Dungeon Siege
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| Missing image Ds_boxshot.jpg Dungeon Siege expansion box | |
| Developer(s) | Gas Powered Games |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Genre | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player & multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen, ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS X |
Dungeon Siege is a 2002 real time computer role-playing game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft. The player follows a quest to save the world from the forces of evil. The player controls the main character from humble beginnings as a farmer to a powerful hero or heroine. As the game progresses, the main character may be joined by other adventurers, who the player also controls.
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Story
In the kingdom of Ehb, a humble farmer's life is turned upside down when a race of evil goblin-like creatures attack the community. The Krug, as they are known, must be stopped and the player's character is tasked with seeking help from a neighboring town. Along the way, the player may meet others willing to help. The player soon discovers, however, that the quest does not end at reaching the town.
Features
The main features of the game are its immersive 3D graphics and innovative gameplay.
Gas Powered Games developed the 3D engine for Dungeon Siege from the ground up—it did not license a pre-existing engine which is often done in today's game industry. This gave them the benefit of adding features tailored to their game. Another innovation was the game content streaming, thus almost completely eliminating the need for annoying "level loading" and it also made possible the creation of enormous worlds, which do not need to fit in computer memory.
Gas Powered Games also was innovative with its character management. In most role-playing games (RPG), a player chooses a class for their character and when the character gains enough experience, they "level up" and become more powerful in their class. Gas Powered did away with this classification and, instead, made characters more powerful based on what they do instead of what they are. For example, if the character uses melee weapons (e.g. swords or maces), they become better at fighting with weapons. On the other hand, if the character casts spells a great deal, they become better at that. This class-less system was groundbreaking for RPG's, since most used the class-based system that ignored what a character actually did to gain experience. The game keeps track of the character with four skills, all of which can be developed independently.
There are four skills characters possess: melée, ranged, nature magic, and combat magic. Melée includes all hand held weapons (swords, staffs, maces etc). Ranged includes projectile weapons, such as bows and crossbows. Combat magic and nature magic, although different in principle, really have mostly the same spells just by different names, levels, and power. Combat magic has stronger offensive and weaker defensive spells, while nature magic has stronger defensive spells and weaker offensive spells. Both schools of magic can summon creatures of equivalent power and have the ability to heal damage, although nature mages are more effective healers.
Dungeon Siege is mainly a single-player game, but it also has a multiplayer mode that delivers a different gaming experience, including a secret area that can only be reached in multiplayer mode.
The setting of Dungeon Siege is a marriage of fantasy and steampunk genres, with foes consisting of dragons, goblins and other creatures of fantasy to the steam-powered machinations of mechanical spiders and steam-powered goblins and other more uncommon, steampunk-influenced adversaries.
Expansion and sequel
Later an official expansion pack was produced for this game called Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna. It was developed by Gas Powered Games and Mad Doc Software and published by Microsoft in November 2003.
Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna includes such upgrades as a new pack animal capable of combat to replace the mule, additional spells, additional weapons, a global map tool, and a new campaign. It is sold including the original game.
Gas Powered Games is currently working on the sequel, Dungeon Siege II, which is expected to be released in 2005.
Mods
The game engine allows content creation and modification through a released toolkit. And there are many mods available created by amateurs with features ranged from new graphics to completely new character development system.
See also
External links
- Official Dungeon Siege site (http://www.gaspowered.com/ds1/)
- MobyGames' entry on Dungeon Siege (http://www.mobygames.com/game/sheet/p,3/gameId,6088/)
Fan sites
- Community site devoted to Dungeon Siege modifications (http://www.siegeworks.org/index.php)
- Planet Dungeon Siege (http://www.planetdungeonsiege.com/)
- Dungeon Siege Heaven (http://ds.heavengames.com/)de:Dungeon Siege