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49-420: The player takes the role of Kirt, a human with powers of shapeshifting . Among other forms, Kirt can become a huge cat-like animal, a floating tentacle-wielding gazer, and a dragon. In the beginning of the game Kirt finds out that he is not in fact human, but comes from a parallel world where there was a war raging between shapeshifters for centuries. Kirt, and his grandfather, are the last of their kind, and now

98-698: A CD containing fonts, video and text files, system updaters, freeware and shareware and demo versions of commercial software. Products were included for both Macintosh and Windows PC. CD-ROM Today was the highest-selling review magazine for both Macintosh and PC users in 1996. In 1996, after four seasonal and 25 numbered issues, the magazine was discontinued, with two newer publications replacing it: MacAddict for Macintosh users, and boot for Windows users. Both magazines were first issued in August 1996 and have since been renamed MacLife and Maximum PC , respectively. Archived CD-Rom Today magazines on

147-581: A donkey in The Golden Ass . Proteus was known among the gods for his shapeshifting; both Menelaus and Aristaeus captured him to obtain information, and they succeeded only by holding on through his many transformations. Nereus told Heracles where to find the Apples of the Hesperides for the same reason. The Oceanid Metis , the first wife of Zeus and the mother of the goddess Athena,

196-402: A utopia full of wealth which is also without pain or death, they crave the pleasures and hardships of human societies. Transformation into human form is said to be rare, and usually occurs at night. The encantado will often be seen running from a festa , despite protests from the others for it to stay, and can be seen by pursuers as it hurries to the river and reverts to dolphin form. When it

245-564: A butterfly. The most dramatic example of shapeshifting in Irish myth is that of Tuan mac Cairill , the only survivor of Partholón 's settlement of Ireland. In his centuries-long life, he became successively a stag, a wild boar, a hawk, and finally a salmon before being eaten and (as in the Wooing of Étaín) reborn as a human. The Púca is a Celtic faery, and also a deft shapeshifter. He can transform into many different, terrifying forms. Sadhbh ,

294-468: A dwarf, a giant, or even a human, depending on the exact myth, but in all variants, he transformed into a dragon—a symbol of greed —while guarding his ill-gotten hoard. His brother, Ótr , enjoyed spending time as an otter, which led to his accidental slaying by Loki. In Scandinavia , there existed, for example, the famous race of she-werewolves known by the name of Maras, women who took on the appearance of huge half-human and half-wolf monsters that stalked

343-438: A full human, she uses her beauty to seduce men and eat their hearts (or in some cases livers where the belief is that 100 livers would turn her into a real human). In Somali mythology Qori ismaris ("One who rubs himself with a stick") was a man who could transform himself into a " Hyena-man " by rubbing himself with a magic stick at nightfall and by repeating this process could return to his human state before dawn. ǀKaggen

392-619: A headache, so Hephaestus clove his head with an axe. Athena sprang from her father's head, fully grown, and in battle armor. In Greek mythology , the transformation is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them. While the Greek gods could use transformation punitively – such as Medusa , who turned to a monster for having sexual intercourse ( raped in Ovid's version) with Poseidon in Athena 's temple – even more frequently,

441-494: A hen and ate him. She became pregnant, and he was reborn as a baby. He grew up to be the bard Taliesin. In the Book of Taliesin , he mentions many forms which he is able to take, including that of lantern-light. Tales abound about the selkie , a seal that can remove its skin to make contact in human guise with people for only a short amount of time before it must return to the sea. Clan MacColdrum of Uist 's foundation myths include

490-518: A long, long while". In Computer Gaming World , Scorpia wrote: "Those who prefer the regular Ultima style of role-playing will probably want to skip this one. But players looking for pure, no-nonsense hack-n-slash will have a blast." Writing for CD-ROM Today , Trent C. Ward stated that ShadowCaster ' s "fantastic graphics, sound and storytelling ... completely immerse you in a virtual world both dark and wondrous". He summarized it as "an excellent addition to any gamer's library". Shadowcaster

539-406: A mare to escape Poseidon , but Poseidon counter-transformed himself into a stallion to pursue her, and succeeded in the rape. Caenis , having been raped by Poseidon , demanded of him that she be changed to a man. He agreed, and she became Caeneus , a form he never lost, except, in some versions, upon death. Clytie was a nymph who loved Helios, but he did not love her back. Desperate, she sat on

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588-517: A particular door). Also has a shield spell and a light spell, and can magically reach out and take objects which are far away. Opsis  – A hovering brain with tentacles that can use spells effectively, such as fireballs and cold blasts. Moves very slowly in the air. Kahpa  – A decent fighter that can breathe underwater. Has a sonic and an electrical attack. Both are supposed to be extra powerful in water. Ssair  – A hovering dragon with no legs with better attack (but weaker defense) than

