Myth (video game series)
- The tactical series covered by this article isn't the only set of games to be named Myth; at least one different game with the subtitle History in the Making was created for the Commodore 64 by System 3. It was renamed Conan the Cimmerian for the NES.
Myth is a series of real-time tactical (not to be confused with real-time strategy) computer games. The games in the series are
- Myth: The Fallen Lords
- Myth II: Soulblighter
- Myth III: The Wolf Age
Myth II is by far the most popular game in the series (though Myth had better sales during its launch and first few years of life). Most players believe Myth III to be inferior, as the release was rushed. The first two games were developed and self-published by Bungie Software, now a division of Microsoft under the name Bungie Studios. Upon Bungie's sale to Microsoft in 2000, Bungie lost the rights to the Myth franchise to Take 2 Interactive. Take 2 quickly released Myth II: Worlds, a compilation of fan-created content and Green Berets: Powered by Myth II, a total conversion made by the online community. Myth III was developed by Mumbo Jumbo Software and published by Take 2 Interactive.
These games represented a departure from old standards such as Warcraft in that resource retrieval and unit construction were de-emphasized in favor of squad-level and single-creature-level tactics. They were also remarkable for depth of free multiplayer support, intense and continuing fan activity on the web (including a wide range of fan-created mods), and simultaneous Macintosh and Windows PC development and release.
Release dates
- Myth: The Fallen Lords - approx. November 5, 1997
- Myth II: Soulblighter - December 31, 1998
- Myth: The Total Codex - 1999
- Myth II: Worlds - 2001
- Green Berets - Powered by Myth II - 2001
- Myth III: The Wolf Age - December 2001
Gameplay
General
Players control small armies made up of diverse units, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. If deployed correctly and micromanaged, a weak force can defeat a much more powerful force, and can even accomplish this with few or no casualties, a contrast to the "meat grinder" style of some strategy games. This is because, in general, artillery units strongly counter melee units, melee units strongly counter ranged units, and ranged units strongly counter artillery -- though there are exceptions.
Formations are important as well. In order for an army to be effective, it has to be facing the right direction. Ranged units must have a clear line of sight in order to fire, and so must be in front of the army, but they must also have a way to retreat and be protected by melee units if rushed. Flanking maneuvers can be highly damaging, as the enemy will have to reorient while under fire in order to fight effectively. Because healing is a rare ability, units do not regenerate health, and there is no way to construct new units, hit and run skirmishes are effective and unit conservation is essential. Each point of damage is significant.
Terrain and environmental factors are also important. Archers on the high ground will have an advantage, because they can shoot farther. Rain or standing water will put out some explosive attacks. Archers will be less effective in a strong wind. Unusual for a strategy game, most units will flinch when damaged, interrupting movement and attack. This has many strategic implications; for example, if two or three melee units gang up to attack one enemy melee unit, that unit might be eliminated without dealing any significant damage, because it will be too busy flinching.
Each unit has a name and gains individual experience for each kill it makes or battle it survives. Experience may increase attack rate and accuracy, and decrease damage received in combat. All else being equal, an experienced army will destroy a comparable force of fresh units. A cap of 5 experience per unit has recently been added to Myth II.
Myth employs an unusually realistic physics engine, which affects gameplay. Unlike in Warcraft, when an archer fires an arrow, the arrow is a distinct, independent object that arcs through the air and only deals damage if it strikes a unit -- this allows projectiles to be dodged mid-flight by the skilled player. There is no protection from friendly fire; firing arrows into a melee is just as likely to hurt you as the enemy, and units with explosive attacks are especially perilous if mishandled.
Limbs and heads of dead units can bounce around the terrain, fly into the air from explosives, and roll down hills trailing blood. Blood permanently stains the terrain and bodies do not decay, giving battles in Myth a gritty, unsanitized feel. The events of battles can be deduced from battlefield detritus, which is important in multiplayer free-for-all games and some single-player missions.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the player starts with an army and may usually customize it by trading units, using point values that approximate the value of the units. Games generally are either "free-for-all" or FFA, where each player has his own army and competes with everyone else, or "Team," where a group of players under the leadership of a captain control different forces within a very large army. There are many different kinds of multiplayer games, ranging from simple "Body Count" to more complicated games involving flags, balls, or animals.
