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David Waddleton
Professor Brackin
ATEC 3352
Mythic Conquest
Mythic attributing a legendary and fabled like nature and Conquest implying war
or domination, Mythic Conquest is a game that focuses on a variety of play styles to
encapsulate the essence of the fantasy genre. While striving to come across as a
legitimate game full of detail and intricacy, the core purpose of the game is to immerse
the player in a campy environment that parodies traditional fantasy with the intent of
both celebrating and mocking it.
Mythic Conquest takes elements from action role-playing games, strategy and
even board games to create a one to four player experience where players create
avatars to take over the world of Verum, an unfortunately chaotic planet that is rich with
bizarre life, lurking danger and strange magic.
Mythic Conquest is played out in turns as a board game traditionally is. During a
player's turn they can level up their avatars with experience that they've earned and
gain access to an array of powerful new abilities that can affect the entire flow of the
game, in and out of combat. Players will send their characters into battle completing
quests, defeating foes and gaining support in the race for global domination. Strategy
and tactics could very easily decide the course of a game, but if a player was so
inclined, they could raze the world in their wake, crushing their way to a complete and
total victory. Mythic Conquest employs these play styles in an attempt to entertain a
personal approach from the player, rather than a dictated approach from the designer.
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The game is designed for digital distribution through the PlayStation Network,
Steam Client or Xbox Live Marketplace. The ESRB rating system would label Mythic
Conquest as a "Teen game at most. That being said, do not be mislead into believing
that the game is targeted at a younger audience as the humor and content of the game
would pay tribute to a genre with decades of modern history and a background
centuries older.
Mythic Conquest is vibrant and cartoon like in appearance, in spite of how
serious the scope of a player's actions might be. As points of reference, the portrayal of
characters and atmosphere in Civilization Revolution, Brtal Legend and even the 2D
Castle Crashers are appropriate. The player's first foray into the world of Verum actually
takes place when the game reaches the title screen. Sounds of chaos and bloodletting
echo throughout the flame tinged sky, smoke billowing upward as the screen makes it's
descent to the battlefield where the player's are met with two caricatures of what they
should expect from the teasing sounds of slaughter, comically battling it out and making
quips at one another in a field of half-dead cartoon bodies strewn about as players
decide whether to start the game or just watch the title screen. The environment and art
direction is going to be crucial for delivering the tone and humor of the game.
Mythic Conquest is ambitious in its attempt to create an environment that covers
a range of play more than just a singled out style. However, to make the game
successful in its endeavors, quality software will be required to meet its demands.
deally the Gamebryo engine created by Gamebase Co., Ltd. with additional in-house
code created by a development staff could meet all the needs of Mythic Conquest.
Gamebryo has had great success with games such as Bully, Warhammer Online: Age
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of Reckoning and Civilization Revolution as. The software is robust and is proven to be
reliable as it has contributed to the production of several well received titles.
As there is emphasis on the variety of play styles, there are several mechanics
required to make Mythic Conquest work. The overarching main mechanic of the game is
the board. The board serves as the planet of Verum. nitially, only a small region is
available to view depending on the mode of play, or how far along a player is in their
campaign. Each player and A.. take turns on Verum making strategic moves, planning
combat, fortifying positions and completing quests on their path of conquest. When a
player occupies a certain percentage of the exposed map, more is revealed to them so
they can expand and conquer. Some regions of the map may pose detriments to a
player or hide secrets to empower them. Each game will randomly place events, items
and artifacts so acquisition is emphasized more so than learning where the "God tems
or special encounters are.
The next mechanic after that and possibly the most important is the character
creation and class selection. Here the player gets to select from a variety of face inputs,
body types, skin colors, hair styles and make up/accessories to create the player they
want. After their appearance is decided, they choose their class. There are four base
classes; the arcanist, the mercenary, the alchemist and the wild one. Each class has
two distinct prestige classes that focus more on what the avatars can do with
experience and at the end of the game.
The Arcanist is the mage class of the game. n Mythic Conquest, they manipulate
the forces of time, space and reality. As the player progresses in level, they have the
choice of becoming an Entropic Arcanist or a Temporal Arcanist. The "Entropist is a
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master of bedlam and discord. By increasing the entropy in a given situation, they can
stack the odds of reality in their favor gaining protection from enemies or causing
natural disasters for example. The "Temporalist has a deep understanding of time.
They view all time at once, past, present and future and with that heightened perception
they can alter events accordingly mending their allies or halting an enemies progress.
The Mercenary is more of a traditional warrior, a seasoned veteran of the battle.
They can become Knights or Assassins. The Knight gains additional strength, tactical
prowess and support as they are celebrated as champions through out many regions of
Verum. The Assassin on the other hand is a master of subtlety and silent destruction.
They can mislead other players with information or trick them into exploring dangerous
regions on the map.
Alchemists are brilliant, but they denounce the practice of the arcane. Alchemists
apply their genius to manipulating the world through chemical concoctions and
technology. Alchemists can focus more on technology gaining advanced weaponry and
routes of conquest as the Engineer or they can use their alchemy to defy nature itself
and become occultists making legions of the dead or abominations to serve them.
Wild Ones know the land better than anyone else and have the best tactical
advantage outside of combat. They know what to expect from nature and they know
Verum. They can become Beastmasters who wage war like barbarians with ruthless
tactics and their strange command of nature. Those who seek more civilized pursuits
become Rangers, utilizing their knowledge of the wilderness to take it back from anyone
who would stand against them. They can be identified by their cunning and the animal
companions they keep with them.
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Character class choice plays a large role in how a player's game experience will
ultimately shape up. Additionally, they are not restricted to one prestige pathway, they
can pull abilities from either walk, but they won't be able to access some of the higher
level powers and advantages available to a completely specialized character class.
The Action elements of game play are emphasized through character action in
the battlefield. Although they develop in a manner typical to role-playing games, their
abilities and control in the levels themselves plays out in a manner familiar to Fable 's
control scheme where a simple combination of buttons correspond to either ranged,
spell or melee combat. However for the purposes of Mythic Conquest, players can have
access to all their abilities at once by inputting special commands custom to each class.
For example, an entropist sees a hoard of enemy minions out on the horizon, the player
could use a crowd control spell by entering a chain of simple commands while
stationary to cast a large spell or they might just tap a button to fire off an arc of
lightning. Little nuances of detail give each class unique involvement and personality.
Finally the last mechanic of Mythic Conquest comes from traditional Strategy
game elements. Players will program in commands for their armies, minions and
followers to do before entering a battle so they can focus on the battle themselves.
However if a programmed strategy isn't working they can make some changes on the
battlefield. A targeting system will allow an avatar to select a group of minions and issue
attack or defend commands and the ability to assign specific targets to attack and so
on. However it's really up to the commander to try and plan well before going into battle,
focusing more on the tactical side of play.
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Upon starting a new game the player will be taken to a character creation screen
where they will determine the appearance and class of the avatar that they wish to use
in the game. Depending on their choices, they will be given an introductory mission that
serves as a tutorial that can be skipped if they wish to jump right into play. mmediately
the player has the choice to begin a solo campaign, take the battle online or skirmish
with a computer. n online and skirmish play, the player has the option to customize a
level-capped avatar that has access to their ultimate moves and prestige class choices.
This is to expedite play for players who seek shorter game sessions and to give insight
into what the game has to offer with different choices and styles of play. However,
standard play is available in these modes as well where the players pace themselves
and implement more strategy to accomplish their goals as expanded resources and
abilities aren't immediately available to them in typical play.
n the solo campaign, after the player has created their avatar and completed or
forewent the tutorial, they will set out on their first real quest and start the process of
capturing territory and exploration. Hidden artifacts, weapons and tomes will be
scattered across the planet that the player can find or acquire during their conquest and
although not emphasized the player's actions are "observed by a simple karma system
that indicates whether an action is objectively, "good or "bad. Class choices don't
impact the karma system though; just because a player's role may seem evil doesn't
mean they have to play evil and vice versa. These karma altering encounters could be
as simple as warding off a threat from a village and gaining trust in that region, or in turn
destroying the village and enslaving followers for your cause. These quests are issued
out through quest cards that are given to the player each turn as they trek across the
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world map. The player can deny, accept or sabotage a quest leaving an impact on the
overall course of the game. The campaign is meant to teach the player the game and
give a casual mode of play for players who don't seek a competitive play environment
but still enjoy a challenge.
There are three online modes of play, each with different victory conditions. The
first is "Conquest the player takes their created avatar and is placed in a two to four
player game with players of equal or approximately close character level and
experience. This follows the standard mode of play in terms of leveling and experience.
The players are placed within a region on Verum and vie for control of that territory
through turn their turns. As players gain experience, the scope of conflict grows so that
more of the planet is available as a battlefield.
The next mode of online play is "Apocalypse!. here the player can employ the
use of a customized level-capped character to play a quicker game that focuses on
pitting the players against one another almost immediately. n "Apocalypse! the players
are at what one might call end-game material. Before play they are given a war brief to
see what is available to them, what they are capable of and what they are up against as
they battle for control of a small but dense final location. When all players are ready the
turns begin and it isn't long before complete chaos ensues.
The final mode of online play is "Deathmatch. Here the player's take either their
avatar or a leveled and customized character into play against other players in only the
field of combat to exploit the action aspect of the game. This mode is the shortest of all
the play modes as it sets out to satisfy combat urges more so than the other aspects of
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the game. Sometimes all one needs for respite is a bit of quick chaos. Single-Player
Skirmish mode works the same way with quick bouts of combat against A.. nstead.
What about Verum though? t is a terrestrial planet populated and controlled by
humans. Through out the planets history, many cultures have risen and fallen. Some
lived in relative peace and some reached great technological achievement. The planet
holds many secrets from the past, but in this age of conquest those that have power
decide the planets new fate. The common of people of Verum want nothing more than
to live peaceful fulfilled lives. The world is decorated with farming communities, wealthy
provinces, tribal villages and hidden coves of ancient secrets. A few kingdoms exist
across Verum, but none can stand in the way of the almighty player! The world is theirs
to take and explore. While it is not a traditional open world environment, each game of
Mythic Conquest has a world that is given random features to make each experience
fresh and offer different aspects of the game.
Controlling the character and playing through the game can be achieved with
simple control schemes. On the console ports of Mythic Conquest, players will use the
standard controllers that come with the systems.
Traditional movement and camera
use is used through the joysticks.
Thinking of X, Y, B, A and Square,
Triangle, Circle, X as A, B, C and
D. A is used for magic, B is used
for ranged combat, C is used for
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target switching and D is used for
melee combat and selection.
On the board, the same
navigation system sort of applies,
but in selecting areas to
investigate and navigating through
simple menus and making choices
with use of "D or Start.


