A History of RPGs – Event Horizon Software

[JarlFrank]

<p>JarlFrank takes a nostalgic look at the <a href="http://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=216">early games created by Event Horizon Software</a>, that is, the years before they became DreamForge Intertainment (that "I" is not a typo - God only knows why they picked that monicker):</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">While their earlier works were much more obscure than the EoB-style games they made later on, they were very interesting and, at the time, unique experiences that can be put into the same sub-genre as Diablo, but with much more depth than either Diablo or any of its clones would ever achieve. If they had continued to develop games in the style of Dusk, Summoning and VoD, maybe the sub-genre of the Action-RPG would look vastly different today, with more dialogues, non-linear stories and puzzles than Diablo&rsquo;s simple kill-and-loot gameplay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is what happens when you change your company's name to some kind of popamole bullshit.</p>

 

[commie]

Good stuff! Thanks for the retrospective there JF! I recently downloaded The Summoning, but wasn't aware of Dusk of the Gods or VoD. Never played the EoB games for some reason but Anvil of Dawn is a great game(I know it's under their later incarnation). Another good developer undeservedly defunct while turds keep staying afloat

 

[mondblut]

Good one. Too bad I don't like their games :D I think their track record as Dreamforge would be welcome in the article as well.

 

[SuicideBunny]

does anyone know if the parsley thing from vod had any roots in real-life superstitions/myths or if it was purely their invention?

Never played the EoB games for some reason but Anvil of Dawn is a great game(I know it's under their later incarnation).

didn't play ravenloft 2, but the first one and menzoberranzan were pretty good. dungeon hack is also quite noteworthy due to being an eob-style roguelike with a fuckton of options.

 

[mondblut]

dungeon hack is also quite noteworthy due to being an eob-style roguelike with a fuckton of options.

WUT? fuckton of options? like, where?

DungHack was as much of a roguelike as diablow. It's a basic EOB3 modded for one character and random dungeons, and that's it. There is not a single option and interactivity that makes roguelikes, well, roguelikes rather than pacman clones.

And Ravenloft 2 is their best game, btw.

 

[Andhaira]

Are these the same people that made Veil of Darkness? If so, it's without out a doubt their best game.

 

[MicoSelva]

Never heard of these games, to be honest, and they look worth the time to check them out. Thanks for the article, JarlFrank.

 

[Fowyr]

Nice article about great (except Darkspyre, it was just OK) games.
Some day I'll finish Dusk of the Gods.

Are these the same people that made Veil of Darkness? If so, it's without out a doubt their best game.

I like Summoning more.

 

[Andhaira]

Well, the Summoning was more of an RPG (dungeon crawler though) while VoiD was more of an adventure game (though it had far more NPC interaction).

I just found VoD to be more prettier and had a very engaging story. It did horror very well. Discovering the werewolf was a thrilling moment, for instance.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Veil of Darkness was p. good.

Thanks for the effort, JF!

maybe the sub-genre of the Action-RPG would look vastly different today, with more dialogues, non-linear stories and puzzles than Diablo’s simple kill-and-loot gameplay.

:hopeful mode on: Sounds a lot like what Dungeon Siege 3 could turn out to be in case Obsidian manages to pull it off. :hopeful mode off: But we all know they can't, don't we?

 

[Fowyr]

Well, the Summoning was more of an RPG (dungeon crawler though) while VoiD was more of an adventure game (though it had far more NPC interaction).

Yes, and I prefer first type of games

I just found VoD to be more prettier and had a very engaging story. It did horror very well. Discovering the werewolf was a thrilling moment, for instance.

Indeed, it was memorable.

 

[denizsi]

massive of JungFrau.

Some of the actual images are dead or mislinked.

they went bankrupt in 1999, in the middle of developing a game in the Werewolf World of Darkness setting which never got finished.

I find it incredibly annoying and equally sloppy and stupid on White Wolf's part that WoD has been terribly underused / ignored by game industry and spawned only a single good game (BL), a mediocre one (Redemption) and a short series of shitty action games (Reckoning).

And before either WoD setting could be further explored in potential future games, they went full retardo by rebooting the entire franchise with an emofag theme. The whole deal is almost unreal.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I find it incredibly annoying and equally sloppy and stupid on White Wolf's part that WoD has been terribly underused / ignored by game industry and spawned only a single good game (BL), a mediocre one (Redemption) and a short series of shitty action games (Reckoning).

And before either WoD setting could be further explored in potential future games, they went full retardo by rebooting the entire franchise with an emofag theme. The whole deal is almost unreal.