The number and variety of multiplayer game types are one reason why Myth has remained so popular online. For each game type, different strategies are employed.
- Body Count: The player or team that deals the most points of damage within the time limit wins.
- Capture the Flag: Each player or team has a flag at their starting location. If the flag is ever lost, even for a second, the player is eliminated.
- Last Man on the Hill: A flag is in the middle of the map. The winner is the player who controls the flag when time runs out. If multiple players contest the flag, the game goes into sudden death, and the first player to get uncontested control of the flag for five seconds wins.
- King of the Hill: A flag is in the middle of the map. The player is credited for every second that he controls or contests the flag. The winner is the one with the most time when the game ends.
- Territories: Several flags are scattered across the map. The winner is the one who controls the most flags when time runs out. If any flag is contested, the game goes into sudden death.
- Flag Rally: Several flags are scattered across the map. The winner is the one who tags all the flags first (where "tagging" means taking uncontested control.)
- Steal the Bacon: A ball is in the center of the map. Any unit can move the ball by running into it, and clicking directly on the ball will cause the unit to follow it and bump it roughly in the direction the unit is running. The ball can also be blasted around with explosives. The winner is the player who controls the ball when time runs out. If the ball is contested, the game goes into sudden death.
- Captures: Like Territories, but with balls instead of flags.
- Scavenger Hunt: Like Flag Rally, but with balls instead of flags.
- Balls On Parade: Like Capture the Flag, but with a ball instead of a flag.
- Assassin: Each player gets an assassin target, usually a helpless Baron but sometimes more powerful units. If the assassin target dies, the player is eliminated.
- Stampede: Each team has one or more flags and a herd of animals or peasants. For each animal that reaches an enemy flag, the animal is teleported away and a point is gained. The winner is the team with the most points when all the animals are dead or safe, or when time runs out.
- Hunting: Dozens of computer-controlled wildlife units such as deer and hawks are placed on the map. For each animal killed, a point is scored. The winner is the one with the most points when time runs out.
Solo
In single player, the player starts with an army and must use it to accomplish specific goals, such as reaching a distant location, defending a hill or other strategic position, escorting an important unit through the mission, evading a superior force, destroying a bridge or breaching a wall, or anything that the story may require. Rarely, the player may control a small squad of heroes, powerful variants of standard units. Single-player missions can be played cooperatively over the internet or on a LAN. Each level you are given a new set of units, usually including experienced survivors from the previous scenario.
Units
What follows is a listing of unit types, divided into Light or Dark based on their nature. Light units get shields next to their name to denote kills, while Dark units get skulls. Light and Dark does not necessarily denote their alignment; sometimes in the campaign the player will control Dark units or face off against Light units. In multiplayer, this distinction is irrelevant, and a player almost always controls mixed armies of both types of units. "Light" and "Dark" have another meaning in multiplayer: Most maps have "Light" and "Dark" variants, where the Dark variant allows control of very powerful units.
The number in parenthesis below is the multiplayer point cost, which gives an idea of the relative value of the unit. For the sake of brevity, some uncommon units are not listed.
The Light
- Warriors (2 points)
Basic ground units, warriors are moderately fast and tough, and fight with sword and shield. They have a chance to block melee attacks with their shields.
- Archers (3 points)
Basic ranged units, archers are slower and weaker than warriors, but may attack from afar. In Myth II, archers were given the ability to fire one flaming arrow each.
- Berserks (3 points)
Kilt-wearing barbarians with huge Claymores, berserks are faster in both movement and attack than warriors, but wear no armor. When experienced, a group of them are amongst the most effective Light units in both Myth and Myth II.