On the PC version of Mythic Conquest, the mouse and keyboard would serve as
the inputs for Mythic Conquest with standard W, A, S, D use for movement and mouse
for camera control. The numpad, mouse scroll wheel or number row could cycle through
spells. Attacking can be done with clicking the left mouse button and so on. The game
won't be hard to navigate or control and keeping the control schematics familiar allows
for the game itself to be more detailed.
The sounds of Mythic Conquest, like the art direction, will play an important role
for meting out the overall tone of the game. Minions will make jokes and player avatars
might have trademark comments upon the use of a move. Fun "Medieval music will
decorate the atmosphere as players are thrust into the fantasy world of Verum. As
reference, the scores of Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Oblivion come to mind, but with a
strong hint of quirk from a theme song like that of Angry Birds.
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Conceptually, Mythic Conquest draws inspiration from a number of games that
have already been referenced within the context of this document; Brtal Legend,
Civilization and Fable to name a few. The reason being is because these games have
features that Mythic Conquest tends to reflect, exploit and use to convey its own
experience. n terms of non-video games, Risk was a big contribution to the ideology of
the game and was the ultimate deciding factor in making Mythic Conquest like a board
game.
deally, Game development companies such as Double Fine or Firaxis would be
able to develop Mythic Conquest as it is conceptualized. Both teams have experience
with a wide range of game experience and have lent inspiration for Mythic Conquest.
The budget for Mythic Conquest is still not fully delineated, but assuming that it would
need several resources for its production and development, the following costs are an
adequate approximation of what would be needed for a budget.

