For centuries historians and philosophers have speculated on a tie linking the ancient Egyptian, Mayan, Easter Island and Anasazi civilisations to the mythical lost city of Atlantis. Philips will give game players a chance to unravel the mystery with a new multi-disk CD-ROM game, Timelapse. Developed by GTE Entertainment, the computer-generated adventure is scheduled for a Quarter 3 1996 release for both the PC and Macintosh.
Timelapse combines movie-quality special effects with stunning, high-resolution, full-screen (640 x 480) 3D graphics to immerse players in the recreated environments of some of earth's most intriguing and mysterious cultures. Through the use of ray traced graphics, water and other outdoor images are accurately brought to life, complete with true shadows and reflectivity. Rather than limiting game play to dark, indoor environments, Timelapse graphics fill the entire screen with bright, full-colour images of the Yucatan Peninsula, the banks of the river Nile, the ancient cliff dwellings of the Anasazi in Colorado and the undersea world of Atlantis. This title is one of the first games to use full-screen ray traced graphics of this outstanding quality. Other special features include 360-degree panoramic turns as well as abundant animated life in the form of animals and spirits. Also unique to Timelapse is an 'instant camera' feature that allows players to take photos of important clues throughout the game, thus virtually eliminating the need to draw sketches or take extensive written notes.
Throughout the compelling puzzle-solving journey, Timelapse draws on well-researched historical facts to support the game's fictional story line. All terrain, plant life, animal life, artefacts, artwork and sound effects are indigenous and faithfully re-created with respect to the various civilisations. Similarly, the wide variety of challenging puzzles found in each world are native to each culture and seamlessly integrated into the environment. Using hieroglyphics, stele and other indigenous clues, players push the limits of their reasoning and logic as they make their way to Atlantis, their final destination.
Adventure gamers can get a feel for the game and the background to the story by visiting the Timelapse section of GTE Entertainment's web site at http//www.im.gte.com