— Ch. 1 · Engine Development History —
Darkest of Days.
~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
8monkey Labs designed the Marmoset engine specifically for Darkest of Days. Mark Doeden served as Art Director during this development phase. The team incorporated NVIDIA PhysX technology to handle hardware-accelerated physics. This engine could manage over 300 characters on screen simultaneously. Each character possessed its own AI and pathfinding capabilities. Developers focused heavily on historical accuracy for every battle depicted. They conducted extensive research on weapons, locations, and events. Much of the city of Pompeii was recreated with accurate detail. The game featured wide open battlefields allowing player choice in movement. Obstacles and invisible walls imposed limitations on how players moved through maps.
Alexander Morris Journey
The story begins with Alexander Morris fighting in General Custer's battalion at Little Big Horn. A man in futuristic armor rescues him after he is wounded. Morris awakens inside Kronotek headquarters where time travel exists. Mother tells him that Doctor Koell has gone missing from history. Disturbances are causing key historical figures to be placed in danger. Morris must help restore history by finding these individuals. He trains with Agent Dexter who is implied to have vanished on September 11th. Their first targets include Corporal Welsh at Antietam and Officer Petrovich at Tannenberg. The pair fights through cornfield battles and dynamites a train bridge. They hijack a zeppelin during their mission across time periods.Historical Research Efforts
Developers prioritized making battles as historically accurate as possible. Extensive research covered time periods, locations, and specific weapons used. The recreation of Pompeii included accurate details about the ancient Roman town. Events like the eruption of Mount Vesuvius were depicted for the 25th of August 79 AD. The American Indian Wars formed one distinct era within the game world. The American Civil War provided another major setting for gameplay sequences. World War I and World War II offered additional historical backdrops. Ancient Rome served as the final destination before the story moved forward. This focus on accuracy was critical to the success of the project according to Mark Doeden. NVIDIA PhysX technology helped achieve the goal of eerie detail in epic moments.