Yeren

Yeren had a well-developed back-story

Yeren: Warriors of the Spiral Path (aka Beasts - "Yeren" is Chinese for "wild-man") was an attempt to (initially) link A-life technology into a 3D game. The idea was announced in February 2000 (see history). The project was given a major overhaul in the period February 2001 - February 2002 and managed to morph into a third-person action-adventure game for the X-Box, for which it got first-round approval before it was shelved:

"The player takes the on the role of Shi Kai Quan, a young Shaolin monk trying to unravel the story of the mythical land of Shambala and it's connection with the even more mythical Yeti. The player, with help from his master, learns the ancient Shaman art of ‘DrongJug’ which allows the mental possession of any creature. The game uses a Karma system to calculate the player's progress."

Known persons involved with this project at Creature Labs included:

• Lisa de Araujo - Creative Director
• Dean Calver - Lead Programmer, Beasts prototype
• Oscar Cooper - Lead Programmer, Yeren prototype
• Thaddaeus Frogley - AI/Agent Programmer
• Mitch Phillips - Concept Art
• Helen Burchmore - Research and Content Development
• Jayenne Montana - 3D Modelling

The game is unconnected to the Yeren Grendels which are a part of the third-party metaroom called Ostrova.

External links

• Yeren information and artwork on Lisa de Araujo's portfolio site
• Yeren Agent Bible - a reference for the animals to be included in the game
• Yeren animations from Jayenne Montana's portfolio site