on the Airline Tycoon games as well as Perry Rhodan: Operation Eastside.

2nd Logo (April 18, 2001)

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Visuals: On a blue surface with gold railing against a black background, a shiny ball falls and releases a few ripples. A green arrow path directs the marble to the inside of the maze where the ball hits the walls 3 times. Shortly after that, the camera pans out of the path to reveal the computer symbol from before but in a blue disk with a gold border and the burst strokes are replaced with circular lights. "Spellbound", inside an oblong with the same fill as the above disk, appears below the disk, slightly overlapping it, and shines afterwards. The computer's spiral eye shines before the logo sequence concludes.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Various sound effects play in the first half, such as electronic bounces, the machine running, and drum beats when the ball hits the walls. Then, a soft but upbeat electronic jingle plays, finishing with an ascending stinger.

Availability: The logo was only seen on Desperados: Wanted Dead Or Alive.

3rd Logo (November 12, 2002-April 3, 2009)

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Visuals: This is a still version of the previous logo albeit with a brighter color palette.

Variants:

• Sometimes, "STUDIOS" may appear below the logo. Of all its appearances, it is in a capitalized font and has a blue border.
  • Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood has the text in gold and a spaced out format. The logo is also against a dark teal spotlight.

Technique: Digital ink and paint.

Audio: None.

Availability: This logo appears on Robin Hood: The Legend Of Sherwood, Chicago 1930, and Giana Sisters DS.

4th Logo (April 27, 2006-October 25, 2011)

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• Early variant
• Normal version

Visuals: Zooming out of the left right corner of a wall containing an engraving of the previous logo with "CREATING EMOTIONS" on the bottom, four flying lights reveal the logo. They match the colors of the lights from before except the yellow light is recolored cyan. The lights meet up within the circle border, flashing and transitioning the background to the logo from before. The bottom of the circular border shines afterwards.

Variant: There is an early variant that has "STUDIOS" underneath, which is colored white. Plus, the cyan light is yellow.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A suspenseful deep note starts the sequence, accompanied with light whooshes and buzzes. Not long after the start of the logo sequence, a dramatic string set with the same notes play, leading up to the logo's formation, which ends with a high note, a quick blast, and a few faint electronic notes.

Audio Variant: There is an early variant of the soundtrack which omits the deep note and has less intensity compared to the normal fanfare.

Availability: It can be seen on Desperados 2: Cooper's Revenge, Helldorado, Arcania: Gothic 4, and the PC version of Arcania: Fall of Setarrif.