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Link: http://www.kinesoft.com
Two thousand years ago on this world there was a civilization named Arcan. Civilization was comprised of six different clans filled with thinkers, philosophers, artist, and creators. Arcanian culture abdicated integrating spirituality into all aspects of their lives and as a result the civilization grew and prospered. Arcan was governed by the ruling council, which was comprised of representatives from each clan. The council became obsessed with harnessing the powerful elemental force that saturated their world-Magic. They secluded themselves to devote all their time and resources to study the six different disciplines of magic (Good, Evil, Order, Chaos, Nature, and the Nexus - the force that binds the others together).
Adopting the title of MageLords, they attempted to control and dominate these elements as opposed to living in harmony with them. This was a complete divergence to the Arcanian way of life and it was this divergence that would eventually destroy the peaceful civilization. The MageLords slowly began to become the living embodiment of their chosen sphere of magic. As the MageLord's mastery over the forces grew, so did their mistrust of one another. Finally the suspicion ripped apart Arcanian society and plunged the world into a MageLord war that would last over 300 years.
While the war raged and countless millions suffered and died, the MageLords became aware of a great sphere which contained the whole history of Arcan and the sum total of all of the MageLords' knowledge. It was here that they first learned of the Asthorra - an ancient evil that had been imprisoned for countless eons. The Asthorra's presence within the sphere allowed it to subtly affect and alter events happening outside of it. The MageLords realized that the Asthorra was using them as pawns in its attempt to escape the sphere. The MageLords once again united in an attempt to destroy the sphere and trap the Asthorra forever. The MageLords succeeded in destroying the sphere resulting in a explosion of magical energy that changed the evolutionary course of the six clans and depleted the world of Magic. It was at the moment of the explosion that the MageLords learned the full extent of the Asthorra's influence over them. They had been tricked into destroying the sphere and in doing so set in motion a chain of events that would lead to the Asthorra's eventual return.
It is now the twilight of the Fourth Age. Many years have passed since the conclusion of the war, but the affects have been felt throughout the world. The prophecies of the return of the Asthorra have been distorted over time leaving only fragments of a mystery to be solved. Each clan has evolved into separate and distinct races (Humans, Elves, Wraith Lords, Boggins, Dwarves, and Giants). The animosities from the war have grown into deep hatred and turned each race into sworn blood enemies of the others. The power of Magic has slowly begun to re-emerege on the world and some members of each race have taken the steps to become MageLords and reclaim the power of Magic. Some plan to use the power to expand their empires, while some wish to use it to exact vengeance on their enemies. There are a select few whose only desire is to use the Magic as a way to unite all the races and reclaim the greatness of the ancient Arcan civilization.
These MageLords are aware of the prophesies and realize that it will take all of the races working together to defeat the great evil whose return will signal the end of all life on the world. In this uncertain time there is only one thing to be sure of -- confrontation between the MageLords is inevitable.
The world of the MageLords is filled with magical creatures and fearsome monsters straight from fantasy and mythology including dragons, minotaurs, zombies, hellhounds, wraiths, skeleton armies, death knights, and basilisks. In their attempt to build the ultimate empire, players will take the role of one of the six distinct races that are the descendents of the original Arcanian civilization.
DA GAMEPLAY
As a MageLord, the player must strategically construct their empire, gather spells of awesome power and command armies of heroes, monsters and troops. The ultimate goal is to defeat rival MageLords and bring an end to the prophesized threat of Armageddon.
Key Features:
Combat is the heart and soul of MageLords. Players use their armies to engage in hand-to-hand combat against the armies of powerful, rival MageLords. By executing appropriate tactics with their army and supporting troops with powerful spells, the players will lead their forces into combat and claim whatever spoils victory yields.
MageLords uses 3D figures to represent the Magelord's armies, including humans, elves, giants, hellhounds, and monsters. There are realistic landscapes ranging from mountains and forests, to frozen tundras and swamps.
The player can choose to be one of the pre-generated MageLords or create a unique MageLord selecting from race, special abilities and skills in the different spheres of magic. Each race will have its own troops to build armies from, as well as inherent advantages and disadvantages.
The outcomes of battles have a direct effect on the overall game. Areas won add to the power of an empire. Surviving armies become battle hardened and available to fight another day.
With an extensive array of abilities, magic spheres and races to choose from, players will be able to create a nearly infinite number of distinctive MageLords. Since a player's empire building strategy is ultimately influenced by the MageLordÆs skill set, each customized MageLord presents a vastly different and exciting gaming experience.
We will bring you all of the latest news on this title, including in-game screenshots and demos when available. This title is due out in early 2001.
DA RACES
Boggins- From the minds at Kinesoft comes a new race created specifically for MageLords. A swamp dwelling, scavenger society, the boggins are small and lack physical strength. They compensate for their lack of individual strength with the old axiom: There is strength in numbers. This race reproduces at a rapid rate and often uses nothing more then overwhelming numbers to destroy enemy forces. The Boggins are adept at training indigenous animals in their region. They use this skill to tame giant Draak spiders and order them to attack enemies. They also strengthen their forces by riding into battle atop mounted raptors.
Elves-This forest dwelling race has chosen to lead a primarily agricultural society. All elves are skilled in the use of the longbow. Elven warriors are often lightly armored, but they are the premiere long ranged attack unit.
Giants-Members of this race choose to reside in the snow-covered hills of the north. Their immense size is rivaled only by their immense strength. Unlike other races of the world, giants prefer to live solitary lives. This is presumably due to the expense associated with the resources necessary to support them.
