Strategy First and Akella partner to develop and bring Disciples III to the world (thanks Frans) is the press release following-up on the termination of the deal for Game Factory Interactive to develop Disciples III (story) with word that Akella and associated developer .dat are now working on the upcoming strategy sequel. The update also reveals the full title of the project to be Disciples III: Renaissance, and offers some new details:

Advances in game play and the addition of new elements make Disciples III richer and more interesting. The visual design follows the ominous style of the Disciples world, but now all of the game environments and individual units are in stunning real-time 3D.

Disciples III uses .dat’s in-house Virtual Dream engine, which supports all modern 3D technologies, and will initially feature 3 playable races: The Empire, The Legions of the Damned, and the Noble Elves, each with its unique Unit styles and city representation that will allow city sieges, and ending with a battle for the main fortress.

The combat system will be significantly improved with the addition of new elements. Though it remains turn-based, units will move on the battlefield using an improved initiative timer-based system and more advanced interactions between statistical elements that will vary the time of attacks and the order that units take in battle.

At the strategic level, unit turns will also be affected with an initiative factor that will dictate turns at the unit level and not at the Race level. This means increased fluidity in multiplayer and less downtime even in single player.

And there is another new element. In Disciples II, players could use magic only on the Strategic Isometric Map. Disciples III allows a Lord to also use spells on the battlefield. A spell utilizes mana (magic energy) acquired from controlled sources and spell cards that can be bought or found.

As in previous Disciples games, troops receive experience in battle and upon leveling, become more powerful and effective in a way that is dictated by the structure branch selected by the player. Leaders get improved abilities and the player can assign stat bonuses to their liking. An RPG-style system will be implemented for the character advancement screen. Included will be inventory, expanded stats and abilities, as well as a character model that will visually reflect worn armor and equipped weapons and artifacts.