Gamebryo Engine $150,000 ~Approx.
Senior Design Artist $70,000 ~Approx.
Senior Programmer $85,000 ~Approx.
Sound Designer $52,000 ~Approx.
Assistants, Support and Marketing Staff $35,000 to $70,000 each ~Approx.

On a team of twenty at two years development, Mythic Conquest would take
approximately 2.5 million dollars to complete.

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deally development would follow this schedule.
O Months 1-6: Art Design, Sound manufacturing, as well as tweaking and designing
the code to meet the needs of Mythic Conquest would happen primarily during
this time frame. At the end of Month 6, character designs should be completely
flushed out and all the preliminary work for the game mechanics should be done.
O Months 7-12: Modeling the designs and breathing life into the inhabitants of the
world would happen during this time frame. Additionally a prototype for basic
gameplay should be available by the end of this time period.
O Months 13-18: The finalization, online play testing and marketing of the game will
happen during this period with a release date set for the end of the second year
of development. The finalization will be working out kinks, revising mechanics,
making sure that the game has adequate flow and is satisfying as a complete
product.
O Months 19-24: Marketing and commercial support, making sure everything is
ready for digital distribution.
O Profit?

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Works Cited
Gamebryo.com. Gamebase Co., Ltd. Web. 2011.
Glassdoor.com. Glassdoor, nc. Web. 2008 2011.
"Video Game Salary. AnimationArena.com. Animation Arena. Web. 2011.