News on Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Game

[Hill-Shatar]

I thought that I might as well keep people updated from news from a variety of sites. I am not all that knowledgable about the older part of this series...but I have heard a lot and I am interested. Feel free to post your own comments or news.

*edit* I have just been informed that I know more about this subject than most people. Who could've known?

The following is from gamespy.

Although it's got the name Might & Magic attached to it, this is a much darker vision for the world, macabre and brutal. You play a young apprentice who's been training your whole life for -- well, nobody's ever explained to you for what purpose you've been singled out, but all becomes clear when a Dark Messiah threatens to rise and turn the world into his own personal hell.

To stop him you can use fighting, brains, sorcery, stealth, or any combination in-between. De Genlis says that the idea is to present interesting situations and then allow the player to "express themselves" by solving problems in their own way.




First-person melee combat is gritty and brutal.

Every area in the game will be designed to give players the flexibility to tackle problems in their own style. Another area of the demo had an enormous statue supported by some wooden beams that you could catch on fire: toppling it could serve to distract the enemy, make a bridge, or crush them where they stand. Although we didn't get to see much of the game, brief glimpses of cityscapes and dungeons on display showed a lot of promise. These areas were loaded with clutter and stuff to interact with....

-----------------

Dark Messiah will have around 12 chapters, with each level being large like a Half-Life 2 level. For the most part you'll be adventuring alone -- this isn't a game about party combat, despite the history of the franchise -- but occasionally you'll pick up an NPC or two to help you fight through certain areas.

The rest was more about how detailed first person action is, including but not limited to sparks and very detailed enemys. I would display the site, however, that is against forum rules. PM for reference.

Developed by the team behind the RPG Arx Fatalis, this entry in the long-running Might and Magic series brings the legendary RPG to life in new ways with the power of the Source Engine powering its character animation, graphics, AI and real-world physics to provide a wholly immersive first-person RPG experience.

The following is from Arkane Studios, the company which is producing this game.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES DARK MESSIAH™ OF MIGHT & MAGIC® New Might & Magic® game to be powered by Source™ Engine from Valve SAN FRANCISCO – AUGUST 4, 2005 – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announces the development of Dark Messiah™ of Might & Magic®, a new first-person action game for the PC, powered by an enhanced version of the Source™ Engine, the award-winning game technology Valve created to power Half-Life®2. Developed by Arkane Studios, the team behind the critically acclaimed Arx Fatalis game, Dark Messiah of Might & Magic puts players in a first-person perspective, allowing them to immerse themselves in the legendary Might and Magic universe as never before. It is also the world’s first fantasy action game to feature a complete first-person combat system. It takes full advantage of the Source™ Engine’s exceptional technological enhancements in areas such as character animation, advanced AI, real-world physics and shader-based rendering. Ubisoft acquired the Might and Magic brand in 2003, and Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is the second title Ubisoft will be launching as it restores this famed franchise to glory. Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is scheduled for a summer 2006 release and will be shown for the first time at the Games Convention in Germany on August 17, 2005.

The following overviews the games plot. As said from this site.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic puts players in a first-person perspective, allowing them to immerse themselves in the legendary Might and Magic universe as never before. It is also the world's first fantasy action game to feature a complete first-person combat system.

In Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, players will be introduced to the world of Ashan, the new setting for all future Might & Magic games. Ashan is a dark and unforgiving world, scarred by a bloody history and threatened by an apocalyptic prophecy: the Dark Messiah.

Players will embody the young hero Sareth, who has been trained in the arts of magic and war in order to battle the prophetic Dark Messiah. Players will have the choice to become expert warriors, mages or assassins, each with their own cache of devastating weapons and spells to use in battling huge and vicious enemies. Through combat, players will unlock new skills and equipment, advancing Sareth's experience and improving his performance, battle combos, hits, spells and techniques and setting his course for his destiny.

[Hill-Shatar]

The following is an interview with the game director and producer of this game. From this site. Playdevil.com is the source...

Today we have lined up another great 'devilish' Q&A with the Producer from Ubisoft, Romain de Waubert de Genlis AND with Game Director Raphael Colantonio from Arkane Studios.
Eleven questions are fired to these two lads regarding their upcoming game, "Dark Messiah of Might And Magic". Questions being answered by Romain are stated with 'RWG' and by Raphael 'RC'
Enjoy!


1- First of all, could you introduce yourselves and give us some of your professional background?

