Indiana Jones and The Fate Of Atlantis was one of the best adventure games ever made. But since 1992, LucasArts didn't make a sequel. Soon Indy and The Infernal Machine will release but it's not exactly an adventure game, it's like Tomb Raider. I mean action - adventure.
Michael Zoller and his brother are fan of Fate Of Atlantis. They decided to release a game name's Fate Of Atlantis 2, in summer of '98.
From the start of Indy Project, one year has passed. And i would have liked to write an interview with Michael Zoller about Foa 2 and Adventure Games. Thanks god, he accepted that. :) Anyway, these are the questions and answers.
First of all, when was `Fate Of Atlantis 2` project started and how ?
Why Fate Of Atlantis? And what's the full name, i mean Indy and The ... ?
The project started back in the summer of 1998 when first thoughts were
made about making a fan-created sequel to Fate Of Atlantis. Why Fate of
Atlantis? Because in our opinion it is definitely the best adventure
ever released by LucasArts. The full name, as to this moment, is just
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis 2. A more tempting title will
be applied later.
In first days how many people were there in crew and now? Would you
introduce the crew shortly?
At first, there was only my brother and me. Shortly after, several Indy
fans from all over the world joined in. Now, the staff consists of more
than 10 people. Introducing the crew: that would be a bit lenghty :)
The members section of our homepage will hold short essays on each crew
member soon.
What's your first Adventure Game? Can u confront Sierra's graphic text
adventure times ( i mean 85 to 93 ) and 21th Adventure Games?
Do you mean what was the first adventure game we played? Well, should have
been Leisure Suit Larry 3, I think. Adventure Gaming development: the
future clearly goes into even more 3d. Plain graphics adventures are no
longer attractive to the masses (or, at least, the gaming industry does
assume so).
Which do u like? text or icon adventure? I hate FMV games, do you?
Same here, too. Text adventures are ok if one has the imaginative attitude
to experience such a puristic gaming experience, but I think icon adventures
are definitely the best. Except for a very few interactive movies. Still,
most of them do not deserve the title "adventure".
I know it's a classic question but i wanna know it too much. What's your
Top10 Adventure Games List?
It is VERY hard to sort our favorites in a top10 list. Mhhh..., let's see:
The Indiana Jones Adventures, of course, then Maniac Mansion and Day of the
Tentacle. The Monkey Island Trilogy wasn't bad, either, same goes for the
Space Quest Series, mhhh... Prisoner of Ice was a very thrilling game with
a strong storyline, and last but not least the famous Legend of Kyrandia.
This surely misses a couple of other great adventures, but it's the inner
core we usually sum up when people ask us on this. And - we still keep
playing them!
Let's start talking about Fate Of Atlantis 2. Which programs do you use?
Well, we are developing our own engine, IP-SCUMM 2.0. At the moment, the
only platform supported is Win9x/NT/2000, but other may follow if there is
resonance to port it later on. For the artwork, our artists use a variety
of graphics programs, as do the musicians; we are also developing our own
tools, to assist in implementing scripts or work on the datafile.
Plz tell us about Foa 2's story a little bit? Is there a similarity with
orginal Fate Of Atlantis?
Foa 2 will continue telling the story of the original. It will thus be the
second part of a - as many see it - unfinished plot that came to a rather
quick ending back in Fate Of Atlantis. Without giving away too much, here's
a snip: Foa 2 will start in the year of 1944, a good five years after Indy's
first encounter with Atlantis. The Nazi's will make an appearance again,
but with a slightly changed attitude this time. As matters evolve, it will
become more and more clear to Indiana Jones that nothing is at is appears,
and that he is well advised to trust no one. Finally, as the many mysteries
conjure in a terrifying final, the true story of Atlantis becomes apparent.
In Foa, there are three ways to go. Will be in Foa 2 too ?
Definitely, yes. It was what added most to Foa's re-playability. Except a
similar feature of multiple "paths" to chose in Fate of Atlantis 2.
Is there a special thing in Foa 2? Like we haven't seen before?
You mean a feature never seen before in an adventure game? Well, I should
think that an ambient Mp3 soundtrack is something completely new, isn't it
:)?
Will copyright be a problem? Have LucasArts ever sent a message about
this to you?
They didn't. If copyright infringements should turn out to be a problem, and
in what extent, the future will show. We are very optimistic that there is
a way to convince them we're on the right side,
I think.
Thanx for answering these questions ( i hope u like them ). Would you want
to say anything additionaly ?
Well, we never believed that our project would receive such a widespread feedback and interest that fast. I think this is a good place to thank all the people who contributed to the project, the many who sent in suggestions,criticism and praise. Thank you all!
And, a very important announcement: we still need everyone we can get, especially graphics artists! If this has arisen your interest in our project, don't hesitate to email us!