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Might and Magic IX: Writ of Fate

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Title Screen

Might and Magic IX: Writ of Fate

Developer: New World Computing
Publisher: 3DO Company
Platform: Windows
Released in US: March 29, 2002


AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
CharacterIcon.png This game has unused playable characters.
DevTextIcon.png This game has hidden development-related text.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
ModelsIcon.png This game has unused models.


ProtoIcon.png This game has a prototype article
NotesIcon.png This game has a notes page

The ninth game in the Might and Magic series. The game switched to be completely in 3D, powered by LithTech engine. The game seems to be based on the foundation made for Legends of Might and Magic (LOMM). Many files that seem to be unused are just the assets from Legends of Might and Magic that made it into this game.

Sub-Pages

Read about prototype versions of this game that have been released or dumped.
Prototype Info
Miscellaneous tidbits that are interesting enough to point out here.
Notes

Hidden Development-Related Text

Data Tables

The game stores a lot of data in data tables similarly to the previous games.

Spell Effects

In the data table Spells there is a column named SpellFX which supposedly describes for the developers what visual effect the spells should have in the game.

Spell Spell effect
Arms of Earth we need an animated pair of arms that come out of the ground. And grab at mons. Plus an anim where the arms "hold" and then dissipate.
Bless should be a portrait effect
Chain Lightning a lightning bolt, projectile, that hits a target
Column-of-Fire a tube of fire animation that quickly streaks down out of the "sky" and envelopes the target then continue on downward through floor
Curse purple particles "swirl" around targets head until time is up or target dies
Dark Grasp projectile, ball of animating color (purple) and when reaches monster it surrounds model with that color for a moment
Death's Touch reaper model? Appears, taps monster and then moves toward caster and disappears (fade out)
Disease on party- portrait anim; on mons- swirls of colored splotches until dissipated
Divine Intervention Foreground effect; white "bar" of light travels down screen
Elemental Aura Should be a portrait animation
Elemental Blast very fast wall of energy radiating from party ourwards in view-only. Colors follow scheme in elem bolt
Elemental Bolt projectile, changes according to element and expertise. Four colors dictate the four elements, normal-one color random, exp-two colors randomand alternating, mas-three, gm-all four alternating
Elemental Protection Foreground effect
Enchant Item this happens in inventory screen. Perhaps the result is pop-up showing new item description?
Enrage small red particles "swarm" around creature while it begins to attack
Eye of Leggib use Eyebow effect from Legends
Eye of the Storm earthquake effect in area, "wind" effect pushes across screen (maybe peppered with leaves or something?)
Faith should be a portrait effect
Fear projectile - screaming face towards target. Then monster must run away if affected
Feather Fall A foreground anim. "feathers"?
Fleet Foot tunnel-blur affect in adventure screen
Haste portrait effect
Heal should be a portrait effect
Lloyd's Beacon we need a beacon model that drop upon casting. Then we need a "map" that shows where our beacons are when we wish to return to them. Perhaps it can be a screenshot?
Magic Mine cast in inventory screen, item dropped at feet of party and activated when party leaves the spot
Meteor Shower large spheres falling from sky with huge fire-tails that strike an area and explode on impact
Natural Armor Should be a portrait animation
Pain Reflection Should be a portrait animation, at GM could be foreground. . .
Paralyze purple point that spreads into a rod (verticle) and stays on monster until dissipated
Phantom Fighter cast in inventory screen, item should probably be weilded by an invisible model that can swing attacks etc.
Poison <color> particles "rain" on targets head until dissipated
Poison Cloud wall/cloud of <color> particles emulating a fog radiating from party outwards to target
Power Draw potrait anim- swirl of color that moves from out to inwards
Purify Should be a portrait animation
Regeneration should be a portrait effect
Resist Death Foreground effect
Resurrection portrait effect
Shared Life Foreground effect
Souldrinker purple "plane" that pulsates light to dark toward party
Sparks small balls of light that bounce around ground and against walls until they explode. Number of balls depends on skill level
Spell Reaver wall of purple radiating from party outwards to 5 feet from party
Torchlight sound play; "gamma change", perhaps a sparkle effect in foreground?
Town Portal Foreground effect
Transfusion on party- portrait anim; on mons- mons gains property transferred?
Turn Undead area effect, bright cone of light above monsters
Wizard Eye Radar pops up; sound plays
Wound projectile, purple
Wrath of Bugs! wish: a horde of bug models racing at the adversary from the party.

