Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: EA
Developer: id/Fountainhead Studios
Release Date: 11/13/07
Genre: RPG
Players: 1

“You stand at the entrance to King Brahm’s Dwarven realm. You carry a talkative Wand named Ellon, sword, leather armor, an enchanted map, a quest log, health potion and an heirloom ring…”

With game development moving too quickly ahead of itself for its own good, something so simple yet outstandingly produced as Orcs & Elves is like a bucket of ice water to the face. Everything here clicks, from the solid 3D engine and excellent use of sound to the liberal usage of humor (and ale) that lends the game some if its funnier moments. Yes, the game can be completed in about 8 hours (or less if you rush through it on Normal), but that’s a testament to how addictive it is. Beating this on the harder modes is where the replay value comes in, as the difficulty ramps up considerably on Hard and Nightmare modes. Just like the original cell phone game, the DS version is hard to put down and a total gem from start to finish. Kudos to id Software and Fountainhead for expanding the game to include new areas not found in the original and of course, for tweaking the game engine to the handheld’s strengths.

If you’re more used to the typical Japanese RPGs with parties of spiky-haired characters with big honkin’ swords or more upscale open world games like Oblivion, the short solo quest here might seem like an appetizer rather than a full course meal. However, you’ll find that the adventure of Elli and his talking magic wand hits all the right notes on the cliché-o-meter, making for an engaging tale. There’s no fair maiden to rescue and a huge dragon named Gaya sitting on an even more massive gold stash runs the only shop in the game. For some incredibly deadly comic relief, you even get to chase a yellow rat bastard named Flopsie around in one level filled with poison, traps and nasty fire creatures that don’t go down easy. A few text-based scenes aside, the game is light on melodrama, heavy on combat and even heavier on the potion using. The game is coded for touch screen or button use, and you can even use both if you like without having to go to the options screen and fiddle around.

In bringing the game to the DS, Fountainhead obviously put a lot of effort into this project and it shows in their design choices. The top screen shows the action and has an unobstructive HUD, while the lower touch screen is used for anything related to gameplay. O & E uses a Rogue-like play system where every movement, item use or combat action counts as a turn. In other words, let’s say you open a door and there’s an Orc warrior staring you down. Since your opening that door counts as a turn, you’ll more than likely get an arrow to the forehead or a sword chop for your masterful door opening effort. Your next move could be to retaliate with a weapon of your own, zap the pest with a blast from Ellon, quaff a potion, skip a turn or move out of harm’s way. That first-person perspective and id pedigree might lull you into thinking this is some sort of Hexen-style hack and slash, but you’d be very wrong indeed and quite dead by the middle of the first dungeon. You’ll need to think tactically most of the time, especially in areas with multiple enemies hacking away and later on, traps that will kill you in one hit.

One example is in the stage where you need to get a cask of ale, bring it to a ghost and have a drink with him in order to get a door code. On the way to the ale press is a hallway with a series of moving walls, thanks to a pesky enemy that happens to flip the lever at the end of the hall before scooting off. If you tap-tap-tap your way dumbly through the hall, you’ll be smooshed into elf chunks with a side of gravy. However (after you deal with the enemies that ambush you), if you stand at the beginning of the hall and tap the Y button on your DS a few times, a turn will pass each time and you’ll see the pattern the walls take. Once you’re through that area, you can (and should) stock up on all the ale you can carry. Not that I advocate drinking and gaming, but in this particular game, quaffing a brew drops your accuracy, but boosts your strength and defense (which might explain real-life bar brawls, now that I think about it). You’ll have the chance to share more spirits with the spirit a few more times in the level, so make sure to have a few Accuracy potions handy, as you’ll definitely be doing some fighting after a few brews.

If you’re too busy to read the manual, the game wisely clues you in on important stuff as you play. The rest is up to you to work through, but you shouldn’t have any trouble, provided you don’t rush headlong into rooms unprepared. If you ever get lost, you can call up a map that will stay on screen until you need to use a weapon or item. Switching weapons can be done by tapping X or using the touch screen (with no movement penalty, by the way). As smart play means managing your health through potion use, you’ll generally be prepared for anything. In addition to the potions and treasure scattered about, each level has a warp to Gaya’s lair where a healing crystal can patch you up for free and you can shell out your hard-earned gold on new items. Her inventory may be small (and initially expensive), but locating certain gems will net you some powerful weapons and armor as well as make the scaly lady happy enough to secure a discount. Just don’t mess with her stock of sheep off to the side or try to pop an arrow into her from a distance out of curiosity.

