Dungeon Siege

Dungeon Siege [ˈdʌndʒən siːdʒ] (in German "Dungeon Siege") is a fantasy action role-playing game for Windows and macOS (macOS only part 1). The first part was published in 2002, followed on November 26, 2003 by the expansion Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna (it contains the main program and the add-on). It was developed by Gas Powered Games and Mad Doc Software ; Microsoft is the publisher .

With Dungeon Siege 2 on August 14, 2005 and Dungeon Siege 3 on June 17, 2011, two direct successors were released, as well as an offshoot called Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony for the mobile handheld console PlayStation Portable .

Gameplay

The aim of the game is to rid a land of evil and dangerous creatures. Dungeon Siege is mostly controlled with the mouse. The player moves up to eight characters with a click of the mouse, in this way opponents are attacked or interacted with objects. The keyboard is only required for certain key combinations , such as B. the space bar for pause .

The action role-playing game ( Hack and Slay principle ) has detailed 3D graphics. In contrast to many other role-playing games, there are no fixed levels for the entire character, but each of the relatively few properties increases according to the level of use. Other special features are healing and mana potions, which are only emptied as far as the respective situation requires, and a spell with which objects can be converted into gold, so that you do not have to carry every worthless item to the nearest dealer, however the yields of this spell are rather low.

Weapons and spells

Basically, a distinction is made between four types of weapons and magic, between which a character can switch quickly.

Melee weapon ( dagger , sword , ax , hammer, etc.)
Ranged weapon ( bow , crossbow , shuriken or throwing knife (from DS2) etc.)
Nature spells (frost spells, lightning spells (DS1), summoning creatures, healing, spells that increase attributes, earth spells (DS2) etc.)
Combat spells (fire attacks, euthanize, summon creatures, lightning spells (DS2) etc.)

Skills and Attributes

When using the weapons / spells mentioned, a character increases in the corresponding skills in levels from 0 to 150, whereby not (as in other games) the number of hits landed by the character, but the extent of the damage dealt by the character is decisive. The highest skill level 150 is almost impossible to reach without " cheating ".

The melee and ranged combat levels increase the hit rate of the respective weapons.
The combat and nature spell levels determine which spells a hero can cast.

When used, the character increases in the attributes strength, skill and intelligence also in levels from 0 to 150.

Mana (= magic) is determined by intelligence and, to a lesser extent, strength and skill .
Strength, intelligence and skill determine which weapons a hero can equip.

When used, the character increases with the following scaling in the attributes:

Melee:
- Strength 64%
- Skill 27%
- Intelligence 9%
Ranged Combat:
- Strength 25%
- Skill 62%
- Intelligence 13%
Nature magic:
- Strength 9%
- Skill 18%
- Intelligence 73%
Battle Magic:
- Strength 13%
- Skill 17%
- Intelligence 70%

Game modes

Dungeon Siege is both a single player and multiplayer game. It can be played with up to 8 players both online and via LAN. A co-op mode and a PvP mode are available as game modes . Since the official multiplayer server Zonematch has been closed, only the connection via LAN and IP address is possible. Some players have therefore set up Hamachi connections to replace the Zonematch server .

technology

Ports of the multiplayer part

In order to play the game in multiplayer mode that must UDP - ports be open to 2400 6073 and 2302nd In Dungeon Siege , version 1.1 and Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna under Windows XP , the configuration of the router by uPnP done.

Extensions

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna

The official add-on Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna was released on November 26, 2003. It was jointly developed by Gas Powered Games and Mad Doc Software and published by Microsoft . It is a so-called stand-alone expansion and contains new missions as well as the basic game.

Modifications

The Dungeon Siege Toolkit (Windows only) developed by Microsoft and Gas Powered Games can be used to design maps and modifications for Dungeon Siege (Windows and macOS). Use is free of charge and maps created can be freely distributed. The best-known map is Yesterhaven , which was developed by the developer Gas Powered Games and is available on the data carriers of Part 1 (Windows and macOS). Many fansites also offer their own mini maps and mods. For example the inventory mod, which increases the inventory many times over. This mod was designed because the player cannot buy a mule in multiplayer mode.

The engine of Dungeon Siege was also the basis for the projects Ultima 5 Lazarus and The Ultima VI Project . These are implementations of the computer role-playing games Ultima V and VI for the Dungeon Siege engine. Dungeon Siege owners can download and play this Total Conversion created by amateur development teams for free.

Dungeon Siege II

Chris Taylor (Creative Director)

Erstveröffent-
lichung

August 14, 2005 (USA)
September 2, 2005 (Europe)

PC ( Windows )

Subject

Game mode

Single , multiplayer

control

Mouse , keyboard

system advantages
preconditions

CPU : 1 GHz
RAM : 256 MB
Graphics : ATI Radeon 7000 or nVidia GeForce or Intel Extreme Graphics 82845
HDD : 4 GB
DirectX 9

medium

4 CD-ROMs

language

German

Current version

2.2

Age rating

USK

PEGI

Dungeon Siege II was released on August 14, 2005 (officially September 2, 2005 in Europe) for Windows PCs.

