What kind of game is Dungeon Siege?
How many hours of game play does Dungeon Siege contain?
Who is creating Dungeon Siege?
Who is publishing Dungeon Siege?
When will Dungeon Siege be available?
Is there a monthly fee?
What is the Siege Engine?
Is there a demo version of Dungeon Siege available?

What’s the back-story?
How is the main character involved?
Where does Dungeon Siege take place?
How can there be no loading screens?
What will the world look like?
What kind of lighting is there?
Will buildings or terrain block the player's view?
Will there be weather?
How will time pass?
What will the world sound like?
Who will be in the world?

How are new characters created?
Are there any differences in gameplay between male and female characters?
Are there classes in the game?
How are characters developed further?
How are new party members gained?
Are there quests in the game?
Is there a journal to keep track of quest progress?
Are there optional quests?
How will potions work?
Are there stores for buying new equipment?
Can more than one person interact with a shopkeeper at a time?
What does the Packmule add to game play?

How is the game controlled?
What are the elements of the user interface (UI)?
Can the camera be controlled?
Can the game be paused?
Can commands be issued while the action is paused?
Can the game be saved at any point?
How is trading handled?
Is there an in game map?
Can inanimate objects be interacted with?
Are there in game movies?
How is loot collected?
How does inventory work?
Will party members regain mana and health over time?
Does the starting character have to survive to the end to win?
Can hotkeys be customized?
Can hotkeys for weapon selections be set?
Can hotkeys for party grouping be set?
Are there piercing attacks?
Are there difficulty settings?
Are there maximum levels to skills?
Is there a gore setting?
What are the minimum system specifications?
Can screenshots be taken?
Can the level of detail be set?
What resolutions are supported?
Will the GameVoice work with Dungeon Siege?
Can the green rings at the characters' feet be turned off?

What types of Armor can be worn?
Will special armor have magical modifiers on them?
What types of weapons are available in Dungeon Siege?
How does archery work?
How do the characters get better at Melee and Ranged attacks?
Can formations be selected?
Can the game be played through with just a single character?
Can waypoints be set?
Can party members be set to follow or guard others?
Can the party be split up?
Can party members be disbanded?
What happens when a party member falls unconscious?
What happens when a party member dies?
What happens when the entire party dies?

Are there different schools of magic?
Can characters use more than one school of magic?
Can a character use magic even if most of the game has been played solely as a fighter or archer?
How do characters get better at spell casting?
Are there area-of-effect spells?
Is there a way to know how much longer a spell will last?
Can spell durations be reset by recasting?
How are new spells found?
Will some spells automatically be cast?
Can creatures be summoned?
Are there spells to enhance character attributes or skills?
Are there spells to enhance armor class or to imbue special armor abilities?
How many spells can be held by a single character?
Are there spell scrolls castable by anyone, even without any magic skills?

What kinds of monsters are there?
Do all creatures attack?
How smart are the monsters?
Can monsters use magic?
Do creatures ever retreat?
Will the weapons that creatures use be dropped when they die?

How can other players be found?
Can Dungeon Siege be played over a LAN?
Can Dungeon Siege be played with direct connect?
How many people can play?
How many characters can one person play?
Can NPCs or Packmules be hired in multiplayer?
What is Multiplayer World?
What types of games can be played in multiplayer?
Can there be timed games?
Can the single player world be played through in multiplayer?
Can Dungeon Siege be played cooperatively or with teams?
How is experience shared in multiplayer?
Can multiplayer games be password protected?
Can the host kick or ban troublesome players?
Can single player characters be used in multiplayer?
How is death handled in multiplayer?
What happens if one of the players gets dropped mid game?
Can a multiplayer game be joined in progress?
Are there quests in multiplayer and are they different from the single player world?
Can players kill other players in multiplayer?

What is the Siege Editor?
How is the Siege Editor made available?
Is the Siege Editor free?
How can someone learn to use the Siege Editor?
What is Skrit?
How can someone learn Skrit?
Are any special programs needed to write Skrit?
What is SiegeFX?
How can someone learn to create SiegeFX?
What is gmax?
How are creations exported from gmax into Dungeon Siege?
Can custom sounds and music for Dungeon Siege be used?
Can custom items be created?
Can custom in game movies be created?
How is Dungeon Siege data stored?
What is a Siegelet?
 

