Robert Chang tests

The Robert Chang tests refer to a Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver test room textured and lit by artist Robert Chang for Crystal Dynamics. The room was not included in the final game.

Behind the scenes[]

Chang uploaded images of the test room to his portfolio website circa November 7, 2003, under the description "Soul Reaver (test)- Textures/lighting."^[1]

The page hosting the images had the heading "Soul Reaver (PC - 2 tests I did for Crystal Dynamics)", and grouped them under "Test 1" and "Test 2." Some of them were texture maps, while others showed the sets of textures mapped to the room, rendered in 3D Studio Max.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Chang was not credited in Soul Reaver, and the room did not appear in the game.

One of the texture maps, "kain_top," featured the spiral symbol of the Spirit Glyph, prompting speculation that the unused room may have represented the cut Spirit Glyph Altar.^[4] Both the Spirit Glyph Altar and the Spirit Forge appeared in the Soul Reaver alphas uncovered in 2020, ultimately showing that Chang's designs were not being used for the forges in the game.

Environment[]

The two test rooms both feature a main altar with a lowered middle floor and a statue guarding a coffin. There coffins could have possibly contained an unknown glyph which Raziel had to activate by uncertain means. The statue sitting on a throne appears to have glowing red eyes and the whole room is tinted in blueish green, possibly hinting to be in the spectral realm setup for that shot. This room is also adorned throughout with what appears to be a spirit glyph symbol. The second room has two angels worshipping a third figure, there are also several statues along the walls and demonic imagery on the arches.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

The appearance of the Robert Chang test rooms seems to bear some influence from the Spirit forges of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The rooms also bear many of the hallmarks of the later Glyph Shrines and Reaver forges seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and its prototypes - this perhaps suggests that the test rooms were the progenitors of the later forges and shrines and were themselves inspired by the Spirit forges.

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 November 7, 2003 snapshot of Soul Reaver at Ethereality (by Robert Chang)
↑ October 21, 2003 snapshot of Textures at Ethereality (by Robert Chang)
↑ Soul Reaver at Ethereality (by Robert Chang)
↑ The Spirit Glyph at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)

Browse[]

v · d · e

Locations

The Land of Nosgoth

Planes	The Material Realm The Spectral Realm The Demon Realm

Overland	The Canyons The Cemetery Dark Eden The Great Southern Lake The Great Southern Sea HMCS Bitter The Lake of Lost Souls The Lake of Serenity The Lake of Tears The Lake of the Dead The Land of the Nemesis Nachtholm Cove The Pillars of Nosgoth The Plains of Blood The Swamp The Termogent Forest

Villages	Avernus Coorhagen Freeport The Human Citadel Meridian Nachtholm Provance Stahlberg Steinchencröe Uschtenheim Vasserbünde Willendorf Ziegsturhl

Dungeons	The Air Forge The Avernus Catacombs Avernus Cathedral The Chronoplast The Dark Forge The Device The Drowned Abbey Elzevir the Dollmaker The Eternal Prison The Fire Forge The Hylden City Janos Audron's Retreat Kain's castle The Light Forge The Lost City Malek's Bastion The Necropolis Nupraptor's Retreat The Oracle's Cave The Provincial Mines Raziel's Clan Territory The Ruined City of the Dumahim The Sanctuary of the Clans The Sarafan Stronghold The Silenced Cathedral The Smokestack The Stone Glyph Altar The Subterranean Ruins The Sunlight Glyph Altar The Tomb of the Sarafan The Underworld (Defiance) The Underworld (Soul Reaver) The Vampire Citadel Vorador's Mansion

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Major locations	The Pillars of Nosgoth (Blood Omen) Nupraptor's Retreat Malek's Bastion The Oracle's Cave Vorador's Mansion Dark Eden Avernus Cathedral Willendorf City

