Myth (series)

***Myth: The Fallen Lords*** and ***Myth II: Soulighter*** were developed and self-published by Bungie Software between 1997 and 1999. As a result of Bungie's sale to Microsoft in 2000 the company lost the franchise rights to Take 2 Interactive. Take Two would release *Myth III: The Wolf Age* in 2001 by MumboJumbo.

The *Myth* games were a departure from established standards laid down by titles such as Warcraft and Command & Conquer in that resource retrieval and unit construction were entirely removed; in their places were squad- and soldier-level tactics. Some have argued that this has given the game a far greater sense of realism than its contemporaries. Reviewers have cited the series' (at the time) revolutionary use of 3D environments, its use of weather effects, and its realistic physics engines as reasons for this. To many, Myth set the standard for the type of strategy that the Total War series of games made popular.

The games were also remarkable for depth of free multiplayer support, intense and continuing fan activity on the web (including a wide range of fan-created mods), and simultaneous Macintosh and Windows development and release.

## General

Players control small forces made up of a number of different units possessing their own strengths and weaknesses. In the single player game, these were limited to units representing 'The Light'; but multiplayer allowed players to control units from both sides of the conflict.

Unlike many other strategy games available at the time of its release, Myth's combat does not focus on the collection of resources and the building of armies. In contrast to the "meat grinder" style of some games - it is possible for a skilled player to defeat a much larger force with few or no casualties. This is, largely, due to the advanced physics engine the game employs. Physically modelled environments, unit interactions, and diverse unit behaviours combine to create a gameplay experience in which realistic battlefield interactions can and do occur.

Myth employs a sophisticated physics engine which greatly affects gameplay. Nearly all objects on the map, even the remains of dead units, are potential projectiles. These objects react with one another, units on the map, and terrain with nearly all expected physical behaviour; including rolling, bouncing, and crashing. Projectiles, including those fired by ranged units, have no guarantee of hitting any target; they are merely propelled in the directions instructed by the physics engine, based on the actions of the players. Arrows may miss their targets due to a randomly small degree of simulated aiming error that becomes significant at long range; or the target may simply move out of the way if the arrow’s flight time is particularly long. This aiming error may cause the arrow to hit the attacker’s own melee unit instead, causing the same amount of damage as friendly fire is a permanent aspect of the game at all times.

Formations of units are tactically important in Myth because individual units occupy physical space, and thus no two units can occupy or cross the same physical space at the same time. When placed together in formation, units can provide an effective defensive front; block an enemy force’s escape route; or exploit bad positioning of an enemy force by surrounding it. Since healing is a rare ability; units do not regenerate health; and there is no way to construct new units, hit and run skirmishes are effective and unit conservation is essential. In light of this, each point of damage can be significant.

Terrain and environmental factors are also important. Rain or standing water will put out some fire or explosive based attacks. Archers on the high ground are able to shoot farther than those on level ground. Most units will flinch when damaged, interrupting actions such as movement and attacks. This has many strategic implications: for example, if two or three melee units gang up to attack one enemy melee unit, it may flinch too frequently to have the chance to attack or escape.

Each unit has a name and gains individual experience for each kill it makes, with some monstrous units being worth more experience than smaller units. Experience increases attack rate and accuracy, as well as (for units with shields) the probability of blocking an attack. All else being equal, an experienced army will destroy a comparable force of fresh units.

Blood permanently stains the terrain and bodies do not decay. This blood-ground-smear gives battles in Myth a gritty, gory, unsanitized feel. The events of battles can be deduced from battlefield detritus, which is important in multiplayer free-for-all games and some single-player missions. Explosions and fire also scorch the landscape, and any blast may launch any debris outward, possible causing damage to nearby units.

## Story

*Copied from Mythipedia.*

In the World of Myth, the forces of Light and Dark rule the world successively in a thousand-year cycle which has repeated since before recorded history. Every cycle climaxes in the arrival of The Leveler, whose approach (and fall) is heralded by an ominous comet that appears in the sky every thousand years. The Leveler inhabits the body of the hero who defeated him in the previous cycle—thus the hero who saves the civilization is doomed to destroy it.