Dungeon Siege is an action Fantasy Role Playing Game (FRPG) that takes place in a continuous and gigantic fully 3D world. The design philosophy is to combine the immersive qualities of a FRPG model with over-the-top combat and non-stop action. Starting with a single character, the player adventures throughout the world, adding as many as 7 additional characters to their party along the journey and developing their skills in any way they see fit.

The single player component of Dungeon Siege will contain 30-60 hours of game play. The multiplayer world is even larger than single player, which will add many more hours of gaming. And after the characters have gained enough skill levels in regular mode, the player can continue to build those characters in Veteran and Elite mode. In addition user created content can extend the playing time of Dungeon Siege indefinitely.

Dungeon Siege is created by Gas Powered Games. Chris Taylor, creator of the award-winning Total Annihilation(tm), founded Gas Powered Games in May 1998. Located in the Pacific Northwest, GPG is a short distance from Seattle, Washington. With a team currently numbering over 30, GPG is devoted to creating immersive games that push technological boundaries. Click here to view the GPG team page.

Dungeon Siege is published by Microsoft.

Dungeon Siege was released on April 5^th, 2002 in the United States. International release dates are listed on the Microsoft Dungeon Siege site.

There is no monthly fee for Dungeon Siege. Once the game is purchased there are no additional costs.

The Siege Engine is a custom 3D engine completely built from the ground up by GPG engineers. The Siege Engine allows for the creation of fully 3D worlds that limitlessly extend in any direction.

Yes! The player will be able to experience the first 10% of the game in single player mode (about 3-5 hours of gameplay) and in multiplayer mode. The trial version allows would-be adventurers to explore locales such as the Ancient Crypts and the besieged town of Stonebridge. Armed with a melee weapon, bow, or magical spells, players will be able to experience a small portion of this lush, 3-D world alone or with friends online. Download locations can be found at the Microsoft Dungeon Siege site.

The background and story for Dungeon Siege was written and conceived by award winning writer Neal Hallford.

At the western frontier of a long-dead Empire, a thriving kingdom has so far avoided the catastrophic fate of their Imperial predecessor. But, when primitive scavengers known as the Krug begin forming armies to pillage the countryside, it becomes clear that someone or something has initiated a turn for the worse.

The life of a humble farmer is irrevocably changed as peaceful farmlands are beset by marauding Krug, casting the character, and all that is held dear, into a desperate struggle for survival.

The call to glory is one that only the simple farmer is uniquely qualified to answer. Courage and wits may be all that holds the kingdom from the brink of disaster. The player must quickly decide how best to unlock the mysteries and challenges that may unfold, and whether to seek the assistance of other heroes or head out into the world alone.

Dungeon Siege takes place in the Kingdom of Ehb, a land rich in history. Here is a short introduction:

Only three hundred years old, the Kingdom of Ehb is one of the youngest states bordering the Plain of Tears. First settled as a trading outpost on the fringes of the Empire of Stars, Ehb later achieved temporary status as a military protectorate and province when the 10th Legion migrated westward. After the catastrophic War of Legions led to the collapse of the Empire, the stunned province of Ehb was set on an irrevocable course toward independence and kingship. Protected by a ring of superb fortifications and heir to the 10th Legion-arguably one of the best trained armies in the world-the Kingdom of Ehb has, so far, been shielded from the raids and invasions that have devastated many of its neighboring states on the Plain.

Within Ehb's borders, there is an astonishing diversity in geography and cultures. Most inhabitants worship Azunai, an ancient god of the pre-Imperial Agallan Peaks. Dwarves and men live together in harmony and bow to the same king. Sorcerers are also more accepted than in other countries, thanks in large part to the efforts of Merik, Grand Mage and Warden of Shadows of the 10th Legion. And in the heart of the kingdom, a strange and often contrary race called the Droog is allowed a degree of autonomy, despite its sometimes troublesome alliances.

It is a country in search of an identity, caught between the glories of a fallen past and the potential for an even greater future. Despite several crises, Ehb has never fallen to an enemy. But at any time the course of events could turn down a bleaker path.