Overland	The Overland The Cemetery The Lake of Tears Nachtholm Cove The Lake of the Dead The Termogent Forest The Lake of Serenity The Land of the Nemesis HMCS Bitter The Lake of Lost Souls The Plains of Blood

Villages	Ziegsturhl Nachtholm Steinchencröe Vasserbünde Coorhagen Uschtenheim Avernus Willendorf Stahlberg

Dungeons	Kain's Mausoleum The Light Dungeon The Energy Bolt Dungeon The Wolf Form Dungeon The Repel Dungeon The Bone Armor Dungeon The Inspire Hate Dungeon The Stun Dungeon The Mist Form Dungeon The Lost City The Blood Gout Dungeon The Control Mind Dungeon The Flame Sword Dungeon The Dark Eden Castle The Lightning Dungeon Heaven The Avernus Catacombs Hell The Spirit Wrack Dungeon The Provincial Mines Elzevir the Dollmaker The Stronghold of William the Just

Minor locations	The Sarafan Stronghold The Underworld

Other locations	The Great Southern Lake

Cut locations	The chess match The developers' level select Weirstein The witches' coven

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Major locations	The Underworld The Lake of the Dead Raziel's Clan Territory The Necropolis The Sanctuary of the Clans (The Pillars of Nosgoth (Soul Reaver)) The Silenced Cathedral The Tomb of the Sarafan The Drowned Abbey The Ruined City of the Dumahim The Oracle's Cave The Chronoplast

Overland	The Overland

Villages	The Human Citadel

Dungeons	The Force Glyph Altar The Stone Glyph Altar The Sound Glyph Altar The Fire Forge The Water Glyph Altar The Fire Glyph Altar The Sunlight Glyph Altar

Minor locations	The Smokestack Nupraptor's Retreat The Sarafan Stronghold Time-streaming chambers

Cut locations	"adda2" Dark Eden Kain's Mountain Retreat The Lake of Lost Souls Malek's Bastion Push Riley's Test Area The Robert Chang tests The Sound Forge The Spirit Forge The Spirit Glyph Altar The Stone Forge The Sunlight Forge Turel's Clan Territory The Undercity The Water Forge

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver comic

The Pillars of Nosgoth (Soul Reaver) The Sanctuary of the Clans The Lake of the Dead The Necropolis The Silenced Cathedral The Undercity The Human Citadel The Water Glyph Altar

Soul Reaver 2

Major locations	The time-streaming chambers The Sarafan Stronghold The Great Southern Lake The Pillars of Nosgoth (Soul Reaver 2) The Subterranean Ruins The Swamp The Dark Forge The Light Forge Uschtenheim The Air Forge The Janos Audron's Retreat The Fire Forge

Minor locations	The Chronoplast

Other locations	The Tomb of the Sarafan

Cut locations	The Earth Forge The Spirit Forge The Water Forge

Blood Omen 2

Major locations	Meridian (The Slums The Smuggler's Den The Lower City The Upper City The Sarafan Keep The Industrial Quarter The Device The Wharves) The Canyons The Eternal Prison The Hylden City

Minor locations	The Pillars of Nosgoth Kain's castle The Great Southern Sea Sanctuary

Other locations	Freeport The Great Southern Lake The Lake of Tears Provance Ziegsturhl The Termogent Forest Vorador's Mansion

Cut locations	Unidentified cut Blood Omen 2 locations Valeholm

Legacy of Kain: Defiance

Major locations	The Sarafan Stronghold The Underworld The Cemetery The Pillars of Nosgoth (Defiance) The Vampire Citadel Vorador's Mansion Avernus (Avernus Cathedral The Avernus Catacombs)

Minor locations	The Great Southern Lake Kain's Mausoleum The Dark Forge The Light Forge The Lake of Tears The Fire Forge The Air Forge The Termogent Forest The Water Forge The Earth Forge The Spirit Forge

