Here Be Dragons

Elves, dwarves, and flaming dragons in new Crysis mod.

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By Nathan Davis on 1 April, 2009

Early screenshot: Titled 'firetest.'

If you’re one to fancy a highly-detailed, fantasy role-playing game with dragons, then a new total-conversion mod for Crysis could well be worth keeping a tab on. Known as Light Spire: Fortunes Web, developer Lukewarm Media says it’s an action adventure role-playing game that uses CryEngine2, the game engine behind the graphically stunning shooter. “The evolution of fantasy is on its way,” it proclaims.

The game is set in a particularly dark and dismal period where the world’s landscape has drastically mutated into something unrecognisable. This blue funk era stems from the result of an unspecified cataclysm from ten thousand years ago. Prior to that devastating event, the various races peacefully lived alongside each other, but that has all changed. Part of this has to do with how some are now extinct. “The balance of the world has shifted,” explains Lukewarm. “The world as it is known now, is dark, grim, gloomy and filled with a sense of hopelessness and depression.”

The elves consequently turned into selfish bastards and decided to wage war with the dragons, which we can only assume were also a part of the original blissful existence. The reason for this war was so the elves could soak up their tasty magical abilities. “From this war,” Lukewarm reveals, “the elves developed and augmented their powers, following the mantra of ‘only the strong will survive’. The dragons withered and eventually came to be controlled by the elves.”

On the other side of the fence, the dwarves hit rock bottom. “With no resources, they were forced to use the very fabrics of their being in order to survive,” says the developer. “Even their own hair was used to create rope.” Having melted down all of their prized weapons and armour in order to survive, they were forced to take drastic measures. “The variation was so great, it compelled the dwarves to learn that which they hated the most. The dwarves too, became magicians.”

Although presently being developed as a mod for Crysis, Lukewarm has the lofty goal of securing a publishing deal so as to launch Light Spire as a stand-alone game.

In terms of actual Light Spire gameplay, unfortunately very little information is available. For now, it seems we’ll have to be content with feeding off a trickle of impressive screenshots. Thankfully, Lukewarm expects to release a trailer for the game “within the coming months.” I certainly look forward to seeing more about this particular project.

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