ShadowCaster

Last updated
ShadowCaster
Shadowcastercover.jpg
Developer(s) Raven Software
Publisher(s)
Designer(s) Brian Raffel
Steve Raffel
Programmer(s) Steven Coallier
Carl Stika
Kurt Schallitz
Victor Brueggeman
Artist(s) Shane Gurno
Brian Pelletier
Scott Rice
James Sumwalt
Composer(s) Marc Schaefgen
Engine Raven Engine (modified Wolfenstein 3D engine) [1]
Platform(s) DOS, PC-98
ReleaseOctober 28, 1993 (floppy) [2]
1994 (CD)
August 26, 1994 (PC-98)
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

ShadowCaster is a first-person role-playing video game developed by Raven Software. [3] It was published in 1993 by Origin Systems [3] after Electronic Arts acquired them. A CD-ROM version was released in 1994, featuring two additional levels with new monsters, and replacing text boxes with FMVs and spoken narration through CD-DA audio tracks.

Contents

Gameplay

The player takes the role of Kirt, a human with powers of shapeshifting. Among other forms, Kirt can become a huge cat-like animal, a floating tentacle-wielding gazer, and a dragon.

Plot

In the beginning of the game Kirt finds out that he is not in fact human, but comes from a parallel world where there was a war raging between shapeshifters for centuries. Kirt, and his grandfather, are the last of their kind, and now the evil ones have found them. Kirt's grandfather opens a portal back to the homeworld, and that is where the story begins. Kirt's mission is to stop the demons once and for all, but first he will need to awaken his innate shapeshifting powers, which is where the obelisks come into play. Going up to one of these and touching it will unlock a new form, and the first is the cat form. The main character of Kirt was based on the name of the game's software developer, Kurt Schallitz, and included his brown leather jacket. The face of Kirt is actually that of Raven Software's owner, Brian Raffel.[ citation needed ]

Forms

Kirt – The default character. All abilities are weak, but has some fighting skill and is the only form in which magic rejuvenates. Health also rejuvenates but slower than magic does.

Maorin – The first form the character collects, and the most useful early in the game. Maorin is a large, four-armed, cat-like creature with superior fighting skills and the ability to see things invisible to others. It drowns quickly, however.

Caun – A leprechaun-like creature who is a poor fighter, but can heal quickly, jump over obstacles, fit in smaller spaces and unleash a swarm of insects (needed to unlock a particular door). Also has a shield spell and a light spell, and can magically reach out and take objects which are far away.

Opsis – A hovering brain with tentacles that can use spells effectively, such as fireballs and cold blasts. Moves very slowly in the air.

Kahpa – A decent fighter that can breathe underwater. Has a sonic and an electrical attack. Both are supposed to be extra powerful in water.

Ssair – A hovering dragon with no legs with better attack (but weaker defense) than the Maorin. Can breathe fire, use its tail as a weapon, and fly very fast. Real Ssair, who are normally hostile, will ignore Kirt when he is in this form.

Grost – A man made of stone that is an excellent fighter with strong defense that can also punch through certain walls. Can cause earthquakes and paralyze foes with a touch.

Technology

The ShadowCaster game engine, a successor of the Wolfenstein 3D engine and a predecessor of the Doom engine, [3] was written by id Software's John Carmack and licensed to Raven Software. [4] [1] Carmack wrote the ShadowCaster 3D engine during his technology research after id Software completed Wolfenstein 3D . [4] [5] The engine features diminished lighting, texture-mapped floors and ceilings, walls with variable heights and sloped floors. [4] The engine was "about half as fast as that of Wolfenstein" [4] but fit the exploration of ShadowCaster rather than the fast-paced action of Doom .

The game supported the Logitech Cyberman 6DOF controller. It used the vertical axis to control the player's flying height and provided tactile feedback when the player bumped a wall or was hit. [6]

The game engine was also used for In Pursuit of Greed . [7] Raven Software would later create a similar game engine in house for CyClones .

Reception

Reviewing the game for PC Gamer UK , Gary Whitta remarked that " Underworld fans will lap [ShadowCaster] up — as should anyone thinking of toying with the genre." [9] The magazine later named it the 49th best computer game of all time, calling it "an admirable attempt to show that RPGs don't have to be boring, complex and number-heavy". [13]

Ed Ricketts of PC Format praised ShadowCaster's "bags of atmosphere" and called it "the best role-playing game to appear for a long, long while". [8] In Computer Gaming World , Scorpia wrote: "Those who prefer the regular Ultima style of role-playing will probably want to skip this one. But players looking for pure, no-nonsense hack-n-slash will have a blast." [14] Writing for CD-ROM Today , Trent C. Ward stated that ShadowCaster's "fantastic graphics, sound and storytelling ... completely immerse you in a virtual world both dark and wondrous". He summarized it as "an excellent addition to any gamer's library". [10]

Shadowcaster was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Action Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame . [15] It was named the 95th best computer game ever by PC Gamer UK in 1997. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Doom</i> (1993 video game) First-person shooter

Doom is a first-person shooter game developed and published by id Software. Released on December 10, 1993, for DOS, it is the first installment in the Doom franchise. The player assumes the role of a space marine, later unofficially referred to as Doomguy, fighting through hordes of undead humans and invading demons. The game begins on the moons of Mars and finishes in hell, with the player traversing each level to find its exit or defeat its final boss. It is an early example of 3D graphics in video games, and has enemies and objects as 2D images, a technique sometimes referred to as 2.5D graphics.

