The Seal of Evil story is set in the twilight years of the Warring States period of Chinese history (476 – 206 BC). This turbulent time marks the disintegration of the longest lived of all imperial dynasties, the Zhou. Out of the strife and chaos emerges a nobleman possessed of an indomitable spirit and an uncompromising vision of the future: Ying Zheng, ruler of the Qin state. He will stop at nothing to reunite the disparate Chinese kingdoms.

Combining ancient legends and mythic storytelling with historical fact, Seal of Evil sets the stage for an epic adventure wherein the players struggle to thwart the Qin invasion of their peaceful homeland, East Baiyue. Ferocious beasts, merciless enemy soldiers, wicked bandits, and terrifying supernatural foes are hazards they must face in order to achieve this goal. There is still hope for them, however, for along the way they will also make many friends and acquire powerful weapons and equipment. And armed with mighty elemental magic, they may yet come face to face with the very Gods themselves…

Features:

• Elemental Magic
• Refined Graphics
• Numerous Items
• Advanced Item Creation
• Balanced Skill System
• Essential Teamwork
• Multiple Endings

GCM:

Thank for your time. Would you care to start by introducing yourself and telling us a bit about the team behind “The Seal of Evil”?

Liu Jiang:

My name is Liu Jiang and I am the Product Manager of Prince of Qin, World of Qin and Seal of Evil. These games have special meaning for me. I hope one day our games can have a place in the top ten of world games. Our team is a mix of experience and creativity. Some of us have participated in developing Prince of Qin and its online game World of Qin; the others had joined the team before we began this project. They are all experts in their relevant fields and they have brought new ideas and techniques into our experienced team. I am very happy we have such a team.

GCM:

Please tell us about the plot driving Seal of Evil.

Liu Jiang:

The plot of SOE is pretty interesting. The game is set in the Warring States period in Ancient China, more than 2,000 years ago. Our designers introduced some Chinese ancient legends into this period. At that time, in southwest china, there was a minority race called Baiyue. Its leader, Lan Xiong, and Chief Sacrifice Wizard, Chi Huan, died mysteriously one after the other. Lan Xiong’s daughter, Lan Wei, believed the five legendary Empyrean Stones could make her father come back to life so she and her friends made up their mind to collect all the stones. Unexpectedly, after they suffered a lot of hardship and finally got all the stones, they discovered that the Empyrean Stones were the pieces of a magic seal that imprisoned the soul of Chi You. Chi You was the Patron God of the Baiyue people but much to the surprise of Lan Wei and her friends it turned out that Chi You was an evil God and in piecing together the Empyrean Stones they were releasing him from thousands of years of confinement. I better not reveal anymore now.

GCM:

Where would you say the Seal of Evil finds its balance between action and storytelling?

Liu Jiang:

Since the SOE story is quite interesting and unusual, personally I think SOE is focusing more on storytelling. Believe me, when I read some plots of the game I really got involved in the story and I felt it was very touching. As to action, it’s also an important factor in the game. Many quests require a fight to finish the guest. We have created a complicated system for action which involves the concept of the Five-elements, skill upgrade and so on.

GCM:

It has been mentioned that Seal of Evil features multiple endings. Does this mean that gamers can expect branching storylines? If so, what type of choices will the player have to make how much freedom will he/she have in making these choices?

Liu Jiang:

Yes, SOE has been designed with branching storylines. Players will be often asked to make “critical” decisions. Player’s choices may trigger some plots which will finally affect the game ending. Sometimes players are not aware that their destiny has been decided as they make their decisions halfway through the game. Whether or not you find an item, visit a person, complete a quest and/or a fight result may affect the game ending. Players can choose to do it or not, it’s quite simple.

GCM:	How will the leveling system in Seal of Evil work and how much control will the player have over their character in terms of customization?
Liu Jiang:	When characters accumulate a certain amount of experience, they will get leveled up. Another way is by completing some quests. After a character gets leveled up, he/she will be awarded with some attribute points. Players have the freedom to allocate the points to customize each of their characters.

