Konung: Legends of the North

Release Date: November 11, 2000

Rate It!

Konung: The Legend of the North is 1C Company's real-time strategy (RTS) with cRPG elements, set in a fantastic world modelled on early medieval Scandinavia. The player directs the actions of the hero, who wants to conquer an artifact guarded by dragons, giving power over all mortals.

Konung is a strong RPG with some RTS and Adventure elements.

In contradiction to Diablo-like games, Konung goes beyond action-style role-playing and offers adventure-style gameplay with dozens of non-linear quests and strong storyline set in the complex atmosphere of VII-century Scandinavia, the mystical Land of the North.

Konung features the most attractive RTS elements, including settlement management. The player has the opportunity to seize settlements, manage their resources and build various constructions and installations, enjoying the best of RTS elements.

The world of Konung is a unique and spacious fantasy land that combines parts of known history with classical myths and the legends of the Chronicles, including immortal heroes, magical artefacts and ancient sorcery. The whole world is shaped by three cultures on the verge of the second millennium: tribes of wild Slavic hunters, noble traders of the still-powerful Byzantine Empire, and fearless Viking warriors.

Our work on Konung is based on a firm belief that a combination of elements from various game genres will broaden the potential user platform of the title.

In Konung, we aimed at blending together the most popular and attractive playing concepts of classic role-playing games and realtime strategies within the framework of the new and well-developed fantasy universe of CHRONICLES OF TIME.

We have considered contemporary tendencies in the industry and designed Konung to satisfy the expectations of a wide range of players. A deep, intriguing storyline is supported by numerous non-linear quests; all quests are unique, creating the illusion of a real life within the game.

RPG enthusiasts will enjoy the sophisticated system of character development: every character has seven attributes and five basic skills. To simplify gameplay, the user can command up to four parameters, others are recalculated automatically.

Unlike action-type RPGs, Konung's most important and distinctive features is that the game allows a player to command a group of up to nine NPCs. The Player can convey personal commands and direct part of the group or the whole group, utilising strategy-like interface in a way that would be easy for most of RTS fans. Strategy enthusiasts will be happy to find construction assignments together with military and economic management of locations in the RPG.

In developing the graphic style of the game, our goal was to give the player maximum immersion into the world of Konung. All landscape elements are based on photographs of northern territories. Monsters and immortals create a mystic impression on the background of photo-realistic landscapes. All buildings in the game, as well as clothing and weapons, are historically accurate, based on extensive consultations with the National Historical Museum staff.

The world of Konung effectively combines elements of real history, such as the Vikings' savage raids to the East, Byzantine military trading outposts, and hunting camps of ancient Slavic tribes, with the myths and folklore of these cultures; for example, Konung bestiary includes Northern European dragons and trolls, Greek centaurs, and Slavic characters completely foreign to American users. This unique combination of characters and historical settings is interwoven with the with geography and and storyline of the CHRONICLES OF TIME universe, which contains its own immortal heroes, powerful warriors and magical artefacts.

Konung uses algorithms developed by military professionals, using their vast experience in tactical and strategic planning and modelling acquired in the Soviet Army during the Cold War. This makes Konung the first RPG with absolutely real, mathematically-verified system of strategy and tactics calculated in real time.

Konungs concept of various game genres, set within a sophisticated and well-developed game world, created from mixture of myths and folklore, reality and alternate history will attract a range of players across genre spectrum and around the world.

Features

*16 Bit High Colour, 640x480 to 800x600 resolution

*Colourful real-time light effects

*Twilight effects for day/night cycles

*5,000 screens sized 640x480

*The scrolling is limited by player's field of view for creating more realistic environment.

*Interaction between non-player characters (independent manufacture of goods, free trade, exchange of information, personal items upgrade)

*Artificial intelligence working in real-time

*Intelligent combat action by the companion characters (switching between weapon types, choosing target etc.)

*Group and individual behavior.

*Independent development of villages (building houses wells, barracks and many other structures)

*There are about 200 different characters available to communicate (50,000 words in dialogues).

*More than 20 different monster types (several dozens of subtypes of varying strength), including shapeshifting beasts that can take shape of any creature

*Some monsters can be recruited to the player's party.

*Any non-player character is able to join the player party.

*Non-player characters proceed with their actions with or without the player's attention.

*NPC independently gain experience and advance in levels.

*More that 100 items with different parameters and magic enhancements. The number of such combinations is close to 40,000.

*New items can be manufactured and traded.

*All non-player characters and monsters have their own inventory.

*Items used by player and NPCs affect character animations.

*Player can create potions and elixirs using herbs and other components.

*50 magical artifacts with different abilities including teleportation and resurrection.

*More than 60 nonlinear quests that can be solved in several ways.

*Simple user interface: all actions are possible with a single click.