<i>Heretic</i> (video game) 1994 dark fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software

Heretic is a dark fantasy first-person shooter video game released in December 1994. It was developed by Raven Software and published by id Software through GT Interactive.

id Software American video game developer

id Software LLC is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack.

<i>Wolfenstein 3D</i> 1992 video game

Wolfenstein 3D is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released on May 5, 1992, for DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game Castle Wolfenstein, and is the third installment in the Wolfenstein series. In Wolfenstein 3D, the player assumes the role of Allied spy William "B.J." Blazkowicz during World War II as he escapes from the Nazi German prison Castle Wolfenstein and carries out a series of crucial missions against the Nazis. The player traverses each of the game's levels to find an elevator to the next level or kill a final boss, fighting Nazi soldiers, dogs, and other enemies with a knife and a variety of guns.

Commander Keen is a series of side-scrolling platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final game were released for MS-DOS in 1990 and 1991, while the 2001 Commander Keen was released for the Game Boy Color. The series follows the eponymous Commander Keen, the secret identity of the eight-year-old genius Billy Blaze, as he defends the Earth and the galaxy from alien threats with his homemade spaceship, rayguns, and pogo stick. The first three episodes were developed by Ideas from the Deep, the precursor to id, and published by Apogee Software as the shareware title Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons; the "lost" episode 3.5 Commander Keen in Keen Dreams was developed by id and published as a retail title by Softdisk; episodes four and five were released by Apogee as the shareware Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy; and the simultaneously developed episode six was published in retail by FormGen as Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter. Ten years later, an homage and sequel to the series was developed by David A. Palmer Productions and published by Activision as Commander Keen. Another game was announced in 2019 as under development by ZeniMax Online Studios, but was not released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carmack</span> American computer programmer and video game developer (born 1970)

John D. Carmack II is an American computer programmer and video game developer. He co-founded the video game company id Software and was the lead programmer of its 1990s games Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, and their sequels. Carmack made innovations in 3D computer graphics, such as his Carmack's Reverse algorithm for shadow volumes.

<i>Corridor 7: Alien Invasion</i> 1994 video game

Corridor 7: Alien Invasion is a first-person shooter video game developed by Capstone Software and published by IntraCorp and GameTek. The game was poorly received, largely due to its use of the outdated Wolfenstein 3D engine. A sequel, Corridor 8: Galactic Wars, was announced but later canceled.

<i>Hovertank One</i> 1991 video game

Hovertank One, also known under a variety of other names, is a vehicular combat game developed by id Software and published by Softdisk in April 1991.

<i>Catacomb 3-D</i> 1991 video game

Catacomb 3-D is a first-person shooter video game, the third in the Catacomb series, the first of which to feature 3D computer graphics. It was developed by id Software and originally published by Softdisk under the Gamer's Edge label, released in November 1991. The player takes control of the high wizard Petton Everhail, descending into the catacombs of the Towne Cemetery to defeat the evil lich Nemesis and rescue his friend Grelminar.

A first-person shooter engine is a video game engine specialized for simulating 3D environments for use in a first-person shooter video game. First-person refers to the view where the players see the world from the eyes of their characters. Shooter refers to games which revolve primarily around wielding firearms and killing other entities in the game world, either non-player characters or other players.

Doom, a first-person shooter game by id Software, was released in December 1993 and is considered one of the most significant and influential video games in history. Development began in November 1992, with programmers John Carmack and John Romero, artists Adrian Carmack and Kevin Cloud, and designer Tom Hall. Late in development, Hall was replaced by Sandy Petersen and programmer Dave Taylor joined. The music and sound effects were created by Bobby Prince.

<i>Catacomb Abyss</i> 1992 video game

Catacomb Abyss is a fantasy themed first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Softdisk and released in November 1992 for DOS. It is the fourth entry in the Catacomb series of video games. Its predecessor, Catacomb 3-D, was developed by id Software as part of a contract with Softdisk. When the contract ended, Softdisk kept ownership of both the 3D engine as well as the intellectual property of Catacomb 3-D. The company formed a new, in-house team to develop three sequels, known as the Catacomb Adventure Series. This trilogy consists of Catacomb Abyss, Catacomb Armageddon and Catacomb Apocalypse. Softdisk published a shareware version of Catacomb Abyss, which could be freely distributed and played to encourage gamers to purchase the full trilogy.

id Tech Series of video game engines

id Tech is a series of separate game engines designed and developed by id Software. Prior to the presentation of the id Tech 5-based game Rage in 2011, the engines lacked official designation and as such were simply referred to as the Doom and Quake engines, from the name of the main game series the engines had been developed for. "id Tech" has been released as free software under the GNU General Public License. id Tech versions 0 to 3 were released under GPL-2.0-or-later. id Tech versions 3.5 to 4.5 were released under GPL-3.0-or-later. id Tech 5 to 7 are proprietary, with id Tech 7 currently being the latest utilized engine.