RWG - I am Romain de Waubert de Genlis, Ubisoft Producer of Dark Messiah. I most recently worked on Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2. Being a big fan of the Might and Magic games, and having spent way to many sleepless nights playing them, when UBISOFT granted me both the opportunity to develop a new game within that universe, and to work with Raphael, I jumped on board before they gave that opportunity to someone else.

RC - I'm Raphael Colantonio, Arkane Studios Game Director of Dark Messiah. I've been in the game industry for 12 years and worked for various companies including EA. I founded Arkane Studios in 1999 and acted as CEO and Game Director for Arx Fatalis™. My passion is game design. I'm fascinated by immersive first person games in general and I'm always keen on taking the next crazy creative challenge in this genre.


2- How would you present us the concept behind Dark Messiah of Might & Magic in a few words?

RWG - If you were to live an adventure in a heroic fantasy universe filled with combat, how would you want to experience it? The answer to that question is the core of what's going into the making of Dark Messiah.
If we were to start fresh in such a universe, it is obvious that we would all have different sensibilities on who we would want to be and how would you defeat your enemies. Would you rather use your muscles or your magic or your mind? In Dark Messiah you all start the same but no one will live the same experience, no one will end up the same.
The first person point of view also helps us to create a more impressive and, to a certain extent, a more immersive experience. In first person you can't see these monsters lurking in the shadow behind you, and when you stand at a dragon's feet, only then will you realize what it means to be 5 stories tall.


3- For this game, you are using the Source™ engine from Valve. Could you explain why you decided to use this engine? To what extend does it answer your development objectives?

RC - Back in 2003 we were building our own engine. During a game show, we ran into a few folks from Valve who had played and liked our first game (Arx Fatalis™). We checked out the Valve booth at E3, saw their amazing demo and realized that the Source Engine was providing absolutely everything we wanted and more. We decided to start talking with them about a license.
Valve was very enthusiastic about giving us access to Source at an early stage, even before they would officially license it, which was great because it was just the engine we needed. Being the second generation of one of the most proven engines for first person action games, Source featured all of what we were looking for: super realistic rendering, stunning physics integration, solid multiplayer architecture and great flexibility for quickly prototyping crazy new features.

RWG - For me it is reassuring to work with a team like Arkane that does not have to focus on building an engine from scratch - with all the technical challenges which that entails - but instead. can dedicate all the creative energy on making great gameplay.
Very early on we were able to discuss the prototyping of some specific gameplay elements, instead of having to spend most of our development time in hoping that ultimately "it will work."


4- What is the level of your collaboration with valve?

RC - I like to think that our collaboration with Valve goes beyond a simple license deal. We share the same passion for games. We play each other's games. Our team regulary spends time at Valve's offices where we have "hands on" sessions and showcase our latest features for Dark Messiah.
It's good for us to see and hear their reactions. We get consulting from some of the smartest guys in the industry and we really appreciate this.


5- Could you introduce the universe and storyline of Dark Messiah?

RWG - In Dark Messiah, you are Sareth, apprentice to a powerful wizard. He has raised you for a single purpose, training you in the arts of magic and war.
At the beginning of the game you are given an ancient artifact and ordered to carry it to a friend of your master.
It seems like a simple task … But of course, yours will be a sinuous journey, filled with unexpected encounters and revelations, and upon your quest, looms the shadow of the Dark Messiah…


6- How did you come up with this scenario? What was the original idea behind it?

RC - It's a constant team effort between Ubisoft and Arkane and it goes through many iterations. Arkane Studios was more focused on the story details and narrative elements that would drive Dark Messiah's level design.
Ubisoft played a more over-arching role: Erwan Le Breton and Richard Dansky worked a lot on the Might and Magic universe and background that we share with Heroes of Might and Magic franchise. They also provided consulting support for polishing our dialogues and improving the characters' personalities and motivations.


7- So you say Dark Messiah is mostly an action game. Could you detail that a bit further? How, for instance are we going to play as a warrior, a mage or an assassin? Can I really decide to be only an assassin and finish the game that way?

RWG - First person action drives Dark Messiah, while the game does have elements of an RPG, everything is handled in real time and monsters will not wait for you to think before to act. If you want to plan ahead how you will bypass a challenge, try to look for a vantage point and have a look at the scene, and plan your course of action.
Playing as a Warrior or as an Assassin will be totally different. One will charge headlong on his enemies, using his skills and superior control over the most advanced techniques of close combat while the other will try to kill without being detected, plan traps, and when finally the enemies detect his presence it should be to realize that all reinforcement has already been taken care of.


8- What challenges did you face regarding the choice of a first-person view?