The Siege Engine uses a sophisticated technique we call continuous world technology. As the player moves through the world, terrain, objects, sounds, items, weapons, monsters, everything that can be seen and interacted with, is continuously being loaded into the computer's memory so the player can interact with it. Then, as the player advances even further into the world, areas which are no longer visible are released from the computer's memory, and only important information is maintained in the event the player chooses to explore those areas again. A close analogy to this is the way music is streamed off of a music CD, but unlike music streaming technology the Siege engine allows the player to move about in a 3D world and head in any direction they choose, including straight up or down.

The Siege Engine allows for almost any kind of fantasy world to be created. This includes terrain and structures that can extend from the deepest dungeons to the highest mountaintops. The worlds we have created for Dungeon Siege, the Kingdom of Ehb and the Utraean Peninsula, have both been handcrafted and detailed with lush forests, and dark and gloomy dungeons, and of course populated with creatures good and bad. In designing these worlds we aimed to take the player on a fantastic journey to the most outrageous and exotic locations that we could think of, including massive ice caverns and hot deserts with deep chasms and incredible vistas.

The world of Dungeon Siege is lit by an ambient light that changes with the time of day. In addition to the outdoor day and night cycle, there are several kinds of indoor lighting systems. First there is a static lighting system to illuminate a room with specific color to match the mood, and a dynamic lighting system for spells and other moving light sources. Each of these systems was designed to provide a balance between performance, flexibility and visual effect. The Siege Engine also supports negative lights, which allow the designers even greater creativity when looking for a specific type of light effect.

Trees and bushes will automatically fade out of view as the player travels or moves the camera. The roof and upper floors will gently fade away when buildings are entered. Similarly the world above will slowly fade away when dungeons and mines are entered. Passageways and doors will automatically fade out of the way to provide a clear view.

The Siege Engine allows for rain, fog, snow, smoke, sunrays, and more. The Siege Engine is very versatile at setting the mood in the world using visual environmental effects. This all boils down to a more immersive and enjoyable gaming experience.

Time moves faster at a rate corresponding to 1.5 minutes of real time per one hour of game time.

The audio landscape of Dungeon Siege is as rich as the visual landscape. With a backdrop of orchestral music created by the award winning Jeremy Soule the player will hear the sound of the rain falling, wind whistling through the trees, the battle cries of their foe, and the crackle of a spell as the player battles their way through the Kingdom of Ehb. Frank Bry, a highly respected and veteran sound designer, is providing the rich tapestry of sound effects that cover the expanse of the huge Kingdom of Ehb. For those with sound cards that support EAX, the sounds are enhanced to create an even richer experience.

Throughout the player's travels will be many friendly and hospitable folk, and a wide variety of monsters. Some of these friendly people may join the player's party, while others may be shopkeepers or various townsfolk. Besides a variety of friendly NPC's there is a huge number of evil monsters that the player will encounter spread throughout the world, from snow covered mountains to dark and treacherous dungeons. These evil creatures can fly, swim, crawl... and come climbing right out of the ground.

Dungeon Siege aims to get players into the game right away and allow them to get in there and have fun. Creating a character is as simple as picking a name and the character's appearance.

Both males and females are equally powerful in Dungeon Siege.

Dungeon Siege has been built around what we call a skill-based class system. The player decides what the characters do, and depending on which types of weapons or spells they use, their skills will increase. The class is chosen as these skills are developed and will change dynamically as the character continually grows and accumulates experience.

When the player's character starts out, it has an equivalent amount of strength, dexterity and intelligence. The starting character will also have no experience in any of the base melee, ranged, nature magic, and combat magic skill types. From the beginning of the game forward, the character will develop by actions taken during play. For instance, if the player wants to develop the character into a fighter, they must use a sword or other melee weapon. If they would like to develop into one of the archery classes, then they would keep using a bow or other ranged weapon in order to become proficient at archery. And if the player decides to change his or her mind halfway through the game and would like to start developing the fighter or archer into a sophisticated hybrid character, that's possible too. Our goal was to allow the player freedom to make these choices any time throughout the game.

