Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic or AOW:SM is a turn-based, strategy

Strategy

Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...

IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...

-game in a fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

setting.

Shadow Magic is the third incarnation of the Age of Wonders
Age of Wonders
Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy PC-game often likened to Master of Magic. Originally titled World of Wonders, the game incorporated several role-playing video game elements that were dropped when simultaneous turns were implemented...

series, and is a direct sequel to Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne
Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne
Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne is a turn-based, strategy PC-game in a fantasy setting. The first sequel to Age of Wonders, it was developed by Triumph Studios, a Dutch game developer.- Differences from Age of Wonders :...

. All three games were developed by Triumph Studios

Triumph Studios

Triumph Studios is a computer game development company based in Delft, the Netherlands, founded in 1997. It has developed several games for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.- Games :* Age of Wonders, released 31 October 1999...

, a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

game developer

Video game developer

A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...

Gameplay

The game features a world on three different levels, the Surface

Surface

In mathematics, specifically in topology, a surface is a two-dimensional topological manifold. The most familiar examples are those that arise as the boundaries of solid objects in ordinary three-dimensional Euclidean space R3 — for example, the surface of a ball...

, the Underground and the Shadow World. Scenarios may take place on one or more of these levels. The game can either be played in a simultaneous mode, wherein players move their units at the same time during a turn, and in a traditional turnbased mode. Note that both modes are still turnbased. The game is played both in an overworld

Overworld

An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....

mode, on which parties are moved and raised, structures are built and heroes are contracted, as well as a battle mode.

Wizards

The key element of the game are the Wizards

Wizard (character class)

The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...

. Wizards are very powerful at magic

Magic (gaming)

Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...

, but rather weak at close combat. Every player has one Wizard, each with a sphere of magic (Life, Death, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Cosmos and finally Chaos/Secret), which decides which spells the Wizard can research. Some Wizards have multiple spheres, but can only learn less advanced spells. Spells range from passive spells (for instance, blessing a unit with additional strengths), to direct spells (i.e. healing spells or attack spells), to summoning spells. Wizards are the only units in the game who can't level up

Level Up

Level Up was a UK children's TV programme that was broadcast on CBBC. It was launched on the 3rd April 2006, replacing Xchange. The show was an hour long and during the school year broadcasting from 7:30am until 8:30am...

or gain medals. Instead, they improve by researching new spells and skills.

Wizards have a domain, which is the area in which the Wizard can cast his spells. When a wizard is inside a wizard's tower, the radius of his domain is increased by several hexagons, and in addition a small domain is radiated around each hero, so it is usually best to keep wizards inside a tower at all times. Every village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

, town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

and city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

can build a Wizard Tower, and the Wizard only has to be inside one Wizard Tower, the other towers will also increase his domain.

Heroes

Wizards can also attract heroes. Heroes are the men and women who (preferably) lead your troops into battle

Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...

. Heroes, unlike Wizards, can level up. When they level up, the player can choose between three abilities for the hero to make them stronger. For example they can fire at range or improve the party morale

Morale

Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used to describe the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others...

. At a low level, they are rather vulnerable to other units, especially high tier units, so it is suggested to keep them a bit out of harm's way, for at a high level, they can become strong assets to a party, and can even destroy parties on their own. Their maximum level is 30.

When a Hero dies, you can only bring it back by using the reanimate or resurrect spell. When using the reanimate spell, the Hero will return to your Wizard's Seat as an Undead

Undead

Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...

hero.

Heroes can join you either by applying at one of your cities or parties, by being recruited at an Inn or similar building, or can be attained through the use of the "call hero" spell.

Regular Units

Regular units represent the majority of the units in the game. These units can be divided in four levels, based on the various buildings that are needed for creating them. Units can also be awarded medals, which are given independent of respective levels. The medals represent experience and give bonuses to unit statistics.

Multiplayer

Like both its predecessors the game was designed for singleplayer as well as multiplayer, and while the graphic engine is the same as in Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne, gameplay is improved and some important features are added. While every existing race in the game received at least one new recruitable unit and new buildings, 3 races are completely new. Much requested from the fans (and referred to in the forums as the "random map cult"), the game now offers a "Create Random Scenario" option. Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic can be played in multiplayer mode 3 different ways; 1) Joining via I.P (Internet Protocol) address 2) Joining via LAN (Local Area Network) connection 3) Play by Email. Check the forums at aow2.heavengames.com to meet people for multiplayer games or questions. 02.chat.mibbit.com/#AoW is a free browser chat room where players seeking online game play often meet. There are also numerous LAN networks established through a program called "Hamachi" that online players meet.

