Orb (video game)

Orb is an action/adventure video game being developed by Crossbeam Studios Entertainment (CSE) for Nintendo's Wii.

History

The storyline behind Orb started as a series of dreams the director, Greg Szemiot, had. Crossbeam Studios Entertainment has been working on Orb since late 2000-early 2001 but as the storyline developed it was eventually decided to split it into 6 separate games. Orb was originally planned with high-end PCs in mind, but the designers of CSE felt that the motion sensing controller of the Wii would better suit the game. CSE currently has 24 people working on Orb and recently met with publishers at E3 2006. A PC demo of Orb will be sent to interested publishers around midsummer 06. CSE has stated plans to have trailers for Orb available around November 2006, and a playable Wii build at E3 2007. While the game is not yet released, it has developed a large fanbase. One notable fansite is called Visions of Delphire.

Story

In ages past, the great army of the Kulon raged a terrible war with the people of this great land of Delphire. They came from shadow, and destroyed everything in their path. Men, women, children, all dead in their wake. That was all long ago... however, the ancient army of the Kulon have risen again from the mists of time, and one of their fiercest warriors has just crowned himself ruler and has started a battle for all out control over the people of this ravaged land. His evil plot calls for the abduction of one of the world's Imanti, the so called 'guardians of the faith' to the people of Delphire. However, the guardian they abduct on one night has three students, and they will not let him go so easily. The first game in the series starts out in a temple near a town.

Three students of one abducted Imanti begin a quest to rescue their teacher and save their land. The students will go on a journey greater then they ever expected, and will discover more about Delphire then anyone ever knew. The story will take place in ancient ruins and thriving towns, through the frozen wastes, the tropical beaches, even time, and many other exotic places. The story is arced over 5 sequels, with 6 games total, with an enthralling story.

Crossbeam have recently updated their website and with it, the Orb section. The following excerpt shows how the plot is expected to work. Although it reveals little new about the game, we can see that the three students are not alone in their quest to find the Imanti, as another has joined them in the temple. The name of their master is also revealed as Strysis.

6/38/532 "Centuries ago, war ravaged the land of Delphire. It was a war of religions, and beliefs, and thousands lost their lives. It was in that war that that a band of mercenaries called the Kulon got their reputation. Nobody knew where exactly they had come from, and nobody has known where they have been since. Until a few days ago that is. They attacked a village on the eastern edge of the land. The Kulon now are not a small group of mercenaries, but an army larger than any of the ones that fought in the war. One of them has come to rule that dark army and the land they come from. News of all this just reached us, it ruined the training today, and we just had to go into town to try and cope. Master said the attacks are going to get worse, and has said he plans on training us harder over the next few weeks."

6/42/532 "It's been hard adjusting to new life in the temple, and some of the other students have left for fear of battle and being roped into another war. And now there's only three of us left... and none of us have any where to go back to."

7/2/532 "We awoke today to find the temple in chaos, the doors broken to splinters, and Master Strysis gone. All that has been left behind is a scrap of his cloak, and half of his staff. The four of us have to try to find him... I only hope we are not too late."

Characters

Dyces- One of the main characters for Orb, he seems to be a somewhat dark character due to a tramatic childhood of some kind, little else is known.

Mahten - One of the three main characters of Orb who is depicted as using some type of chain-whip weapon, due to the little information released, little is known about him also.

Simique - The last of the three main characters of Orb, like the others little is known of her. She has green eyes and is depicted wearing her brown hair in pig tails.

The game is slated to feature over a dozen supporting main characters that are playable, and over a hundred supporting NPC's including a few characters already known to the public, due to the little information available on the subject, very little information about each character is provided:

Maron - A mysterious woman carrying a sword

Miya - A bow and dagger wielding maiden

Thera - A redheaded woman who is a ruler of some kind

Darsie - A woman with incredibly long hair.

Moteh - All that is known is that it is a name in the game, some presume it is the name of the kidnapped Imanti the students are following after, although recent updates to the Crossbeam Studios website have shown this to be false.

Strysis - In a recent update to the Crossbeam Sutdios website, the name of the Imanti has been revealed as Strysis. Nothing else is known about this character.

Gameplay

CSE is aiming for a T rating for Orb. They plan to fully utilize the Wii's controller and "nunchaku" attachment. CSE has announced that Orb will have the following features:

A vast world to explore, make discoveries, form alliances, uncover the secrets hidden deep in the past.
A storyline featuring over a dozen main characters with over a hundred supporting roles.
Innovative 'non-elemental' magic system incorporated into the very fabric of the game world.
Customizeable weapon system with hundreds of possible combinations. ^*
Downloadable sidequests are planned that will cover the time between Orb 1 and Orb 2.

Graphics

CSE has posted concept art on its official website. In addition, CSE has released the following test render. No ingame graphics are available yet, however, weapon renders, and other exclusive art and information is available in the password protected 'Imanti' section of the CSE forums.Two days before E3 2006 CSE released a render of one of their characters,Simique.
The game at the moment is being written in C++, TorqueScript, in addition to various languages for modeling programs. They are licensing an engine for the PC prototype called Torque, made by Garage Games. It has been used for professional quality games before and is available for reasonably priced licensing, but for the Wii version they may make their own engine.

News Stories

Crossbeam Studios Entertainment has participated in a number of interviews about the Orb game. The following is a compilation of articles and interviews about Orb that may give more information about the game.

External links

Wii-only games