from the technology is the often confusing camera. Though the camera is able to rotate
to view whatever side of the action is desired, this camera rotation can often become
jarring and disorienting, causing the players to lose track of different locations and units
on the map. It is as if previous strategy games had used a skilled cameraman who gen-
erally showed players what they wanted, but forMyththe job was handed off to the
players, who could then look at exactly what part of the world they wanted. Unfortu-
nately, most players were not quite up to the challenge of framing the action
themselves. For a novice, a casual gamer, or anyone without a good sense of direction,
the camera’s movement would probably be altogether unmanageable.
Game Focus.................................
Mythis also a good example of a well-focused game design. As mentioned previously,
Mythcame out several years after the success of two other RTS titles,Command &
ConquerandWarCraft. In both of those games, players build structures that exploit the
terrain’s natural resources in order to create additional units. Players are then able to
direct these units against their opponents in a combination of ways. Thus, those
trend-setting RTS games are a mixture of gameplay — part resource management and
building, part combat. Many of the subsequent RTS titles, both the successes and the
failures, copied this general model, dividing players’ efforts between unit creation,
resource exploitation, and strategic unit deployment.
ButMythdoes not feature any resources to be mined or structures to be built.
Instead players are focused entirely on the tactical side of the game, on the combat
experience. Players start out on a level with a given quantity of units, and for most of
the levels in the game those are the only units they get for that entire level. In some
scenarios, additional units are acquired later in the level, but those scenarios are the
exceptions rather than the norm.Mythdoes away with everything except for the com-
bat elements of RTS games, which gives its gameplay a unique focus.
300 Chapter 16: Game Analysis:Myth: The Fallen Lords
Myth’s gameplay is
entirely focused on
tactical combat, leaving
out the resource
management found in
many other RTS games.