Interestingly enough, Gaya only sells items, so once you buy a weapon or armor, you’re stuck with it until you replace it with a better quality item. On Normal, you don’t need to follow the unwritten RPG rule of buying every piece of armor or every weapon in Gaya’s small stock, but you might consider upgrading as soon as possible on the other two difficulties. Actually, carrying armor repair kits in a must as is wearing the proper magic ring. Sometimes, having twice as many hit points will do you much better than boosting your strength, that’s all I’ll say. Careful scouring of levels reveals unlockable artwork, not too cryptic hints galore from deceased dwarves and even a few map pieces in one stage. You’ll also want to break everything that can be broken with a weapon or magic blast, as you’ll discover lots of helpful hidden goodies that make the detour you’ve taken worth the trouble.

If you’ve been reading the developer diaries, you’ll see that Fountainhead put a ton of thought into what could and couldn’t be done on the DS and what’s here is executed to perfection. O & E features 2D sprite-based characters in a great-looking 3D engine that reminded me of great DOS games like Daggerfall or Doom on the PS One. Considering the cartridge limitations of the DS, things like swinging chains on walls, sconces that can be put out and the overall variety of textures in the game is something to be admired. Key to the immersion factor is the excellent sound design that really pulls you into the game’s tenser moments. There’s very little music other than the heraldic main theme, but this is a good thing. You’ll be creeping along in a quiet area paying attention to the different ambient sounds while listening for a telltale enemy shuffle. Sometimes, it’s coming from off to one side, other times you’d best have eyes in the back of your head when you go grab that hidden treasure. While there’s no voice acting in the game, the snappily written script brings back memories of my pen and paper gaming days or those few D & D sessions I sat in on, totally absorbed in the process of surviving an unknown dungeon.

As for flaws, well… there’s nothing that breaks the game and the fact that it’s brief isn’t really a “flaw” at all. Remember, gamers come in all skill levels, so while that editor type or fearless hardcore Joe will blow through the game in record time, other gamers will be playing this on the road, saving every few minutes as they cautiously tap their way through some of the trickier sections. A few diehard PC gamers that disagree with modern save anywhere systems may scoff at the ability to save any time because it takes the stress level down considerably. However, if I’m on the train and about to miss my stop, I’m going to want to save my game rather than just rely on the DS’ sleep mode. Hell, you can always be Mr. or Ms. Macho and play without saving until you complete each level – there’s no hard and fast rule on that front. Besides, as I said above, Hard and Nightmare modes will have your teeth gritting as you put a death grip on your DS. Expect to add an hour or three to your times here, as you’ll probably die a lot until you work up a few new strategies.

If anything, what’s here definitely made me want more and with the recently released sequel, Orcs & Elves II hitting cell phones, it’s probably a safe bet that will come to the DS sometime in the near future. Based on the back-story of Elli’s dad, Eol, and some of the other plot elements introduced here, it would be great to see a follow up while also having this series expand onto other consoles at some point. I’m wondering what id and Fountainhead could do with the PSP’s UMD format (widescreen dungeons! Even more levels! 3D enemies!). Moreover, as for next-gen systems, the sky’s the limit and it would be great to see more games that don’t take themselves so seriously because they’re running in HD. Until then, definitely seek out a copy of Orcs & Elves, and tell a friend to do so as well. This particular style of classic RPG is one that really needs to make a comeback, so it’s just grand to have such a superb example to show that there’s room for more at the inn, particularly when it’s something as good as this.

Dev Diary #4: Weapons, Potions, Combat and Game Design
By Katherine Anna Kang

In my early childhood I wasted countless hours, and quarters, on the classic arcade game Pac-Man, but my favorite games were always Centipede, Galaga, Frogger and Joust – the player-to-player combat is what I liked most about Joust. I missed out on the early consoles because, well, I didn’t have any so, the rare console gaming that I did consisted of Mario at a friend’s house. Though some of my friends dabbled in making PC text games, I just didn’t get into those… I preferred to play D&D. Until Doom and Quake obliterated any free time that I had as a young adult, the only games that seemed to keep me coming back for more, no matter how many times I had played them, were the classic arcade games – easy to get into, highly addictive, simple fun. That’s how I like my games, and with the exception of multiplayer gaming, that’s how I like making games.

