Acorn Gaming: Preview of Iron Dignity

[PREVIEWS]

Iron Dignity

[Artex logo] Due for release on the PC in Spring 2001, Artex Software still have this impressive-looking 3D strategy game scheduled in for a RISC OS release. All the screenshots on this page come from the PC version, but hopefully they give at least some crude indication of what might be expected from an Acorn version.

So what of the game? Set a few decades into the future, a global nuclear conflict threatens to destroy the world (yawn). You are a battlefield commander controlling futuristic vehicles across various world locations. Both air and ground units are includes, and can be grouped or controlled individually as you desire.

[Futuristic vehicle]

The game features a wide range of missions plus a huge number of different vehicles to control with an equally large selection of weapon systems. A freely rotating and zooming camera allows easy view of the battlefield, and the game claims to feature an intelligent design allowing complex orders to be given with ease.

[In-game shot 1]

A lot of attention has been paid to the graphics engine used by the game, and it looks like it's paid off. The scene changes as day and night follow one another, and various weather types are also modelled, varying from mission to mission.

[Film shot 1]

Two different branching storylines are included, featuring around 40 minutes of film footage shot professionally using a staggering 22 actors and actresses against a blue-screen background. The backgrounds were then keyed out and replaced with computer-rendered scenes, and even the draft results are impressive, as the film shots on this page show. Let's hope the acting is better than the small sample currently available on Artex's website, however!

[In-game shot 2]

The PC version also features a deathmatch network (both internet and internal) mode, although whether this will be included in the Acorn version remains to be seen. You can also play cooperatively with up to eight team members online, or against another team of up to eight players.

[Film shot 2]

The game will be published on the PC by TopWare, who appear to be a German-based company - not surprising, given that Artex are also a German company - and they claim to be aiming to make it the best game developed in Germany, ever!

[In-game shot 3]

Mission aims vary throughout the game, including tasks such as collecting secret information, rescuing hostages and eliminating enemy fighters. You even need to decide on the validity of your instructions in the later stages! Furthermore, as well as directing from above you can also choose to take an in-cockpit view of any vehicle you control and take direct charge.

[Film shot 3]

Other promised features include realistic impact modelling, multiple camera windows for monitoring different vehicles, accurately-modelled reflective water and a wide range of varied landscapes.

[In-game shot 4]

On their website Artex have video footage showing a "behind the scenes" clip of them shooting the in-game movie components. You can't view this on an Acorn machine, so below are some framegrabs from this film. Then below those framegrabs are clips from the huge engine demonstration film also on the Artex website.