For those of you who know me, you will know I have been trying to make a fully functional Ecco the Dolphin fan game for years. Over the course of 10 years I have made many demonstrations but nothing has ever come out of any of them...until today.
THE TECHNOLOGY
The latest demonstration is more than a test of barriers and animation, it is a complete level with different types of enemies, power ups and items. The only thing this demonstration lacks is the scrolling effect seen in most games. The reason why I left out scrolling was I designed the game to work in a browser. With the latest HTML 5 technology, more and more computer programs will eventually work from your web browser.
The benefits of HTML 5 technology are I can add features to Agartha without requiring the user to download a new version. Web technology allows the game to run on a variety of operating systems and browsers, which means more people can play! The downside of HTML 5 is it's slow and is still in the prototype phase.
So far I have had lots of luck getting Agartha to run on many browsers, the only browser I have not tested it on is Internet Explorer 9. At the moment Agartha is not compatible with Internet Explorer, Microsoft refuses to properly follow web standards. With Internet Explorer prone to web viruses and it's lack of security, we are seeing more and more people migrate to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
ABOUT AGARTHA
Agartha is not an Ecco the Dolphin Fan Game but more of an Ecco the Dolphin Inspired Game. Because Agartha is the farthest along of ANY Ecco the Dolphin Fan Game, it's okay to call it an Ecco the Dolphin Fan Game. I created my own story based on my own characters. The reason I created my own story was I wanted something unique that belonged to me. My games story began as an Ecco the Dolphin fan fiction but because of it's evolution, it has become something more.
Agartha is an ancient place that is the cradle of many advanced civilizations that have since collapsed. It has been protected from outsiders for over 500 years. Long ago an advanced civilization called the Lemurians created a shield that protects Agartha. Until recently a Dolphin named Krane disabled the shield and took command of the Lemurian ruins. With the shield no longer functioning, an outside force threatens to end Agartha's prosperity. But a Dolphin named Kuros has taken it upon himself to defend Agartha and stop Krane, using ancient crystals to guide him along the way.
The goal of Agartha is to create a single level demonstration with several enemies and a boss that you can fight at the end of the level. Some of the things you will notice are a variety of weapons Kronos can use, fish he can feed from and different sources of air he can tap into. I don't plan to make Kronos jump out of water like in Ecco the Dolphin, or charge into enemies. The game play was inspired by the original Zelda for Nintendo, if you have ever played that game then you got a general Idea of what I'm going for. I am not trying to focus on detail as I am trying to focus more on game play. I want to make a game with a good story and good game play.
If I can grow the game from a single level demonstration to multiple levels, I hope to create special "pods" so people can trade items and play alongside each other. I can't support online play exactly but I can do something that allows interaction between two players. For now let us hope this single level demonstration gets completed.
Related: Arkonviox.com - Agartha