There’s a strange dynamic that happens when we make games at our company. It’s probably due to the fact that while everyone else is a hard-core gamer, I’m not. I’m much less willing to give a game time to win me over and I’m much less willing to plod through boring or impossible areas simply to get to the next level. It’s extremely rare for me to finish single player games and I hardly ever get 100% of secrets, monsters, or whatever else in a game. I play games the way a child plays in a playground – run to the first thing
that looks fun, if it’s fun, play as long as possible and repeat as needed. The games I enjoy playing tend to be fast-paced, fun to play from start to finish, and have almost no learning curve – add a dash of highly addictive gameplay and up the replay ability factor and you have me hooked. Well, Orcs & Elves is that game. Considering that I have to play the game
hundreds of times, it better be fun enough for me to want to go back to play it again and again and again.

For me, the key to enjoying Orcs & Elves is being able to get in and cause havoc right away. While the simple, fast paced fun allows me to play and enjoy the game quickly, the ability to experiment with the varied non-critical elements of the game becomes addictive as I get engrossed with the characters and mission of the game. I found that everyone on the team has very different ways of playing the game. For instance, while I live by the Haste potion, a few of the other team members hardly ever use it. I’m a potion hound while one of our programmers foregoes purchasing any potions at all. The arsenal provided by the many combinations of weapons, potions, and other items results a myriad of different ways to attack your enemies. The ability to mix and match the potions, weapons, rings and other goodies keeps the game fresh. So, here’s an inventory of the items available in the game and I’ll give you some hints on how to use them.

WEAPONS:

The Wand Ellon: Its most basic attack is a lighting strike but as it regains strength and energy, it is able to cast four powerful spells (Power Lighting, Fire, Stun, and Force).

Power Lightning – Blasts supercharged lightning (best on Shadows & Slimes).

Fire – Burns target & nearby enemies (if enemy is not dead at first strike, it will continue to burn them).

Force – Damages and knocks back target & nearby enemies (best on Shadows).

Stun – Temporarily stuns target while inflicting serious damage.

Though the spells are strong and will deal critical hits, it seriously drains the wand’s power after each use. Give Ellon time to regenerate.

The Warhammer Abraxas: It has two attacks, a devastating over-hand strike on a single opponent who is directly in front of you and a spin attack that assaults all enemies surrounding you. Abraxas shares energy with the wand so you have to keep an eye on energy levels.

Basic Sword: A good sword that does the job in cutting down enemies, but you definitely want to upgrade as tougher monsters beat you up.

Flaming Sword: This sword is particularly effective against foes weak to fire. It’s a really great weapon – powerful but reasonably priced. This weapon is a must-have for most players.

Vorpal Sword: This is my favorite sword but it’s expensive. If the monster is solid, this sword will most likely obliterate it.

Medusa Scroll: The image of Medusa turns flesh-and-bone creatures to stone… most of the time. WARNING: unpredictable while under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering umm… items.

Dragons Breath: Powerful artifact that spews dragon’s breath at close targets (bad long range weapon).

Basic Crossbow: It’s good in a pinch, especially if you don’t have another long-range weapon.

Heavy Crossbow: Pretty good bow to have if you don’t like close hand-to-hand combat. Though the Warbow is a more powerful weapon, I prefer the Heavy Crossbow over the Warbow.

Warbow: This is the most powerful bow in the Orcs & Elves arsenal. It’s some people’s favorite because it’s powerful and knocks back enemies, but the way I play the game, I prefer the Heavy Crossbow.

Phoenix Eggs: These eggs spew, what else, fire blasts when shattered against enemies. It has a splash damage effect so it’s not a good idea to use it when the enemy is right in front of you. The Phoenix eggs need space to fly!

POTIONS:

Health: Restores 40 health instantly.

Large Health: Restores 80 health instantly.

Strength: Increases attack damage by 10 for 30 turns.

Accuracy: Increases odds of hitting and inflicting critical strikes (+10 accuracy) for 30 turns.

Defense: Decreases damage received (+10 defense) for 30 turns.

Haste: Enables you to perform two actions in one turn, but certain monsters can match your speed (one of my favorite potions when surrounded by monsters).

Remedy: Cleanses you from poisons and other negative effects and provides additional immunity for 5 turns.

Troll’s Blood: Steadily regenerates health, +5 health per turn for 30 turns (another one of my favorite potions).

Champion’s Brew: Brewed for champions of the King. Very expensive but several of our dev team members find it awesome to use. It gives you an added +15 strength, +15 accuracy +15 defense for 30 turns.

Avoidance: Nullifies the next 4 attacks directed at you for 30 turns (another favorite).

Invisibility: Conceals you from most enemies until you attack or receive injury. Invisible for 10 turns.

Parasitic Brew: Restores your health for the damage you deal a foe. Drain your enemy’s life for 20 turns (this is my favorite new potion).

