Draft:Wrath of Earth (1995 video-game)

Wrath of Earth
Developer(s)	Addix Software Development, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Transend Services Ltd. SoftKey Multimedia Inc. Tewi Verlag GmbH CDV Software Entertainment AG
Producer(s)	Andrew Amess
Designer(s)	Dave Faller Mark Spink Andrew Amess Flez Chris Nurse Ian Brindle
Programmer(s)	Dave Faller Mark Spink
Artist(s)	Ian Brindle Claire Armstrong
Writer(s)	Nik Harding
Composer(s)	Allister Brimble
Platform(s)	MS-DOS
Release	1995
Genre(s)	First Person Shooter
Mode(s)	Single Player

Wrath of Earth is a 1995 sci-fi FPS game developed by Addix Software Development, Inc. and published by Transend Services Ltd. which incorporates traditional action-oriented mechanics with tactical decisions and interaction with the environment.

The player plays as a cybernetically enhanced fighter protected by a powered exoskeleton with mounted weaponry whose gender is up to the player who is sent to investigate a distress signal sent from the Aragon mining colony on a planet called Thermadax, taking five years to arrive to Earth.

Gameplay

The player's character is often underpowered, and running for cover to gain advantage over the foes is sometimes the only way to survive while their powered exoskeleton can recharge its power and repair itself using energy from a light source, effectively healing the player's character. Stepping out of the darkness to recharge becomes therefore another tactical decision.

The futuristic weapons include plasma cannons, warhead launchers, and others; some of them use the exoskeleton's power, while others require ammunition. Beside using these weapons to advance in the game, the player also must interact with the environment, collecting items and completing other tasks to bypass security. It is also possible to interact with the human survivors, who can provide weapons, energy packs, and important information since a few of the colonists are still alive.

Ambient temperature and radioactivity are present in the game, affecting the player's movement and the effectiveness of their weapons. Damaging the exoskeleton's shields will not only make the player more vulnerable, but also decrease their ability to aim and the rate of fire of their weapon. The powered exoskeleton can also be activated in different modes: in search mode, it displays a small map of the area, a compass, and a radar screen that indicates the presence of enemies whereas the attack mode is reserved for combat and the inventory mode allows the player to access items such as mines, keycards, etc.

Development

According to Dave Faller, the seeds were planted in 1991 when he got together with Mark Spink to develop teaching software for a university.

Faller had created a small GUI application for the biochemistry department and they worked together on some simple molecular modelling software for student use - 3D spheres and lines that could be edited with some constraints. The apps could not be sold to third parties and to supplement their income they created custom controls for Visual Basic (the first version, on Windows 3.1).

Out of the sphere code, Faller created a small game titled The Cage - essentially a 3D version of Asteroids in a box with a 3D polygon ship. It turned out to be impossible to play. Faller also developed a Wolfenstein-style engine but with added dynamic lighting. They contacted a few software publishers with the demo looking for funding to make a full game. At that point they saw a very early demo of which gave them the idea of doing levels with both internal and external elements. Eventually they got in contact with a local company called Transend who sold shareware. They did many of the cover 3.5" disks that magazines had at the time. It was run by Andrew Amess and the agreement was made to develop what would eventually become Wrath of Earth.

Towards the end of development, Addix was formed by the Transend owners to create and publish games and a second game, Merlin, a Gauntlet clone, was being developed alongside WoE. When WoE was released and was published, it did not do that well as DOOM had been released earlier. The rights were eventually sold to Softkey and according to Faller no one made any money off it. When the bottom fell out of the shareware business due to cover CDs and this thing called the internet, Transend and Addix closed down. The second game, Merlin, was never completed.

Dave Faller went on to do freelance work porting Transport Tycoon to the Mac and then worked for various game companies. Mark Spink left towards the end of the WoE project and returned to work at the university.