Arx Fatalis

3D Game Comparison - Game vs. game. No hype; just facts.™

circa: 2001 (Europe)/2002 (USA)

Engine

• collision detection: break cobwebs, spin hanging body
• lighting: dynamic, colored, vertex; coronas, flickering
  • crystals, fire, forcefields, lanterns, rock, spells, teleporters, torches
• particle effects: blood spray, fire, lava spurts, liquid spray, poison spray, smoke, sparks

effects

• fire: campfires, spells, torches, etc
• smoke: fire, smouldering wood
• sparks: fist/weapon impact
• steam: object-lava contact
• water: mist, ripples & splash (- walking)
• weather: fog, wind (cobwebs)
• other
  • barrel tap turns
  • cold air blows near observatory window
  • earthquakes
  • expands when baking: bread dough, pies
  • explosions
  • fire shield spell melts ice
  • flowing lava
  • picked up objects from water causes ripple and splash
  • see particle effects

physics

• gravity: NPCs
• friction, inertia, momentum
• dropped/thrown objects bounce slightly
• weight (body or stones) pushes ground panel down to open door

• shadows: ovalular masks; characters
• skeletal animation
• texture: 16-/32-bit depth
  • filtering: bilinear
  • mapping: mip
  • decals: blood, torch smoke wall marks
  • detail

• transparency: cobwebs, cold air, fire, forcefields, magic item glow, smoke, snakewomen "camera" viewer sphere, teleporter portal effects, tracers (arrows, magic, menu mouse cursor), water
• other: camera shaking (earthquakes, paralyze spell), usable objects highlight

Character

player character

• name/description: nameless ("Am Shigar") male prisoner
• body rendered in 1st-person view
• breathing moves camera slightly
• different armor changes look, facial animation, skill points
• drinking too much wine causes screen to fade maroon in/out for a while
• footsteps: dirt, metal, mud/wet/slosh, stone, water, wood
• moves: drop/pickup/throw object, hit, jump, lean left/right, magic, run, shoot/swing weapon, sneak ("stealth mode"), strafe
• needs to eat or will lose health
• view: 1st-person (character, flying eye, snakewomen "cameras")
  • pan: mouse

NPCs

• bat(s?), demons?, dwarves?, ghosts?, goblins, golems?, humans, liche?, mummies?, rats (large), ratmen, spider women, spiders (various), trolls, undead/zombies?, worms (large)
• non-threatening: dogs, chickens, frogs, pigs, rats (small)

AI

• dodge; idle chit chat
• run away and call for backup/help
• can hear and smell(?) player
• different races fight each other
• guards relight torches (some)
• limited line-of-sight vision
• look at player while in range (+ turn)
• react when stepping on fire (goblins only?)
• react to theft
• stop following after certain distance and return to origin
• frogs leap away when approached
• dog follows player after "petted" or fed

Environment

• # levels: 1 city, 22 levels
• locations: Arx (underground city: castle, village); caverns, caves, foundry, mines, outpost, etc
• cutscenes
• level editor: Theo
• puzzles: deliver messages, find things/people, get signature, save girl from being sacrificed, shoot stalagtite
• traps/hazards: gravity (falling), fire

interaction

• break: cobwebs, grate, walls (some)
• drop/pick up/throw: benches, blacksmith's files & pliers, body limbs, bones (pelvis, skull), chairs, chest (1, small), cushions, forks, goblin game board, hoe, jars, kitchen utensils (bowls, containers, holder, pots), mugs, pack of cards, plates (clean, dirty), shields (broken), stone blocks, stools, sword blades, tokens, troll art; see inventory
• open/close: chests, curtains ("changings"), doors [normal, gear (- close)]
• ride: lift
• search: barrels, bodies, chests (floor, table), corpses, flour sacks
• other
  • cook food over fire: dough -> bread, chicken drumsticks, fish, pies, ribs
  • eat: see inventory
  • dig up buried chest
  • drink from, and fill up bottles with water from, wash basins & watering holes
  • fix levers: broken levers + wood pieces
  • make: enchanted ammo/weapons, fishing rod (fishing pole + rope), keyrings (keyring + keys), dough (flour + water), pies (dough + rolling pin; apple: + apple), potions (powder + empty bottle + still), powder (pestle-and-mortar + bone/plant)
  • mine: gems/gemstone/gold (pickaxe + object)
  • light (via spell): fires (campfires, candles, torches, etc)
  • lock/unlock door
  • look through telescope
  • pick: locks (chests, doors), pockets
  • poison ammo/weapons
  • pull switches
  • pump bellows
  • read: books, letters, notes
  • repair: armor/weapons (anvil + armor/weapon), lift gears (rope)
  • shoot stalagtite
  • spin hanging body (+ bump)
  • turn spitroast handle

Inventory

• combine objects
• expandable via bag
• weapons: axes (+ pick-), bones, bows (? kinds + cross-?), clubs, daggers, fists, hammers, spells, swords

objects

• armor, blades (+ glowing), books, bones (leg)
• bottles: blood, empty, powder, water, wine
• candles, fishing poles/rods
• food: apples, bread + dough, carrots, cheese, chicken (drumsticks, roast), fish, flour, garlic, leets, mushrooms, pies (normal, apple), ribs, water, wine
• gems: diamonds, emeralds, rubies
• gemstone, golem hearts
• gold: bars, chunks, coins, golden cup & snake
• jewlery: bracelets, necklaces, rings (gold, key, magic, silver)
• keys, magic items, metal chunks
• paper: letters, notes, goblin mine shares
• pestle-and-mortar
• plants: ferns, flowers (morning glory, snowdrop), healing herbs, water lilies
• potions: cure, lili, mana
• powder: antidote, boneform, water lily
• rolling pin, rocks, rope, runes, pickaxes, sacred dagger pass, sacrificial implements, scrolls, shiny orb, shovels, toolsets (lockpicks), torches, troll idol, wall blocks, weapons/ammo, wood pieces, wooden stakes

Other

• sound: stereo, EAX