Settlements and other structures

There are many kinds of structures on the World Map. The most important ones are the cities and the structures that generate either gold or mana.

Cities come in four levels. The lowest level is the Outpost, which can only construct a Wooden Wall and the race's basic unit. The next stage, the Village, can build many more buildings. The other stages are Town and City. The stages differ in how fast they can build, and the income they generate.

Races and their Units

There are fifteen races in the game and these races are divided into five groups; pure good, good, evil, pure evil and neutral races.

		Pure Good	Good				Neutral					Evil				Pure Evil
Tier	Type	Archons	Dwarves	Elves	Halflings	Syrons	Draconians	Frostlings	Humans	Nomads	Tigrans	Dark Elves	Goblins	Orcs	Shadow Demons	Undead Undead Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
1	Basic	Militia	Axeman	Glade Runner	Peasant	Prospector	Hatchling	Snowscaper	Halberdier	Spearman	Shredder	Night Guard	Grunt	Impaler	Larva	Zombie Zombie Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
	Melee	Legionary Legionary The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign...	Berserker Berserker Berserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources...	Swordsman	Swordsman	Spellbinder	Charger	Swordsman	Swordsman	Barbarian Barbarian Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...	Hunter	Warrior Warrior A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...	Swordsman	Axeman	Spawn	Swordsman
	Range	Archer Archery Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...	Crossbowman	Archer	Slinger	Lightning Catcher	Flamer	Archer	Crossbowman	Horse Archer	Fire Cat	Archer	Darter	Archer	Bombard	Archer
2	Mystic	High Priest	High Priest	High Priest	High Priest	High Priest	Monk Monk A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...	Monk	Monk	Monk	Monk	Black Priest	Black Priest	Black Priest	Black Priest	Black Priest
	Cavalry	Paladin Paladin The paladins, sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, according to the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. They first appear in the early chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, where they represent Christian martial valor against the...	Boar Boar Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises... Rider	Scout Reconnaissance Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....	Pony Pony A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds... Rider	Rider	Slither	Raider Raid (military) Raid, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose and is not normally intended to capture and hold terrain, but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating to a previous defended position prior to the enemy forces being...	Light Cavalry Light cavalry Light cavalry refers to lightly armed and lightly armored troops mounted on horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the riders are heavily armored...	War Elephant War elephant A war elephant was an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks. A division of war elephants is known as elephantry....	Cat Master	Executioner	Wolf Rider	Heavy Cavalry Heavy cavalry Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...	Stag Mount	Death Knight
	Specialist	Avenger	Engineer Engineer An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...	Nymph Nymph A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...	Rogue	Shadow Runner	Crusher	Frost Witch	Swashbuckler Swashbuckler Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...	Djinn	Prowler	Blade Dancer	Butcher Butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...	Abomination	Skimmer	Vampire Vampire Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
3	Unique Unit (usually cavalry)	Chariot Chariot The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...	Mole Mole (animal) Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...	Iron Maiden	Sheriff Sheriff A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....	Giant Warrior	Flyer	Mammoth Mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair... Rider	Knight Knight A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....	Chieftain Chieftain Chieftain may refer to:The leader or head of a group:* a tribal chief or a village head.* a member of the 'House of chiefs'.* a captain, to which 'chieftain' is etymologically related.* Clan chief, the head of a Scottish clan....	Manticore Manticore The manticore is a legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. It has the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth , and a trumpet-like voice. Other aspects of the creature vary from story to story. It may be horned, winged, or both...	Spider Queen	Big Beetle Beetle Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...	Warlord	Harvester	Bone Horror
	Unique Unit (usually mystic)	Pegasus Pegasus Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing... Rider	Runemaster Runemaster A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones.Most early medieval Scandinavians were probably literate in runes, and most people probably carved messages on pieces of bone and wood. However, it was difficult to make runestones, and in order to master it one also needed to be a...	Druid Druid A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....	Eagle Eagle Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in... Rider	Changeling Changeling A changeling is a creature found in Western European folklore and folk religion. It is typically described as being the offspring of a fairy, troll, elf or other legendary creature that has been secretly left in the place of a human child. Sometimes the term is also used to refer to the child who...	Elder	Frostdrake Rider	Herbalist Herbalist An herbalist is:#A person whose life is dedicated to the economic or medicinal uses of plants.#One skilled in the harvesting and collection of medicinal plants ....	Slaver	Mystic	Shade Shade Shade is the blocking of sunlight by any object, and also the shadow created by that object. Shade also consists of the colors grey, black, white, etc...	Wyvern Wyvern A wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail... Rider	Shaman	Brain	Spectre Ghost In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
	Expansion Unique	Saint Saint A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...	Gargoyle Gargoyle In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...	Treeman Treant Treants are creatures found in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.Treants are sentient trees with human characteristics. They are typically portrayed as protectors of the forests and antagonists to industrialization and despoiling of nature...	Centaur Centaur In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...	Astral Sprite	Hydra Lernaean Hydra In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was an ancient nameless serpent-like chthonic water beast, with reptilian traits, that possessed many heads — the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint, and for each head cut off it grew two more — and poisonous breath so virulent even...	Yeti Yeti The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...	Chaplain Chaplain Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...	Pit Guard	Beholder Beholder The beholder is a fictional monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It resembles a floating orb of flesh with a large mouth, single central eye, and lots of smaller eyestalks on top with deadly magical powers....	Succubus Succubus In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...	Troll Troll A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...	Doom Bats	Spirit	Necromancer
4	Ultimate	Titan	Steam Tank	Fairy Dragon	Leprechaun Leprechaun A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...	Forceship	Red Dragon Dragon A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...	Doom Wolf	Airship	Roc	Sphinx Sphinx A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...	Incarnate	Karagh	Glutton	Shadow Lord	Dread Reaper

