Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
| Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard | |||
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| Studio |
 Liquid entertainment
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| Publisher |
 Atari
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| Senior Developer | Ed Del Castillo | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
September 21, 2005 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| genre | Real time strategy game | ||
| Subject | Dungeons and Dragons | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Mouse & keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | CD-ROM , DVD-ROM , download | ||
| language | German English French | ||
| Current version | 1.2.1 (EU) 1.2.1b (US) |
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| Age rating |
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Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard is a real-time strategy game with role-play aspects from the US developer Liquid Entertainment . It is the first computer game to be played in the campaign world Eberron of the role-playing game rules Dungeons & Dragons . It was released for Windows PC in September 2005 by the then D&D license holder Atari .
action
Game world
Dragonshard plays in the world of Eberron, which combines well-known fantasy elements from previous D&D campaign worlds with an incipient technical civilization, i.e. includes so-called steampunk elements. According to the creation myth of Eberron, the dragon Khyber once fought his sister Siberys and tore her body to pieces in the process. This angered Khyber's brother Eberron so much that he buried Khyber under his own body. The three areas of the game world emerged from the three dragon bodies: the surface Eberron, the underworld Khyber and the ring of Siberys, which circles around Eberron. All three parts produce so-called dragonshards ( dragon splinters ), crystal and stone fragments with magical powers. The greatest Dragonshard is the heart of Siberys. When it fell from the ring of Siberys onto the continent Xen'drik, it was responsible for the sinking of a city below the surface of the earth and at the same time created the storm-tossed mountain range called the Ring of Storms . Its enormous magical powers ensured that the life forms there developed into lizard people. Since then, the heart has repeatedly been the trigger for disputes between different factions who strive to rule over its powers.
Factions
There are three action-relevant groups. In addition, there are other, independent small groups and peoples who can be both supportive and hostile to the player.
- Order of the Flame
The Order of the Flame is the military wing of the Church of the Silver Flame, an organization dedicated to the destruction of evil. The order is an alliance of diverse cultures and traditions, including humans, dwarves, halflings and celestians.
- Lizard people
The lizard people are the indigenous form of life in the ring of storms. According to legend, they were settled there by the dragons as guardians of the heart of Siberys. Over time, through closeness to the magical energy of the heart, they have changed and become conscious. Several centuries ago, their hero Darroc managed to unite the tribes. He sacrificed his life to defend the heart of Siberys against invaders of the Order. Since then there has been a long period of calm.
- Changes
The third faction does not have its own campaign and can only be selected in multiplayer mode. According to legend, the Umbra are the descendants of the race of elves that once inhabited the city of Qalatesh. Qalatesh was once destroyed after a fragmentation storm and sank in the depths of Khyber, where some survivors also found refuge. In order to be able to face the dangers of Khyber, the elves combined with the dark energies of Khyber, which thereby became part of their culture and ultimately made them the vicious upheavals.
Framework for action
Under the leadership of the cleric Lady Marryn and the dwarf shaman Amathor, the Order of the Flame moves to the Ring of Storms to conquer the heart of Siberys and claim its magical powers. You are disturbing the centuries-long peace of this region. The order encounters resistance from the native guardian people of the lizards. Depending on the faction chosen, it is up to the player to either take control of the heart (medal) or to defend it against invaders (lizard people). In addition, both parties are confronted with the upheavals under their leader Satros who want to use the powers of the heart to unlock the secrets of the ruins of Qalatesh.
Gameplay
General
The game combines elements of traditional real-time strategy games with role-playing aspects. The player can choose from two factions in single player and three in multiplayer: the Order of the Flame, the Lizard People and the Umbra. In the single player mode there is an action-driven campaign for the Order of the Flame and for the Lizardfolk. There are also free battles against computer opponents and human players via the Internet or LAN .