- Dwarves (6 points) and Dwarven Mortars (8 points, Myth II only)
Diminutive explosive-lobbers, dwarves are favored units for their ability to single-handedly demolish whole armies with molotov cocktails in spectacular explosions -- if they aren't extinguished by rain, standing water, or bad luck. Their special ability is to lay explosive satchel charges. Dwarves are slow, weak, and helpless in a melee, with a minimum range for throwing cocktails. In Myth II, Dwarven explosive technology advances in the form of the Mortar, a unit that lobs ballistic rounds over a much longer range, but with a correspondingly greater minimum range. Mortar rounds explode even underwater, and the units do not carry satchel charges.
- Journeymen (6 points)
Tough healer units. Each journeyman carries only a shovel, and wears a thick fur coat and heavy gold plates which provide great protection. They carry six mandrake roots, each of which may be used to heal a living unit almost to full health, or to completely destroy an undead unit.
- Heron Guard (3 points, Myth II only)
The Heron Guard are the Journeymen reborn. Swift movement, rapid attacks, and effective armor make them powerful assets of the Light. Each carries one mandrake root for healing.
- Forest Giants (24 points, Myth: TFL only)
12-foot behemoths capable of taking extreme damage and killing most units in one deadly swat. They can only be healed to half health.
- Avatara
The only Avatara used in either Myth or Myth II is Alric, and he is not available in standard multiplayer because he is too powerful for game balance. Sorcerer-warriors, Avatara are very good melee fighters and have high resistance to elemental attacks. Alric's special attack is the Dispersal Dream, which he can use three times and which causes a chain of explosions to ripple through enemy troops, usually killing all of them. The Dispersal Dream does not differentiate between friend and foe. At one point, Alric wields the lightning sword Balmung, which imbues his normal attack with spectacular power and enables him to single-handedly take on obscene numbers of enemy forces.
The Dark
- Thrall (1 point)
Mindless cannon fodder, Thrall are too slow to really do much good on the battlefield, but reasonably effective in a melee if they manage to avoid getting blown up before they reach the line. Thrall can go underwater, which allows them to lay in wait and ambush opponents.
- Spiders (1 point)
The weakest units in the game; they are also among the fastest. Capable of traversing any terrain except deep water. Extremely effective against ranged and artillery units in numbers.
- Brigands (2 points, Myth II only) and Dark Archers (3 points, Myth II only)
Like warriors and archers, but evil.
- Ghôls (2 points)
The apelike Ghôls are weak, but fast melee units that are excellent at raiding lines of archers or running down dwarves. Ghôls may pick up and throw most items on the battlefield -- including dwarven satchel charges, unexploded cocktails and mortar shells, and the explosive body parts of wights.
- Wolves (3 points, Myth II only)
Wolves are reasonably fast with a decent attack, but very low health. They appear only once in the single-player game, and sporadically appear in multiplayer.
- Stygian Knights (3 points, Myth II only)
Magically animated suits of armor, Stygian Knights are tough melee fighters. They are completely immune to fire and missile attacks, but take double damage from explosives. Though not alive, they cannot go underwater.
- Soulless (3 points)
Basic ranged unit of the undead, the Soulless is a ghostly floating torso that lobs throwing spears. Soulless can traverse any terrain, even steep cliffs and deep water. Flanking a soulless line can be very effective, as missiles will go right through them, each dealing full damage to multiple soulless.
- Myrmidons (2 points, Myth: TFL only)
Skeletal, mummified corpses that run and attack quickly with curved metal blades.
- Wights (3 points) and Ghasts (1 point, Myth II only)
Wights are bloated, infested, gas-filled corpses that explode upon death, dealing damage and stunning friend and foe alike in a large area. Their only attack is to stab themselves with a dagger and blow up. Wights die very easily, and are very slow, but they can hide underwater. They frequently hide in the deep water next to a shallow water crossing, and wait for unsuspecting enemies to attempt to ford the stream. Wights which have not yet fully "ripened" are called Ghasts. They move relatively quickly and do not explode, but have a paralyzing attack. Ghasts appear only in the first two levels of the game and rarely in multiplayer.