Summonable Units:
Level 1:
Black Spider, Dire Boar, Hell Hound, Lurker, Parasite, Unicorn, Wolf, Zeyphr

Level 2:
Chaos Spawn, Dire Penguin. Dragon Hatchling, Efreet, Fairy, Magic Servant, Minotaur, Northern Glow, Water Dancer

Level 3:
Air, Earth, Fire, and Water Elementals, Bone Dragon.

Level 4:
Angel, Black Angel, Basilisk, Black Dragon, Chaos Lord, Gold Dragon, Great Wyrm, Ice Dragon, Phoenix

Availability

For several years Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic was only available from third party sources such as Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

and eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

or through illicit means . On September 13'th 2010 it was announced with some excitement that the entire franchise will be re-released on Stardock's

Stardock

Stardock Corporation is a software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Stardock initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but was forced to switch to Windows due to the collapse of the OS/2 software market between 1997 and 1998...

Impulse. http://aow2.heavengames.com/
On September 24'th 2010 it was announced that the trilogy will also be made available via GOG Good Old Games and GamersGate

GamersGate

GamersGate AB is a Sweden-based online video game store offering PC games, Mac games and electronic guides via direct download. It is a competitor to online video game services such as Valve's Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse....

. http://www.triumphstudios.com/press3.php. As of 10/11/2010, all three games in the series are available on Steam. As of June 2011, all three are available on GOG (Good Old Games).http://store.steampowered.com/news/4470/

Development

Shadow Magic was probably planned as an expansion pack

Expansion pack

An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...

for Age of Wonders 2: The Wizard's Throne, but was published as a stand-alone game instead.

The game was unofficially developed furtherhttp://www.triumphstudios.com/shadowmagic/communityupdate.php by a fan-community. There is a further update planned.

Age of Wonders Email Wrapper

The Age of Wonders games were released in a time where most ISPs provided open SMTP servers, not requiring explicit authentication or any encryption. These days, and since the age of SPAM, those kinds of SMTP servers are rare. The development of SMTP servers over time effectively broke the play by email automatic-send function of the game. Players could still use the manual sending option, to use their own email client, but this involved manual repetitious actions for each game played.

Recently though a group of Age of Wonders fans have been working together to develop an application to restore the automatic send ability. The Age of Wonders Email Wrapper is a lightweight application that is run on the same PC as the game. It works by emulating an open SMTP server and accepting SMTP requests from the game.

When the game sends an email it will connect to the Age of Wonders Email Wrapper, as it would a real server, to send the email. The Wrapper then receives the email and sends it out over the internet using a modern SMTP server specified by the user and with whatever authentication or encryption is necessary.

The Wrapper can also download email games from IMAP and POP3 email accounts. So it essentially encapsulates the entire Email functionality of the game.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.