The mission cards each consist of two game levels: the surface of the earth and the underworld Khyber, which emphasize the different aspects of the game. On the surface, the usual strategy game aspects are used, such as building a base, collecting resources and expanding and upgrading your own armies. Possible positions for bases and extensions are given for each card. These are also self-sufficient, with a predetermined number of building sites. The limited building space forces the player to make strategic decisions about the composition of his armies, since the corresponding production buildings cannot be built for every unit type. In contrast to the usual strategy games, all types of units are available to the player right from the start. These are divided into four unit types:
- Champions: Hero characters selected by the player in the campaign before the start of a mission and summoned in a base in battle mode. Each faction has four different champions with unique skills and army bonuses: a warrior, a cleric, a mage, and a villain.
- Juggernauts: powerful and costly units that can be summoned from bases. Each faction has a unique Juggernaut unit, only one of which can be in play at a time.
- Captains: Units that can be trained in the base. Captains can be upgraded in a total of five levels. With each upgrade, you gain new skills and a squad of subordinate soldiers, a maximum of four at level 5. Each faction has a larger selection of captain units to choose from, including flight units, tanks, villains, healers, spellcasters, ranged fighters and resource procurers.
- Soldiers: Support troops that are automatically trained by captains near their own bases. They cannot be controlled directly, but automatically follow their captain. Soldiers always take damage before their captain, effectively symbolizing a longer life expectancy and the increased damage potential of the unit.
Of these units, only the heroes and ground-based captains can switch between the upper and underworld via fixed transition points. Juggernauts are denied access, soldiers transform into additional life bars for their captain unit and are restored when they leave the underground world.
The game principle in the underground is therefore more similar to the exploration of a group of heroes with different RPG-usual characters instead of an armed conflict of different troop contingents as on the surface. In the underground, for example, similar to common dungeon crawlers , units have to defuse traps, collect unique items and hunt monsters. Items are collected in a global inventory and are then available to all units.
resources
There are three resources in Dragonshard :
- Dragonshards: Are required for the construction of buildings and units. Dragonshards periodically rain down from the sky to the surface.
- Gold: Also required for the construction of buildings and units. Buildings automatically generate a small increase at regular intervals, but a large part of the gold is gained by exploring the underworld areas by completing quests and searching through fallen enemies.
- Experience points: are required to upgrade units. Experience points are gained by killing and destroying enemy units and buildings as well as completing quests.
Experience points are assigned to a global pool in Dragonshard . The player can use these in unit-producing buildings to level up his captains. With this upgrade, all units of this type are promoted and will automatically receive this level in the future after their training. In order to upgrade a captain above level 2, the player needs two or more training centers of the same type, one for each additional level. The player must decide whether he wants to use the limited building sites for upgrading certain types of units or instead for buildings with bonuses for units. Heroes cannot be leveled, but can be upgraded through hero artifacts during the campaign.
Game modes
Dragonshard owns a single player campaign for the Order of the Flame and the Lizardfolk, each with seven missions, plus multiple maps for single player and multiplayer battles. The cards of the single player campaigns contain several scripted main mission objectives that advance the storyline, as well as optional side missions that bring the player bonuses such as special items, experience points, gold or hero artifacts. Unused items can be stored in a vault between missions. During a mission, the player receives so-called reward points, depending on the quality of his playing style. These can be used between campaigns to purchase items or to upgrade the heroes with additional hero artifacts.
Single player and multiplayer battles have one mandatory and three optional victory conditions:
- Raze - the destruction of all enemy buildings. This victory condition cannot be turned off.
- Expansion - control of 50% of all expansion bases over a period of time.
- Artifacts - The aim is to collect a set number of artifacts by killing creatures that appear at random.
- Control - the control of 50% of all so-called places of power of a card over a period of time.
development
Dragonshard is the first computer game in the D&D campaign world Eberron. Although Eberron inventor Keith Baker himself wrote the plot framework for Dragonshard , there are some discrepancies between the game and the canonical Eberron Campaign Setting . According to the rules, Sibery's Dragonshards are gold-colored, but glow bluish in the game. Also, as practiced by the Order, the construction of new warforges is prohibited under the Treaty of Throne Feasts, which marked the end of the Last War .
