发信人: Benik()
整理人: Airflow(1999-11-26 11:57:28), 站内信件
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Might and Magic VI
The Mandate of Heaven
Yes, it's true; after several years of silence (New World Computing
released the last Might and Magic title, Clouds of Xeen, way back
in 1993), the team that brought us one of the best roleplaying series
in computer gaming is finally working on a sequel.
The developers have created a whole new game engine for the title,
which they started on about a year ago. Actually, two engines will
see you through the game: the Horizon engine, for outdoors travel,
looks and feels a bit like Daggerfall. The Labyrinth engine kicks in
when you enter an interior location, like a castle or dungeon.
Both engines render 16-bit color at a 640x480 resolution, and they
give you 360 degrees of freedom for movement. No support for 3D
accelerators or MMX is planned at the moment, but the designers
hope to add those things once they've got the engine tweaked.
The biggest change from earlier entries in the Might and Magic
series lies not in the all new engines, but in the game's real-time
elements. Rather than working with a turn-based, "chapter model,"
the plot of Might and Magic VI advances continuously; it doesn't
wait for your characters to complete some task or travel to a
destination. While you're out adventuring, important things might
be happening on the other side of the world. However, you can
choose to play in a real-time mode where if you stand still, the
world will pass you by, or you can opt for a step-based mode
where time moves as you act. Ultimately, you can't be everywhere
at once, but you'll have to keep in mind that the world is constantly
moving, whether it's with you or without you.
Combat sequences can also be played out in real-time, with you
swinging swords or casting spells as the creatures advance. Turn-
based combat is available, too, for those who don't want to make
the adjustment from previous games in the series. Most likely,
gamers will choose real-time combat to resolve small fights with
weak enemies, and opt for turn-based combat in big battles where
strategy really counts.
The background story (rather important for roleplaying games)
goes like this: After the mysterious disappearance of Good King
Roland, demons and natural disasters begin to plague the land. The
populace becomes convinced that the dynasty of child-prince
Nicolai Ironfist has lost the Mandate of Heaven -- the divine right
to rule. Your job, quite simply, is to prove them wrong and
uncover the whereabouts of King Roland.
The plot promises to be anything but linear, with lots of possible
branches to follow and more than one way to reach a given goal.
That's especially important, since the game is always in motion.
The favorite example of Mark Caldwell, lead programmer and head
designer of MMVI, is this: If you find out that some duke's
daughter has been kidnapped, you can choose whether or not to
rescue her. Save her, and you might have her father as an ally. If
she were later to marry some other duke, then you'd have both
dukes as allies. If, however, you decide not to rescue her, you
might make two enemies. That may not be a bad thing, though --
being on those two dukes' bad side may make you a friend to a
third duke, someone you might not have had access to if you were
already allied with the first two.
The game as a whole looks promising; the graphics are beautiful
and the story is intriguing. Ultimately, it looks to be a mix between
Daggerfall's open-ended plot structure and Betrayal in Antara's
interface, with some beautiful 16-bit graphics thrown in. Most
encouraging, of course, is the simple fact that it's coming from the
same people who brought us the first five Might and Magic games.
Look for it sometime in November.
--
Benjamin(Benik)
天天等待万人迷
分秒不停上发条
※ 来源:·Netease BBS nease2.gznet.com·[FROM: gw.gznet.com]
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