Other adventurers that are willing to join the hero's party can be found in towns, in dungeons, and in many other places, some are for hire, while others are willing to join the quest at no charge. The player can also hire Packmules to carry goods. A party may have up to a total of eight members which would include the main character and any Packmules that may have been hired.

Quests play a key role in Dungeon Siege as they propel the player through the mysterious events that have taken place in the Kingdom of Ehb. The are also a number of optional side quests that exist in the single and multi-player campaigns.

Yes, there is a journal to keep track of the important quests that may be given to your party. The journal can be accessed by using the "j" key or by clicking on the journal icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

Absolutely! There are many optional quests and secret areas to find for the adventurous. Optional quests are not central to the storyline but serve to enrich the world and allow for further advancement of your party.

Drinking a potion will restore the character's health and/or mana. When a potion is consumed, only the amount that is needed will be used. By implementing a system we jokingly call our "Potion Sipping Technology", we return the player to the fun aspects of playing, and remove the unnecessary worry about wasting potion on a character that doesn't need it, especially when caught up in the heat of battle.

The shopkeepers spread throughout the Kingdom of Ehb are more than happy to buy old equipment and sell whatever they have in stock. If a character accidentally buys or sells an item or simply wishes to try a weapon out, the shopkeeper will give a full refund of money spent so long as the character hasn't wandered too far off from the shop. The shopkeep is also happy to return equipment that was accidentally sold, as the shopping experience has been designed to be flexible and fun.

When visiting stores the player can switch between individual character inventories as much as desired without having to leave the store interface. When playing the multi-player game, multiple players can shop at the same store at the same time also.

Packmules can carry three times the amount of any one of the other characters. If a Packmule becomes cornered, he will defend himself with swift kicks from his hind legs.

The game is controlled primarily with a mouse, onscreen menu buttons and a set of keyboard commands. By clicking the mouse to move, fight or equip items, the game interface has been designed to provide a clean and efficient mechanism to control the characters in the game. Everything from buying and selling items, loading the party's Packmule, or adjusting the in-game options can all be controlled easily with clicks from the mouse. For advanced players there are hotkeys that can do most of these same commands in a single keystroke as well. These keys can be assigned in any way that the player wants, and even mapped to mice with extra buttons. All game functions can be assigned to two different sets of keys, to make it even extra convenient to issue a command during combat.

The user interface for Dungeon Siege has been designed to be very intuitive and allow for easy customization of how much or how little is visible at any time. The UI contains character portraits, current weapon, a compass, loot button, and icons for health potions, mana potions, pause, map, journal, menu, and a tag for toggling item names on and off. There are also buttons for displaying or hiding the inventory, all four weapon hot slots, formations, attack stance, and the compass. The player can drag the character portraits up and down to change their position in the current formation.

The inventory contains spaces for a melee weapon, ranged weapon, helm, armor, boots, gauntlets, shield, spell book, four rings, and an amulet. The player can also view a rotatable model of what each character will look like in their gear by clicking and dragging the view button from within the inventory. Items can be easily transferred into and out of the inventory and even between party members or at stores. The spell book can be opened from within the inventory. It contains slots for twelve spells, two of which will also be shown in your current weapon hot slots. To learn more about each item in the inventory simply roll the mouse over the item and an information tool tip will appear.

At the very bottom of the screen is an area for displaying text, this is where we display roll-over help. The player can look here to see the details of any party member's health, mana, and time remaining on spells. Mousing over creatures will show similar information. In addition, information on how to use an item will be displayed in the same area.

Using either the mouse or the keyboard the player can zoom in and out, rotate the camera from left to right, and tilt the camera up and down.

The action can be paused at any time by simply hitting the spacebar or clicking the pause icon located in the lower left hand corner of the screen. All monsters and player characters are frozen in that moment of time until the game is unpaused.

Commands can be issued while the game is paused, allowing the player to lay out a plan of attack. When the spacebar is hit again, time will begin right where it left off and the party will follow the issued commands.

Yes. The game can be saved by hitting the escape key and selecting Save. There is also a hotkey for quick saves.

In Single player the inventories of desired party members can be opened, even all eight at once, allowing the player to simply drag items from one inventory to another. Multiplayer has a secure in-game trading system.