RINGS:

Family Ring: A family heirloom (sentimental value)

Ring of Regeneration: Regenerates health while you wear it (my all time favorite ring – once I get it, I never take it off).

Sarbok’s Ring: Keeps its wearer eternally intoxicated (being intoxicated in this game has its values, but it has a downside too – strength +10, defense +10, accuracy -15)

Ring of Fortitude: Wearing this ring increases your physical endurance.

Ring of Strength: Wearing this ring increases your physical attack damage.

Ring of Defense: Wearing this ring reduces damage received.

Ring of Force: Wearing this ring can knock back your opponent when attacked.

Ring of Intimidation: Increases the chance that your opponent will flee with fear.

Ring of Accuracy: Wearing this ring increases your chance to land critical strikes.

OTHER:

Ale: 3 different kinds (you’ll have to check them out and compare)

Gaya’s Egg: Instantly restores all health and armor, provides resistance to fire and strengthens all attacks.

Leather Armor: What you start out with (you didn’t come prepared for battle, so tough luck).

Chainmail Armor: Flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings.

Elven Mail: Finely crafted chainmail imbued with Elven magic.

Dragonscale Armor: Made of densely riveted dragon scales providing unparalleled protection (love this armor).

I found that most everyone who has played this game has a unique style. My usual playing style consists of getting drunk and stacking up potions… what I call “Ale and the 3 P’s”.

Here’s the philosophy of “Ale and the 3 P’s”:

1). ALE: Get as much ale as you possibly can (you can stock up in the Great Hall where you can brew ale to your heart’s content… till monsters find you camping out and decide to use you as target practice). Use your ale strategically. If you encounter a tough battle, you can use ale to increase your strength and defense while healing yourself slightly. Since the downside of being drunk is that your aim is worth diddly-squat, use your accuracy potions to improve your accuracy (one accuracy potion will usually suffice). Accuracy potions are common and cheap so I’ve never found a reason to be shy about using them… humm, all this talk about drinking and “using” common and cheap things is starting to make me sound insensitive!

2). Potion – Accuracy: Common and cheap. Use it when drunk!

3). Potion – Troll’s Blood: This is a worthy potion to invest in and hoard. During tough battles, when your stock of healing potions are low, and/or when you’re surrounded, this is a great potion to use.

4). Potion – Haste: I horde my potions so that I can use them in boss fights but this is a potion that I use frequently. It gives me such an edge over most monsters that the rare times that I play the game without it, I feel crippled. I absolutely love this potion. I use this potion to run away, to stack potions, to ambush an enemy or simply to bash my enemies more times that they bash me (two hits for every one of theirs… most of the time).

The philosophy of Ale and the 3 P’s has worked very well for me… but not in Nightmare Mode. Well, I hope this philosophy has enlightened you. If not, find your own style and see if you can beat it in Nightmare Mode. So far, only one man has beat the game in Nightmare Mode.

For next week’s blog, John Carmack will be posting some technical thoughts on Orcs & Elves and a bunch of other technical stuff that I cannot comprehend. Thanks for reading my blogs. I hope those of you willing to give Orcs & Elves a chance enjoy it immensely.

-Katherine Anna Kang

Developer Diary #3: The Orcs & Elves story
Katherine Anna Kang
CEO and Producer
Fountainhead Entertainment

The Orcs & Elves universe is filled with an array of rich and unique stories all brimming with the vibrancy of life made up of difference races, gods, monsters, critters, sentient and powerful artifacts, and of course, magic. With the treasures to be found, innocents to be saved, and evil to be vanquished, it can sometimes seem impossible to contain this universe in one game; and no one game has been capable of it. In the two years since its inception, Orcs & Elves has made its way onto 3 separate games: Orcs & Elves (mobile), Orcs & Elves (DS), and Orcs & Elves II (mobile). Each game, and each iteration of the game, opens up another window, door, and/or chapter of the living story that is brought to life by the people at id Software and Fountainhead Entertainment.

There is so much to tell that I am at a loss at where to begin… I guess a good starting point is the Creator, and that would be John Carmack.

Many years ago, back before Quake and Doom, John Carmack was a dungeon master of some repute, with weekly games that occasionally drew friends from across the country. A workaholic schedule eventually doomed the games, but a fondness for a good, old-fashioned adventure remained. After seeing the very positive reception that the mobile game DoomRPG received, Carmack set the direction for the next project: “Obviously we should do a fantasy game. Hacking orcs with flaming swords and adventuring for gold. All the classic elements.” The seed for Orcs & Elves was planted and the universe began to unfold.

