Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb
Encyclopedia
Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb (ITE) is a computer game, developed by The Dreamers Guild
and published by Jon Van Caneghem
through New World Computing
.
The adventure
featured a world full of talking, humanoid animals, amongst them a fox on his quest to find a stolen orb, a relic of the mythical humans.
platform and later ported to the Macintosh. The German version Erben der Erde: Die große Suche was first released as a port to the Amiga
, followed by the DOS version. Although it wasn't a big commercial success, it gained some popularity with the furry fandom
for featuring anthropomorphic animals
. The former Dreamers Guild co-founder Joe Pearce started a new company Wyrmkeep Entertainment to re-release Inherit the Earth again after 2000 for Linux
, Mac OS X
and Windows
. He also provided the ScummVM
developers with the source code
of the SAGA
engine, which made ports to even more platforms possible. In March 2007, a Pocket PC
edition was released.
The official sequel to the video game has come in the form of a webcomic
, also called Inherit the Earth, which first appeared in 2005.
The game begins with the protagonist, Rif of the Fox Tribe, being falsely accused of having stolen the Orb of Storms (a technological relic of humankind which is able to predict and control the weather). In order to prove his innocence and free his girlfriend Rhene, who is being held hostage by the Boar King, Rif is determined to find the real thief of the Orb.
Most of the human relics are in the third area of the game (although the exterior structure of the dog castle implies it was once human but oddly wrecked). In the third area, the North Island, one spends a good deal of time wandering through ancient human ruins of such places as hydroelectric dams, airports, and solar observatories. Nearly all information about humans, their civilization and their technology has been lost or passed into legend. Even the Rats, the most educated tribe, only know of such things through their documents and exploration of human sites.
The game sets a serious mood but also leavens it with humor for these parts. There are tantalizing clues, like the flashing "EVACUATE" sign in the lobby of the building near the airport, and the fact that much of the equipment in the solar observatory and dam was left on. This implies that a sudden disaster overtook the humans, but this is not necessarily so.
The most perplexing feature of the human ruins that they do not include any human cities or towns. A few theorists postulate the land where all the morphs live is only a chain of islands isolated from the rest of the world (where humans may still exist). Inside a hangar in the airport, there is a vehicle that appears to be an incomplete space-craft. (When the mouse is moved over it, the game identifies it as "A giant dart.") Because of the rocket-like object, some believe the airport might also be an aero-spaceport. There are a few quotes in the game which suggest that the humans may reside in space, watching the morphs' progress. An astronomer/cartographer morph named Tycho claims that the humans literally carved the features of the "Man on the Moon" to remind the morphs that they are being watched.
While the question of what happened to the humans and where they went to is never fully resolved during the game, David 'Talin' Joiner, one of the game's key developers, revealed in an interview that humanity was eradicated by an airborne biological weapon (a scenario that was inspired by the Alistair MacLean
novel The Satan Bug
). "One of our backstory ideas was that there are still a few humans living in some sort of lunar base. One of the possible sequel ideas involves having a probe from the moon sent down to the earth and discovered by the Morph."-David 'Talin' Joiner.
In an interview Lisa Jennings, one of the original artists and animators, revealed that the game was originally intended to be part of a trilogy, but due to conflicts with the developer and publisher, this never happened. This is why the game ends on a "To be continued" like note.
Lisa Jennings, concept artist and animator for the game, confirmed this: "Our biggest conflict was simple: the developers wanted something that was rather adult in nature. The publishers saw animals and equated it with children, and so forced us at every turn to cater to the 8-12 range, up to and including removing any death scenes to keep a Children's Rating."
This greatly resembles the "creation myth" narrated during the game's introduction:
Also in Anima: Age of the Robots, there is a minor character called Rif, also an orange-colored fox.
, Inherit the Earth, which takes place ten months after the events of the game. The webcomic is drawn by Allison Hershey, the game's original art designer, and co-written by Joe Pearce, the owner of Wyrmkeep Entertainment. The wyrmkeep website's forums have seen recent activity as an official sequel for the game has been declared to be in the works by the owners (and current right-holders) of the website. Little has been revealed about it, except that it will feature some 3D elements.
#209 by Sandy Petersen
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.
The Dreamers Guild
The Dreamers Guild was a publisher and developer of computer and video games that operated from 1991 until 1997. It was founded on the idea that employees would have a say in the company's progression...
and published by Jon Van Caneghem
Jon Van Caneghem
Jon Van Caneghem is an American video game director, designer and producer. He is best known for launching development studio New World Computing in 1983, making his design debut in 1986 with Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum...
through New World Computing
New World Computing
New World Computing, Inc. was an American computer game developer and publisher founded in 1984 by Jon Van Caneghem, his wife, Michaela Van Caneghem, and Mark Caldwell. It was best known for its work on the Might and Magic computer role-playing game series and its spin-offs, especially Heroes of...
.
The adventure
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
featured a world full of talking, humanoid animals, amongst them a fox on his quest to find a stolen orb, a relic of the mythical humans.
