Screenshots (alpha)

Synopsis

Atlanticide is a co-op arcade action game with destructive environmental elements. It is based on the ancient Atlantis myths with some science fiction elements blended in. Players use alien shields to form a destructive beam between themselves, which is used to destroy the environment and also gather orichalcum, the game’s scoring mechanism.

The levels were timed and the aim was to add a “push your luck” element to the game. If the players got greedy and didn’t reach the level elevator (goal) in time, they would lose all of the gathered orichalcum. We wanted the game to have shifting levels, where portions of the level would rise and fall, changing the paths the players could take through the levels.

Development

Atlanticide had a tumultuous birth. The fundamental game idea changed several times during development.

Evolution of the game

We first pitched the game as a co-operative survival game, where the players defend a slow moving cart (containing orichalcum) through a crumbling Atlantis. There would have been some sort of an energy field or a massive monster chasing the cart, which would have added a sense of urgency to the game. If the energy field / monster would reach the cart, the game would end. Non-player characters would push the cart and players could save more NPCs throughout the levels. More NPCs would make the cart move faster. Enemies would try to kill the NPCs, which would result making the cart move slower.

Next, we moved the game towards a co-op puzzle game. Here we spent the most development time in an effort of trying to make the game work. The player characters had different powers, but we couldn’t settle on what those player powers would be. We also struggled with the fact that it felt more fun to play as the character with a shield.

One month before the expected game release, we settled on a co-op arcade action game. This was the final game idea that everyone agreed upon. We didn’t reach such a consensus before during the project. The synopsis explains this game idea in detail.

Unfortunately, we were unable to advance the game to a releasable state.

Development screenshots

Gameplay controls

Character movement

• Keyboard: WASD
• Controller: left stick

Activate beam

• Keyboard: e
• Controller: right trigger

Pause menu

• Keyboard: esc
• Controller: start / menu / options

Download links

Click the link below to get the alpha version of the game.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1plOHM1W3JgDT3hdp20SszMEJoJk4nj4Q

Team Symmachia

• Lauri Kosonen
  • programming, game design
• Toni Mutanen
  • 3D modeling, rigging, skinning, animation, texturing, programming, level design, game design
• Jaakko Liukkala
  • music, sound effects, programming, game design
• Ville Niemi
  • programming, game design
• Valtteri
  • level design, programming, game design