RC - We already had some expertise with first person in our previous game (Arx Fatalis), so the challenge was more about how to bring something new to the experience. We decided to tackle the combat system: create a first person melee experience that just felt right. There have been attempts in the past, but we think nothing as convincing. This was a great opportunity and a great challenge. A tremendous challenge in fact.
First, we had no choice but to support a body awareness system (the experience of seeing and almost feeling your own body in first person). Aside from the fact that having a body feels very immersive for obvious reasons, it's also absolutely necessary to see your feet when you kick an enemy. It also improves the player's ability to evaluate distance between himself and the opponent. Basically, you're not just a floating camera; you belong to the world, which makes a huge difference.

This body awareness is a very challenging feature, believe me. There are gazillions of things to think of when you start developing it.
Along with body awareness, we took on the challenge of creating a melee combat system that is fun, where the aiming is smooth, not confusing; where player strategy is at the forefront and where you really feel the hits (both given and received).
We're thrilled with the results so far: The constraints of a first person view have actually become our ally. There are things we implemented that you can only do in first person, such as aiming at a specific part of the body to maximize damage or disarm your enemy (if you aim at the hand).
But most of all, the character/player relationship - thanks to body awareness - becomes visceral. You are the fighter, because you feel it. You are in your shoes. You are the guy who just managed to do the super cool move, and this is all possible thanks to the first person view.

[Hill-Shatar]

Continuation of above interview.

9- How important are physics in the game?

RC - Highly simulated environments have always been one of our obsessions because they lead to emergent gameplay and fun situations. Physics naturally take a very important role in game mechanics: any object that looks like it could move is physically simulated so that it can potentially have an influence on the game world and change the experience for the player.

RWG - It is very important to us to provide the player with this "vertical" freedom (as opposed to the "horizontal" freedom you have in games with huge environments), and physics are an important part f the mix in that they greatly add to the depth of the game. It is very satisfying and rewarding to know that you will be able to use physics during combat or to alter the level design of a room and generate a new path or situation.
Using the objects and the environment against your enemy is of course one of the most fun things you can do. But you are even more stunned when you realize that your opponent can and will take advantage of it too…


10- What about the RPG elements in the game?

RC - Dark Messiah features some of the classic RPG elements such as collecting items and building up your character. As you progress, you pick skills to coincide with your chosen play style (whatever it is) and be assured that the quest is going to support whatever style of play you choose.

RWG - For instance if you decide to play as an assassin, you will have access to skills that will improve your ability to stalk your enemies while remaining undetected, such as silent walk, backstab, advanced disarm.
The great challenge and originality in Dark Messiah is that innate and acquired are intrinsically tied together in the game. The innate - your own skills, the ones you have in real life - is nothing without the skills you acquire in the game. And gaining a new skill is useless if you do not learn how to master it.
It is really a mix between the traditional skills of a RPG (purely based on statistics), and the ones of an action game (purely based on the player skill).


11- What about the RPG elements in the game?

RWG - The game will be playable as a team-based multiplayer mode, playable with up to 32 players. We have dedicated a whole team just to develop that part. We are lucky to have an engine that powers games like Half Life 2 death match Counter Strike and even crazy multiplayer physics experiments such as Gary's mod.



Thanks again for doin' this 'devilish' Q&A.

The release time for this title is in the summer of 2006. It is a first player hack and slash, "shooter" game, and is also rated at 16 or above.

To view some of the movies (the demo, I believe), click here. If these links are in any way inappropriate for the forum, PM me and I will edit it.

Arkane Studios has also been credited with the game Arx Fatalis, an RPG, the first and only game ever produced by this company to go worldwide. Other games produced by this company are ones such as Gothic 3, Kay: Legend of Kay, and Spellforce II.

If you are interested in seeing how this game may turn out, go to the homepage of Arkane Studios and click on the Games Icon at the top of the screen. If it is as good with graphics as the first game, then I will be impressed.

I also believe that this company is involved, famous for a series of games, from strategy to mystery. Homepage is here.Most notable is the game Dungeon Lords.

I have just found a page that states that Valves Software's Source Engine, the same on used in Half Life 2, is to be used in Dark Messiah. PM for reference.

[Hill-Shatar]

Dark Messiah is currently in development by French company Arkane Studios. The developer's previous work includes Arx Fatalis, a 3D first-person role-playing game that was inspired by the cult-classic RPG Ultima Underworld. Like that game, Dark Messiah of Might & Magic will also be a first-person role-playing game, but it will be powered by Valve Software's Source engine, the same technology used in last year's acclaimed action game Half-Life 2.

