As reported in last weeks News article, Child of Darkness is a new top-down RPG game with georgous graphics and full Manga style animated film sequences in development by Desktop Corruption who are a group of dedicated Amiga coders spread about the world (UK, USA, Sweden) who have banded together on the internet to form a new coding group.
Amiga Flame has managed to get some new info on Child of Darkness from Jason Hayman the Designer of this new title. Thanks must go to Jason Hayman, you can read what he said below.
When we decided to make a game along the Zelda/Chaos Engine type vein,
we planned from the offset to have a very strong story line to draw the
player into our game. With this in mind, there are 3 phases the game goes
through before any plan or code is compiled. We view each level/stage as
chapter in a book so currently we have chapters written that set out the
plot of the game. These chapters are then converted into scripts where
they are either used as plans for our animation artist, or rough ideas
for the level outset. The final stage is to convert the script into an
actual level.
Our paramount idea for this game is the story. It will be different.
We will be turning RPG cliche's on their heads and using them against the
player to trick and confuse them. This will not be your standard, save
the girlfriend, save the world from the ultimate baddie scenario. If you
like reading books, then be prepared to play one!
Our next priority is the game play. The story for CoD has been written
in a way to make the game non-linear. You will return to previous levels
to complete future levels and to even progress to other levels. There is
no order in which any of the puzzles in the game have to be completed,
only a few exceptions break this rule. The game will even play
differently the next time you restart it.
We wanted our game to "behave" as if it was in a world of its own.
Characters will roam the map on their own accord, enemies have
sophisticated AI based upon their allegiance to certain clans, their
intelligence, their sense of smell, how well that can see in day and
night (hense the reason why it will play differently each time you
re-start).
Time is also major factor in the game. Some puzzles will only work at
certain times of the day. Some characters will only appear at certain
times. Even though Dafel, our main character, can roam this world at
night, if he has been awake all day too, his reflexes and stamina will be
reduced. To compensate for this, Dafel will be able to camp to regain
strength and stamina and to also wait for certain times.
Primarily this game is based for a single player, but we are hoping
that with a modem-modem link, we will be able to take the game into
another level of enjoyment. With the 2 player option, player one, who
will be Dafel, and player 2 who will be another evil character, can both
complete the game with the same aim in mind but from different
perspectives. Dafel has his *good* reasons for completing the game, and
the evil character also has his *good* reasons for completing the game
too. 2 player mode will not be split screen, but at certain points in the
game you will meet up and, if you like, battle it out! Both these players
can save their games and continue again later from where they left off.
The first to complete the game wins!
CoD will play from any spec machine (AGA only at the moment), but the
bare minimum will be 020, 2megFAST, 2megCHIP, Hard drive (at least 20 meg
free - estimate for complete cache install) and a CD-ROM drive. The hard
drive will be used as a caching system, although the game will run from
CD-ROM only too, but jerkily if you don't have the cache. The CD-ROM is
essential if you want 16bit music.
CoD will also be recoded to work on CyberGFX machines and to utilise
sound cards, extra memory and faster processors.
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