GCM:

Please tell us about how the party/team system will work.

Liu Jiang:

Players can recruit up to 5 characters into their party. But when the party is involved in a fight, only three of the party can participate. Since players can customize their heroes freely, each party member will have different features. So players can pick the most suitable three according to their rivals. Usually, for example, Liang Hu has better defensive ability. Players can order Liang Hu to stand between his companions and enemies to undertake most of the damage. Additionally, a party has a shared inventory so that party members can easily exchange items if needed.

GCM:	Please tell us a bit about the weapons and spells that the player will have access to.
Liu Jiang:	All the weapons in the game are of Chinese style. I believe western gamers will feel excited about these exotic weapons. Since Baiyue is an ancient minority race in Chinese history, some of the weapons used by those people are even strange for Chinese. Moreover, some of the weapons have interesting stories. All the spells are designed according to the hero’s features and personality.

GCM:	What sort of creatures will the player be fighting?
Liu Jiang:	Besides human enemies (Hun soldiers and rogues), players will fight against animals (bears and panthers), legendary monsters (Guardians and Fire Demons) and a demonic god/goddess (Chi You and Mei). As compared to our previous titles, item drops have become more logical and reasonable. Players, for instance, won’t see a pair of shoes dropping out of a tiger. :)

GCM:	What sort of environments will the player be exploring?
Liu Jiang:	China is a country with many types of landforms. In the southwest, for example, Baiyun territory is covered with dense wild forest; in the Central Plains, players will often see big cities and grand official residences; in the north, it is Liang Hu’s home and it’s a mountainous place. Moreover, players will also visit Chi You’s mysterious palace, dangerous caves and the Yellow Emperor’s tomb.

GCM:

What can you tell us about the item creations system found in Seal of Evil?

Liu Jiang:

It’s another interesting point of the game. Players can create all kinds of equipment with raw materials such as ore, lumber, beast bone and skin to meet a hero’s need. In SOE, there will be more than one method for making the same item. Making choices should depend on the specific need of the hero. Moreover, a piece of equipment can be upgraded by adding new components. Furthermore, players can create set items with the materials from the same resource such as panther’s skin, bone and tooth. Set items will usually award players with some extra attributes.

GCM:	What can you tell us about the graphics engine driving Seal of Evil’s visuals?
Liu Jiang:	SOE adopts our newly developed GFX3D engine which blends the techniques of 2D and 3D. The backdrop of the game uses 2D graphics that fully display geographical features across ancient China. All kinds of special effects are displayed through 3D technique. In this way, not only bright and brilliant visual effects can be achieved, but also hardware potential can be fully exploited.

GCM:

In terms of art direction for both the audio and visual portions of the game, what sort of presentation is the development team aiming for with Seal of Evil?

Liu Jiang:

Since the game story is set in a period more than 2,000 years ago, we have tried to recreate a vivid picture of Ancient China. Sometimes we talk about Chinese culture, but actually Chinese culture is not a single one. It consists of many cultures because China has many minority races. Baiyue, to which Lan Wei belongs, is one of such races. Baiyun costume is quite different from that of the main population of China today. I believe Baiyun dress culture displayed in the game will be a big shock for westerners. Actually it was in China when we first released the game there. Our artists have referred to many books and materials concerning the dress style of this Chinese minority race. Music plays a very important role in Chinese culture and Chinese ancient music is quite different from western music in many respects. Our musicians have recreated ancient Chinese rhythms and tunes with modern digital technology. I am sure western gamers will feel surprised by these wonderful sounds.

GCM:	Thank you again for your time. Do you have any last thoughts or comments that you’d like to leave our readers with?
Liu Jiang:	We hope that gamers in the west will have a lot of fun with this game, not just with the gameplay but maybe they will find something to fascinate them in the wealth of detail the game has in terms of Ancient China, its history, culture and legends.

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