Dark Magic is a faction began by the user Modman from the official Glest forums in July 2008. The faction is intended to be an addition to Magitech, the official Glest tech tree. The factions Tech and Magic are already included in the official Magitech tech tree. Dark Magic would be the third faction in Magitech.
History
Dark Magic was initially worked on in July 2008. Originally, the faction was smaller than a Magitech faction because of the lack of units. Eventually, a Magitech-sized version was made.
Many initial ideas for units and upgrades were thrown simply because they caused imbalance with Tech and Magic. Similarly, many of the units were renamed and redesigned from the initial concepts. Units such as the Tree Walker and the Griffin were disposed of for various reasons. Units were also renamed, like the Witch, renamed to the Sorceress.
The initial release of Dark Magic included no new 3D models. All models were re-textured Magitech models, so the initial release did not bring very much interest. New patches and releases continued to be created afterward, fixing various balance issues or including new re-texturings.
In June of 2009, Modman began a team of developers to efficiently create Glest factions. Gameboy, citing a previous attempt of his to create a similar team, proposed the name GLADE team. The name GLADE, an acronym for GLest Association of Development Enthusiasts, became official the next day. The head of the GLADE Team, John.d.h proposed that the initial project of the GLADE Team be Dark Magic.
Units in Dark Magic
There are two fields supported thus far by the Glest engine. The first, land, is the field in which most of the units in Glest are located. Ground units are attached to the ground and cannot travel through obstacles like trees or buildings. Air units are a more advanced type of unit. To date, there are only three air units in the default Magitech tech tree: the Airship, Ornithopter from Tech, and the Dragon from Magic. Dark Magic adds two more air units.
Workers
The acolyte is the worker unit for Dark Magic. It cannot attack, but it can build structures, harvest resources and heal troops. It is integral to someone playing Dark Magic, as it is the basic unit. The Acolyte builds the Sheol Temple, the Blood Fountain, the Sorcery Runes, the Divination Crystal, the Oblivion Portal. The Acolyte also repairs all of the buildings it builds, and heals much of the military. The Acolyte had previous names such as apprentice and acolythe, a slight spelling variation.
Ranged Units
Ranged military is an important part of any faction. They allow attacks to be carried out without being adjacent to the enemy unit, and also require that any melee units come to meet them. This adds at least one extra attack per ranged unit used than the enemy will have, and can thus be an important part of an assault. Ranged units is usually inclusive only of ground units, because all air units in Glest have ranged attacks.
Ranged units in Dark Magic are all mages. Units in this category for Dark Magic are the Dark Mage, the Sorceress, the Dark Elder, and the Alliyp. The Dark Mage is a middle game unit, promoted from the Acolyte, which can be formidable when in numbers. The Sorceress, another mage for Dark Magic, has a medium attack and can also produce military on the battlefield. The Sorceress produces the Morlock, the Shadow Walker, and the Harpy.
Melee Units
Melee units are designed to take great amounts of damage, and are usually placed at the front of an attacking party. Melee units are common, and can take two types. The first category of melee units is swarm melee. Swarm melee is designed to be inexpensive in resources, and thus be produced in great numbers. Swarming an enemy is a strategy which works because the enemy will be overcome with the great numbers of units and be both confused and having the problem of countering with stronger units. The second type of melee is power melee, that which has high armor, attack damage, and generally high cost. Most power melee is available in the middle to late game, because they have the natural advantage of being harder to kill.
Dark Magic has several melee units. The Morlock is the most inexpensive unit in Dark Magic, and is a swarm melee unit. It is effective against buildings, but is killed easily by opponents. The Shadow Walker is a middle-game unit with high armor and an effective attack. They can be used to absorb initial attacks from the enemy. The Gargoyle is the most powerful melee unit in Dark Magic. It is a terror in any army because of its high armor, HP and attack damage.
Air Units
Buildings in Dark Magic
Buildings are widely defined as any unit which cannot move, and is generally also built by a worker.
Research Building
Research buildings are those which have a command which researches an upgrade. Please note that a research building may have other functions besides simply researching an upgrade.
Military Production Buildings
Military production buildings are the main way that military in Glest is made. There are pros and cons to this form of military production. For instance, a building is less likely to be attacked, because it is usually constructed inside of the player's base. In addition, the artificial intelligence (AI) for Glest seems to fare better with this method of military production because of the possibility of interruption during the production process.
The Oblivion Portal is a military production building for Dark Magic. It is built by the Acolyte, and requires the upgrade "Dark Sorcery" to build. The Oblivion Portal can produce the Imp, the Dark Elder, the Gargoyle, and the Wyvern.
Defense
Dark Magic features the strongest defensive units in Glest. Upon game start, the player is allotted an Earth Serpent. The Earth Serpent is useful for a large portion of the game, until the opponent has air units. The Earth Serpent has a powerful land attack, but not an air attack.
The second defensive unit in Dark Magic, originally called the Fury of the Tiki, is now called the Gods Bane. Technically speaking, the correct name for this unit is the "God's Bane", but unfortunately Glest does not allow apostrophes. The Gods Bane is the most powerful defensive structure in Glest, let alone Dark Magic. It has a long range and a powerful attack with a large splash, so it is an effective anti-air unit. Since the Gods Bane is of such large size, however, it is most effectively countered with units that have a splash attack. It is also a danger to itself, and other Gods Banes, for the same reason.