Cut locations	"artifact1a" The Sanctuary of the Clans

Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic

The Pillars of Nosgoth (Blood Omen Soul Reaver) Ziegsturhl The Sanctuary of the Clans The Lake of the Dead The Necropolis The Silenced Cathedral The Sarafan Stronghold The Ruined City of the Dumahim The Drowned Abbey

Cut content

Cut content/Locations

Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy

Malek's Bastion The Hylden City

Legacy of Kain: Dead Sun

Overland	The Wetlands

Dungeons	The Temple of the Whore Saint The Fireship Lydia's Shrine Abraxas Caves

Other locations	The Silenced Cathedral Willendorf List of Dead Sun other locations

Nosgoth

Maps	Freeport Valeholm Provance Sommerdamm The Fane The Crucible The Silenced Cathedral

Minor locations	The Great Southern Sea Meridian The Smokestack Turel's Clan Territory

Other locations	Avernus Dark Eden

v · d · e

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Series

Games	Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)

Demos	"proto1" The Fire Glyph demo Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Quest for Melchiah

Manuals	The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver manual Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver: Prima's Official Strategy Guide Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Das Offizielle Lösungsbuch

Comics	The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver comic (1999)

Concepts	Kain II Shifter

Prototypes	Jan 23, 1999 Feb 4, 1999 Feb 16, 1999 Apr 14, 1999 May 12, 1999 Jun 1, 1999 Jun 10, 1999 Jun 18, 1999 Jun 28, 1999 Jul 2, 1999 Jul 14, 1999 Dec 13, 1999 Jan 12, 2000 Jan 18, 2000

History

Documents	"Lord Kain and the Story of Nosgoth"

Eras	The history preceding Blood Omen · The events of Soul Reaver

Events	Raziel's execution · Raziel's resurrection

Timelines	Timelines (The second timeline)

Characters

Major characters	Raziel The Elder God Kain Melchiah Zephon Rahab Dumah Ariel Moebius The Tomb Guardian

Minor characters	Turel List of Soul Reaver minor characters

Other characters	"astat" "babar" Malek Mortanius Nupraptor "stnglph" Vorador

Cut characters	The Priestess

Locations

Major locations	The Underworld The Lake of the Dead Raziel's Clan Territory The Necropolis The Sanctuary of the Clans (The Pillars of Nosgoth (Soul Reaver)) The Silenced Cathedral The Tomb of the Sarafan The Drowned Abbey The Ruined City of the Dumahim The Oracle's Cave The Chronoplast

Overland	The Overland

Villages	The Human Citadel

Dungeons	The Force Glyph Altar The Stone Glyph Altar The Sound Glyph Altar The Fire Forge The Water Glyph Altar The Fire Glyph Altar The Sunlight Glyph Altar

Minor locations	The Smokestack Nupraptor's Retreat The Sarafan Stronghold Time-streaming chambers

Cut locations	"adda2" Dark Eden Kain's Mountain Retreat The Lake of Lost Souls Malek's Bastion Push Riley's Test Area The Robert Chang tests The Sound Forge The Spirit Forge The Spirit Glyph Altar The Stone Forge The Sunlight Forge Turel's Clan Territory The Undercity The Water Forge

Inhabitants

Races	Humans · Vampires (Vampires (events of Soul Reaver))

Creatures	Animals · Reavers · Sluagh · Specters · Wraiths

Factions	The agents of the Elder God · The Circle of Nine · Kain's empire (The Council · The Dumahim · Kain's lieutenants · The Melchahim · The Rahabim · The Razielim · The Turelim · The vampire worshippers · The Zephonim) · The vampire hunters (events of Soul Reaver)

Walkthrough

"Vampire Scourge" "Underworld" "Raziel's Clan Territory" "Necropolis" "Melchiah" "Soul Reaver" "The Silenced Cathedral" "Zephon" "Tomb Of Sarafan" "The Drowned Abbey" "Rahab" "Ruined City of the Dumahim" "Dumah" "Oracle's Cave" "Showdown With Kain"

