Warhammer 40,000: The Tiadein Chronicles

Warhammer 40,000: The D'Anavrien Chronicles

Mold has already been aware of this project for the past year, but since a few others have asked me about it, I've decided to post information about my game-project planned to start this winter... known as Warhammer 40,000: The Tiadein Chronicles.

Rather than give you a story (since the majority of it is a secret), I will be showing an unofficial FAQ I created, back when I didn't know whether to do it in HL2's engine, or Doom 3's... it will probably be Doom 3, but that isn't a definite:


Unofficial FAQ:-
The following section is designed to explain the nature and various aspects of the game, without giving away all the secrets before its official press release.

1 - What Genre is LOE/Who's it made by?
Legacy of Evil will be the first of a series of singleplayer-multiplayer Action-RPG, episodic games, based in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 and Epic universes. The games themselves will be produced by whoever currently owns the WH40,000 license, with consultancy and development (not solely) being provided by DragonStar Productions.

The games will be one product with expansion packs for four other episodes, which will update the original game with new features/characters/vehicles etc.

2 - What engine do you intend to use?
The software utilised was originally intended to be a modified version of the "Source" engine , but this not a definite. In comparison to previous battlefield-esque games, the maps will hopefully be the equivalent to the size of the ones featured in the upcoming game Half-Life 2 (with adjustable level-of-detail settings for computers with lower-spec system requirements), or ones a little bit smaller. There are also plans to give the player the ability to choose which location they wish to enter a 'hotzone' from. This will allow them to decide on the amount of forces they will take on, or explore other areas of the map, which may have hidden secrets.

3 - Storyline?
A full synopsis of the storyline for this episode will be described at a later date, but suffice to say... it is an slightly alternative version of events surrounding the situation on Ichar IV. There will be however some ties to the Warhammer 40,000 novels "Harlequin", "Kill Team" and "13th Legion", which oversaw the conflict with Tyranid fleets. A full summary of information surrounding the original campaign in "The Tyranids Are Coming!" article - written by Games Workshop's Graham McNeill - can be read in White Dwarf, Issue 254... under the subheading "Hive Fleet Kraken".

In order to provide a unique perspective, there will be several vehicles and weapons not currently seen in Warhammer 40,000. These include a special Eldar Weapon-Carrier, nicknamed "The Wraith Of Creation".

4 - Are there any learning curves in this game?
The game isn't going to be made easy for the player, but there are going to be some keyboard functions to help them along in team situations, such as the squad controls and the operation of vehicles/emplacements. There may also be a set of training missions available to the player (practising movements and inventory), before they try out the singleplayer campaign.

On the subject of weapons and equipment, the RMB will probably be used for alternate fire modes, as well as general interaction with the surrounding environments. Some features on vehicles will give the player opportunities to use mounted weapons systems, so they are activated through the use of the appropriate key... or by mounting certain areas of the vehicle. And yes, for those of us out there who use these game-mice with a rediculous amount of buttons, there will probably be something for you in there, too.

Full information regarding controller instructions will be most likely released at a later date, as the game nears completion.

5 - Why the usage of cutscenes?
The purpose of the cutscenes in concert with the ingame engine's own material, are not only to drive the story along in the games, but are also designed to provide a realistic picture of how the fictional adventures in GW's Warhammer 40,000" and "Epic" universes would be portrayed - if they were actually a reality.

The reason for this is because, although Legacy of Evil will be a story in its own right, they will all be connected in some way through the characters, and will act as a kind of television-series. There is no guarantee that the storyline will be guided by cutscenes in a third-party applications, however, in which case it will change to being done entirely with the game's engine.

6 - A majority of games use a music score made by the developers, but some have started using music by famous bands. Which will you be using here?
Of course, no great game would be complete without its own musical score. Again this will be a legal matter, but we will use a great deal of our own music for the majority of the series, or in scenes of action and terror. There have been ideas to use a small amount of music produced by a band, however. When the story was being written for this series, I thought that the best theme music to depict the harsh realm of the Warhammer 40,000 universe - as well as the perception of the first storyline - was "Imaginary", by Evanescence.

7 - How has the cast been organised?
Some of the characters in Legacy of Evil are ones that will appear in one place or another throughout the series, and there are characters that only last as long as each of the individual storylines. This includes a few of the alien characters. If a proper cast is chosen, and does not involve the usage of the developers' team, there will the possibility of some well-known actors/actresses to take leading roles.

