Atlantia Polis Hudrow

Lately, due to lack of working pc's*, I have been bored to death. But, with great boredom comes great inspiration. Not only in the form of memo's for Moonlit, but also as a new game idea.

The University of Utrecht (NL) has started an annual contest for GameMaker users (such as myself), called the Creative Game Challenge (dutch website). Last year the theme was Beasts, this year it's all about Water.

Which got me thinking. Almost immediately, I figured that I want to do something with this water. Some kind of (semi-)real water effects would be great. But not just fancy effects, but water incorporated into the game itself. As ideas tend to, this simple gimmick has turned into an actual concept for a game.

This game - which I have already given a name: Atlantia Polis Hudrow - is going to be somewhat of a puzzle-platformer; as the player, you must travers your way through each level, filled with doors, cranks, traps, steep drops, slow moving gears and of course water. Lots and lots of water. In fact, the game sets place entirely under water. Well, if neither the name nor the fact that there is civilisation under water have been sufficient: yes. The game is set in what is, frankly, Atlantis.

What I can tell of the story isn't much, because, well, it's just an idea; but this I do know: you are a deep see investigator annex treasure seeker (I'm thinking "Nathan Croft"), who happens to find Atlantis and gets trapped. The Atlantian civilisation has ended, leaving you in huge, deserted chambers, that are constantly on the brink of collapse.

Also, it will feature some texts in Atlanteski, the languages the Atlantians speak that I'm going to create. It will be somewhat of a dialect of Lurion. The game title is also atlanteski; it means "Atlantis, the City of Water."

I have until April 2011, so I'll be working on this game on a very low pitch. I am first going to finish TerraScape, before continuing work on Moonlit.

(* While I am typing this, I find a letter from Packard Bell, saying I can get my pc back. As far as I can tell, they did nothing but undust the fans, which probably means it'll start all over again within one or two months. I guess it's better than nothing, though you might have noticed this whole mess is really getting on my nerves.)