Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
| Dark Sun: Shattered Lands | |
|---|---|
| Studio | SSI |
| Publisher | SSI |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1993 |
| platform | DOS |
| Game engine | Dark Sun engine |
| genre | Computer role playing game |
| Subject | Dungeons and Dragons |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Mouse & keyboard |
| system advantages preconditions |
|
| medium | Floppy disk , CD-ROM , download |
| language | German English |
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands is a computer role-playing game developed by SSI for DOS from 1993. It is set in the Dark Sun campaign world of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing set of rules and, following the many publications in the Gold Box series, used the by SSI newly developed Dark Sun engine. In 1994 a sequel was released with the title Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager , in 1996 an MMORPG with the title Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands .
Game world
Dark Sun (dt .: Under the dark sun ) set in the world Athas. The scenario is described, among other things, as a “post-magical apocalypse”, as the use of magic has transformed the country into a desert that is hostile to life (see post-apocalypse ). The world is ruled by sorcerer kings and is characterized by great brutality. Dark Sun differs from usual fantasy worlds in the design.
action
The setting is the city-state Draj, ruled by the witcher king Tectukitlay. He wishes to organize a great blood sacrifice on the occasion of the completion of his pyramids. His goal is therefore to wipe out the few free desert villages in the Draj area. The player controls a four-man group of gladiators who are condemned to fight in the battle arenas of Draj for the amusement of the people and the witcher king. The goal is to escape from captivity and to unite the free cities in order to confront and destroy Tectukitlay united.
Gameplay
The game begins with the character creation of the four-man group of heroes. There are seven races to choose from (human, eleven, half-elf, halfling, half-giant, mul, thri-kreen) and seven classes (fighter, gladiator, ranger, thief, priest, preserver, psyker). The game world consists of connected, two-dimensional maps. Similar to the contemporary Ultima titles and in contrast to SSI's previous Gold Box series, the game is presented in a bird's eye view throughout . While exploring the game world, the group is usually symbolized by a collective icon. Only when it comes to turn-based battles are the individual figures fanned out. Unlike in the previous AD&D games, the player can only rest at predetermined locations in order to regenerate spells and health points. There are travel portals for faster progress in the game world.
development
After the gold box engine, introduced in 1988 with Pool of Radiance , had passed its zenith in the early 1990s and sales of the younger AD&D role-playing games had declined, SSI hoped this trend with the VGA graphics of the new Dark Sun engine and a new, to face unused background scenarios and build on the success of the earlier AD&D titles. Shattered Lands was originally announced for autumn 1992, but the development was delayed by a year, so that the title was not released until October 1993 after several postponements. Originally, the game should also come up with a real-time combat system, which was, however, switched to turn-based in the course of development, as in the previous titles.
reception
The game's graphics, which were still outstanding when it was announced in 1992, were only mediocre when it was released in October 1993. In addition, there is criticism of the game principle, which was described as too thin and relies too much on pre-scripted events. In the game magazine Power Play, the plot and the scenario were described as a mixture of Mad Max and Spartacus and praised as a “substantial new addition to the fantasy genre”. However, program errors that led to the game freezing were criticized, as well as the small number of fixed resting areas, which force the player to travel long distances within the game world. Further points of criticism were, on the one hand, the mouse control, since the cursor did not automatically show the interaction options by changing icons, but only after manual click; On the other hand, the Automap was criticized, which reveals all the details about the level design and the whereabouts of all the game characters when entering the area, which is why the element of surprise falls by the wayside.
Rating table:
- Power Play : 73% / 72% (CD-ROM version)
The one year delay had serious financial implications for developer SSI. The income still estimated for 1992 did not materialize and could not be sufficiently compensated. In early 1993, 20% of the workforce had to be laid off. Ultimately, the actual income was also below expectations. In the summer of 1994, the struggling company was finally taken over by Mindscape . The delay in Dark Sun: Shattered Lands is considered to be the cause of the company's financial decline, which is why the online game magazine GameSpot included the title in its Hall of Shame of the Top 10 Vaporware in 1999 .
Sequels
The direct successor Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager appeared in 1994. It was also developed by SSI and published for DOS . The game continues the storyline of the previous game, but this time the setting is the city of Tyr. The player's group of adventurers tracks down a group of conspirators who are threatening the city. The game principle was otherwise taken over unchanged with some additions.
As part of the success of Neverwinter Nights , SSI developed an MMORPG based on the Dark Sun engine called Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands , which was launched in 1996. Initially developed for AT&T , the game was sold to Total Entertainment Network (TEN) at reduced cost after the original client's cancellation . The project suffered from severe time and financial pressure throughout the development phase. Among other things, this led to the fact that a peer-to-peer model was chosen for the connection to the game instead of the server / client structure that would later become common . As a result, relevant game files were on the users' computers, which led to considerable problems with hackers and character manipulation. In 1999 the game was discontinued. A successor announced by TEN was never released as the company's business model shifted to the browser-based gaming platform pogo.com .
Web links
- Dark Sun: Shattered Lands at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Allen Rausch: A History of D&D Video Games - Part III ( English ) In: GameSpy . News Corp. . August 17, 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ↑ a b c Volker Weitz: Ultimate: Dark Sun - Shattered Lands . (Article scan) In: Power Play . No. 12/1993, December 1993, pp. 30-32.
- ↑ Andrew Park, Elliott Chin: Gamespot's History of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . Archived from the original on November 11, 1999. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ↑ a b Stephen Poole: Hall of Shame: Vaporware - 10th place ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . Archived from the original on December 16, 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ↑ Michael Hengst: Dark Sun . (Article scan) In: Power Play . No. 09/1992, September 1992, pp. 14-15.
- ↑ Volker Weitz: Sandy: Dark Sun - Shattered Lands . (Article scan) In: Power Play . No. 09/1994, September 1994, p. 105.
