In the Altis Gates dev log of this week, Chris, the game’s chief designer, shares the inspiration behind the exhilarating designs and his vision for the future.

The story of Altis Gates and its theme are closely related to the legendary Atlantis. Since any potential remains of the ancient paradise rest at the bottom of the ocean, the world of Altis had to be created from scratch. We drew extensively from ancient texts describing the wonders of Atlantis, so Altis could reflect the culture of that civilization and relive the glory of the sunken city as accurately as possible. Nevertheless, we wanted to add more to our version of the legend, so the team took the liberty to include some structures that resemble the wonders of our world.

There are many structures in Altis that have strong historical connections. During initial concept discussions, the team agreed that the game should include marvels of the ancient world that players may have heard of but would never get the chance to see in their full glory. In preparation for this, we looked through all the materials available. We read hundreds of books and made thousands of notes for future reference. As it turned out, one of the team’s favorite sources of inspiration was the Discovery Channel.

While we were collecting a massive amount of data, the team discovered that most of the 8 wonders of the world are located in the Mediterranean region. The Colosseum naturally caught the team’s eyes. This ancient wonder is located at the heart of Rome and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman engineering and architecture. What intrigued us was its purpose. It was a place where thousands of brave souls fought for their honor and their lives. The team decided to capture this warrior spirit in designing Altis Gates’ Arena. The actual Colosseum was used as a blueprint for creating a 1:100,000 scale model.

There are 2 levels in the Arena. The first is where epic fights take place. To enhance the sense of danger and majesty, we added fire effects there. The top level is the viewing gallery. Like the Colosseum itself, the viewing level is supported by 50 gigantic pillars. However, due to space constraints, there are only 10 rows of the gallery layered in a way similar to the steps of a staircase. The Arena has 5 main areas separated in the middle by a grand entrance. Though the design is simple, it retains the majestic feel of the Colosseum.

In addition to locations like the Arena, when players visit Altis City they will have to use an elevator which was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Similarly, the Segalos Sanctuary in Altis City is based on the Temple of Artemis.

In future patches, the team will try to incorporate more of the 8 wonders into the Altis world. For example, the team is looking into adding a version of the Great Pyramid into one of the game’s instances. Of course, this is all merely speculative at the moment. What is assured though is that players will get to explore the mysteries of these ancient structures in the vast expanses of Altis. We hope they will find that sense of wonder we get when we’re (re)building them.

Read here all you need to know about Altis Gates.

Visit the official website of Altis Gates.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 5:57 pm and is filed under MMO News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.