8 - Is this related to 'Exile: Bloodquest'?
Although this game is based upon the "Warhammer 40,000" and "Epic" universes, we are NOT connected with Exile Films or their project of the CGI movie "Bloodquest" that is in development. As they have a completely different legal contract with Games Workshop - and even though there might be little or no similarities between parts of their project and ours - we can assure you that the game will be totally separate from their movie.

9 - Will mod teams get any look-ins with this game series?
It has always been a plan to extend an 'olive branch' to the modding community, as even though a majority might not actually play the original games, they are convinced by it enough to create exciting, new content for the engine. But yes, mod teams will be catered for. Co-operation with the designers will mostly depend on which game engine is used, but, as I have stated before, I hope that Valve Software's SOURCE system functions as our base engine. This will mean that you will not only recieve every courtesy from them in learning how to operate the engine, but also our assistance with the special additions we've designed to build WH40,000: TTC.

One plan has been the inclusion of a special version of our creation software, which we will be using when we produce the games. Since we will probably have Static Meshes and photorealistic effects in the games, the 'Lazarus' editor will include the following:

• A detailed, yet intuitive inteface
• A WYSIWYP game design system (what you see is what you play)
• Limited access to the Havok2-powered features (full access will, of course, be supplied with the modified engine license)
• Bones and facial animation (as well as a 'recite and record' facility)
• Texture-creation compatibility with Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and Deep Paint 3D
• Import/Export features to 3D Studio Max and Softimage XSI 4.0/XSI EXP (an MAYA-XSI converter will be available at a later date.

10 - When should the game release be expected?
Realistically speaking, it will probably be a while before this game is released. The age-old expression used in the industry 'When its done' will be applied to this game, and the rest of the series. The last thing people want is a game full of bugs. If however - in the end - there are any problems found by the community after its initial release, we will endeavour to correct them promptly.

A special subsection of the forums for DragonStar Productions website will be introduced at a later date (or at an official Legacy Of Evil website, created by the developer), for anyone wishing to ask general questions about the game without breaching confidentiality. For the time being, check back for further updates on either this page, or in the main site news.

As you see I've made mentioning of the storyline a little bit in the FAQ, however a large portion of this has been since updated and brought into more depth, as the FAQ was written two years ago... some of which has been the total removal of references from the research material I used, except from their magazine article. Also since that time, the DragonStar Productions website was put on indefinite hold, until I could get all the writing for this completed.

No promises mind, but I would love if the CDL did some closed betatesting when we have a release-candidate ready. Until then, stay tuned for updates.

 

Beta won't be for quite a while, I just thought you should all know about it before anyone else. My submission to either Valve or Id will go out next week.

 

Well the reason why Id was chosen before wasn't just specifically for the engine... it was because they have earned the reputation of being known as the finest developer of great horror games. RtCW would be one of these.

I don't know... I'll know more when I talk to my EA contact later today.

 

I do have one other choice, though. What would any of you say about having it done in Advent Rising's adapted Unreal Engine? To see what I mean, download either their Teaser Trailer released last year, or the E3 Gameplay Trailer.

Your comments on this idea would be welcome here, as I may try and get a contract with these people for what I will be doing...

 

Advent Rising's textures are based on what its writer Orsin Scott Card wanted from the game, but the core of appears to be a modified-Unreal2 engine. I probably want know anything more than that unless I enquire at their main offices here in the UK.

 

Very soon I will be starting my work experience, which includes a job as Games Designer Apprentice at Lionhead Studios. Those of you here who are gaming veterans will remeber some of their games as being Syndicate and Syndicate Wars (expansion), Dungeon Keeper, the Black & White series and Populous... and the upcoming game Fable on the Xbox.

For this first year it will be part-time during my studies at College, after which I will be doing it full-time. After speaking to these people (as I tend to babble) about my game idea, they said that should I fail to find a developer who will represent me... they might consider taking it on. Since Games Workshop's base of operations are already in the UK as is a THQ office, this will provide the rare oppotunity for me to work on the project during the coming year, while still remaining close to home. At the moment it seems like the best option, but since I plan to have the CDL do some closed-beta work when it gets near that stage, I wanted your opinions.