"Force Glyph" "Stone Glyph" "Fire Glyph" "Sound Glyph" "Sunlight Glyph" "City Life And Death"

Terms

The Abyss Ariel's platform Bells Blocks Cheats The Chronoplast visions Constrict objects Doors The Elder God's platform Eldritch energy recharges Feeding Fire Force fields The health coil Health recharges Levers Permeable barriers Planar portals Pupating Melchahim Pupating Rahabim Pupating Zephonim Rotatable and movable objects Revived vampires The ring menu Scalable walls Sealed doors The soul altar Sunlight Switches Telekinetic breakables Teleportation Updrafts Wall spikes Warp gates Water Wheels

Debug menus Lava Pupating Turelim

Items

Weapons	Claws "catpipe" "cstaff" "hubstaff" "lstaff" "lukpoon" "pipestk" "prong" "staff" "stake_f" "stake_l" "stake_r" "stdaluk" "stdcath" "stdorac" "stdskin" "stdtomb" "stnaff" "gong" "hndtrch" "boldasc" "boldasd" "boldase" "boldasf" "urnx" "urny" "urnz" "walbose"

Reavers	The Wraith Blade (The Spectral Reaver The Material Reaver The Fire Reaver)

Essential items	Souls (Melchiah's soul Zephon's soul Rahab's soul Dumah's soul) Eldritch energy Eldritch energy power-ups Health power-ups The telekinetic force projectile relic

Minor items	Claws The Soul Reaver Vorador's Signet Ring Blue blood Red blood Crossbows Flamethrowers Knives "stick" The vampire hunters' banner The Ariel Reaver The Kain Reaver Moebius's Staff

Other items	Nupraptor's Head

Cut items	The Amplified Reaver The Chaos Armor Green blood Malek's Helmet The Sound Reaver The Spirit Reaver The Stone Reaver The Sunlight Reaver The Water Reaver

Abilities

Innate abilities	Combat Crouching Gliding Shifting Sneaking Soul devouring

Earned abilities	Phasing through gates Scaling walls Telekinetic force projectiles/Reaver bolts Swimming Constricting

Glyphs	Glyphs (The Shift Glyph The Force Glyph The Stone Glyph The Sound Glyph The Water Glyph The Fire Glyph The Sunlight Glyph)

Cut abilities	Amplified force projectiles Possess Shape-shifting Shift At Will The Spirit Glyph

Enemies

Enemies	Adepts Adult Dumahim Adult Melchahim Adult Rahabim Adult Turelim Adult Zephonim Fledgling Dumahim Fledgling Melchahim Fledgling Rahabim Fledgling Turelim Fledgling Zephonim Novitiates Sluagh Vampire hunters (crossbow) Vampire hunters (flamethrower) Vampire wraiths

NPCs	Villagers

Bosses	Melchiah Kain (Pillars) Zephon The Tomb Guardian Rahab Dumah Kain (Chronoplast)

Cut enemies	Forsaken Kain's brides Monsters Winged vampires Wolf-like vampires The Priestess Turel Kain (Retreat)

Production

Cast	Michael Bell Tony Jay Simon Templeman Neil Ross Anna Gunn Richard Doyle

Gallery

Audio	Music (Cathedral Drowned Abbey Necropolis Ozar Midrashim Pillars Ruined City Sound Glyph Spectral Underworld Sunlight Glyph The City Turel Clan Underworld Underworld Lt) Voiceover

Documents	Manual.pdf

Images	Screenshots Cinematic stills Bitmaps Texture maps Arnold Ayala images Boyd Lake images Brett Hartshorn images Casto Vocal images Daniel Cabuco images Dave Reyes images Eidos Interactive images Freddie Lee images GlyphX images Nosgothic Realm images Robert Chang images Stephen Trusty images The Lost Worlds images Soul Reaver comic images

Videos	YouTube videos

Archive

Transcripts	Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver transcript

The Robert Chang tests

Contents