Scripts

The game uses a script system, mostly for handling things such as in-game events, AI and cinematics. Many scripts are really well-commented.

Dragon

;
;	Dragon.scr
;	Jeff Leggett
;	11/14/2001
;
;	Implementation of the Dragon King
;
;	Optionally, the dragon can start out hidden.  When
;	Triggered, he will fly in from above and land.
;
;	We have 4 attacks:
;
;		1.  Fireball attack
;			- This attack is a simple fireball projectile that
;			does radius damage on impact.
;
;		2.	FlameThrower attack
;			- This attack sends continuous bursts of fire 
;			in the direction that we're pointing...
;
;		3.	Wing attack
;			- This does no damage, but can be used to push
;			players away from us...
;
;		4.	Hand Attack
;			- We do this instead of a wing attack sometimes.
;			
;
;	After each attack, if we've attacked the current 
;	target long enough, we decide whether we should
;	switch to another target.  Targets that are out
;	of range are ignored.  Targets that we don't have
;	a clear shot at are randomly ignored.  The last 
;	target to do damage to us gets a higher priority.
;	This higher priority is proportional to his distance
;	away from us...  (ie: if someone along way off is 
;	hitting us, while we have many more targets near us,
;	we have a less chance of switching to that target than
;	if they're close to us...
;
;	After each attack, we also check to see if there are
;	a lot of targets within our wing attack distance.
;	if so, we'll switch to one of them and do our wing attack...
;	
;	

Cat

;
;	Cat.Scr
;	Jeff Leggett
;	08/03/2001
;
;	Behavior:
;
;		- Go from actor to actor and hang out with them
;		- When a dog comes after me, run away in various
;		directions
;
;

Dog

;
;	Dog.Scr
;	Jeff Leggett
;	08/03/2001
;
;	Behavior:
;
;		- go from actor to actor and hang out with them
;		- Search for cats.  If a cat appears, then we'll
;		go chase him until we are "tired".  
;		- Follow the player for a while perhaps....
;
;
;

Yanmir

;
;	YanmirPatrol.scr
;	kd 10-26-01
;	Parameters
;
;	Specialized patrol script for Yanmir the giant.
;	When triggered, Yanmir runs to a SquishVictim and kills it.
;	Then he begins his routine patrol of the Fort.  He kicks
;	any closed doors. (Added Sfx with FrostDust and DoorQuakes)
;	Cool Factor = HIGH!!
;
;	0 - Marker Root name  (ie for Markers Mrk0, Mrk1, Mrk2  "Mrk" is the root name)
;	1 - Number of Markers
;
;	2 - Second Root name for marker path. (Optional)
;	3 - Number of Markers. (Optional)	
;
;	4 - FireObject Root Name (FrostDust in this instance)
;	5 - EarthQuakeObject Root Name (DoorQuake in this instance)
;	
;

;
:OnDeath
;
; just in case some freak figures out a way to kill me
; give the completed quest key <--------TL
;

;
:KickTheDoor
;	[Specialized grouped subroutines.]
;	Yanmir encounters a Door Object, kicks it, opens it
;	and we get to see stirred up FrostDust, shaking walls
;	and door slammin' Sfx.
;

;
:PlayScene
;	[Specialized grouped subroutines.]
;	Triggered to play out the SquishVictim and PlayAnims
;	associated with SquishVictim stuck to Yanmir's Boot.
;

Unused Characters

Warrior Character (LOMM Class Model)

The party uses the Warrior character model as a representation in the 3D world. That can be observed in the prototype when going into spectator mode which leaves the player model in place while allowing to travel around the map.

Dragons

There's a quest in the game regarding Dragon King. However, Red and Earth dragons are also present in the game's files, although apparently never used. They all use the same model.

There are different script files for each dragon. The main script commentary for the dragon AI can be found in the development text section.

;	Implementation of the Red dragon.
;
;	The dragon starts out asleep.  It doesn't notice anyone
;	until they do damage.  We then wake up and start
;	attacking.

Unused Areas

The release version of the game includes a couple of project files (.ED) for the maps. That allows to view and edit them using DEdit tool, while the other maps are compiled and no longer editable. The following maps have project files:

  • Afterworld
  • Anskram Keep
  • Arslegard City
  • Bathhouse
  • Beethoven
  • Chasm of the Dead
  • Bootcamp

GREATGATE.DAT

The early version of the Arslegard gates. The cutscene for the first visit starts automatically after the map is loaded.