<i>Catacomb</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Catacomb is a 2-D top-down third-person shooter developed and published by Softdisk. It was originally created for the Apple II, and later ported to IBM PC compatibles. It supports EGA and CGA graphics. Catacomb is programmed by John Carmack, who would later work on successful games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. The fast action and the ability to strafe in Catacomb foreshadow Carmack's later work. The enemy movement code in Wolfenstein 3D is based on code from Catacomb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First-person shooter</span> Video game genre

A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through the eyes of the main character. This genre shares multiple common traits with other shooter games, and in turn falls under the action games category. Since the genre's inception, advanced 3D and pseudo-3D graphics have proven fundamental to allow a reasonable level of immersion in the game world, and this type of game helped pushing technology progressively further, challenging hardware developers worldwide to introduce numerous innovations in the field of graphics processing units. Multiplayer gaming has been an integral part of the experience, and became even more prominent with the diffusion of internet connectivity in recent years.

<i>CyClones</i> 1994 video game

CyClones is a first-person shooter video game for MS-DOS developed by Raven Software and published by Strategic Simulations in 1994.

Depth Dwellers is a first-person shooter released in 1994 by TriSoft for MS-DOS. The game was designed to work with 3D glasses. It was also included with the Woobo Electronics CyberBoy unit. Being released in June for the first time as a shareware product, it predated Raven Software's Heretic by six months in being possibly the first game to feature a pseudo-3D engine that allowed players to look up and down freely. The game also permitted ducking and jumping, which were still uncommon abilities in most first-person video games of that era.

<i>Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy</i> 1991 video game

Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy is a two-part episodic side-scrolling platform video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software in 1991 for DOS. It consists of the fifth and sixth episodes of the Commander Keen series, though they are numbered as the fourth and fifth, as Commander Keen in Keen Dreams is not part of the main continuity. The game follows the titular Commander Keen, an eight-year-old child genius, as he first journeys through the Shadowlands to rescue the Gnosticenes so they may ask the Oracle how the Shikadi plan to destroy the galaxy, and then through the Shikadi's Armageddon Machine to stop them. The two episodes feature Keen running, jumping, and shooting through various levels while opposed by aliens, robots, and other hazards.

<i>Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter</i> 1991 video game

Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter is a side-scrolling platform video game developed by id Software and published by FormGen in December 1991 for DOS. It is the seventh episode of the Commander Keen series, though it is numbered as the sixth, as Commander Keen in Keen Dreams is outside of the main continuity. The game follows the titular Commander Keen, an eight-year-old child genius, as he journeys through an alien world to rescue his kidnapped babysitter. The game features Keen running, jumping, and shooting through various levels while opposed by aliens, robots, and other hazards.

References

  1. 1 2 Antoniades, Alexander (22 August 2013). "Monsters from the Id: The Making of Doom". Game Developer . Informa . Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  2. ↑ "Shadowcaster Signs Off While Privateer Keeps Playing" (PDF). Point of Origin. October 22, 1993. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "ShadowCaster at Ravensoft.com". Raven Software. Archived from the original on 2009-06-14. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kushner, David (2004). Masters of Doom (paperback ed.). Random House Publishing Group. pp. 119–122. ISBN   0-8129-7215-5.
  5. ↑ "5 Years of Doom: John Romero Interview". doomworld.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  6. ↑ Scott May (1994-01-01). "Shadowcaster". COMPUTE! ISSUE 163, PAGE 84.
  7. ↑ "In Pursuit of Greed at Red Shadow Software". redshadowsoftware.com. Retrieved 2014-12-14.
  8. 1 2 Ricketts, Ed (December 1993). "Shadowcaster". PC Format (27).
  9. 1 2 Whitta, Gary (December 1993). "Shapely". PC Gamer UK . No. 1. pp. 90, 91.
  10. 1 2 Ward, Trent C. (August–September 1994). "Shadowcaster". CD-ROM Today (7): 92.
  11. ↑ Giovetti, Al (March 1994). "Shadowcaster". Electronic Entertainment . 1 (3): 94.
  12. 1 2 Flynn, James; Owen, Steve; Pierce, Matthew; Davis, Jonathan; Longhurst, Richard (July 1997). "The PC Gamer Top 100". PC Gamer UK . No. 45. pp. 51–83.
  13. ↑ Staff (April 1994). "The PC Gamer Top 50 PC Games of All Time". PC Gamer UK . No. 5. pp. 43–56.
  14. ↑ Scorpia (January 1994). "Me and My Shadows". Computer Gaming World . No. 114. pp. 22–23.
  15. ↑ "Announcing The New Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World . June 1994. pp. 51–58.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.