[page=Introduction]
I got a chance to take a glimpse at the development of Shadow Lore a Standalone game.
Read on as I ask dEaThMaStEr what plans the ShadowLore team have.
[page=Interview]
Stuffie:
Thanks for taking some time out to tell modDB :moddb: a bit about ShadowLore
Stuffie:
When did you decide to create ShadowLore ?
deathMaster:
hmm.. I'd have to say about a year and a half ago. it was around when me and ShadowDragon were trying for a mod, Dungeon Keeper Mod. We also decided to try a full blown game and went with Shadow Lore.
Stuffie:
What is ShadowLore and why is it named so ?
deathMaster:
Well, the name Shadow Lore was actually not thought up until fairly recently. We began working with it well before we actually came up with a name for it. Eventually we decided we needed a name so set to thinking. The game is about Good Vs Evil with demons led by an evil god. So shadow was picked so represent the evil beings fighting the earth and lore went with it because the game is almost like telling a story of the fighting with allot of previous history involved as well.
Stuffie:
What inspires/inspired you ?
deathMaster:
Well, my inspiration for doing this mostly just came from seeing other people around the world working on their own games. I had always been interested in it since I was about 8 years old. Eventually as I got older I saw more of the gaming world with people turning their own ideas into a playable game. I had so many ideas of my own that I wanted to get out as well. After seeing so many others out there doing it and succeeding, I was inspired to try it for myself .
Stuffie: What engine will ShadowLore be for ?
deathMaster:
It'll be built on the Torque Shader Engine by GarageGames
Stuffie:
Where/when is ShadowLore set ?
deathMaster:
Its set on a fictional world with no placement in the universe mentioned. The time in relation to our own is unknown and irrelevant as well. The setting of the world itself is an add blend of an almost middle-ages like setup of our own world mixed with weaponry and military like our present day, some of it still more advanced. The planet it all takes place on is a place of time-lines blended together.
Stuffie:
Due to that strange sounding mix , can you give us hints on how it all ended up that way or is it confidential ?
deathMaster:
Thats included in the story-line and is actually very easily known.
When the god who made the world, referred to simply as the Creator, made the planet with the humans, his motivation for it was entertainment. When he created the planet he put in variations of humans, regular people and ones who could handle magic. The regular people were weilders of great weapons and the magic users used their spells. He made with them a great evil god and a horde of demons with him. The evil god's purpose was to destroy the planet. The Creator made the entire planet just to watch them fight, as he enjoyed watching how creatures with a mind of their own struggled for life. He gave them the advanced weapons and such so they had a chance, but the primitive lifestyle to make more of a challenge and hardships in the fighting.
Stuffie:
Gods demons and Magic, combined with todays technology. Sounds like an interesting mix, what will you play as ?
deathMaster:
You will actually have an option to play as 7 different people.
One of them is a basic human, a young man from a village heading off to join the fighting and save his planet.
Another is a mage trained for magical combat, off to serve as best he can.
The other is another class of mage, this one who prefers to use magically imbued hand-to-hand weapons, but of course with their enhancements, are able to be used even at a range.
The fourth is one more class of mage, this one who studies in use of dark magics and uses them to fight the attacking demons.
The fifth choice is a creature that was spawned by the evil god Darkshadow on his first assault, 15,000 years in the past of the time the game takes place. His motives for fighting Darkshadow, his own creator, are to remain unknown at this moment.
The sixth is another creature of that species, only he is a priest.
The fifth class mentioned is a Church Lord of his people and has a high status. The priests take a vow to follow the Church Lords no matter what and if you play as the priest, you are ordered by your Lord to fight the evil, but you are clueless as to why. And the seventh is a regular human, but an assassin hired by the Church Lord and uses several weapons of magical properties to kill from the shadows. Oh, and all Church Lord and Priest classes are magic users of the Dark Magics. The assassin uses magical items of any area of magic.
Stuffie:
Magic and sorcery feature heavily in the game, what magic spells do you hope to have in the final release ?
deathMaster:
Oh, there are so many spells it would be hard to name them. There are spells like the simple explosion spell that does exactly that, or an ice beam spell that can totally freeze your enemies. Or another spell that, if charged up enough, causes your victims head to simply explode, various life draining spells, one that causes an enemies blood to heat and catch flame, so the bigger the creature, the more damage is caused. There is a spell of almost anything you could think of.
Stuffie:
What sorts of location will feature in the game ?
deathMaster:
The most your going to see is allot of forests of various sizes and styles. There is also planned to be quite a few underground scenes through caverns and such. I also would like to get some large coastal scenes to really show off some environmental looks and maybe some large scale cities. The last few maps will all feature a dark, tomb-like setting.
Stuffie:
What sorts of monsters will be in the final game ?
deathMaster:
Mostly we're going to use either creatures of magical elements, beings of pure magic, or creatures of mythology. I thought about using made-up creatures and some suggested it, but in the end I decided I wanted to go with things people could recognizee and enjoy, not some random thing with a name that was nothing more then some sounds randomly pieced together from my head. There are only a few creatures made up and even they have very simple names.
Stuffie:
Will the final game be SP, MP or both ?
deathMaster:
Right now we're only focusing on single player. If we have time and things work out I'll work in MP, but thats not really a priority.
Stuffie:
Whats been done so far ? Is there an ETA for ShadowLore ?
deathMaster:
So far quite little has been done, only some models of some of the monsters. With a newly released terrain system for our engine, that'll now be coming along very soon and much more progress will be made quickly. There is no ETA though, I'm trying not to box us in with dates and time-limits.
Stuffie:
Is there anything else you wish to add ?
deathMaster:
Hmm... Not that I can think of, think we covered everything.
Stuffie:
Great thanks for your time, and I look forward to seeing more :)
That concludes this great interview, I hope it gave you an insight into the world of ShadowLore and its inhabitants.
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