Anvil of dawn

Anvil of Dawn has become one of the latest classic RPGs under MS-DOS , using discrete movement across cells of a map with a rectangular grid (blockstep movement) and pseudo-three-dimensional environment . Game locations are labyrinths on a checkered field, and pre-rendered cut scenes are used to move around the space between locations. For almost the entire game, with the exception of the introductory video and the endings, a three-dimensional view of the character in real time is used. During gameplay, the player controls only one character, which must be selected before starting the game from the five available characters ^[1] . The remaining four characters become NPCs with whom you can meet and enter into dialogue as you progress through the game ^[2] .

The hero during the execution of the main mission travels to locations, battling with opponents with weapons or magic and engaging in dialogue with friendly NPCs. All replicas of both the hero and the NPC are voiced. On the need to communicate with friendly characters, quest elements are built that are present in sufficient quantity in the game ^[2] .

The current state of the hero is characterized by two indicators in the form of strips: health (Hit Points) and mana (Spell Points) . Both parameters are gradually restored by themselves ^[2] .

The hero has four main characteristics, the values ​​of which can vary from 1 to 10 ^[3] :

• Strength - determines the damage inflicted by the hero (+1 point of damage for 2 parameter values) and its load capacity (+10 kg for 1 parameter value), as well as the number of health points.
• Endurance (Stamina) - determines the time that a hero can fight with a weapon before he begins to tire, and the number of health points of the hero.
• Dexterity (Agility) - determines the accuracy of the attack of the hero.
• Magic energy (Power) - determines the number of mana points (+100 for 1 parameter value), the speed of their recovery and spell power (+20% for 2 parameter values).

The number of health points of the hero is determined by the following formula ^[3] :

Weapons are divided into four groups: slashing, throwing (Hacking) , piercing (Thrusting) and long-range (Ranged) ^[3] . The number of points of damage inflicted by a separate type of weapon is recorded in its description as MdN and corresponds to M rolls of a dice with N edges ^[4] . Magic is represented by spells belonging to one of the seven elements : Earth (Earth) , Wind (Wind) , Fire (Fire) , Water (Water) , Lightning (Lightning) , Flesh (Flesh) and Emptiness (Void) ^[5] . Some spells, in addition to combat use, have a plot in the course of completing quests, for example, the healing Blessed Weave of Healinq Wounds ^[6] .

For inflicting damage to the enemy with a weapon or spells, the hero is charged with combat and magical experience, respectively. This experience can be spent on improving the skill of owning a certain type of weapon or one of the magic elements. Each skill of possession is estimated by an indicator ranging from 1 to 10 ^[7] .

For battles pseudo step system is implemented. Opponents attack the player at certain intervals, which, according to the developers, should be long enough so that the player does not need to be in too much of a hurry during the battle. In this case, for each blow from the player's side, opponents respond with an immediate counterattack, after which they return to the original waiting interval ^[8] .

Many quests at locations are based on the need to activate pressure plates in the floor in a certain sequence. However, some plates must remain in a fixed position, and some need to press and release ^[2] . For fixing some buttons, you should use blocks that the hero can push in front of him ^[9] . Another feature of moving through locations is a system of teleporters that can pass through both the hero and objects and spells, but not always transferring objects to the same place ^[2] . Some teleporters alternately send objects to one of two possible destinations ^[10] .

The action takes place in a world called Tempest . His civilization is almost completely destroyed by the dark lord nicknamed Warlord , who uses a hitherto unseen magic weapon. From the former world remained the last stronghold under siege. Five heroes, one of which will be controlled by the player, are teleported deep into the lands captured by the enemy. Their goal is to find out the nature of the mysterious power bestowed on the lord of darkness, and then find and destroy the source of this power ^[2] .

At the development stage of Anvil of Dawn, DreamForge Intertainment team decided to rely on atmosphericity and immersion in virtual reality . To this end, for the rendering of the gaming environment, three-dimensional graphic models were used as realistic as possible. Three-dimensional models were created not only for locations, but also for the space between locations. In the "outer" space, nodal points were created, the transition between which was animated using the cut-scenes. Thus, a sense of the integrity of the perception of the game was achieved, regardless of whether the player was at the next location or moved in the space between the locations ^[8] .

According to Christopher Straka, one of the founders of DreamForge Intertainment, it was decided to make the future game as simple and accessible as possible for an inexperienced player. In order to simplify the gameplay, the number of icons displayed on the main screen was minimized, and automatic updating of location maps, task log and spell book was added. In addition, the opportunity to go through the whole game was realized using only the left mouse button . Then the developers decided to use only one character throughout the game, completely refusing to use several characters at the same time. It took a few more months to develop a spell system and a pseudo-step combat system ^[8] .

The publisher of Anvil of Dawn is New World Computing . The release of the game on a CD took place on October 31, 1995 . In 2013, a digital release of the Windows version of the game took place on the GOG.com web portal ^[11] .

In Russia, the game was not officially published, but in the mid-1990s, the pirated version, published under the name “Forge of Darkness”, became widespread ^[12] .

The browser Trent Ward ( born Trent C. Ward ) in an article for the American version of PC Gamer called the game Anvil of Dawn "an attractive and engaging RPG, but not far beyond the genre" ^[13] . The observer of Computer Gaming World , hiding under the pseudonym , called the game "a dungeon with a few notable moments and a couple of pleasant surprises" ^[1] . Later, the editors of this magazine called Anvil of Dawn the best RPG of 1996 , especially praising playability and balance ^[14] . also awarded the game the status of “RPG of the year” at the end of 1996, calling it “excellent work in all respects” ^[15] .

Observers of the Russian site Old-Games.RU called the game “a pleasant and beautiful race in the dungeons,” also noting the low complexity of the passage ^[2] . Users of the dosgames.ru web directory attribute the game not only to RPG, but also to the arcade genre ^[16] .

In the book of video game history expert Matt Barton, Dungeons and Desktops: Anvil of Dawn is named “one of the best games inspired by Dungeon Master ”. Barton particularly emphasizes "measured pace, great music and ... excellent interface" ^[17] .

• Anvil of Dawn Manual . - New World Computing , Inc., 1995. - 64 p. (eng.)
• Anvil of Dawn Hintbook . - New World Computing , Inc., 1995. - 240 p. (eng.)
• Barton, Matt. Dungeons and Desktops: The Role-Playing Games. - AK Peters, February 22, 2008. - P. 247-248. - ISBN 1568814119 . (eng.)

• Anvil of Dawn on Absolute Games
• Anvil of Dawn on the site of the magazine " Igromania "
• Anvil of Dawn on the site dosgames.ru