THROUGH THE NIGHT

Devil’s Star Observatory (恶魔之星观象台) is a mockup of a stealth-meets-puzzle game about defeating evil by harnessing a celestial power. It’s presented below as a fictional "first look" article from about 25 years ago.

This game mockup was created during the Game Mockup Jam from April 8 - April 17 in 2023.

LOOKING TO THE STARS

• Title: Devil’s Star Observatory
• Developer: Jingshen Soft Ltd.
• Publisher: Jingshen Soft Ltd.
• Release Date: Q4 1998 (Worldwide)

Previewed by Art Davis for ITCH (International Technical Creators Hub) during a playtest in Beijing on April 17, 1998.

STORY

A fearsome devil raids a magical observatory, slaying through the astronomers and hijacking the equipment there to divert a wellspring of qi (worldly life energy) to the underworld. Now, a horde of undead monsters roam the area, threatening the nearby villages…

It’s up to astronomer Tian, the sole survivor of the attack, to outsmart and evade these ghouls while repairing the observatory’s instruments. He is guided by the apparitions of his fellow astronomers, who are stranded between the worlds of the living and the dead. Ultimately, Tian must realign the area's qi to expel the invaders and revive his friends.

GAMEPLAY

DSO features an isometric viewpoint ala Blizzard North's mega-hit Diablo, but instead of dungeon-crawling combat, the focus here is on puzzle-solving and exploration. The segment I played had me sneaking back and forth between the observatory's central gallery and three labyrinthine chambers, collecting pieces of a massive spherical compass. Sounds simple enough, right? Not quite. Packs of ghosts and skeletal beasts patrolled the corridors, eager to pursue if I walked into their vision or made too much noise. I also had to keep cognizant of the game's day-night cycle, which affects enemy locations and behavior.

GRAPHICS

Amazing! The visuals on display here represent a monumental leap forward in real-time rendering. DSO supports video resolutions up to 1024 x 768(!), and the lighting, shadows, and reflections all look superb, a clear step above even the newest titles on the market. So, how did such a small team pull this off? A Jingshen developer explained that they had initially been working with advanced Silicon Graphics machines, but were eventually able to replicate or approximate many complicated rendering techniques on consumer hardware.

AUDIO

DSO is as much a treat on the ears as it is on the eyes. Over two hours of original, ethereal music was written and recorded in-house for the game by Jingshen's sound department—just two musicians and one engineer! They were also responsible for the sound effects, which run the spectrum from the eerie laughter of vengeful ghosts to the hums of ancient, magical machines. As in other modern titles, sounds trigger from dynamic positions within the 3D world, enhancing the immersive feel of the game.

CREDITS

• Design + Modeling + Compositing - Gist
• CC0 Sky Photograph - Egil Sjøholt
• Fonts
  • 喜鹊直率体 - Luckytype
  • Omotenasi 2 - Goma Shin

LICENSE

If you'd like to make something based on this game mockup, you may do so under CC BY-NC 2.0. Please show me what you create, or you can contact me if you're interested in working together!

LINKS

• Website - gistworks.com
• Twitter - @gistworks