### Historical Context

A thousand years before the events of Myth, the world of Myth was plagued by the Myrkridia, a savage race of wolf-like beings. They devoured entire armies and erased cities from the face of the world. So many died at their hands that the Myrkridia created enormous platforms crafted of skulls as monuments to their massacres. After keeping the world in fear for hundreds of years, most of the Myrkridia were imprisoned in an artifact called the Tain by a great hero, Connacht, who then hunted the survivors to extinction. Not stopping there, Connacht turned his eyes to the Trow civilization. These ancient giants had, since the dawn of time, terrorized neighboring races. The Trow enslaved their lesser brethren, the Oghres, and forced them to build their iron citadels. Around the time of Connacht, the Oghres rebelled against the Trow, and the rebellion ended with the extermination of the Oghres and the decline of the Trow civilization. Connacht, knowing the threat the Trow would eventually pose to humanity, took advantage of their weakened state and melted the iron cities of the Trow into the ice of the north, entombing the giants in molten metal. During this time, he also imprisoned the Watcher, an evil and powerful necromancer, beneath the Cloudspine mountain range. Most importantly, he defeated Mjarin, the incarnation of the Leveler, and thus ushered in a new age of peace and prosperity. Connacht eventually became the emperor of the Cath Bruig Empire, the greatest of the human civilizations.

Connacht ruled the Cath Bruig Empire at the start of its golden age. During this time, he systematically destroyed or hid every major magical artifact he could get his hands on. At the end of his reign, Connacht vanished. No one knew for certain what happened to him - whether he had died, or lived on through magical means. What is certain, though, is that at some point, Connacht was possessed by the spirit of the Leveler. Thus, Connacht became Balor. With the knowledge of Connacht in his possession, Balor freed The Watcher from his prison and enslaved him. He then enslaved Damas, who had once been a lieutenant of Connacht, but had since become a corrupt and evil immortal. Damas became known as Soulblighter. Sometime in this time frame, Balor also enslaved Myrdred the The Deceiver, as well as the sorceress Shiver, previously known as Ravanna. Balor then freed the Trow from their iron prisons, and forced them into his service. The Ghôls, subservient to the Trow, also rallied to his side. Balor then bade his time, slowly gathering his forces, waiting until the end of the cycle to strike. Three hundred years before the events of Myth, Balor turned the Myrmidon race away from the light with a promise of immortality. Around 200 years later, he finally struck against the Cath Bruig Empire. Balor's strength was so overwhelming that the current cycle looked to be the final one. The only race powerful enough to stand up to the embodiment of the Leveler, the Trow, was now in his service. Combining these forces with the undead armies he could raise, the final victory of Balor seemed imminent. He would finally succeed in scouring all life from the face of the world.

Fifty years before the events of Myth, the capital of the Cath Bruig Empire, Muirthemne, was sacked and destroyed by Balor and his lieutenants, now known as the Fallen Lords. The once-fertile farmlands surrounding the city became a desert known as The Barrier. All human civilization east of the Cloudspine mountain range, from the Twelve Duns to Gower, and south to the borders of Forest Heart, was eradicated. Simultaneously, the Dwarven city of Myrgard was captured by the Ghôls (with the assistance of the Fallen Lords) and the Dwarven city of Stoneheim entombed itself rather than face a similar fate. The entire surviving Dwarven population became refugees in the lands west of the Cloudspine, known The Province. With the lone exception of Forest Heart, the entire world east of the Cloudspine was now controlled by Balor. Thirty-three years later, the Fallen Lords crossed the Cloudspine into the Province and began laying waste to the cities therein. Covenant, the capital of the Province, fell two decades later, and the last southern city of Tyr was sacked and destroyed a decade after that, leaving only the Free Cities of the North to stand against Balor.