Goes into more detail about DMMAM, better than myself.

The game will feature 12 single-player levels and more than 40 weapons to wield, and it will also offer the ability to use magic spells or stealth abilities. In addition, Dark Messiah will feature multiplayer for up to 32 players, which encompasses the standard deathmatch mode and a new "evolution" mode that carries over experience and levels gained from session to session.

A little more about the game, and some of its features, more updated then the one I posted before...

[Hill-Shatar]

This post is to post some opinions I found on the next game, both good and bad. I am not totally sure who to agree with.

The first 2 are bad, but bear with me. They get better and much more positive about the games possible outcome.

Znicky- Im a big fan of the Might and Magic games but this one looks like a dissapointment comming imo. One of the traits that the Might and Magic had was creating your own characters and having a party of adventurers with the turnbased combat system. Seems like this one will probably fade behind Oblivion and gothic III and go rather unnoticed.

Stampede-The last FPS might and magic game released was truly awful...as was Heroes of M&M IV I thought.

I think the last Might and Magic game that was any good was the 3rd...with the expansions loaded up. A pity really...so much potential.


A good one below...


Darkone-I've played all the HoMM series, as well as The King's Bounty and love them all to bits. I still play HoMM4 to this day (played a whole scenario today as Beowulf ). I've liked each and every one of them, and, contrary to most people's opinions, I find HoMM4 to be the best of the bunch (most people seem to prefer HoMM3, but I don't know why). HoMM5 has also been announced; it looks very different.

I had M&M 6 or 8, can't remember, but really didn't like it. Probably didn't give it enough time, but it's graphic's looked on par with Daggerfall and Magestorm.

Znicky-It does actually look like it might be a good game. They have done some nifty stuff with the physics on what they have shown but that could easily just be heavy scripted action like HL2.

New CG movie released, the graphics looks promising, some nifty parry/block moves in mele as well. Though the movie does not really show much.

*Said Movie above, already linked*

Lycan-Well I like HoMM... (I still play them)
I olayed all of them.
And I think that I will like the new one... I hope

Thats the end of the thread.

Below comes from Games Galore.

While the world waits for Heroes of Might & Magic 5, Ubisoft has announced its plan to develop Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, a first-person action title from Arx Fatalis developer Arkane Studios. They describe that the game would be a fantasy-action game to use a first-person combat system. They acquired the rights to the famed franchise in 2003.

They expect to launch this new game by summer 2006. More details should be out at the German Games Convention later this month. The game would be powered by an enhanced version of the Source gaming engine, which was also used to develop the ultimately beautiful Half Life 2. The game is expected to take full advantage of the Source Engine’s exceptional technological enhancements in areas such as character animation, advanced AI, real-world physics and shader-based rendering.

Note: Above forum conversaton happened on date: Aug 18 2005, 07:34 PM

[fable]

Znicky-It does actually look like it might be a good game. They have done some nifty stuff with the physics on what they have shown but that could easily just be heavy scripted action like HL2.

Shame they're using a name only for its past, and foisting on it a game that literally hasn't anything in common with the excellent Might and Magic series.

[Hill-Shatar]

True, fable. Although I am no true expert, I believe you are right.

The game is a FPS, but I am unsure yet if it will live up to its name...or not. Don't you have a link to a site about this game? I believe I read that somewhere...

I think the fact that it is considered a "shooter", gives away that it is spreading from its roots...too far maybe. But with the bad ratings from several sites on the latest MM, perhaps this is a new angle attempt.

[Hill-Shatar]

If you all can tolerate it (although I dont know how many people are looking on), I have found another forum in which a conversation about Dark Messiah was active. I will continue to post it here.

Mike D
First person action game in the Might and magic universe? Though I would have preferred a new normal rpg a source engine version of Witchaven could also eb pretty cool.

Vermin
It's very action-heavy, but I've been assured it's still a RPG. So anyway, yeah the 'action' in those vids completely blew me out of the boat. Fantastic.

Matrim83
Nice! This game has sequels right? Which one of them is worth buying on the PC?

Vermin
This is the first 'Dark Messiah' game. You could say it's a spiritual successor to Arx Fatalis though.

Matrim83
Yes but still which sequel is worth getting? There aren't too many RPG's released that are any good so I was kinda looking for one.

What about Heroes of might magic 4.

I'll try metacritic, see if I can find anything.