637-543: A predecessor of the Doom engine , was written by id Software 's John Carmack and licensed to Raven Software . Carmack wrote the ShadowCaster 3D engine during his technology research after id Software completed Wolfenstein 3D . The engine features diminished lighting, texture-mapped floors and ceilings, walls with variable heights and sloped floors. The engine was "about half as fast as that of Wolfenstein " but fit

686-568: A quasi-historical figure who appears in the Icelandic Sagas , according to which she was the wife of Eric Bloodaxe , was credited with magic powers – including the power of shapeshifting and turning at will into a bird. She is the central character of the novel Mother of Kings by Poul Anderson , which considerably elaborates on her shapeshifting abilities. In the Finnish epic poem Kalevala of ancient folklore, Louhi , Mistress of

735-423: A ransom. Math fab Mathonwy and Gwydion transform flowers into a woman named Blodeuwedd , and when she betrays her husband Lleu Llaw Gyffes , who is transformed into an eagle, they transform her again, into an owl. Gilfaethwy raped Goewin , Math fab Mathonwy 's virgin footholder, with help from his brother Gwydion . As punishment, Math turned them into different types of animals for one year each. Gwydion

784-550: A rock with no food or water for nine days looking at him as he crossed the skies, until she was transformed into a purple, sun-gazing flower, the heliotropium . As a final reward from the gods for their hospitality, Baucis and Philemon were transformed, at their deaths, into a pair of trees. Eos , the goddess of the dawn, secured immortality for her lover the Trojan prince Tithonus , but not eternal youth, so he aged without dying as he shriveled and grew more and more helpless. In

833-515: A union between the founder of the clan and a shape-shifting selkie. Another such creature is the Scottish selkie, which needs its sealskin to regain its form. In The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry the (male) selkie seduces a human woman. Such stories surrounding these creatures are usually romantic tragedies. Scottish mythology features shapeshifters, which allows the various creatures to trick, deceive, hunt, and kill humans. Water spirits such as

882-441: Is a demi-urge and folk hero of the ǀXam people of southern Africa. He is a trickster god who can shape shift, usually taking the form of a praying mantis but also a bull eland , a louse , a snake, and a caterpillar . Amazon river dolphins are curious and lack of fear of foreign objects, are apex predators , and the male Amazon river dolphins are very physically aggressive during their mating period, particularly around

931-435: Is among the most commonly known, but other such creatures include the bakeneko , the mujina , and the tanuki . Korean mythology also contains a fox with the ability to shapeshift. Unlike its Chinese and Japanese counterparts, the kumiho is always malevolent. Usually its form is of a beautiful young woman; one tale recounts a man, a would-be seducer, revealed as a kumiho. The kumiho has nine tails and as she desires to be

980-695: Is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism , as well as the oldest existent literature and epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad . The concept remains a common literary device in modern fantasy , children's literature and popular culture . Examples of shapeshifters are vampires and werewolves . Popular shapeshifting creatures in folklore are werewolves and vampires (mostly of European, Canadian, and Native American/early American origin), ichchhadhari naag (shape-shifting cobra) of India, shapeshifting fox spirits of East Asia such as

1029-400: Is the huli jing , a fox spirit that usually appears as a beautiful young woman; most are dangerous, but some feature as the heroines of love stories. Madame White Snake is one such legend; a snake falls in love with a man, and the story recounts the trials she and her husband faced. In Japanese folklore obake are a type of yōkai with the ability to shapeshifting. The fox, or kitsune

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1078-418: Is under human form, it wears a hat to hide its blowhole , which does not disappear with the shapeshift. CD-ROM Today CD-ROM Today was an American magazine targeted at computer users. Published from 1993 to 1996 by Imagine Publishing (now Future US ), the magazine was initially issued once every other month, before becoming a monthly. Each issue included software and hardware reviews, as well as

1127-629: The Aswang , a vampiric monster capable of transforming into a bat, a large black dog, a black cat, a black boar, or some other form to stalk humans at night. The folklore also mentions other beings such as the Kapre , the Tikbalang , and the Engkanto , which change their appearances to woo beautiful maidens. Also, talismans (called " anting-anting " or " birtud " in the local dialect), can give their owners

1176-566: The each-uisge , which inhabit lochs and waterways in Scotland, were said to appear as a horse or a young man. Other tales include kelpies who emerge from lochs and rivers in the disguise of a horse or woman to ensnare and kill weary travelers. Tam Lin , a man captured by the Queen of the Fairies is changed into all manner of beasts before being rescued. He finally turned into a burning coal and

