Компьютерные игры

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - пошаговая ролевая игра, сюжет которой развивается в сеттинге Dark Sun ролевой системы Dungeons & Dragons. Она была выпущена для платформы DOS компанией Strategic Simulations, Inc. в 1993 году; позже были выпущены патчи, исправляющие ошибки в игре. В 1996 году была повторно выпущена на CD-ROM как часть AD&D Masterpiece Collection.

Продолжение игры, Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager, вышло в 1994 году. В 1996 году начала работу MMORPG Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands.

 

Действие игры разворачивается в вымышленном апокалиптическом и враждебном пустынном мире Атас, в городе-государстве Драй, управляемом могущественным королeм-колдуном. Поблизости находится несколько «вольных городов», которые существуют лишь благодаря тяжкому труду их граждан; город Драй стремиться их уничтожить. Игрок управляет командой из четырeх гладиаторов, осуждeнных биться насмерть на арене Драя, поэтому первой задачей становится побег. После побега, команда должна объединить вольные города, чтобы они могли противостоять армии Драя.

В игре используется вид сверху. Большая часть игры связана со взаимодействием с другими персонажами, вследствие чего серия Dark Sun более ориентирована на отыгрывание роли и менее — на обследование подземелий, чем более ранние игры gold box. Как и в других играх по вселенным Dungeons and Dragons, значительную роль играет бой. Бои Shattered Lands требуют стратегического мышления ввиду двухмерной пошаговой боевой системы. Нет похожих битв, а схватки с «боссами» часто включают противостояние большой армии. Для победы необходима правильная расстановка персонажей и использование заклинаний, позволяющих противостоять атаке с нескольких направлений.

Во вселенной Dark Sun используются необычные для других сеттингов Dungeons & Dragons правила создания персонажей, делающие их более могущественными: так, базовые значения характеристик определяются по схеме 4d4+4, а не 3d6. Shattered Lands включает элементы, уникальные для сеттинга Dark Sun: расы Мул и Три-Крин), а также псионические способности.

 

Обзор игры был опубликован в 1994 году в журнале Dragon № 205 в колонке «Eye of the Monitor»; игра получила 3 из 5 звeзд.

 

 

Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager

Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1994 for the MS-DOS operating system. It is the sequel to Dark Sun: Shattered Lands. Wake of the Ravager was initially released in two boxed versions: on floppy disk and on CD-ROM, with the latter featuring digitised voice and music (as Red Book CD tracks). It was later re-released in a CD-ROM jewel case form factor, and also as part of the AD&D Masterpiece Collection in 1996.

 

Wake of the Ravager takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons’ campaign setting of Dark Sun, on a harsh desert world named Athas. The story is a continuation of the events in its predecessor, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, and take place in or around the city-state of Tyr. The introductory cut scene introduces us to the mysterious Dragon and his general, the Lord Warrior, who are planning the conquest of Tyr. Upon starting the game, the player witnesses an assassination of a woman who turns out to be a member of a secret society known as the Veiled Alliance. The player eventually becomes involved with the Veiled Alliance and their struggles against the Dragon and the Lord Warrior.

Wake of the Ravager shares the same engine and gameplay as its predecessor, but with slightly different graphics (most obviously, the use of larger character sprites). The engine uses a top-down view of the world. Players control a party of one to four characters. The game can be started with a pregenerated party, or the player may create their own or import characters from Shattered Lands. As with other Dungeons & Dragons computer titles, combat features prominently in the game play; in the Dark Sun series, combat is turn-based. Like its predecessor, Ravager also incorporates elements unique to the Dark Sun campaign setting, including unique character races (the Mul and the insectoid thri-kreen (Though thri-kreen appear in both Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds)) and extensive use of psionics.

 

The game has several bugs, some of which result in a crash, others resulting in the game not winnable. For example, due to game engine limitations, graphics for doorways or items may disappear. Some of these issues were addressed in the 1.02 and 1.1 patches.

 

 

Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands

Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands is an early massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1996 for Windows 95. Dark Sun Online is based on the licensed Dark Sun campaign setting for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game. Dark Sun Online was one of the first fully graphical MMORPGs.

The game was originally commissioned for AT&T’s proposed Interchange network, an intended competitor for AOL. Dark Sun Online was intended to be Interchange’s competition for the original Neverwinter Nights, which ran on AOL at the time. Although AT&T withdrew from funding Dark Sun Online after Interchange was scrapped, SSI continued development on the game. The game was eventually released on the Total Entertainment Network (TEN). The Dark Sun Online servers were shut down in 1998 when TEN was discontinued. Total Entertainment Network was eventually purchased by Pogo.com and official support and development for Dark Sun Online was ceased, but a new modern engine is currently being written by the fan community.

The Dark Sun Online game engine was originally adapted from the same engine used by SSI’s previous Dark Sun game, Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager. Some sprites and sound files were borrowed from that game, its prequel (Dark Sun: Shattered Lands), and other games from SSI’s parent company, Mindscape (namely Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse and Thunderscape). Interaction between players was accomplished via a MUD-like chat interface, and combat was turn-based, with each player having a short timer on their turn. Dark Sun Online was one of the first fully graphical MMORPGs to feature a number of features popularized by later games like Ultima Online, such as nearly unrestricted player versus player combat. Due to the game’s peer-to-peer structure, the game was susceptible to hacking by its players.

 

 

Dark Sun Online: The Age of Heroes

Free and open source MMORPG currently in the early development stages. The development team is focusing on sprite development, new map tilesets, the map editor, and long-term task management and roadmap development. The development team is highly interested in new recruits and is actively accepting applications for any aspect of gameplay, including writing, artistry, management, coding, and GUI development. The project is the successor of Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands and is therefore based in the Dark Sun campaign setting of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.