| Legendary Wars: T-Rex Rumble | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Interplay Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Producer(s) | Eric Caen |
| Designer(s) | Rob Stevens |
| Composer(s) | Jean-Marie Philibert |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DSi (DSiWare), iOS |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Real-Time Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
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Legendary Wars: T-Rex Rumble (known as ARC Style: Jurassic World in Japan) is a Real-Time Strategy video game released for the Nintendo DSi through the DSiWare.[1] It is currently being ported to the iPhone and the iPad. The game was developed and published by Interplay Entertainment with the development of the game being made by just two men, Eric Caen and Rob Stevens. The game is credited as being the first true RTS on the DS.
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Rob Stevens stated that there are issues bringing real-time strategy game's to the DSi, of these, the major one's being the small RAM and low resolution screens. Rob used the DSi's touch-screen and dual screens to provide an alternative to a mouse for console based, RTS gaming. For Legendary Wars, Rob dealt with both 3D and 2D real-time graphics and make sophisticated AI for the cavemen and their enemies. He also had to create an intuitive user interface for an RTS when most RTS’s are played with a mouse and not a stylus. Rob minimized the number of inputs required to issue orders to multiple groups of men and then made it work equally for left and right-handed players. On selecting units, Rob Stevens stated "With a PC, you have a mouse that can be combined with multiple buttons or keys. It’s easy to draw a rectangle around units you want to select before picking a task from a list on the screen. But on DS/DSi we had to create a system that worked purely with a stylus or even a finger, without filling the screen with icons." The solution is a combination of direct touch, lassos and handles. Players can move the background with the control pad or by touching the edge of the screen. A faster way to move the background was also added by holding the L or R Buttons to bring the map to the bottom screen then either tap a location or drag to change position. To lasso is to quickly select groups of any size, the player holds the stylus on the screen for a second and a pen appears, they then just draw a lasso around any number of cavemen to form a group. On the PC, players tend to pick the action they want their workers to perform and then click the where they want them to do it. To make something more user-friendly for the DS, Rob created the Handle. Each caveman has a handle, basically a target on the ground, which is used to control him. Move the target and the caveman follows it. Handles are also what’s called “context sensitive”, they automatically determine the order the player is issuing depending upon where they are put. This means they issue an order and its location in a single gesture. The characters have to run or walk and get familiar with the landscape, to do this, they have been given more than forty ways to get across a landscape. There are four worker and soldier classes as well as the shaman. Each character appears progressively after each mission. Every character has specific features and the player has to decide how to take advantage of them for each mission. Players need to find food in each mission and keep it from the enemy AI. Players are able to build villages inhabited by over twenty men and fight enemies with clubs, axes, spears, bombs and magic.[2]
The game takes place in an alternate dimension where humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time. The player's village chief will inform the player from time-to-time about the happenings in the village and bring good and bad news. To fight off against their enemies, the player will have to use help from people such as the inventor to create weapons and classes to use against their enemies. The player will have to save his tribe from rivaling tribes that wish to take over and crush their people to ensure that their own tribe finishes first with the most food.[3]
When the concept of the game came up, Eric Caen first went to persuade Rob Stevens to join the development of the game. Due to Stevens wanting to make the game his way, he acted as a multi-role developer, making all of the tools, the game design, the engine, the code and supervised the art, sound effects & music. The final graphics of the game were done by MZone. The original graphics were scrapped as they were too cartoony and Stevens said that the game was a RTS and that he did not want to give people the wrong impression. For sound, music and other audio, Eric wanted somebody who could make music to match the game's visuals, for this they hired Jean-Marie Philibert. To make the music much cleaner and clearer on the DS, Interplay used streaming technology, a CRI Vibe. It took away memory but greatly improved the game's music quality.[4]
Legendary Wars got mixed reviews from critics, with IGN, Nintendo Life and the Official Nintendo Magazine UK each giving it a 7 out of 10. IGN praised the game and stated most of its flaws were in its glitches, often comparing it to Interplay's first DSi game, one of familiar theme and less positive reviews called Prehistorik Man. Nintendo Life stated the game's bugs and glitches bring it down as well as the player soldiers dumb AI and Official Nintendo Magazine UK criticized the game's bugs and glitches.[5]