Wraiths Lords-One of the first races to employ dark magic, the Wraith Lords are a race that prefer to use their power to raise armies of the undead to fight battles against their enemies.
Dwarves-This race is holder of the best city defenses and production facilities in the world. Their advanced skill in building allows for all of their troops to be heavily armored. Dwarve armies are hampered with slow moving units, but compensate with their Steam Tank - a highly formidable weapon.
Humans-One of the least physically evolved of the races, the humans use cooperation and utilization of important "parts" in order to ensure a stronger and unbreakable whole. Human armored knights are among the most feared warriors in the world.
Interview
Drak-The information I've read on your upcoming releases has me pretty excited. How long have MageLords and Crimson Order been in development?
Billy Cain (Producer, Crimson Order): Crimson Order has been in development (with a programming team) for a little over a year now. There was a fair amount of time before that spent on pre-production, design, etc., but for simplicity's sake, a little more than a year.
Eric Hyman (Producer, MageLords): MageLords started a few months after that. A lot of time prior to that was spent on technology development, building up our libraries and toolsets.
Drak-There must be two development teams working on the projects simultaneously and both projects are slated for release around the same time next year. Are there any foreseen difficulties in meeting the slated timelines for both projects?
Billy Cain: Each team has little overlap with the other, so there are no issues with the development teams at this point. We are sharing a fair amount of underlying code, from our libraries, but now we are really at work on the game itself.
Probably the biggest issue ahead is ramping up our internal QA group.
Eric Hyman: Each is a very different product, with very different needs. Each has its own schedule, and while they are going to end up completing in a very similar time frame, they are not competing for resources. In fact, I can see a lot of late nights coming up where there will be a lot of people in the offices. It's always good to be pulling hard together.
Drak-The fantasy setting for MageLords sounds very cool. Do your development guys read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi novels? Is there any one particular book that inspired the storyline?
Ken Burd (Lead Designer, MageLords): I am a huge sci-fi and fantasy fan, as is almost everyone at Kinesoft. There is not one particular book that inspired MageLords, rather it is an amalgamation of everything I have read and a representation of what I think a war in a fantasy setting would be like. The Lord of the Rings is a big influence of course, and the Black Company books. The political situation bears a lot of resemblance to the setting at the start of Babylon 5.
Drak-MageLords seems like it fits in the RTS genre. Is MageLords an RTS and if so what will set it apart from other RTS games?
Ken Burd: MageLords incorporates some of the best design aspects of strategy games within a real-time framework. All of the building, research, and maneuvering of armies takes place in real-time on a strategic scale covering the entire continent of Arcan. Combat is resolved on a tactical scale involving up to around a 100 units per side fighting on a 3D battlefield.
While it incorporates many of the aspects of an RTS, MageLords design is to go way beyond that. While most RTS's really are about fighting a single battle, MageLords is about the campaign as well as the battles which you will need to fight in order to win the war.
Drak-Likewise, what sort of genre does Crimson Order fall into?
Billy Cain: We're an action oriented tactical combat game. Crimson Order doesn't fall neatly into any current genre, except action. There will be a lot of thinking and fast action involved, but it's not quite what you'd expect. Imagine yourself in the movie "Aliens" and you are about half the way there.
Dak-The goal of MageLords is to battle and defeat other MageLords. Will there be a scenario where you have to battle it out with the "Destroyer"?
Ken Burd: A standard game of MageLords always ends in a final confrontation with the great evil that threatens the world. What good fantasy doesn't?
You will have the option of turning that whole aspect of the game off and concentrate solely on empire building and conflict with other MageLords. MageLords is very customizable and will allow the user to not only set the level of difficulty of the world, but the size as well as the victory conditions that the player is striving for. It has immense re-playability.
Drak-What sort of camera will be incorporated in Crimson Order? Will it be free floating and how much freedom is there for changing your tactical view?
Will the perspective be first person, 3rd person?
Billy Cain: The camera has two goals in Crimson Order. One is to enhance the tactical elements of game-play by always showing you the battlefield and what your team can see. You can say it's third person, but really it's a third-person tactical view.
Game-play is king!! The camera focuses on Mark Prophet, your character and the focus of the story throughout the game. You can adjust the view, but within reasonable limits. The second goal of the camera is to give a cinematic feel to the plot progressing cut-scenes. It can move anywhere; do anything for the cut-scenes. It sweeps in for close-ups, does flyovers of the level, cuts to action on other parts of the level you're playing, etc. It's very cool!
Drak-Mark Prophet is the central character in Crimson Order, will there be a
central female character, or female models to choose from in multiplayer?
Billy Cain: That's a good question, but we decided early on to focus on a central protagonist and the choice was male. The player's team can be filled with female characters (as you meet them) or male (same goes for them). It's up to you. In multiplayer, the current plan is to allow you to choose anyone you wish to be on your team, so if you want to play as one of the women in the game – have at it!!
Drak-Will screen shots be available for both of these titles and will there be playable demos available?
Ken Burd: Yes. When they're ready
Billy Cain: That's the $64,000 question, isn't it. Rest assured, when it's time, you'll see it and you'll get to play it. :)
Drak-I know it's early, but are there any thoughts on expansion packs for
these titles?
Billy Cain: Lots. In fact the entire game of Crimson Order has had that in mind from day one. I'll save talk of that for another time, but I will say that the fans will be excited to see what we have cooked up for them.
Ken Burd: We have designed MageLords from the ground up to be enhanced and added to over time. We've got a lot up our sleeves, but right now we're just all about finishing the game.
Drak-Thanks for your time guys, I look forward to playing both of these exciting
games.
You're more than welcome! Thanks for being interested!
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