Mythos is, at its base, similar to a computerized Dungeons & Dragons, in that it provides a framework of rules and options for the player, and allows user-defined specifications within those guidelines.
Mythos is a heroic fantasy role-playing gaming system, that, like D & D has no ultimate objective -- the goal is to create an Avatar, and keep him/her alive while you engage in virtually unlimited adventures, growing stronger in power and capabilities, battling monsters, acquiring territories, solving puzzles, and going where no one has gone before...!
The user interface for Mythos is comprised of five main sections: Play Field, Menus, Stats, Buttons and Messages.
Each Avatar's environment is randomly-generated and unique, with the exception of Campaigns. Campaigns are optional user-created, pre-defined modules that have their own scenarios, storylines, monsters, graphics, etc., and are seamlessly integrated into the otherwise random terrain. A Campaign might be a small puzzle room, a medium-sized town, or a full-scale adventure with its own castles, dungeons and caves, or anything in-between. The Campaign Forge utility (graphical level-builder) for registered users is nearing completion.
Play occurs within nine interconnected randomly-generated Worlds, each with different terrain, monsters, religion/mythology & perils. Each world can have an infinite number of Floors (in actuality, somewhere between 10 and 15 per World are used) of progressing difficulty, each randomly created on the fly. Before moving on to a new floor (after the first), you must seek out and gather a random number of Runes, which are the splintered keys to the next portal (to the next floor).
Each World has its own unique Artifact located many Floors down; retrieve it to become eligible for Knighthood and permission to construct your own Strongholds in that World (in the demo, gathering the Artifacts from the sample set of three Worlds ends the game).
Rooms encompass a variety of different areas, ranging from Oracles (quizzes on the mythological/religious trivia of the current world) to Shoppes, Banks, Inns, Palaces, Temples, and many others. Campaigns can have their own Oracles as well, allowing the user to install a "mini-quiz" into the context of each Campaign (Arthurian, Lovecraftian, etc.).
You find and use a wide array of Items in the course of your quests. You also progress in Skill Levels and Hit Points, becoming stronger with more "experience" in your adventures. Top-ten scores (one per Avatar name) are kept for posterity.
Currently, there are almost 100 different Monsters to encounter, 13 different ones per World, though overlapping occurs due to similar terrains. "Monsters" is actually a misnomer; "creatures" is better, as not all are dangerous, and many are quite beneficial (though which-are-which is generally influenced by many factors). All creatures have their own unique name, and most have an Occupation and Allegience to a Faction. A full conversation system is well underway to facilitate interaction with the denizens of Mythos.
A recent feature incorporates Strongholds and Palaces into Factions. Each World can have up to 10 factions, each striving for control of, first, their World and ultimately for all the lands of Mythos ("Lord of All Worlds"). You, of course, have the option of attempting your own little coup d'etats, but only after you become Knighted (Registered versions only)...
Another recent feature is the History file. This enhancement functions to update off-screen areas, even if those areas have not been created yet! The net effect is that attacking a Shoppekeeper can alert the troops over a wide distance, or a King can lay siege to a Stronghold, with only ashes left by the time you get there...Currently, only a few Historical actions are coded, but many more should be in by the next version...
Elapsed time is tracked and ambient lighting is adjusted accordingly. Mythos is not turn-based...background animation runs continuously, and the creatures have many different movement rates, number-of-attacks and behaviors, so be careful out there!
A feature that got started, then stalled, is Missions , optional semi-random goal-oriented mini-adventures that like Campaigns, are seamlessly incorporated into the current random game parameters. A mission might be to rescue a princess from a dragon, bring the head of a werewolf to the King, or whatever. Missions, unlike Campaigns, always take place in the main areas or rooms of a World, and do not have specific maps & such unto themselves. A demo Mission is included with the Locked version ("The Lost Amulet") of Mythos, and a prototype Mission Forge is completed, with its release to registered users in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.
Digitized sound is provided for the majority of actions, including a unique "death" sound for each creature as well as for most magick usage...
Background music has just been added, and is comprised of randomly-ordered drumming clips...still a lot of work to do here, but at least it's a start!
Overall, Mythos creates an open-ended system through which a randomly-defined "universe" is generated, providing virtually unlimited expansion in the number of terrains, objectives and user-defined adventures...the possibilities are almost endless!
Technically speaking, Mythos should run on a Mac IIx or above, but really prefers a fast Quadra or PowerMac, though will run on lower-end machines via a speed-adjustment that clips frames of animation. You'll also need a 13" or larger 256-color monitor, 8 megs of RAM (real or virtual/RAMDoubled) and 7.5 mb disk space (about 12 for the full version)...