- Bre'Unor (4 points, Myth II only)
Fast, weak, bone-wielding primitives. Their high multiplayer cost is because they have both an effective ranged attack and an effective melee attack, making them unique in that aspect. Bre'Unor are rarely used in multiplayer, and appear only once in the single-player game.
- Myrkridia (4 points, Myth II only) and Myrkridian Giants (36 points, Myth II only)
Vicious, lycanthropic creatures that tear enemies to pieces. Myrkridia run and attack very fast. They are one of the most powerful standard melee units in Myth II. Their only real weakness is that they go berserk when badly wounded, attacking the unit closest to them, friend or foe. In multiplayer, you actually lose control of them when their health gets too low. Myrkridian Giants are enormous, very strong variants with the special ability to lob handfuls of explosive heads. Giants do not go berserk, attack quickly, and do considerable damage per strike.
- Mauls (4 points, Myth II only)
Pig-like beasts with average speed that can take and dish out a lot of damage. A Maul's attack cannot be blocked by a Warrior's shield, and Mauls do not easily flinch.
- Fetch (6 points)
Alien priestesses inhabiting the skins of their victims, the dangerous Fetch fire bolts of lighting that do area damage. Their range is greater than that of a dwarf, but less than that of an archer. Their attack helps defend them, as it deflects any incoming projectiles. Their health is very low and they move and attack rather slowly. Fetch are highly resistant to lightning and cannot hurt each other very much.
- Warlocks (8 points, Myth II only)
Black-robed sorcerers, Warlocks open their robes to project a guided fireball, or to summon a ring of fire from the ground for protection. Warlocks may damage underwater units with their fireballs. Warlock attacks are all powered by mana bars, and when out of mana, a Warlock is defenseless. Throughout most of Myth II, Warlocks fight on the side of the Light, but they are considered Dark units.
- Trow (24 points)
Hulking, loincloth-clad giants, Trow wade into the melee, kicking to pieces smaller units that get in their way, and punching other large units. They are the fastest usable unit in the game. They are resistant to elemental damage. Trow turn to stone at low health.
- Shades (16 points)
Shades are undead Avatara, and only appear in the single-player game and some custom maps. They cannot cross water. Shades are also armed with 3 Dispersal Dreams, which they drop when slain. Though undead, they are not slain by healing.
Storyline
The Myth series is set in a fantasy world that was inspired in many ways by Glen Cook's Black Company novels, as it is narrated via a common soldier's journal that tells the tale of life itself coming under attack by an undead horde and its masters, the Fallen Lords. Certain Lovecraftian themes also appear throughout, and there are numerous borrowings from Celtic mythology[1].
The actual gameplay does not often drive the story, instead focusing on small-unit engagements apart from what the main body of the Legion, the alliance of 'good' races against the Fallen Lords, is currently doing. In a strange approach for a computer game, there is little sense of accomplishment in the game's plot- it begins with a sense of futility (owing to a prolonged war), and ends in a rather bittersweet victory.
The Myth Community
Myth has always had a deep community following. See main article for discussion of Myth mapmaking and tournaments.
Post-Bungie Myth
Development of the Myth Series was halted by Bungie, but fan groups have been given access to the source code and have taken it upon themselves to keep the series up to date. Also, after a long period of slow decline in membership, Bungie.net shut down its Myth servers. Bungie.net went down in 2001, and Bungie.net II in February 2002. Fortunately for players, multiplayer for the game was continued through such fan-based public servers as MariusNet and Playmyth.net. Such servers are maintained by volunteers and funded by donations from the players.
Players should visit the links below to get updates and demos of the games for Windows, Mac OS and Mac OS X. Myth II was ported to Linux by Loki Studios, but only to update 1.3.1, and is not compatible with current versions of Myth II.
