Evil Islands - Systemic Crafting

HiddenX

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Gamasutra tells us more about the excellent crafting system of Evil Islands:

Farlands - Systemic Crafting of Evil Islands

Systemic gameplay is a very big topic recently. Even though systemic games have existed for a long time, nowadays there’s a lot of conscious discussion about titles that provide emergent situations by allowing the players to experiment with the rules and mechanics in place. A lot of those games feature a crafting system, and it just feels that it would be natural for crafting to also be expanded in a systemic way, and yet for some reason that doesn’t happen.

Crafting mostly is this direct exchange of a particular set of resources into a particular object. The exact nature of this exchange can vary – in some games you require a recipe before crafting something, in some you might want to experiment and figure out what the recipe is. There are games where recipes require not a concrete resource but a certain type, or where you need a particular skill before the exchange happens. Some games feature mechanics like sockets which you can imbue with something, customizing the item more. Some allow you to do a lot of things with what you craft, but at the core most crafting systems are still about spending particular resources to get a particular item.

And there actually IS a game which has implemented a systemic crafting system 18 years ago. And in this month’s edition of Farlands, a series about video games and video game design, I will try to propagate its principles into the world, as I believe they’re worthy of further exploration. My name is Stanislav Costiuc, and welcome to the video about Systemic Crafting of Evil Islands.

Evil Islands is a Russian tactical RPG that was released in the year 2000. Actually I was 9 years old at the time when I played it, and it is precisely Evil Islands that made me want to become a Game Designer. I can gush about it all day long. It’s got an interesting blend of mechanics, a gripping storyline, great characters, wonderful music and some of the best voice acting I have heard in my life to this day. Well… if you’re playing the original Russian version and not the English translation, that is. [Play Evil Islands English clip] … Yeah. And that’s the main character’s voice in the translation. My sincerest apologies.

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Played this game when it first released. Still have it on CD somewhere. Loved it!
 
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Also played Evil Islands when it was released… 18years ago damn.(disc owner as well, lol)
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Hey, when did you meet @Corwin;
 
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It was one of those underrated gems of its time with its excellent combat system.
 
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GOOD GAME!! Best sneak close & backstab from behind RPG I ever played. Lots of hacky slashy killy stuff. IIRC.
 
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I absolutely loved the game.
 
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People still play this game ?

I had to give up due to the difficulty early.
 
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Never heard of this game. Might buy it on GoG and give it a try.
 
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I have a friend that loved the heck out of this game and tried to get me to play it, but I think I was neck deep in Everquest one at the time.
 
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Never heard of this game. Might buy it on GoG and give it a try.

Worth it if you can tolerate a fine aging, as most members here seem to. It has mechanics that separate it from many old games looked upon fondly. That may make it feel new to you, or at the least engaging.
 
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