[Hill-Shatar]

*Sorry...hit the quote button when I thought I hit edit. Oops*

Vermin
Yeah, you do that ..

?

Martim83
Heroes of might magic 4 has decent reviews, looks <edited because hill1 doesnt want to get in trouble > though.
/Not this game then,oh well will wait for DSII.

Vermin
There's a new Heroes of.. coming out soon aswell. Looks okay.<reinserted the link>

Thread degraded to spamming...then returned to subject.

Marilena
I'm more interested in HOMM V, but Dark Messiah looks ok, too. I liked Arx Fatalis and this seems like a more evolved version of it. I can almost bet that it started as Arx Fatalis 2 and was converted into Dark Messiah of Might and Magic half way through developement.

By the way, I had the opportunity to see HOMM V in action and it looks brilliant! I can hardly wait, it almost made me forget about Civ IV.

UncleLou
Will do this tonight - I saw a video from the Games Convention recently and it looked indeed brilliant - might be the same as the video here, let's see.

So that's the second third-party game after Vampire then that uses the Source Engine - not a huge success for Valve, is it.

Marilena
True. The same can be said about DOOM 3, it never took off. And Far Cry too. The only PC-centric engine that's having any succes right now is the Unreal one.

Went into ramblings about engines. Snipped it.

[Hill-Shatar]

Gamebanshee News just put out a new link... no, not to the Dark Messiah website, but to the Heroes of might and magic... this thread may have to be updated for all MM news, as I doubt I should start a new news thread for each game.

Link to thread is here, from there take the offered link. Thanks.

[Hill-Shatar]

Back to the original subject of this thread, I have found an interview with Gabe Newell of Valve coorporation. I found it somewhat iinteresting, and have the following quotes from it....

Link is here. Enjoy.


...Is finally going to have a chance to take it to the next level.

Does anyone want to make a guess what he means by that. I am guessing it has something to do with the new age rendering and the FPS style gameplay that they are attempting to overlay onto the Might and Magic universe. Whether or not that will be accepted, I do not know. Although old style RPGs were of great interest for me... sometimes, if they make it right, a FPS can be just as good.

However, Fable said he heard that this was going to be a short slash and hack.

They may be targeting the new action crazed market, following the paths of such games as Baldur's Gate, and Kotor, However, perhaps they are junping into it too quickly...

..and use them to create exiting and innovative gameplay.

This makes more sense if you watch the movie.

... we wanted great charcters and enviroments and we wanted them to be more interactive...

This caught my attention. This game, though now first player, appears to have amore interactive enviroment. The ability to destroy and damge things around you, the slippery ice, freezing people, the ability to shove them over cliffs, instead of them lying on mid air, or leaning against an invisible wall. Among that were many other interesting things you could do...my personal favorite was flinging an enemy out of the window...

Although, I am aware that eventually, this would get old, and you would notice if the game has a plot or not, which has yet to be seen or tested.

... high dynamic inage rendering...

Thought that this should come up somewhere. It seems that they want to try high end graphics in the game. The demo does look somewhat impressive, however, most of the startegy appears to be based around if you can sneak or not, and which spell would kill the most eemies. Again, I have not played this game yet, and it is just my opinion.

Thats pretty much it, other than if you actually use the link above. Thank you.

[Hill-Shatar]

This thread has no been updated for a while, so for those of you who do not read the Gamebanshee News forum regularily, this is a s link to the new Might and Magic Community...

I hope you enjoy.

[Hill-Shatar]

http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=66399

This does not have to do with the Dark Messiah game, however, new screenshots have been released for Heroes of Might of Magic, just click the link above anf then take the links offered.

Thank you.

[Ravager]

The graphics look very good for starters.
I saw a reference that it was due to be released in early 2006.
Has anyone seen the E3 demo clips? http://www.mightandmagicgame.com/teaser/uk/archives.php
I'm not sure if they're linked already, but they give a very good insight.
Definitely worth watching. They show the graphics, gameplay (turn-based and strategy elements) and some characters.
Looks like I've become a fan...

[Hill-Shatar]

This is more of a haphazard thread, it appears, but there was a recent [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67774"]interview[/url] in Gamebanshee News that you should all find interesting. The video is a bit of a pain, however.

Also, a [url="http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=1175"]preview[/url].

Oh yes, and some screenshots from [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68052"]Gamebanshee News[/url]. I may also start showing news from Heros of Might and Magic V, currently in production.

[Hill-Shatar]

For all interested, then first new news in some time, regarding a [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69214"]new preview[/url]up for viewing. Enjoy.