Hitting the "tab" key will bring up an in game map. The map displays an overhead view containing the terrain, player characters, any monsters, and any loot that may be on the ground. The entire game could actually played from the overhead map if so desired.

There are many inanimate objects to interact with, such as chests, barrels, tombs, torches, levers, switches, doors, and bookcases. Chests and barrels can be broken and some may yield items that will fall to the ground. Some may also contain traps or be explosive so be careful when destroying them.

Dungeon Siege contains story sequences, that tell the story as you play through the game. There are no loading screens for these special sequences and they are completely rendered in game. A story sequence will run at special times when an important milestone in the game has been met or when the party meets a key character in the world who assigns a quest or triggers a quest completion.

Items will fall to the ground when an object is opened or when creatures are killed. The player can simply hit the "z" key and party members will automatically pick up all of the items on the ground until their inventory is full. Clicking on the "loot" icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen will do the same thing. Another option is to click directly on the object or drag select them and drag them to the desired party member.

Each character has a sizable inventory that can be brought up with the "i" key or by clicking the portrait of the party member. Items in a character's inventory can be automatically arranged to save space by pressing the "k" key or clicking on the arrangement icon at the top left of the inventory panel. Any number of inventories can be open at a time allowing the player to easily drag items from one to another. Once a character's inventory is full items can no longer be picked up until free space is made by arranging the existing items, or by dropping an unwanted item.

Yes, as time passes each character will regain lost health and mana. This is useful for the times that your party may be running low on potions.

The only thing necessary to win the game is to end up with at least one surviving party member, not including Packmules.

Inside the game's option menu panel there is an area that will allow the player to assign hotkeys to any of the game commands. Both primary and secondary keys for the same command can be set.

There are four weapon slots that will contain selected melee, ranged, nature and combat magic spells. By hitting the numbers 1-4 the player can have the entire party switch to the appropriate slot. For more flexibility the player may set the desired weapon for each party member and then use "Ctrl" and a number to select a weapon hotkey selection. For instance, the player can set up two characters to use bows and another two to use nature magic by hitting "Ctrl" and "1" simultaneously. Then this setup could be called up immediately by simply hitting "1".

Similar to the way that weapon hotkeys work, the player can also set up each member or group of members of a party to unique groups by using Ctrl and a function key. From that time forward the subgroup can be selected immediately by pressing the function key.

Yes, some magical weapons are capable of inflicting piercing attacks. A piercing attack does the full damage listed; the opponent's armor doesn't block any of the damage.

There are three levels of difficulty in Dungeon Siege - easy, normal, and hard. The level of difficulty can be changed at any point in the game.

The maximum limit for any one skill is 150. A character may have a piece of equipment that raises a particular skill higher than 150 but no additional benefits will be realized above 150.

The blood color and gore level can be set from within the options menu. This option can be accessed at the beginning or at any other time during the game.

Dungeon Siege can be played on a PC with a 333 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM and an 8 MB Graphics Card. However, thanks to our dynamic Level of Detail technology, Dungeon Siege will be able to scale to take advantage of much higher end PCs.

A screenshot can be taken by hitting the "Print Screen" button. Holding down "shift" while pressing "Print Screen" will take a screenshot free of user interface elements. The screenshots will be saved to the hard drive and a message will appear to indicate that the screenshot has been successfully saved.

Level of detail settings can be selected from the options screen under video. Shadow complexity, texture filtering, and gamma correction can also be set.

Dungeon Siege will support resolutions of 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768 at both 16 and 32 bit color depths.

Dungeon Siege will support GameVoice for audio, chatting, and voice commands.

Yes, the rings can be turned on and off by hitting the "Enter" key and then typing "+rings" or "-rings".

Players first begin Dungeon Siege with only the shirt on their back but from there they will discover many different types of armor for protection. Each character can be equipped with body armor, boots, gloves, a helm, and a shield. There are hundreds of variations of armor so each character in either the single player or multiplayer world can have a unique look. Armor does not wear out with use.

Some armor has been magically enhanced to provide a special ability above and beyond the normal physical attributes it may have possessed. For example, some armor may be able to block a melee attack by an additional amount over its normal ability.