The Orcs & Elves universe takes place in the upper-most region of the Western lands of Areth. The name Areth has long been lost to all but a few and the lands are now mostly known as The Godless Lands. Areth was born with a beauty unmatched for many millennia. When the elves were but a young race and the dwarves were freshly carved off mountains, it was a wonderful place to behold. It was full of exuberance, life, and magic and perhaps it was the magic that made it too good to last. Greed for magic, power, and all that Areth could offer was too tempting for some… sharing was not an option. For Areth, the consequence of this flow of magic was the distortion of nature, the creation of monsters, and ultimately war. The dark ages descended upon Areth, but in the darkness, there was light. Heroes rose to fight for justice and legends were born; and here we begin the story of the Elf adventurer Eöl and Brahm, the Dwarf who would be King.

During The Great Conflict, the hatred between the Orcs and the Elves peaked. The forces of light and dark had formed an uneasy truce that the Orcs never meant to honor. When that truce was breached, the Elves suffered most as the Vaettir allied with the Orcs to take advantage of this feud. The air was thick with death and the war between the two races was even more fierce than the early days of conflict between all peoples of the land. If not for the Dwarven forces aiding the Elves, and if not for the initial friendship forged by Eöl and Brahm, the Elves may not have survived.

After the Elves won the war, Brahm was crowned, and Eöl found love and family. King Brahm would soon call himself uncle to a half-breed Elf/Human child named Elli. This peaceful time, however, lasted less than two decades. Treachery and war began anew as young Elli would soon find out on his first adventure to Mount Zharrkarag. This is where Orcs & Elves, the game, begins.

Key Characters in Orcs & Elves (DS):

– Elli: Son of the Elven adventurer Eöl and human warrior Fraiga, Elli begins his first major adventure at the age of 17. Though by Elven standards, he is just a child, for a human, he is a young man well past the age of transition. Due to the terrible loss of his mother at a young age, his father had been reluctant to let go of his only son. Grudgingly, Eöl finally lets his son go. As both father and son embark on their own independent and unique journey, the wand Ellon is entrusted to Elli as a guide, friend, and protector.

– Ellon: Forged by a wizard to aid Eöl and the Elves in their time of need, Ellon is a sentient wand whose power limits are unknown. Though extremely powerful, it can be reduced to a very weak state when taxed for a prolonged time. Eöl, the Elven adventurer whom Ellon was crafted for, passed down this powerful wand to his son Elli. Though best wielded by one of Eöl’s descendants, the Wand does take to being wielded by any good elf. Ellon has a large storehouse of knowledge that will aid its wielder on any adventure.

– King Brahm: The 11th King of the Dwarven people of Mount Zharrkarag, Brahm gained notoriety for his famous adventures with the elf Eöl. As a very young dwarf, Brahm chose to abandon his royal duties as heir to the Dwarven throne to hone his skills as a warrior and as an adventurer. Those skills were well earned and well used when war came to their doorsteps. After the swarming Orcs were repelled from Mount Zharrkarag, Brahm and Eöl’s strong friendship helped pave the way to better political ties between the Dwarves and Elves of Areth.

– Abraxas: Forged by the same wizard who made Ellon, Abraxas is made of the same alloy used on Thor’s legendary hammer Mjööllnir. Though Abraxas was brought to life by many similar magical components that brought Ellon to life, Abraxas is less sentient and more raw arcane power. Though Abraxas can be wielded by only those with its maker’s mark, an extremely powerful wizard, or god, is capable of instantly sapping its power. This weakness in Abraxas is the reason King Brahm crafted a special vault for Abraxas to be stored in when not used.

– Sarbok: Sarbok, son of Sarlok “The Great Ale Keeper”, lives in shadow of his deceased father’s status as Mount Zharrkarag’s greatest brewmaster. Though an accomplished brewmaster in his own right, Sarbok, the perpetually drunk dwarf, sees it as his mission in life, and death, to procure the best brew known to dwarf, elf or human. Sarbok views making and drinking ale as a way of life rather than a skill to be crafted.

– Montague: Montague is an atypical dwarf in that his naiveté is equal only to his fierce devotion to his King. Montague was chosen as King Brahm’s champion the day of Brahm’s coronation for his loyalty, strength, and skill in battle. Naive dwarves being rare, perhaps it is this quality of feigned innocence that has endeared this dwarf to many Elven visitors.

– Ithcor: As King Brahm’s chief Forge Master, Ithcor has been instrumental in crafting some of the finest weapons in the Lands. Through diligence and hard work, Ithcor helped build an armory worthy of boasting as many races have paid small fortunes to get a piece of Ithcor’s quality craftsmanship in sword, shield or armor.