1225-596: The huli jing of China, the obake of Japan, the Navajo skin-walkers , and gods, goddesses and demons and demonesses such as the Norse Loki or the Greek Proteus . Shapeshifting to the form of a wolf is specifically known as lycanthropy , and creatures who undergo such change are called lycanthropes. It was also common for deities to transform mortals into animals and plants. The prefix "were-" comes from

1274-482: The Giant Killer and The Black Bull of Norroway , feature shapeshifting. Pwyll was transformed by Arawn into Arawn's shape, and Arawn transformed himself into Pwyll's so that they could trade places for a year and a day. Llwyd ap Cil Coed transformed his wife and attendants into mice to attack a crop in revenge; when his wife is captured, he turns himself into three clergymen in succession to try to pay

1323-533: The Maorin. Can breathe fire, use its tail as a weapon, and fly very fast. Real Ssair, who are normally hostile, will ignore Kirt when he is in this form. Grost  – A man made of stone that is an excellent fighter with strong defense that can also punch through certain walls. Can cause earthquakes and paralyze foes with a touch. The ShadowCaster game engine , a successor of the Wolfenstein 3D engine and

1372-537: The North, attacks Väinämöinen in the form of a giant eagle with her troops on her back as she tries to steal Sampo . In Armenian mythology , shapeshifters include the Nhang , a serpentine river monster that can transform itself into a woman or seal, and will drown humans and then drink their blood; or the beneficial Shahapet , a guardian spirit that can appear either as a man or a snake. Philippine mythology includes

1421-589: The Old English word for "man". While the popular idea of a shapeshifter is of a human being who turns into something else, there are numerous stories about animals that can transform themselves as well. Examples of shapeshifting in classical literature include many examples in Ovid 's Metamorphoses , Circe 's transforming of Odysseus ' men to pigs in Homer 's The Odyssey , and Apuleius 's Lucius becoming

1470-513: The ability to shapeshift. In one tale, Chonguita the Monkey Wife , a woman is turned into a monkey, only becoming human again if she can marry a handsome man. Tatar folklore includes Yuxa , a hundred-year-old snake that can transform itself into a beautiful young woman, and seeks to marry men to have children. Chinese mythology contains many tales of animal shapeshifters, capable of taking on human form. The most common such shapeshifter

1519-538: The appearance of shapeshifting, through their power, called "glamour", to create illusions, and some were limited to changing their size, as with the spriggans , and others to a few forms. But others, such as the Hedley Kow , could change to many forms, and both human and supernatural wizards were capable of both such changes, and inflicting them on others. Witches could turn into hares and in that form steal milk and butter. Many British fairy tales, such as Jack

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1568-402: The character collects, and the most useful early in the game. Maorin is a large, four-armed, cat-like creature with superior fighting skills and the ability to see things invisible to others. It drowns quickly, however. Caun  – A leprechaun -like creature who is a poor fighter, but can heal quickly, jump over obstacles, fit in smaller spaces and unleash a swarm of insects (needed to unlock

1617-483: The courtship practice of object carrying. Amazon river dolphins , known by the natives as the boto , encantados or toninhas, are very prevalent in the mythology of the native South Americans. They are frequently characterized in mythology with superior musical ability, seductiveness and love of sex, resulting in illegitimate children, and attraction to parties. Despite the fact that the Encante are said to come from

1666-476: The end, Eos transformed him into a cicada . In some variants of the tale of Narcissus , he is turned into a narcissus flower. Sometimes metamorphoses transform objects into humans. In the myths of both Jason and Cadmus , one task set to the hero was to sow dragon's teeth ; on being sown, they would metamorphose into belligerent warriors, and both heroes had to throw a rock to trick them into fighting each other to survive. Deucalion and Pyrrha repopulated

1715-411: The evil ones have found them. Kirt's grandfather opens a portal back to the homeworld, and that is where the story begins. Kirt's mission is to stop the demons once and for all, but first he will need to awaken his innate shapeshifting powers, which is where the obelisks come into play. Going up to one of these and touching it will unlock a new form, and the first is the cat form. The main character of Kirt

1764-503: The exploration of ShadowCaster rather than the fast-paced action of Doom . The game supported the Logitech Cyberman 6DOF controller. It used the vertical axis to control the player's flying height and provided tactile feedback when the player bumped a wall or was hit. The game engine was also used for In Pursuit of Greed . Raven Software would later create a similar game engine in house for CyClones . Reviewing

1813-413: The form of a mare to bear Odin's steed Sleipnir which was the fastest horse ever to exist, and also the form of a she-wolf to bear Fenrir . Svipdagr angered Odin , who turned him into a dragon. Despite his monstrous appearance, his lover, the goddess Freyja , refused to leave his side. When the warrior Hadding found and slew Svipdagr, Freyja cursed him to be tormented by a tempest and shunned like