Dungeon Siege 2 is free to play through Gamespy. The number of characters depends on the number of players: With two players, each player can control a maximum of 3 characters, with three players, 2 each, and with 4 players, only one character each. In Dungeon Siege 2 it is not possible to play against each other ( PvP ).

Dungeon Siege II: Broken World

Chris Taylor (Creative Director)

Erstveröffent-
lichung

August 1, 2006 September 1, 2006

platform

PC ( Windows )

genre

Action RPG

Game mode

Single , multiplayer

control

Mouse , keyboard

medium

1 CD-ROM

language

English (voice output), German (menus, subtitles)

Age rating

USK

PEGI

information

Items can be exchanged between the two games by entering codes from the Broken World CD key and the serial number of the PSP with which Throne of Agony is played.

After the developer Gas Powered Games had separated from its previous publishing partner Microsoft, the new publisher 2K Games released the expansion Dungeon Siege II: Broken World on August 1, 2006 (Europe: September 1, 2006) .

Items can be exchanged between the two games by entering codes from the Broken World CD key and the serial number of the PSP with which the PSP offshoot Throne of Agony is played.

Others

Dungeon Siege II uses the DirectSong interface .

Dungeon Siege III

In June 2010, the continuation of the game series was officially confirmed. After the naming rights were taken over by the Japanese publisher Square Enix , the American role-playing game developer Obsidian Entertainment was commissioned to develop Dungeon Siege III . Chris Taylor only took on an advisory role in the development. The game was released on June 17, 2011 for Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 .

The events of Dungeons Siege III occur approximately 150 years after the Dungeon Siege plot . The 10th Legion, which ensured the security of the Kingdom of Ehb for over 400 years, was almost wiped out by Jeyne Kassynder. Since then there has been war between Kassynder and the royal family. A few descendants of the 10th Legion are given the task of finding more survivors and supporters to fend off Kassynders.

Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony

Studio

SuperVillain Studios Gas Powered Games

Publisher

2K Games

Erstveröffent-
lichung

January 26, 2007

Game mode

Single , multiplayer

1 UMD

information

Items can be exchanged between the two games by entering codes from the Broken World CD key and the serial number of the PSP with which Throne of Agony is played.

Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is a standalone offshoot of the series. The game was released by 2K Games on January 26, 2007 exclusively for PlayStation Portable . It was developed by SuperVillain Studios .

The game received average ratings (Metacritic score: 74%). The ratings of German magazines were slightly above the international level. (Critify rating: 78%)

Items can be exchanged between the two games by entering codes from the CD key of the Broken World expansion for Dungeon Siege II and the serial number of the PSP with which Throne of Agony is played.

more publishments

filming

Based on the computer game, director Uwe Boll made a fantasy film that was released on November 29, 2007 as "In the Name of the King - A Dungeon Siege Tale" (German title: "Swords of the King - Dungeon Siege"). The main roles of the approximately 60 million US dollar film included a. Jason Statham , Claire Forlani , Matthew Lillard , Ray Liotta , Kristanna Loken , Ron Perlman , Burt Reynolds and John Rhys-Davies seen.

According to Boll, the film was not simply titled "Dungeon Siege" because only about 15 minutes of the film actually take place in caves ( dungeons ). In addition, the plot of the film does not follow the game plot.

Comic

In 2005 the US comic publisher Dark Horse published a comic about Dungeon Siege with the title "Dungeon Siege: The Battle for Aranna" about the malicious antagonist Zaramoth from the pen of the comic author Paul Alden . All chapters of the comic come from different artists. These are Al Rio , Cliff Richards, and Fabiano Neves .

Web links

Official website of Dungeon Siege (English)
Dungeon Siege ( English ) Microsoft . Archived from the original on August 24, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna ( English ) Microsoft . Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
Dungeon Siege II ( English ) Microsoft . Archived from the original on August 24, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
Gas Powered Games website
Dungeon Siege site of Gas Powered Games (English)
Dungeon Siege series at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Ultima 5 Lazarus
^ The Ultima VI Project
↑ Dungeon Siege 3: Development officially confirmed + first pictures , June 8th 2010, at PC Games
^ Metacritic.com , PSP Average Rating, accessed November 7, 2011
^ Critify.de , average PSP rating, accessed on November 7th
↑ Dungeon Siege in the Internet Movie Database (English), as of June 2, 2007

[1] Ultima 5 Lazarus

[2] The Ultima VI Project

[pcg_ankuendigung-3] Dungeon Siege 3: Development officially confirmed + first pictures , June 8th 2010, at PC Games

[4] Metacritic.com , PSP Average Rating, accessed November 7, 2011

[5] Critify.de , average PSP rating, accessed on November 7th

[6] Dungeon Siege in the Internet Movie Database (English), as of June 2, 2007