1991 ARC / Maelstrom
Platforms: Commodore Amiga and Atari ST
Our next entry into the archives is an ambitious 3D title called Technopolis, which was in development by ARC back in 1991, and had a mix of strategy and action. Not a huge amount is known about the game at this stage, though the game did feature briefly in the press.
Games X magazine described the storyline as follows:
“Staged in an ancient civilization sometime in the future, Technopolis sets about recolonizing wild and barren planets by transporting the skilled inhabitants of nearby worlds to establish new colonies and civilizations.
Turn the new lands into self-sufficient machine societies. But beware, competition between colonists is intense, bordering on war between the different camps of settlers.”
The game was reported to be an ingenious mix of strategy and arcade action, with super fast 3D graphics and a brilliant sound track by Martin Walker.
A feature with ARC in ST Action spoke about inspiration from Ocean’s ECO, and ARC had apparently asked its creator Colin Parrot about doing a new game based on the title and heavily inspired by it. Hence, Technopolis was born, with the aim to make a more accessible game in comparison to ECO.
The game was developed by Chris Pink (who was at Maelstrom at the time), who we have spoken to in the past – so we hope to learn more soon about what happened to the title.
With thanks to Ross Sillifant for the info and Archive.org for the scans.
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