1862-473: The game for PC Gamer UK , Gary Whitta remarked that " Underworld fans will lap [ ShadowCaster ] up — as should anyone thinking of toying with the genre." The magazine later named it the 49th best computer game of all time, calling it "an admirable attempt to show that RPGs don't have to be boring, complex and number-heavy". Ed Ricketts of PC Format praised ShadowCaster ' s "bags of atmosphere" and called it "the best role-playing game to appear for

1911-490: The night in search of human or animal prey. If a woman gives birth at midnight and stretches the membrane that envelopes the child when it is brought forth, between four sticks and creeps through it, naked, she will bear children without pain; but all the boys will be shamans , and all the girls Maras. The Nisse is sometimes said to be a shapeshifter. This trait also is attributed to Hulder . Gunnhild, Mother of Kings ( Gunnhild konungamóðir ) (c. 910  –  c. 980),

1960-593: The plague wherever he went. In the Hyndluljóð , Freyja transformed her protégé Óttar into a boar to conceal him. She also possessed a cloak of falcon feathers that allowed her to transform into a falcon, which Loki borrowed on occasion. The Volsunga saga contains many shapeshifting characters. Siggeir 's mother changed into a wolf to help torture his defeated brothers-in-law with slow and ignominious deaths. When one, Sigmund , survived, he and his nephew and son Sinfjötli killed men wearing wolfskins; when they donned

2009-517: The skins themselves, they were cursed to become werewolves . The dwarf Andvari is described as being able to magically turn into a pike . Alberich , his counterpart in Richard Wagner 's Der Ring des Nibelungen , using the Tarnhelm , takes on many forms, including a giant serpent and a toad, in a failed attempt to impress or intimidate Loki and Odin/ Wotan . Fafnir was originally

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2058-538: The tales using it are of amorous adventure. Zeus repeatedly transformed himself to approach mortals as a means of gaining access: Vertumnus transformed himself into an old woman to gain entry to Pomona 's orchard; there, he persuaded her to marry him. In other tales, the woman appealed to other gods to protect her from rape, and was transformed ( Daphne into laurel, Corone into a crow). Unlike Zeus and other gods' shapeshifting, these women were permanently metamorphosed. In one tale, Demeter transformed herself into

2107-494: The wife of the famous hero Fionn mac Cumhaill , was changed into a deer by the druid Fer Doirich when she spurned his amorous interests. There is a significant amount of literature about shapeshifters that appear in a variety of Norse tales. In the Lokasenna , Odin and Loki taunt each other with having taken the form of females and nursing offspring to which they had given birth. A 13th-century Edda relates Loki taking

2156-468: The world after a flood by throwing stones behind them; they were transformed into people. Cadmus is also often known to have transformed into a dragon or serpent towards the end of his life. Pygmalion fell in love with Galatea , a statue he had made. Aphrodite had pity on him and transformed the stone into a living woman. Fairies , witches , and wizards were all noted for their shapeshifting ability. Not all fairies could shapeshift, some having only

2205-577: Was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World ' s Action Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame . It was named the 95th best computer game ever by PC Gamer UK in 1997. Shapeshifting In mythology , folklore and speculative fiction , shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting

2254-410: Was based on the name of the game's software developer, Kurt Schallitz, and included his brown leather jacket. The face of Kirt is actually that of Raven Software's owner, Brian Raffel. Kirt  – The default character. All abilities are weak, but has some fighting skill and is the only form in which magic rejuvenates. Health also rejuvenates but slower than magic does. Maorin  – The first form

2303-426: Was believed to be able to change her appearance into anything she wanted. In one story, her pride led Zeus to trick her into transforming into a fly. He then swallowed her because he feared that he and Metis would have a son who would be more powerful than Zeus himself. Metis, however, was already pregnant. She stayed alive inside his head and built an armor for her daughter. The banging of her metalworking made Zeus have

2352-511: Was thrown into a well, whereupon he reappeared in his human form. The motif of capturing a person by holding him through all forms of transformation is a common thread in folktales . Perhaps the best-known Irish myth is that of Aoife who turned her stepchildren, the Children of Lir , into swans to be rid of them. Likewise, in the Tochmarc Étaíne , Fuamnach jealously turns Étaín into

2401-432: Was transformed into a stag, sow, and wolf, and Gilfaethwy into a hind, boar, and she-wolf. Each year, they had a child. Math turned the three young animals into boys. Gwion , having accidentally taken the wisdom from a potion that Ceridwen was brewing for her son , fled from her through a succession of changes, which she answered with changes of her own. This ended when he turned into a grain of corn and she turned into

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