– Filch: Born of the Silver Fang Tribe, Filch is the youngest of the tribe’s leaders. He is an exceptional and bold thief who ranks below only two other wererats. Where he lacks in stealth, he makes up for in aggression.

– Sonya: This Queen spider has taken dominion over many of the smaller spiders in the area of Mount Zharrkarag. By using her army of arachnids, she was instrumental in aiding the invading Orcs to victory in her quest to capture the Widow’s Gem. Her lust for this dark gem has been the driving force of her existence for decades.

– Flopsie: This thief finds mischief and treasure wherever it can find it. Rather than follow the norm of his kind, he ventures out alone rather than in packs. He has discovered the art of eavesdropping as an important precursor to the art of stealing. He has learned many secrets and heard of many places to venture into for a chance to enrich himself.

– Felir: Despised by even his own kind, Felir is a Vaettir, or dark elf as they are more commonly known, of unusual habits. Though the Vaettir are known to be brutal, clever, and unusually cruel for a race of elves, they are also known for their impressive skills in battle and their knowledge of magic. Felir is proficient in neither battle nor magic but is a sycophant and master in the arts of treachery. Having gained status through sheer manipulation and falsehoods, though unimpressive in battle, the many mines that he has entrenched can explode in the faces of enemies and allies alike.

– Bruul: This formidable Orc leader has tried to destroy King Brahm and his Dwarven people many times over, but at each turn, the orcs have been beaten and defeated… until now.

– Kai’Laria: A mysterious force full of power and magic. Kai’Laria is an emissary of one of the most powerful Wizards in Areth.

– Gaya: A copper dragon of great renown, Gaya has lived for thousands of years. At the height of her power, Gaya soared through the skies free and unchallenged, harming none who did not challenge her while obliterating any who moved against her. Gaya’s treasures are said to make even the most wealthy of royals jealous with envy. With a keen eye for gems and magical artifacts, Gaya was legendary even among her own kind as clever, dangerous, and not to be trifled with. Gaya’s kin suffered great losses during the Great Conflict. At a time when Black and Red dragons allied with evil, Gold and Silver dragons allied with good, Copper dragons chose to remain neutral. When god-like wizards joined the war, several powerful evil wizards set out to punish Copper dragons for not choosing the dark side. If not for the magical dweomers and artifacts in Gaya’s personal collection, even she would have fallen victim to these spells. Out of need and out of mutual respect, Gaya and King Brahm formed a sort of unspoken alliance.

In the Orcs & Elves game, you get a glimpse into the lives of each of these characters. It’s one place in time where we share a chapter of their lives. For some characters, this is just the beginning of a life filled with adventure… for others, this chapter will be their last and their story will come to an end.

Next Week: Part 4!

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In Orcs & Elves developer diary #2, producer Katherine Kang of Fountainhead Studios touches on the numerous differences and enhancements that have been made in bringing the title from cellphones to the DS.

Dev Diary #2: What’s new for Orcs & Elves on the DS
By Katherine Anna Kang

What’s New? Let me count the ways…

1). New 3D engine with 3D levels and 3D world objects
2). Full 3D sound with environmental, directional, and ambient sounds
3). 3 new levels
4). 4 new spells
5). 5 new usable items
6). 6 new monsters
7). 12 new interactive world objects
8). New player inventory management system
9). New bartering interface
10). New puzzles
11). New elixirs
12). New effects
13). New difficulty levels
14). Newly enhanced Dragon’s Lair
15). Newly enhanced dialogue boxes for game characters
16). Rumble Pack ready

If we had to choose just one difference from the cell phone to the DS as the most significant, it would be the 3D engine. The original cell phone game had a very limited, tile-based 2.5D engine that could only render constrained sets of horizontal and vertical polygons with aligned textures. The DS’s new 3D engine allowed our artists to use arbitrary geometry, texturing, and lighting for the levels using Maya. Though we were very limited due to the polygon limits of the DS graphics core, the changes have been significant. This new engine allowed us to re-create the levels in 3D with 3D world objects allowing an effect that is subtle and unobtrusive.

The Prison level is a good example of the visual improvements we were able to bring — compare the cell phone version of Orcs & Elves to the DS and you will notice the lighting, the vaulted ceilings, the swinging cages and chains, the cavernous openings in ceilings, and the various 3D artifacts floating and bobbing in the flooded level. The fierce battle with the formidable Sonya now begins with her spinning a web down from high above, descending down to where you are, rather than crawling out of a hole in the wall. Unfortunately, one thing we were not able to convert to 3D were monsters. The choice to continue using 2D sprites for most of the monsters was mainly due to memory issues. Going with 3D models would have resulted in a severe reduction of monster types in any given battle and the creatures would have been forced to be extremely crude. There are several areas in the game where a mass of monsters — a large number of unique monsters — confront the player and are in constant view. Within the limits of the DS specs we had to work with, to be able to achieve this feeling of being mobbed and assaulted by all sorts of creatures, using sprites was a reasonable option.

