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Welcome traveler, to our first Island of Utrae showcase featuring the Dark Jungles
of Mhakesha. Included in this showcase is a wealth of information, including: commentary
from Mad Doc Software Lead Designer, Matthew Nordhaus on this region, a brief video
featuring a battle amongst adventures much like yourself and a group of local inhabitants,
and lastly a handful of "as yet unseen" screenshots and creatures descriptions.
Don't miss the other showcases featuring the
Jerkhal's Crown, and
Illicor, and
Fortress Emerard
.
Commentary
One of our team members (who shall remain nameless, but whose initials are Tara
Teich) has a certain predilection for cats. With this in mind, it became clear that
we had to design an area of the game with cats in it. But not just any cats, mind
you. We endeavored to produce a race of evil, bloodthirsty cats; slavering minions
from cat hell; cats with a fondness for playing with humans like balls of yarn;
cats whose sole mission in life was to kill all humans or die trying.
Where do you find bad cats? In the jungle, of course. The locale fit in perfectly
with the island theme we had decided on for our story. The Hassat were created with
a slouchy, nasty and decidedly un-cute appearance, and the dark jungle terrain set
became the touchstone for the look and feel for most of the island. These were some
of the first areas of the world that we designed and created, and the rainforest
aesthetic cascaded out to touch many other aspects, such as the appearance of the
armor, the types of weapons, and the design for the Wizard City and other terrain
sets.
The terrain set is fairly simple, with large gently curving jungle walls. In the
end, the appearance ended up being all about the objects we placed inside: massive
trees, huge jungle ferns and flowers, ancient statues and overgrown obelisks.
—Matthew Nordhaus
Creatures
The creatures noted below are just two examples of the many indigenous beings
adventures may encounter while traveling through the Dark Jungle region.
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Rusted Automaton
Guardians of the ancient Utraeans cities, these timeless mechanical Automatons,
although old and in poor condition, still pose a serious threat to anyone passing
through.
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Hassat Runner
Originally a wild and fierce race of felines, the Hassat were enslaved
by the Utraeans and have recently rebelled and returned to their jungle homes.
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