circa: 2001
genre: action-adventure-RPG (fantasy)

engine: Piranha Bytes proprietary

• atmospheric/environmental effects
  • clouds (change when raining, clear at night, moving)
  • water: current, ripples & splash (- walking)
  • weather: lightning, dynamic rain (+ splash): in-/decreases
  • other: bubbles (boiling water, soap), day/night light cycle (sun/moon rise/set), impact dust (jump land), explosions, fire, smoke (fire, weed blunts), sparks (anvil hammering, grinding stone, weapon-to-weapon clashes), sparkles (ore mound, pentagram), shooting stars, steam (boiling water, cooling hot metal); see particle effects
• collision detection: death vertical angle adjustment
• lighting: dynamic, colored; fire, magic
• particle effects: blood spray, bubbles, fire, impact dust, liquid spray, picked ore fragments, rain(?), skeleton fragments, smoke, sparks, sparkles, steam, tree seeds
• physics
  • gravity: animals, humans, monsters
  • friction, inertia, momentum
  • dropped objects bounce slightly and slide down hills
• shadows: horizontal angle adjustment, ovalular masks; animals, humans, monsters, ladders
• skeletal animation: yes
• texture: 16-/32-bit depth
  • filtering: bi-/trilinear
  • mapping: mip
  • decals: blood
• transparency: arrow/bolt tracers, clouds, cobwebs, fire, glass, lightning shield, smoke, water, weapon swings
• other: lens flare (screen brightens when looking at sun), shaking (some monster footsteps), underwater distortion, usable objects highlight

player character

• name/description: nameless male prisoner
• can get knocked unconcious
• different armor changes look
• facial animaion
• feet jump-land impact dust
• footsteps: dirt, metal, sand, stone, water, wood
• shrugs if can't do something
• can turn into various animals, insects, and other creatures and play as them
• moves: block, drop/pickup object, hit, jump (- attack, +: alternate dive-jump after acrobatics skill learned, grab ledge, pull-up), run, shoot/swing weapon, sneak, strafe, swim (dive under, stroke, surface, tread: + back), vault, wade, walk
• view: 3rd-(smooth zoom)/1st-person
  • pan: keyboard/mouse

level/world design

• # levels: 1 world (1km²) with 4 parts: graveyard, mines (2), temple
• location: Myrtana (mythical land); mostly outdoors but many buildings and enclosed spaces (caves, mines, etc)
• cutscenes: yes
• level editor: no
• environmental interaction
  • drop: anything pickupable
  • open/close: chests, doors, gates
  • pickup: see inventory
  • push: buttons
  • ride: switch columns/stones
  • other: beat drum, blow horn, cook food over pan, eat (various; see inventory), light torches, make swords (heat raw steel, hammer on anvil, cool in water bucket, sharpen on grindstone), pick locks/pockets, play lute, pull switches, pump bellows, read books/letters/maps/scrolls, sit, sleep, smoke joints/waterpipes, stir water in kettle, turn winches to raise/lower gates, turn on gas light
• puzzles: find things/people, shoot/turn switches, tell people things
• traps/hazards: breakaway stone floor, drowning, gravity (falling), lava, lowering ceiling, spikes (floor/wall)

weapons: axes (+ pick-), bows (4 kinds + cross-), clubs, cutters, hammers, maces, poker, swords

NPCs: birdlike creatures, demons, dogs, goblins, humans, insects, lizards, orcs, rats, skeletons, trolls, wolves, zombies

• AI: dodge, flank; can knock unconcious, drawn weapons and sneaking arouse reactions, idle chit chat, limited line-of-sight vision, look at player while in range (+ some turn), steal ore after knocking player (or someone else) out, stop following after certain distance and return to origin; over 500 NPCs with daily routines (sleep, eat, work, play music, chat, etc) and memory (other NPCs of same type will act the same if you do something to one)

inventory: animal (claws, horns, mandibles, skins, stings, teeth), amphoras, armor, artifacts (amulets, rings), blades (+ glowing), books, candlesticks, coins, cutlery, eggs (minecrawler), food (animal meat: bug, raw, cooked; apples, beer, berries, bread, cheese, grapes, ham, herbs, mountain moss, mushrooms, rice, roots, seeds, schnapps, soup bowls, water, wine), gear wheel, goblets, insect wings, jugs, keys, letter, lock picks, magic items, maps, ore fragments, pans, plates, potions, razors, runes, scrolls, sketch, steel (raw, glowing), swampweed joints (3 kinds), tumblers (cups), weapons/ammo, wooden spoons

other

• sound: stereo (+ surround), EAX2