The Eidolon

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The Eidolon

Developer(s)	Lucasfilm Games
Publisher(s)	Epyx
Designer(s)	Charlie Kellner
Engine	Custom
Platform(s)	Apple //, MSX, Atari XL/XE, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum
Release date	1985
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	N/A
Media	floppy disk
System requirements	disk drive, 64KB memory
Input methods	Joystick and Keyboard

The Eidolon was one of two games in Lucasfilm Games' second wave (December, 1985). The other was Koronis Rift. Both took advantage of the fractal technology developed for Rescue on Fractalus!, further enhancing it. In The Eidolon, Rescue's fractal mountains were turned upside down and became the inside of a cave. Charlie Kellner was the project leader, designer, and lead programmer for this game.

The game was supplied on a flippy disk. One side had the Atari version, the other side had the Commodore 64 version. Due to the memory requirements (64kB), the Atari version would only run on an XL/XE with 64kB or more memory.

The Eidolon is an early example of the steampunk style in video games.

[edit] Story

The player finds the Eidolon in an abandoned, dusty laboratory. His curiosity is roused by a device covered by a tarp, apparently recently used. As the player investigates what happened, he is accidentally transported to another dimension and trapped in a maze-like cave. The creatures there are awakened from a long slumber when they sense the energy emanating from the Eidolon, and the player discovers that his only chance of survival lies in the Eidolon and its powerful energy weapon.

[edit] Game development

Screenshot of one of the dragons at the end of each level

The player is trapped on a maze of caves in which reside increasingly dangerous creatures that feel attracted to the Eidolon and attack it in an attempt to absorb its energy. The Eidolon has four ways of attack, each of a color, equally as a defense in absorbing enemy's fireballs, which is the main way to regain power and survive. Each enemy is vulnerable only to one, except for Freeze or Polymorph special orbs (see below).

Energy orbs of different colors can be found in the cave and can be shot to be absorbed.

Some orbs have special effects such as Freeze and Polymorph. Freeze momentarily makes enemies stationary so they can be attacked. Polymorph allows to change the enemy to a different one, so it can be neutralized with a different color the player may have.

In each level there are three diamonds and each is guarded by an enemy of a specific color. These diamonds can be obtained after defeating the enemies and they unblock the passage to the Dragon that guards the exit of each cave.

The final battles with the dragons tend to be fast paced action, in which the dragon spits energy orbs of different colors at the Eidolon which can be caught by being fired with the correct energy color.

[edit] External links

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