Inner Worlds (video game)
A 1996 platformer with RPG elements starring a werewolf.
Inner Worlds is a 1996 platform game for Linux and MS-DOS by Sleepless Software. It incorporates fantasy role-playing game elements and focuses on a werewolf character named Nikita. The game follows her journey through a magical world fighting monsters and learning spells.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Sleepless Software
- Released
- 1996
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single player
- Platforms
- Linux, MS-DOS
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game appears as a typical platform game with levels grouped into three episodes, but includes many RPG elements. Episodes must be played in order, yet the level structure is not strictly linear, allowing some levels to be skipped and revisited later. Nikita can jump, run, fight monsters, and shapeshift into a wolf at any time if she has enough mana, granting access to otherwise unreachable areas. She collects weapons, keys, scrolls, potions, and other special items, some granting special abilities. Players can enchant their chosen weapon to change its power and behavior. Unlike many contemporary games, the main character grows stronger over time, not just through items. Amulets found on most levels increase maximum mana or health, and killing unusual monsters teaches spells for magical arrows or fireballs.
Plot
Before each level, lengthy text passages reveal the plot. The first episode, Wizard's World, follows Nikita as she journeys to Castle Drofanayrb—a name created by reversing programmer Bryan A. Ford's name—to vanquish Gralob, a monster spawned by a powerful mage that now terrorizes the land. In World of Change, the second episode, Nikita comes back to her home region to uncover and battle new terrors. The third episode, Heart of the World, has her entering a massive volcano for a final clash with dark forces.
Development
Inner Worlds was the debut project of Sleepless Software, which began as a trio based in Salt Lake City. The team eventually expanded to 27 members from nine different countries. What was planned as a single year of development stretched into three. The game’s music came from an online contest: each selected track earned its creator $100, while the grand prize of $1,000 went to Sweden’s Daniel Hansson for his piece Unplugged. Other winning composers hailed from Croatia, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Australia, the United States, and Finland.
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