### *Myth: The Fallen Lords*

The basic storyline of Myth involves a war between the human civilization of the world and entities known as the Fallen Lords, a group of seven Warlord sorcerer-generals that arose to drag civilization into ruins. The game opens in the seventeenth year of the Province's war against the Fallen Lords, a war humanity is losing. The principal western cities, Scales, Covenant and Tyr, were razed during the war, and only the free cities of Madrigal and Tandem still stand against the Fallen Lords. The armies of the west are led by The Nine, a group of nine Avatara sorcerer-generals. The known members of the Nine include the leader Alric (the former King of the Southern Provinces), Cu Roi, Rabican, Murgen and Maeldun. They've recently found a living severed head buried in the Barrier, which they believe can turn the tide of the war with the Fallen Lords. The Fallen Lords are six powerful wizards enslaved by Balor. The known ones include Soulblighter (Damas), The Deceiver (Myrdred), The Watcher (probably Bahl'al), and Shiver (Ravanna) - the names of the other two are not revealed in the series. Their leader is Balor, previously the hero Connacht, now the Leveler. The Head claims to be an ancient enemy of Balor's, and the Nine intend to use the intelligence it provides to their strategic advantage.

The Legion represents the elite within the armies of the west, and the gameplay centers around the actions of the Legion.

### Myth II: Soulblighter

60 years after the Great War and the fall of Balor the Leveler, the remaining armies of The Province led by Alric have managed to restore their lands, with the once fallen city of Madrigal now standing as the capital. The forces of the Dark are only a few scattered remnants, however, the fate of Balor's general - Soulblighter, remains unknown.

### *Myth III: The Wolf Age*

*Myth III: The Wolf Age* is set 1000 years before Myth and tells the tale of Connacht the Wolf, a barbarian warrior from the lands of Gower and his rise to power during the Wind Age, an era of savagery during which the Myrkridia ran freely across the land, almost totally annihilating humanity. No-one who had ever fought the Myrkridia had survived, and with nobody to stop them the Myrkridia spread throughout the land. Only two human civilisations still remained; the isolated, barbarian lands of Gower to the East and the great city of Llancarfan.

The Leveler returns once again, using the body of Tireces the Immortal, the person who killed him a millennium ago and names himself Moagim, The Faceless Terror. Moagim begins to raise an army, including the colossal Trow, as well as Bahl'al, the most adept Necromancer in all the land to crush the last remaining parts of humanity.

## Releases

* ***Myth: The Fallen Lords***
* ***Myth II: Soulblighter***
* ***Myth II: Chimera*** - An eight level expansion pack for Myth II: Soulblighter developed by the Badlands map making group, with the support of Bungie Software.
* ***Myth: The Total Codex*** - A Myth compilation package released by Bungie Software on November 15,1999. It consists of *Myth: The Fallen Lords*, *Myth II: Soulblighter*, *Myth II: Chimera* by Badlands, strategy guides for both Myth games, and a variety of plugins created by fans within the community. Visit Mythipedia for more information.
* ***Green Berets: Powered by Myth II*** - A ten level total conversion plugin for Myth II: Soulblighter made by a collective of map makers going by the name of GB Dev Team. It was originally published by Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. in July 30, 2001 before it was later made free for download.
* ***Myth II: Worlds*** - A three disc Myth compilation package published by Take-Two Interactive in October 2, 2001, one month before the release of Myth III: The Wolf Age. It consists of *Myth II: Soulblighter*, and a variety of plugins created by fans within the community.
* ***Myth III: The Wolf Age*** - A 2001 prequel to Myth: The Fallen Lords developed by MumboJumo and co-published by Take Two and MacSoft for Mac OS. Visit Mythipedia for more information.
* ***Myth: Antologia*** - A full compilation of the Myth series published by Gathering of Developers on May 19, 2006 exclusively in Poland.

## Media

**Concept Art**

Concept Art can be found on Bungie's website via archive.org.

**Print Art**

Print Art can be found on Bungie's website via archive.org.

**Screenshots**

Screenshots can be found on Bungie's website via archive.org.

**Wallpapers**

Wallpapers can be found on Bungie's website via archive.org.

## Related Links

* Mythipedia
* Myth.Bungie.org
* Project Magma
* The Tain, your total access to 3rd party plugins!
* What is Myth?
* Gate of Storms Myth II server and online community
* Mariusnet.com Myth server and online community
* Bungie.net (archive.org) Project Home