Just as with armor, there is a huge number of weapon variations in the game. There are more than 10 types of base weapons, like short swords, swords, bows, mauls, maces, and axes. Many of these base types have styles, like spiked and flanged maces. All of those base and style weapons have upwards of 10 variations. These variations are used to make the weapons look different as they get more magical and powerful. As melee weapons are used more and more the character's Melee Skill will increase. Weapons will never get damaged with use, and will never require repair of any kind.

To become an archer the player's character simply selects a bow and uses it. The arrow trajectories fly using real physics and are automatically calculated based on the target you select. An archer never runs out of arrows and spent arrows fade away from the battlefield after a certain period of time. As better and better bows are found they will inflict more damage and have a longer range. The bows themselves come in many shapes and sizes, including crossbows. Dexterity is the main attribute that will increase with use. Some heavy-duty bows will have strength and dexterity requirements.

The player can train their characters to get better at melee attacks by using any melee weapon, whether it is a sword, an axe, a hammer, or even a chair leg. Certain spells can increase melee damage. Magical armor or weapons can also increase a character's skill in melee or ranged attacks.

Once more than one character is in the party a player can select formations for them. There is a formation interface that can be brought up and hidden with the default "n" key. From there several formations can be selected, including a vertical line, horizontal line, circle, wedge, and more. The spacing of the formation can also be set up, allowing for tightening up if passing through a narrow passageway or spreading out to cover more territory. The entire formation can also be rotated to face any direction on the battlefield. Any of the formations, directions and spacing can be set with the mouse. In addition, each member of the party can be placed in any position in the formation simply by arranging their on-screen portraits.

Yes, Dungeon Siege has been designed to allow the player to play through the entire game with just one character or with an entire party of eight.

Waypoints can be set for the party by holding down "Ctrl" and clicking the desired destinations. This can also be done while the game is paused.

There is a follow mode that can be toggled on or off. This mode of play is useful when the player wants to concentrate on just one character, and would like all the others to follow along and support whatever it is the player's lead character is doing. This is especially useful when archers follow behind the leader offering protection, or perhaps a magic user that has a healing spell.

Each party member is free to go anywhere in the world. They can be split up, or not depending on the situation. Selecting a character's portrait or using a group hotkey will allow the player to toggle through each character in the world.

The player can disband any member of the party other than the initial character. The initial character can only be lost through death.

As a character takes damage they will lose health and the portrait will begin flashing yellow just before they pass into unconsciousness. Once their health has reached zero they will pass-out but will not be dead, the portrait will show this by turning red. The amount of red covering the portrait will slowly diminish as time passes. Once the character regains consciousness they will have very little health to begin with and will slowly heal on their own from this point onward.

After receiving a particularly powerful blow or taking damage after falling unconscious a character will die. A tombstone will appear over their portrait and all of their belongings will drop to the ground. If there are remaining party members, other than a Packmule, the player may be able to use the resurrect spell or scroll to bring them back to life. After resurrection their health will be low and they will likely want to recover their possessions on the ground. The player can instruct a character to pick up their possessions simply by drag selecting their belongings and dragging them on to the character.

When the entire party is killed the game will end. The player may then load a saved game and continue playing.

Within Dungeon Siege there are two schools of magic, nature and combat magic. Nature magic focuses on the protection of the party and the destruction of the enemy. Combat magic focuses on killing the enemy anyway possible and helping the party to do more damage to the enemy.

Yes, any character may use spells from both schools of magic.

Yes, a character may pick up a spell and begin using it at any time as long as the character meets the skill requirements of the spell. There are some spells that don't require any magic skill at all, such as Fireshot for Combat magic and Zap for Nature magic.

Characters gain levels in combat magic by using spells of that skill type or equipping items that give a boost to that particular school of magic. As a character gains higher skill levels in a school of magic the spell will also increase in power. For instance, if a character uses a Fireshot spell and gains a level in Combat Magic, the same spell will now do more damage at this new skill level, or have a larger range, and likely require more mana.

Some spells may be cast upon an area, as opposed to directly at a specific creature. A red dome will be visible as the mouse is moved to denote the area that will be affected.