Since White Wolf was merged with CCP back in 2006, there has been a World Of Darkness MMO in production, but work goes slowly. All of CCP's efforts on the WoD front have been put into trying to make a 3D engine for it, but it would be "tested" first in EvE Online in the much-lauded "Walking in stations" expansion which is due next summer. The results of years of development yielded little to nothing of significance, so CCP were forced to license the Unreal 3 engine earlier this year to get the Walking in stations expansion (now called Incarna) out any time soon. Whether that will lead to WoD being powered by Unreal 3 is uncertain. Whether CCP actually survives long enough to get a WoD MMO out the door is uncertain.

I have a question for JarlFrank: Considering that Dungeon Hack uses a lot of resources (graphics, sound, game engine) from Eye Of The Beholder 3, is it possible that EOB3 was actually finished by Dreamforge? Or did SSI, now that it had EOB3 steaming in its lap, decided to cut costs and just told DreamForge to use the EOB3 resources?

 

[Fens]

DreamForge Intertainment (that "I" is not a typo - God only knows why they picked that monicker)

but... but... it's interactive and entertainment in one word ! ONE WORD !

thanks for the article... some interesting stuff

 

[Darth Roxor]

Some of the actual images are dead or mislinked.

Some? ALL of them are mislinked, actually.

Dusk of the Gods kinda reminds me of Heimdall 2.

I need to play Heimdall 2 again

Anyway, cool article. Might check out Veil of Darkness later.

 

[MicoSelva]

Since White Wolf was merged with CCP back in 2006, there has been a World Of Darkness MMO in production, but work goes slowly.(...) Whether CCP actually survives long enough to get a WoD MMO out the door is uncertain.

And when (if) it's actually released, most people will think it's some kind of Twilight The Game.
I think the optimal time for WoD games has already passed. This universe has lost its momentum a while ago.

 

[JarlFrank]

I have a question for JarlFrank: Considering that Dungeon Hack uses a lot of resources (graphics, sound, game engine) from Eye Of The Beholder 3, is it possible that EOB3 was actually finished by Dreamforge? Or did SSI, now that it had EOB3 steaming in its lap, decided to cut costs and just told DreamForge to use the EOB3 resources?

I haven't heard anything about that, and I just checked if DreamForge had anything to do with EoB3. There's nothing that would point to it.
Probably they just bought the assets to cut some development time/cost.

 

[denizsi]

Since White Wolf was merged with CCP back in 2006, there has been a World Of Darkness MMO in production, but work goes slowly.(...) Whether CCP actually survives long enough to get a WoD MMO out the door is uncertain.

And when (if) it's actually released, most people will think it's some kind of Twilight The Game.
I think the optimal time for WoD games has already passed. This universe has lost its momentum a while ago.

Perhaps in PnP circles, but computer gaming is an ageless medium. More importantly, it's all about advertising and PR. Also surprising is there are so few vampire themed games outside adventure genre and the Shitvania series. The theme is like a gold mine waiting to be tapped into.

 

[SuicideBunny]

WUT? fuckton of options? like, where?

tons of generation options, like percentage of water in levels, multilevel puzzles, and a lot more. beats not having any generation options whatsoever, which is roguelike and randomized actchun rpg standard.

 

[mondblut]

Considering that Dungeon Hack uses a lot of resources (graphics, sound, game engine) from Eye Of The Beholder 3, is it possible that EOB3 was actually finished by Dreamforge? Or did SSI, now that it had EOB3 steaming in its lap, decided to cut costs and just told DreamForge to use the EOB3 resources?

The second is much more likely.

 

[mondblut]

tons of generation options, like percentage of water in levels, multilevel puzzles, and a lot more. beats not having any generation options whatsoever, which is roguelike and randomized actchun rpg standard.

Ah, that. I think the "roguelike options" relates more to digging through dungeon walls, eating all kinds of corpses and so on. The ingame options, not dungeon generator.

 

[ElectricOtter]

Hahaha, wow, this takes me back. Darkspyre was actually the first RPG I ever played. I remember Anvil of Dawn too. Thanks for the great article, Jarlfrank. I'll have to try out Dusk of the Gods, I'm a sucker for games based on Celtic or Norse mythology.

Hey, wait a minute... DreamForge Intertainment... aren't those the guys that made Sanitarium?

 

[JarlFrank]

Hey, wait a minute... DreamForge Intertainment... aren't those the guys that made Sanitarium?

Yes, they are.