History
The game was originally released for the DOSDOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
platform and later ported to the Macintosh. The German version Erben der Erde: Die große Suche was first released as a port to the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, followed by the DOS version. Although it wasn't a big commercial success, it gained some popularity with the furry fandom
Furry fandom
Furry fandom is a fandom for fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, the ability to speak, walk on two legs, and wear clothes...
for featuring anthropomorphic animals
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
. The former Dreamers Guild co-founder Joe Pearce started a new company Wyrmkeep Entertainment to re-release Inherit the Earth again after 2000 for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. He also provided the ScummVM
ScummVM
ScummVM is a collection of game engine recreations. Originally designed to play LucasArts adventure games that use the SCUMM system , it now also supports a variety of non-SCUMM games by companies like Revolution Software and Adventure Soft. It was originally written by Ludvig Strigeus...
developers with the source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
of the SAGA
SAGA
SAGA or "Simple API for Grid Aapplications" is the name of a family of related standards specified by the Open Grid Forum to define an application programming interface , for common distributed computing functionality....
engine, which made ports to even more platforms possible. In March 2007, a Pocket PC
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
edition was released.
The official sequel to the video game has come in the form of a webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
, also called Inherit the Earth, which first appeared in 2005.
Story
In a far future, mankind is extinct and Earth is populated by several tribes of speaking, human-like animals, living in a medieval world.The game begins with the protagonist, Rif of the Fox Tribe, being falsely accused of having stolen the Orb of Storms (a technological relic of humankind which is able to predict and control the weather). In order to prove his innocence and free his girlfriend Rhene, who is being held hostage by the Boar King, Rif is determined to find the real thief of the Orb.
Whither Humanity?
One of this game's major themes, although it mostly hid in the background, was the greater mystery of what happened to all the humans. The game's introduction and manual inform us that the humans reformed the Morphs out of their constituent animals, and then mysteriously disappeared.Most of the human relics are in the third area of the game (although the exterior structure of the dog castle implies it was once human but oddly wrecked). In the third area, the North Island, one spends a good deal of time wandering through ancient human ruins of such places as hydroelectric dams, airports, and solar observatories. Nearly all information about humans, their civilization and their technology has been lost or passed into legend. Even the Rats, the most educated tribe, only know of such things through their documents and exploration of human sites.
The game sets a serious mood but also leavens it with humor for these parts. There are tantalizing clues, like the flashing "EVACUATE" sign in the lobby of the building near the airport, and the fact that much of the equipment in the solar observatory and dam was left on. This implies that a sudden disaster overtook the humans, but this is not necessarily so.
The most perplexing feature of the human ruins that they do not include any human cities or towns. A few theorists postulate the land where all the morphs live is only a chain of islands isolated from the rest of the world (where humans may still exist). Inside a hangar in the airport, there is a vehicle that appears to be an incomplete space-craft. (When the mouse is moved over it, the game identifies it as "A giant dart.") Because of the rocket-like object, some believe the airport might also be an aero-spaceport. There are a few quotes in the game which suggest that the humans may reside in space, watching the morphs' progress. An astronomer/cartographer morph named Tycho claims that the humans literally carved the features of the "Man on the Moon" to remind the morphs that they are being watched.
While the question of what happened to the humans and where they went to is never fully resolved during the game, David 'Talin' Joiner, one of the game's key developers, revealed in an interview that humanity was eradicated by an airborne biological weapon (a scenario that was inspired by the Alistair MacLean
Alistair MacLean
Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers or adventure stories, the best known of which are perhaps The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare, all three having been made into successful films...
novel The Satan Bug
The Satan Bug (novel)
The Satan Bug is a thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1962 under the pseudonym Ian Stuart, and later republished under MacLean's own name.-Plot summary:...
). "One of our backstory ideas was that there are still a few humans living in some sort of lunar base. One of the possible sequel ideas involves having a probe from the moon sent down to the earth and discovered by the Morph."-David 'Talin' Joiner.
In an interview Lisa Jennings, one of the original artists and animators, revealed that the game was originally intended to be part of a trilogy, but due to conflicts with the developer and publisher, this never happened. This is why the game ends on a "To be continued" like note.
Criticisms
Players have commented that some sections of the game feel contrived, particularly the opening scene, which establishes all major elements of the story within a few minutes with no player decisions. This, combined with the lack of development of the Rhene character, has been attributed to the difficulties associated with combining a serious and detailed plot with anthropomorphic animals - a theme usually associated with children's entertainment. The abrupt opening suggests part of the script may have been removed.Lisa Jennings, concept artist and animator for the game, confirmed this: "Our biggest conflict was simple: the developers wanted something that was rather adult in nature. The publishers saw animals and equated it with children, and so forced us at every turn to cater to the 8-12 range, up to and including removing any death scenes to keep a Children's Rating."
Pop Culture Influences
At least one writer has been inspired by this game's backstory to borrow an element in his work. The webcomic Anima: Age of the Robots details the myth of planet Anema's creation. It begins with:
We see the sky, the mountains and the sea
And we wonder how we have come to be.
In the beginning there was nothingness
Then behold, the guardian cometh...
This greatly resembles the "creation myth" narrated during the game's introduction:
We see the sky, we see the land, we see the water
And we wonder, Are we the only ones?
Long before we came to exist, the Humans ruled the Earth.
They made marvelous things, and moved whole mountains.
They knew the secret of Flight, the secret of Happiness,
And other secrets beyond our imagining.
Also in Anima: Age of the Robots, there is a minor character called Rif, also an orange-colored fox.
Webcomic Sequel and Sequel to the Game
The story of the video game is continued in the official webcomicWebcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
, Inherit the Earth, which takes place ten months after the events of the game. The webcomic is drawn by Allison Hershey, the game's original art designer, and co-written by Joe Pearce, the owner of Wyrmkeep Entertainment. The wyrmkeep website's forums have seen recent activity as an official sequel for the game has been declared to be in the works by the owners (and current right-holders) of the website. Little has been revealed about it, except that it will feature some 3D elements.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1994 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#209 by Sandy Petersen
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.