Some spells do have duration, such as magic armor. The status bar at the bottom of the screen will show how much time remains on the spell duration as the mouse is moved over the character with an active magic armor spell. If there are multiple existing spells on the character, the duration of each spell will be listed in the status bar.

The duration of a spell effect can be lengthened by casting the spell more than once on the same character. For instance, if a spell lasts for 100 seconds and then the same spell is cast a second time on the same character, it will then last 200 seconds.

New spells can be found as loot in chests or bookcases, dropped by creatures, from the inventory of magical people for hire, and in stores throughout the Kingdom

Some spells such as healing spells for both combat and nature magic will automatically be cast by a mage in the party whenever a party member's health falls below a certain level. Similarly spells that do damage will be auto cast when an enemy enters the caster's range. The only exception to the rule is massively destructive spells that would suck every last bit of mana out of the caster.

Both schools of magic have spells that will allow creatures of various types to be summoned. Examples include Gargoyles and Gremals. These creatures will follow the party and will fight automatically. Each character may have one summoned creature. The summoned creatures only have a finite life span and will disappear when their timer expires. The creature's life expectancy cannot be increased.

Yes, there are many spells that will buff a character's attributes. These spells can increase any of the character's attributes such as strength, dexterity, intelligence and this includes character health too. Spells can also increase skills, including melee, ranged and magic skills. Even weapons, armor and other items that the character wears can improve any of these skills or attributes.

There are spells such as magic armor that will cast a protective armor plating around a character for a certain amount of time. These spells will increase the armor rating of the character while the spell is in effect. These spells can be cast cumulatively so that the more times it is cast, the longer the spell will last. This is great for when the player is preparing for a long and drawn out battle and doesn't want the spell to run out part way through.

In order to hold spells a character must have a spell book. The spell book has 2 active slots and ten additional spots to store spells. Spells may also be kept in the inventory but will need to be moved to a spell book before they can be cast. A character can carry as many spell books as can be fit into their inventory. A character may, for instance, use one book all for Nature magic and another book all for Combat magic and then switch the spell book depending on the situation. Spell books can be bought at some stores and some magical NPCs for hire will come equipped with a spell book. Unwanted spells can be removed from a spell book and then sold, traded, or given away.

There are certain types of spells that can be bought as a one-shot scroll that can be cast by anyone, even if they have no magical skills.

There are a huge variety and number of monsters in the worlds of Dungeon Siege. There are over 220 different monsters of all shapes and sizes. There are monsters that swim, fly, crawl and pop up out of the ground. There are monsters with magic attacks, projectile weapons, and those that make suicide rush attacks.

Dungeon Siege is filled with neutral animals that enrich the world. Examples include chickens, cows, deer, butterflies, dogs, and many others.

The monsters have been designed to exhibit a wide range of behaviors. Examples of these behaviors include: waiting in ambush, calling nearby monsters to assist, and other behavior like creating a formation before attacking, to name some examples.

Quite a few monsters can cast magic of various levels and schools. There are shamans and witches that will cast offensive spells, summon, or resurrect fallen minions.

Some monsters will in fact retreat if they begin to lose the battle, but many will fight to the death.

In many cases a creature will drop it's weapon when they die. An example may be found in the ice caverns where ice warriors will drop their ice swords and ice bows. Every creature of the same type will not always drop the same equipment.

The "ZoneMatch" service can be used to connect to chat servers and find other people looking to play a game.

Yes.

Yes, if the host's IP address is known.

Up to eight people can play a multiplayer game at one time.

Each person will play one character.

NPCs and Packmules may be hired in the single player game, and multiplayer is based on each player controlling one hero and either playing cooperatively or competitively with other players.

The Utraean Peninsula is a vast land. It covers a very large area, from the mountainous regions in the north to the arid desert in the south. Separate from the Kingdom of Ehb (the single player campaign world), the Utraean Peninsula has had some recent challenges from the monster populations all its own and is looking for up to eight rugged adventurers to save it.

Either the "Kingdom of Ehb" or "Utraean Peninsula" map can be used and played either cooperatively or competitively. Cooperative play can focus more on achieving the story goals and solving each quest, whereas competitive or team play may just focus on a straight out competition to see who can eliminate the most monsters in a set time limit. PvP mode can also be turned on to make the competition even more exciting.