Gamers who are serious about sound should appreciate the full 3D sound that has been implemented. Compared to the mono sound of the cell phones, the new 3D sounds for the DS is quite a significant upgrade. The new sound system helps give the player a feeling of truly being in an underground citadel. Levels have unique ambient and environmental sounds that enhance the feeling of crawling down a mountain. When you enter a flooded area, you hear the dripping water — when you near an Orc army, you hear the shuffling of feet and the movement of enemy soldiers — as you traverse the down the mountain, you hear wind, crumbling rocks, creaking wood and a variety of other sounds. Whether you’re a sound geek or not, we suggest that you put on your headphones and enjoy the ride.

Some of the fun in bringing new things to the game is when that fun happens by accident and turns out better than expected. One of the many things we had to change to make the game “work” on the DS was the intimidation effect on the monsters. The way the intimidation effect works on the cell phone goes something like this: If you have an intimidation ring on there will be a high likelihood that monsters will get frightened and run away from you. To visually cue the player that a monster has been intimidated, the only thing that worked on the mobile phone (from high end phones to the low end phones with 300KB of space) were fright lines over the heads of the monsters. This crude application for an intimidation effect just wouldn’t work on the DS so we had to come up with something better. We tried a variety of ideas and for quite a while, we just couldn’t find a solution that worked. All of the neat ideas would have taken up too much media space causing problems both in heap and actual package size. Towards the last month of development we even considered bringing back the crude fright lines over the heads of monsters — even that didn’t work. I’m not certain exactly how this idea came about or even why we hadn’t thought about it earlier but one of our artists had finally found the answer. It was in the eyes! One of our artists created a set of bulging eyeballs that could be used for all of the monsters (from Wraith to Mimic). When we all first saw its application on a few of the monsters, we were afraid that it was too good to be true. It worked great on a couple of monsters, but would it work for ALL monsters? The answer is yes and its application is quite hilarious.

A side story that we didn’t have room to flesh out on the cell phone will finally make it’s way onto the DS. Occasionally, a few people will ask me about that lone Vaettir stuck in prison. He originated from the idea that even vicious enemies have cowardly sycophants who brown-nose to the top. We had grander plans for him in the original version of Orcs & Elves but we simply ran out of space. I thought it would be funny to leave him trapped in jail. Well, he finally makes a break for it on the DS. Though we still have not given that character as much face-time as I had hoped, his brown-nosing, back-stabbing, scheming ways find an apt and just end on the DS. Perhaps if we get to make a Wii version of Orcs & Elves, we’ll get to see more of him and maybe even see how he slithered to a position of power and why his own kind chose to leave him in a jail to rot.

Here’s a look at the upcoming EA release Orcs & Elves through the eyes of producer Katherine Kang of Fountainhead Studios. The Nintendo DS game, an enhanced port of the multiple award-winning cellphone RPG, will hit stores on November 13. We’ll be running weekly entries and screen shots until then, after which you’ll get our full review of the game as it hits retail. Thanks to EA’s Nicholas Straw for the usual above and beyond the call efforts.

Dev Diary #1: Bringing a cell phone game to the DS
By Katherine Anna Kang

Introduction

My name is Katherine Anna Kang and I’m CEO and Producer at Fountainhead Entertainment — developers of id Software’s Orcs & Elves.

Past Projects:

2003 – In The Waiting Line (Co-Producer and Designer)
2004 – Game Over (Co-Producer and Designer)
2005 – DoomRPG mobile (Producer, Writer and Designer)
2006 – Orcs & Elves mobile (Producer, Writer and Designer)
2007 – Orcs & Elves DS, Orcs & Elves II mobile (Producer, Writer and
Designer)

From Cell Phones to the DS:

Our first foray into the mobile gaming sector was DoomRPG. It was a great title to work on — the known IP, the beloved characters, and just working on a Doom game is cool. It took us 4 months to develop. We were able to learn about cell phone game creation and take that knowledge several notches higher with Orcs & Elves. Orcs & Elves on the cell phone was probably the most difficult game we have created to date. We had to come up with a brand new universe with complex characters all the while giving those characters life (even if dead). Unlike DoomRPG, we didn’t have the privilege of taking existing media and we didn’t have an existing fan base to back up the game.