Dragonshard was marketed by publisher Atari as "the first Dungeons & Dragons real-time strategy game". In fact, real-time strategy games for the D&D franchise were published as early as 1993 with Stronghold and Fantasy Empires by SSI and in 1996 with Blood & Magic by Interplay Entertainment .
reception
| publication | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| 4players | 74% | |
| GameStar | 80% | |
| 79% | ||
| Gamona | 78% | |
| PC Games | 77% | |
| GameSpot | 8.5 out of 10 | |
| IGN | 8.4 of 10 | |
| Meta-ratings | ||
| GameRankings | 70.88% | |
| Metacritic | 71 of 100 | |
Dragonshard received mostly positive, albeit cautious, ratings ( GameRankings : 79.09% / Metacritic : 80 out of 100).
The game has been recognized for combining the elements of traditional real-time strategy games with D&D role-playing games. The main point of criticism was the small size of the single-player mode, underlined in particular by the lack of an umbrella campaign.
Web links
- Official website ( Memento of July 19, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Dragonshard at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Heather Newman: Upcoming DragonShard in a class by itself , Knight Ridder / Tribune News Service. September 29, 2004. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ↑ a b c Mike Govenettio: Strategy at the heart of 'Dragonshard' . In: The Buffalo News , October 13, 2005. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ Dragonshard for PC Review . GameSpot . September 21, 2007. Retrieved May 24, 2008: " For example, instead of being able to build a huge base anywhere on the map, you are limited to a fixed-sized base on certain points of the map. This base-building mechanic requires a lot of strategy on your part, because each base has only 16 building slots that are divided into blocks of four. What you build on those blocks determines the type of units that you construct, as well as the experience level those units can attain. "
- ↑ a b Ahmad Faiz: Riveting adventure-filled realm . In: New Straits Times , August 11, 2005. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ A b Bruno Dieter Chan: Worthy to stand on its own . In: New Straits Times , October 27, 2005. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ↑ Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, James Wyatt (2004). Eberron Campaign Setting. Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ISBN 0-7869-3434-4 .
- ↑ Dragonshard ( English ) In: Official website . Atari. Archived from the original on March 8, 2005. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ Allen Rausch: A History of D&D Video Games - Part III . GameSpy . August 17, 2004. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
- ↑ Bodo Naser: Test: Dragonshard . In: 4Players . freenet AG . November 21, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ↑ Dragonshard in the test . In: GameStar . IDG . November 11, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ^ André Linken: Dragonshard - Review . In: Gameswelt . Web media publishing. November 17, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ↑ Sebastian Weidner: The mixture of real-time strategy and role play! How good is Dragonshard really? . In: Gamona . Webguidez Entertainment. January 4, 2006. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ↑ Dragonshard . In: PC Games . Computec Media Group . September 26, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ↑ Ocampo Jason: Dragonshard Review ( English ) In: GameSpot . CBS Interactive . September 21, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ↑ Steve Butts: Dragonshard ( English ) In: IGN . News Corp . September 22, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
- ↑ a b GameRankings : Average rating of the game , based on 22 ratings. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ a b Metacritic : Average rating of the game , based on 24 articles. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ Dragonshard for PC Review . GameSpot . September 21, 2005. Retrieved May 24, 2008: “ What makes Dragonshard different is that it combines a lot of cool concepts from earlier real-time strategy games and then blends the resulting combination with D & D-style role-playing. In essence, it literally is a role-playing strategy game of sorts, with the surface portion of the world focused on real-time strategy, and the underworld, which deals with role-playing. And yet, the gameplay is subtly tied together, so that what you do in one plane has huge consequences in the other. "
- ^ Dragonshard for PC Review . GameSpot . September 21, 2005. Retrieved May 24, 2008: “ That said, we do have some gripes about the single-player campaign. First, despite the fact that there are three factions, the game only features two campaigns, and each campaign only has seven missions. There are many quests in the game, so you can replay parts to see what you've missed. However, despite this feature, it still feels like there's a campaign that's missing that didn't make the cut. "