Yes. The host has many options, from 15 minutes to five hours. The game can be played without a timer as well.

Yes!

Both.

Experience in multiplayer is shared the same way as in single player. Experience earned is directly related to damage dealt by each character.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, if the host has allowed importing SP characters.

If health drops below zero, the character will fall to the ground, unconscious. If left unhealed, the character may die. If the character dies, a friend can resurrect the player, or the player can respawn as a ghost. While a ghost, a player can either wait for their resurrection timer to expire or seek out a resurrection shrine. Either condition will bring the character back to life. Death is never permanent in multiplayer.

If the host drops, the game ends for everyone. If a client drops, he or she can rejoin, if the host has enabled "join in progress".

Yes, if the host has allowed it. The host can enable/disable "join in progress" while in game, without having to restart the game.

Yes, the Utraean Peninsula has its own storyline and accompanying quests.

Yes, if the host has enabled Player-vs-Player damage.

The Siege Editor is the same tool that was used here at GPG to create the worlds of Dungeon Siege. The Siege Editor can be used to create new levels, view regions, attach new Skrit (scripted events, AI, and any other custom behavior) to objects, place monsters and lighting, create in game story-sequences, and much more.

An early Beta of the Siege Editor will be made available for download in May, 2002.

Yes, the Siege Editor is free to download and use.

There will be documentation available when the Siege Editor Beta goes live.

Skrit is a custom language developed at Gas Powered Games for Dungeon Siege, which allows for extensive modification of many in-game behaviors. Examples include changing the interface, story sequences, triggers, AI, and animations.

There will be documentation available at both the official and fan sites. Much can be learned from interacting with others and examining content that has already been completed by the developers of Dungeon Siege.

Skrit can be read and written with any text editor that desired, even Notepad. Skrit is simply stored as a text file.

SiegeFX is a custom special effects system in Dungeon Siege that controls the spell effects on weapons, created by spells, and many more special places like torches, fires, and story sequence special effects. Much like Skrit, SiegeFX is stored as a simple text file and can be read or written within any text editor.

There will be documentation available for SiegeFX the same time as when the Siege Editor is released.

gmax is a completely free modeling and animation tool from Discreet (the makers of 3D Studio Max) that can be used by the mod community to make brand new 3D art assets for Dungeon Siege. gmax contains many of the same features as 3D Studio Max. Models and animations can be saved as gmax file types that can be read directly by Dungeon Siege. This will allow players to create new terrain, buildings, dungeons, creatures, players, weapons, armor, and more. The only limit is imagination and hard drive space.

Gas Powered Games and Microsoft have a license with Discreet to create a custom game pack that will allow players to export gmax creations directly into the Dungeon Siege format. The game pack is currently being developed by Gas Powered Games and Discreet and will also be free and available for download in the months following the game launch in April.

Music, audio commentary, new sounds, and any other type of sound can be added to Dungeon Siege. Supported formats include .mp3 and .wav.

Creating custom items can be simple or complex depending on how unique the item is desired to be. The simplest custom item could simply consist of a name change which is easily done with any text editor. Creating a new texture or brand new mesh for a weapon, or editing an existing mesh using gmax can be done with a little more work. For extra detail some cool special effects could be scripted or new weapon sounds added.

Yes, the Siege Editor can be used as a movie studio to create in game movies. Cameras, lighting, audio, objects, creatures, players, their movements, and more can be specified within the Siege Editor.

All of the data for Dungeon Siege is stored in Gas Powered Games proprietary "Tank" file format. This method of storing data provides many excellent benefits. First of all, the data is compressed to make the game load faster and save space on the Hard Disk. Secondly, this makes the management of huge amounts of data much easier. The best example of this is when data for a new world is installed, only a single file is required. This also makes removal easier because files are never deleted or over-written and tank files can be moved around quickly and easily.

A Siegelet is a modification or add-on to Dungeon Siege made by a member or members of the Dungeon Siege community. Siegelets can be as simple as a new set of weapons or may be as complex as a complete total conversion that will use the Dungeon Siege engine but may have new stories, art, sounds, and levels. Siegelets can be created for single player, multiplayer, or both.