The Atlas: Prologue - 2020

The Atlas: Prologue is the UCSC 2020 Undergraduate Game Design Major Final Project of team Shanhe Studio.

Abstract:

        The Atlas: Prologue includes the tutorial level and the Water level. It’s an ink painting style 2D Puzzle RPG game in which you act as a young wizard, who cultivates Taoism to become a real immortal, to save your teacher ‘The Master’. In the game, you will use talismans, a magic tool, to cast different spells to overcome all the difficulties in your path. The answer can be easy as long as you understand the inner logic and philosophy of those elements!

Instruction:

        There is a tutorial level in the game to teach players how to play this game, gradually introducing all systems. 

• Left-click to collect and interact with items.
• Left-click and drag items from the backpack onto other items to interact.
• Press WSAD to move.
  
• Press Q / click the Spelltree icon to open the Spelltree UI interface.
• Press T / click the Talisman icon to open the Talisman UI interface
  • Press G to generate the talisman
  • Press Delete to re-draw the talisman
• Scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in / out

**Puzzle Cheats**:

All Spells:

• 3 earth = Changeable Soil 
• 2 earth, 1 water = Ditto Board
• 3 water = Heavenly Water
• 1 water, 1 wood = wind
• 2 fire = sun
• 2 water = moon
• 2 wind, 1 earth = Yin-Yang Portal
• 3 wood = Golden Wood
• 2 sun, 1 earth = Prime Sun
• 1 sun, 1 moon, 1 water = Taiji Key
• 1 wood, 1 fire, 1 wind = Taoist Wind

• Tutorial:
  • Drag the stones and crystals in the scene onto the corresponding bases according to the pattern in the central location of the item 
  • The Atlas in your backpack. Then, the last base will appear. Use the talisman to create a Changeable Soil and drag it to the new base, 
  • the key will appear, click to collect the key and drag it to the key mark of Scroll Gate. 
  • or
  • Create a Changeable Soil directly with the talisman, click on the Scroll Gate and drag the Soil to the keymark.

• Cross the River:
  • Create a Changeable Soil and drag the soil to the river.

• Klotski Puzzle:
  • Complete the Klotski, then create a Ditto Board and drag the board to the missing position in the figure.

• Walking Puzzle:
  • In this level, players’ controls are reversed until players solve the mirror puzzle, Holding two direction keys at the same time to move diagonally and get out of the maze.

• Planting Water Seed → Fei and Fire → Growth of the Flower → Flower in the Mirror：
  • step1. put the Changeable Soil in the vase.
  • step2. put the seed in the soil.
  • step3. use the Heavenly Water on the seed to make it grow into a bud.
  • step4. create the wind element using 1 water and 1 wood.
  • step5. create Yin-Yang Portal and go into the scroll (go back to the Lobby level).
  • step6. create Golden Wood and throw it into the fire.
  • step7. go back to the water scene and create the sun element using 2 fire,
  • step8. create the Prime Sun and put it on the bud to make grow into a flower.
  • step9. press 'Z' to see the mirror closer, using the direction keys to move perspective, and find the exact same flower as the one you planted and click that mirror (can be simply passed by keeping clicking the same mirror).

• Yin-Yang Gate:
  • Create the Taiji Key to open the gate.

• North-western Wind:
  • Create the Taoist wind to stop the wind.

**End**

Credits:

• Haobin Zhang - Producer & Lead Director & Level Designer & Writer & System Designer
• Yibo Wang - Level Designer & System Designer & Programmer
• Ahri Zheng - Propagandists
• Zhengyang Zhang - Gameplay Programmer & Level Designer
• Huanyi Li - Art Director & 2D Artist
• Naixin Lou - Level Designer & Sound Designer & Video Editor
• Huazhen Xu - UI Programmer
• Can  Huang - Sound Designer
• Liuwenda Gao - Lead Programmer / Lead Sound Designer
• Alicia Zhen - Lead 2D Artist
• Sean Kang - 2D Animator
• Fion Kwok - 2D Artist
• Victoria Rafaelian - 2D Artist
• Leonard Tolentino - Gameplay Programmer
• Hardwin Bui - Gameplay Programmer & UI Programmer
• Jihe Liang - Musician
• Noah Jiang - Musician
• Chenhan Zou - Musician