Atmosphere

The Inspiration
If you watch our live streams, you may hear me gush from time to time about early adventure games on consoles like the Super Nintendo — particularly games like A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, etc. As simple as those classic era games were, they still offer much to modern game design.

One thing I still love about those games is how they thoughtfully create inaccessible (or “hard to inhabit”) areas of the world early in the game. These could be areas too high for you to currently reach, hidden rooms within a labyrinth of darkness, a treasure chest sitting across a chasm too wide to jump, or a lever surrounded by life-draining magic. We can all agree: mysterious, locked doors and their elusive keys are cool. But if this is the only method of gaining access to new areas, the sense of accomplishment is static and weak — it quickly loses its impact.

With Pantheon, we’ve said from the beginning that we want the environment to matter. One of the ways we are accomplishing this is with our Climate and Acclimation System (which I’ll cover in an upcoming Behind the Design). But while Climate deals with the extremes of natural phenomena players will encounter in Terminus, Atmospheres will present players with unnatural, metaphysical phenomena — the kind of phenomena that might occur when fantastical worlds collide.

Mechanics
The Atmosphere System presents the player with environmental dangers and obstacles (or “questions” as we refer to them internally) that require specific “answers” the player must acquire for themselves.

Here is a short list of possible Atmospheres you could encounter as you explore Terminus:


 * Silencing Mists


 * Fog of Confusion


 * Gloom


 * Frenetic Floor


 * Curse of Intangibility


 * Heavy Air


 * Shifting Walls

Let’s take a closer look at one of these (details subject to change, of course):

Gloom

So how will players “answer” these strange and often dangerous environmental “questions”? By seeking and acquiring Artifacts.

Artifacts
Artifacts are legendary rare items players can discover that offer unique utility. They are necessary to explore and overcome areas of the game where Atmospheres exist.

In the Gloom example above, players would need to acquire and equip the Bone-Woven Veil to mitigate Gloom’s negative effects.

Here is another short list of possible Artifacts you may discover and the special utility they provide:

• Shield of Mirrors: Forged by the master smiths of Khadassa, it can reflect light and has a chance to reflect magical attacks when blocking.

• Skyhold Grappler: Fashioned by the Gnomes of Skyhold to assist in advanced terrain traversement, the Skyhold Grappler can latch onto special surfaces and pull you to the target location.

• Ring of Anchors: Infused with the bitterness of the Dark Myr, this ring was designed to sink the wearer to the deepest reaches of the oceans.

• Crest of Illumination: This Archai crown was imbued with a powerful, resonating light source that can shine through the blackest darkness.