Thanks to Vinny Mainolfi for highlighting details of this lost sequel which was being proposed by Shahid Ahmad back in 1986.
Just before starting work on Pandora in 1986 for Firebird, Shahid and discussed the idea with his friend David about doing an interim project at the same time.
Things got literally to the stage of some basic design documents and mockups, before the idea of a sequel was canned before it could be started or even proposed to Firebird Software. Instead, full focus was put into Pandora, which was eventually released in 1988. Shahid recently dug out the design documents they produced and put it on his blog – you can also find these below.
We’re not 100% sure if the game would have been exactly the same as the first in terms of viewpoint, as the documents talk of of Staff of Karnath styled movements and Pandora’esq moving characters. The idea would be that the game would be completed within 2 weeks to make a fast buck.
It’s a shame that it never came to fruition, as if anything – it would have been a welcome sequel. Shahid feels that it is a shame too that the game never got completed – but you never know if some day he may resurrect the game as a remake, considering he’s been working on a remake of the original at the moment.
Another one bites the dust!
Contributions: Vinny Mainolfi
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Creator speaks
Shahid Ahmad talks from his blog about the aborted Chimera 2 project:
“Before David and I started work on Pandora, we talked about an interim project. We should have done this.
I loved the way we worked back then. I’d have these grandiose ideas and David would help me to ground them. This makes me sound creative and David sound organised, but actually, David is perhaps more creative than I. It was just the way we interfaced. It’s almost impossible to describe, but it worked to a fashion.
David went on to create Conflict: Middle East Political Simulator, one of the most innovative games I’ve played. (I helped with the graphics libraries and music, and with porting, graphics and music on the St and Amiga versions). He then created the even more ambitious Floor 13, which I’ve urged him to remake for the modern era.
Chimera II would have been a suitable half-way point between the commercial success of Chimera and the creative ambition of Pandora. I had a bunch of ideas, which David then ran with and turned into something actually useful. I present his Chimera II document to you after 27 years. This won’t be what I make next, but it might have been a very good Chimera II in 1986.”
