Falloutcreator Tim Cain has discussed how one of his games was snubbed in aDungeons & Dragonsartbook.
Cain was one of the founders of Troika Games in 1998. The company was known for creating a trilogy of cult RPGs that were plagued by technical issues: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura,Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, and The Temple of Elemental Evil.
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The Temple of Elemental Evil was based on one of D&D’s most famous campaigns, where players stopped an evil cult in the Greyhawk campaign setting. ThisD&D video game adaptationupdated it to the (then) current 3rd edition D&D rules, expanding on story elements from the original adventure.
In a video on the Timothy Cain YouTube channel, he discussed a book called Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana—A Visual History. Although the book references numerous other video games, it never mentions The Temple of Elemental Evil or features its artwork. He asked that fans not forget the game, as a lot of hard work and love was poured into it, especially regarding itsvisuals and art direction.
The Temple of Elemental Evil was ignored in Art & Arcana
“I kept reading and there was no mention that this was made into a computer game, you know, 20 years after it came out.”
This was despite other D&D games being mentioned, such asBaldur’s Gateand Pools of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor appearing.
As Cain pointed out, The Temple of Elemental Evil was responsible for changing the design of Zuggtmoy, a Demon Queen who originally was depicted as a mushroom monster, yet was updated with a more humanoid appearance.
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The Temple of Elemental Evil isa janky game, and it really needs fan-made mods to bring it up to speed. Despite its flaws, it’s still an entertaining title, especially for fans of the source material, that does a good job of adapting a classic D&D campaign.
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D&D recentlycelebrated its 50th anniversary, so there might not be any other art books released for a good while. When the next one comes out, hopefully The Temple of Elemental Evil will have a place on its pages, alongside titans like Baldur’s Gate andPlanescape: Torment.
