Although details about the forthcoming Myth prequel, Myth III: The Wolf Age began to leak last week, game publisher Gathering of Developers officially announced the title’s development today. The game’s creation is being handled by a new developer called Mumbo Jumbo, headed by Ron Dimant and Mark Dochtermann, formerly of Ritual Entertainment.
Myth III is the newest installment in the franchise originally developed by Bungie Software. Bungie sold the Myth series to Gathering’s parent company, Take Two Interactive Software, following Bungie’s acquisition by Microsoft in 2000.
Set a millennium before the events in the original game, Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth III: The Wolf Age focuses on Connacht, emperor of the human lands, who saves mankind from otherwise certain destruction at the hands of the infamous Mykridia and Trow.
Although details about the game are still sketchy, Gathering of Developers indicates that Myth III will be a 3D realtime strategy (RTS) game featuring true 3D characters, procedural foliage, deformable terrain, network support, and an in-depth background story that’s become something of a trademark of the Myth series.
Irvine, Calif.-based developer Mumbo Jumbo’s employee roster will be familiar to Macintosh game fans — the company includes Scott Campbell, Patrick Hook, and Andrew Meggs, who will serve as the game’s lead developer. Meggs’ most recent claim to fame was his work on the Macintosh conversion of Ritual Entertainment’s Heavy Metal: FAKK 2. Campbell was lead designer of Fallout, a role-playing game published by Interplay. Hook is an experienced level designer who worked on Ritual games Sin and Heavy Metal: FAKK 2. The new team’s executive producer is Michael Donges, former games partnership manager at Apple.
Mumbo Jumbo president Mark Dochtermann pledged full Mac support for the new game.
“The Myth franchise is known for innovative content and gameplay,” said Dochtermann in a recent press release. “Myth III will continue this tradition and also support the latest 3D technologies available for Windows, Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.”
The legendary Myth franchise’s new lease on life comes with the full blessing of Alex Seropian, Bungie Software’s co-founder.
“The teams at Gathering and Mumbo Jumbo have a real appreciation for what made the first two Myth games great. We’re confident that their knowledge and experience will make Myth III a title that satisfies existing Myth fans and brings legions of new gamers into the fold,” said Seropian.
Gathering of Developers anticipates that Myth III: The Wolf Age will be released worldwide for the Mac and PC in November 2001.