Disciples III: Renaissance

A new stage in the evolution of the turn-based strategy genre. Retaining the strengths of previous titles in the series, Disciples III introduces new features to create truly exciting gameplay.

Disciples III continues and improves upon the core concepts of the Disciples series. Advances in gameplay and the addition of new elements will make the game richer and more interesting. The visual design follows the original ominous and gloomy style of the Disciples world, but now the entire game environment and every individual unit is in full 3D. The combat system will be significantly improved by adding new elements. Disciples III allows a Lord to use spells on the battlefield. Casting utilizes mana, magic energy that is acquired from controlled sources, plus spell cards that can be bought or found. Travel on a global map will be implemented as in Disciples II - via a point & click system. Now, you can also split groups at any time, and units will be able to travel without an accompanying Leader. New terrain features will also be added - rivers and gullies that can be crossed by bridges or by flying aboard an aircraft.

Work on the project was started in the summer of 2005. The game uses .dat's in-house Virtual Dream engine, which supports all modern 3D technologies such as vertex and pixel shaders, normal maps, skeletal, morphic and procedural animations, particle systems, dynamic lights and shadows, portal technology, image post-processing, etc.

Key Features:

* Three playable races: The Empire, The Legions of the Damned and the Noble Elves; each has unique units and city design
* Cities are now represented in full 3D, and the player will see selected buildings through the eye of a building-centered camera
* At the strategic level, unit turns will be affected with an initiative factor that will dictate turns at the unit level, meaning increased fluidity in multiplayer and less downtime in single-player
* Leaders get improved abilities and you can assign stat bonuses to your liking. An RPG-style system will be implemented for the character advancement system, with inventory, expanded stats and abilities, and a character model that will visually reflect equipped armor, weapons and artifacts

Akella - # 2007-05-20 19:11:41 - official description - source

software: Steamworks API,

display: textured polygons