- Myth: The Fallen Lords Patch 1.5 (Project Magma)
- Myth II: Soulblighter Patch 1.5.1 (Project Magma)
- Myth III: The Wolf Age Patch 1.3.1 (Flying Flip)
Awards
The first of the Myth series, The Fallen Lords was very acclaimed for its time, Myth II followed with larger sale success and popularity but due to lack of supporting funds was unable to gain a nomination.
Myth: The Fallen Lords, 1997
- PC Gamer Best Real Time Strategy Game of the Year
- Computer Gaming World Strategy Game of the Year
- Computer Games Strategy Plus Game of the Year
- Macworld Magazine Game of the Year
- Gamespot have included the Myth series in the "Greatest Games of All Time" hall of fame.
- Myth I was listed in the Best of 1997 and Myth II in 98 at Games Revolution.com
Myth World Cup
Myth World Cup is an online, double-elimination, 2-team Myth II tournament. "TFL98: Myth World Cup" was the precursor to this tournament. A large community rallying point, MWC has the most active Myth forums of the tournament season, and is known for its funny articles and reviews.
Myth installer bug
The original version of the first Myth game contained a serious bug which almost reached customers. The bug was that the CD contained an uninstaller which would remove Myth from a computer by deleting the directory in which it had been installed. If the user had overridden the default and installed Myth to the root level of his hard drive, the uninstaller would delete the entire contents of the user's hard drive.
This bug was caught after Myth CDs had been duplicated and boxed and prepared to ship to stores. Bungie employees went to the factory, tore open the boxes, and replaced the faulty CDs with new CDs on which the uninstaller bug had been fixed. It is said that the costs incurred from this were roughly equal to the profits the game earned. [2]
External links
- Bungie Studios- Original creators of Myth series.
- Playmyth.net - free online multiplayer server for Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II and Myth III
- Mariusnet - free online multiplayer server for Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II and Myth III
- Flying Flip - Created Ballistic, a new version of the Vengeance program for making maps on Myth III, as well as maintainers of Myth III.
- ProjectMagma - Myth modding group, as well as being the current maintainers of Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II.
- Myth@Bungie.org - containins the complete text of the first two games, as well as speculation on story elements. Home of The Asylum forums and MythMaster Centeral.
- The Wargamer's Myth III site - old promotional Myth III site, only place really to detail the Mumbo Jumbo version of the game.
- Myth II Training Hall - Excellent site detailing general and micro strategies for Myth I & II.
- The Myth Map Atlas - Catalog and links to 3rd party maps and mods.
- The Myth Graveyard - Repository of Myth tutorials from dead Myth websites.
- Myth Addicts - Clan Site Focusing on Cooperative Gameplay and Mapmaking.
- The Fallen's Vengeance - Unfinished, the creators promise users a brand-new full featured addition to the Myth world (runs on Myth II) including 25 solo-maps, new units, models and storyline.
- http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=57129&cid=5517624
- The Galleria Mythica - A photo gallery for Mythers and Ex-Mythers. To submit your own photo, e-mail theelfoid_TFS[AT]hotmail.com with your screen-name. Multiple photos welcome! (replace [AT] with @)
- Myth II Brasil - Site dedicated to Brazillian Mythers. Entirely in portugese, but essentially the only community site in their entire nation, despite being a fairly large percentage of Mythers.
- Myth Forums - Site that shows rank for MariusNet, offers forums to orders, hosts a large number of map downloads and has large forums. The forums and news pages are not currently used often, but have large archives giving much more information on the life of Myth pre-PlayMyth.net than many other sites.
- Myth Village - Old community site. Not updated since 2003, but full of old links, downloads and various other things.
- TFS-Online - Myth II order The Forgotten Shadow's official site. Mostly not a community-aimed site, but the Myth History and World Maps pages are both a very good stop off for any budding Mythistorian.
(Note: game serial numbers are no longer required to play on the online multiplayer servers anymore, so you may play again if you have lost yours.). If you log on to MariusNet with username/password = 'guest', you can play without an account. PlayMyth.net previously had a policy of having ISP e-mail adresses only, now freebie e-mail adresses CAN be used for unranked ('restricted') accounts.