Around this time, dead creatures released their spirits. Īnother trailer was released in early 1996, showing aspects such as Mana and creature summoning. By around this time, the game was in a "playable stage", according to Carter. A trailer was released in late 1995, and Bullfrog attempted to release a version by Christmas, but failed. Development of a level editor began in May 1995, and by September, the Possess Creature view had been developed. The Torture Chamber was implemented afterwards. The Treasure Room, " Feeding Room", Training Room, and Dungeon Heart were all in this prototype. Molyneux then developed a 2D top-down prototype, whose gameplay focused on constructing the dungeon and its rooms. The first version only had the ability to scroll around the map and enter third-person mode. Lead programmer Simon Carter, however, said the idea "started with people at Bullfrog sitting down and messing with RPGs and stuff, and then thinking 'wouldn't it be more fun if you could play the evil guy?'". According to Molyneux, he came up with the idea while sitting in a traffic jam, and he hadn't noticed the traffic moving because he was too deep in his thoughts.
Neutral creatures can sometimes be found and will join the cause of the keeper who reaches them first, and spells can be obtained by retrieving loose spell books too (traps and doors can also be obtained this way).ĭungeon Keeper's development began in November 1994. Some levels feature Dungeon Specials to aid keepers in their quest. The ultimate hero of the original campaign and boss of the final level is the Avatar, the strongest unit in the game. He is often accompanied by a large party or multiple parties of heroes and you are usually required to defeat him to win. Realms guarded by heroes often have a Lord of the Land, a Knight who serves as the boss of the level as he is the strongest and usually the final hero (not necessarily the final enemy) encountered. Creatures can be slapped with the Hand of Evil to make them work faster, picked up and dropped elsewhere, or possessed by using the Possess Creature spell, which allows you to take direct control of a minion, see the world from its perspective, and use its abilities. Additional gold used to construct rooms, cast spells, and pay the creatures' wages can usually be obtained by excavating Gold Seams and Gem Seams.Ĭreatures need resting in the Lair and nourishment via the Hatchery, and can be put in the Training Room to gain experience (and with it, abilities and increased stats, but doing so costs gold) or in the Library to research additional spells and rooms, such as the Workshop (used to construct doors and traps) and Torture Chamber (used to torture creatures to convert them to your side or to boost the speed and efficiency of creatures of the same type by inducing fear into them).
Areas generally need to be dug out and claimed by Imps before rooms can be built there (Imps can also fortify walls to prevent breaches by hero Tunnellers or enemy Imps). A game typically starts with a Dungeon Heart (the dungeon's life force if this is destroyed, you lose the game), some Imps, some gold, and sometimes some rooms, and the player usually needs to construct the basic rooms (typically considered to be the Treasure Room, Lair, Hatchery, Training Room, and the Library) and tunnel to a Portal to attract creatures to his/her cause. In the game the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon while protecting it from enemies (typically computer-controlled ' heroes' intent on stealing the user's accumulated treasures and causing your demise, but can also be the minions or rival Keepers). Pit yourself against computer-generated hordes.