The Orcs & Elves universe had to be created from ground zero, the story, the characters, the media, the sounds, the music… the only thing that stayed was the core technology. All of this had to be done within 6 months. At about month 5, we had completed the high-end BREW version of Orcs & Elves, and though we were disappointed at how many ideas we had to omit, we were thrilled with the final product. Orcs & Elves was hell of a fun game, looked great, and even after hundreds of hours of combined play time, we still enjoyed the game. The original Orcs & Elves cell phone game won numerous awards, including IGN’s Best of E3 2006, Leipzig Game Con’s Best Mobile Game of 2006, and AIAS’s Best Mobile Game of 2006. We were extremely happy that people embraced this new universe and we were raring to take it to the next level.

When talk of a DS version of Orcs & Elves came around, we were thrilled about the prospect of bringing back all of the game ideas we had to leave out on the cell phone version due to limitations. We were liking the bottom-up approach — take all of the things that we wanted to include in the original game, save it, then implement it on another platform. The initial high of knowing that we were bringing Orcs & Elves to the DS wore off fairly quickly. When we found out about the DS’s limitations, we realized that all of the things we wanted to bring back would not make it.

On the high-end BREW cell phone version of Orcs & Elves, we had about 1.3 MB of main memory for texture usage. On the DS, we had a total of 512 KB actual texture memory which broke down to:

a. 128 KB for the bottom screen.
b. 128 KB for static 3D textures on the top screen.
c. 128 KB for streaming in dynamic textures for the current frame on the top screen.
d. 128 KB for streaming in dynamic textures for the next frame on the top screen

About 1.2 MB of the DS’s main memory was used to cache textures that would be streamed in as needed into the 128 KB of current frame dynamic texture memory. This is how we were able to use as many textures as the high-end BREW phone version while having less than half the memory. The total texture count for the DS version is 1348 different images. By contrast, the BREW high-end phone game had 758 total images. We had 6 months to learn to develop on a new platform, recreate the media, add more content, and fit “some” of the ideas that could not make it into original game into the DS version.

As a designer, the look and feel of the game was extremely important but above all else, the game had to be fun. I wanted the player to get into the game for several hours straight and later realize that they had been playing much longer than originally intended. One of the first things that we did to help make this possible was make the interface player-friendly. I had been disappointed at how many DS games were out there that did not allow players to use keys only or touch-screen only. Some games were such finger twisters that they gave carpal tunnel a new meaning. The first rule in developing our game was to give the player the freedom to choose. As a player, you should be able to use the keys if and when you want, the screen if and when you want, and if you so choose, do a combination of both. It was a bit of work to make sure that everything worked this way but it was well worth the effort.

The visuals were an interesting challenge. With the severely limited texture memory we had at our disposal, we were worried that the DS game would look horrible. It then dawned on us why so many of the other DS games were side-scrollers and why the real 3D games looked so poor. Many of the 3D games had extremely simplistic bottom screens and the top screen had basic colors for walls and ceilings. The one thing that many of these games had were gorgeous pre-rendered cinematics. Unfortunately, with all the media we had to cram in, this just wasn’t an option for us since we had to work within the constraints of a 16mb cartridge.

Our tried-and-true solution for creating cinematics within a tight memory budget was Machinima. We had to use all of the art assets created for the game to make cinematics. I was extremely jealous of the games that could afford the luxury of pre-rendered CGI cinematics because they looked damned cool but when the actual in-game media came up, there was no doubt in my mind that our game was one of the best looking 3D DS games out there. There were several things we did to improve the in-game look but I think the one I’m most proud of is what we were able to do with the lower touch screen. I hated the idea of a simplistic or ugly lower screen — that screen would be the place players would go to for inventory management and spell casting; it had to look good. Our idea was to stay with a first person perspective feel. We created an inventory management system where if the player was to look down, he would see his belt and all the items available at a touch. The visuals on the bottom screen had to match the top screen for better immersion.

In the end, though we couldn’t go hog-wild with new media, the game has an immense amount of new content for fans of the original version and newbies alike. Things like sheep that you can kill to make lamb chops for food, air vents that boost you to another place or just up in the air, spiral staircases that lead you up and down the layers of the mountain citadel, ladders that take you to secrets, and spell casting are but a small handful of new items we were able to bring to the DS.

At the end of our 6 month development cycle, and despite the limitations, we were really glad that Orcs & Elves made it to the DS. We think the fans of the cell phone version will really have a great time with all the new content we added and hope newbies will love it also.

Next Week: Part 2!