Pier Solar and the Great Architects
Encyclopedia
Pier Solar and the Great Architects is a homebrew
role-playing game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, released in December 2010 by WaterMelon Co. The game optionally utilizes the Mega-CD expansion device to enhance its audio capabilities.
-development for Sega
video game console
s. The project was originally intended to be a simple RPG
based on the members of the community, and the target platform was the Sega Mega-CD. At that time the project was simply called Tavern RPG, a reference to the website's message boards being called "The Tavern".
As development progressed the original idea was abandoned in favor of a full-fledged fantasy RPG of greater scale. By 2006 the game engine
had become sophisticated enough that the creation of actual content could really begin. While most of the Eidolon's Inn community was no longer directly involved, other people joined the team, leading to a core of eight members with additional help from many more.
Goals for the game became ever more ambitious, with the development being switched from the Mega-CD, for which CD-ROM
s would have been inexpensive to produce, to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, a system using more expensive cartridge
-based storage media. To allow for the transition without having to reduce the amount of game content, it was decided to use a cartridge with 64 megabit
s of memory, making it technically the "biggest" game for the system, while finding a way to utilize the superior sound hardware of the Mega-CD at the same time if the device was present. As a result the game became the first Mega Drive/Genesis game to use both cartridge and CD-ROM at the same time.
The game was announced in a developer's blog with the launch of a website shortly after revealing the game's final title in January 2008. A demo was released later the same year to play on emulator
s, with pre-orders starting at the same time. A release at Christmas 2008 was announced. The game got considerable media attention for a homebrew title during the following months, with the UK magazine Retro Gamer
featuring a two-page article in issue 49 and numerous websites reporting on it.
However this release date was not met, the developers citing the departure of a team member who had contributed essential graphics to the game, and his wish not to have his work used in the final version as main reason. The delay was announced on November 14, 2008, but no new release date was given. Still media attention remained steady, with Germany's longest running print video game magazine M! Games and UK magazine Games TM reporting.
The game was shipped in December 2010, two years after the originally intended release date. Three different versions of the game have been released: Classic, Posterity and Reprint. The Classic and Posterity editions each have three different language packs, while the Reprint features the three most common European languages: English, French and German. The Japanese language pack originally included Japanese and English languages but the Japanese language was dropped and French and Spanish included due to a lack of volunteers to proofread the Japanese translation.
Pier Solar first magazine review was published by Spanish multiplatform game magazine Games Tribune in their January 2011 issue (published December 28, 2010), scoring 90%. It was Games Tribune's first review of a 16-bit game ever. A preview article had already been published in their previous issue.
Dutch multiplatform game magazine Power Unlimited
covered Pier Solar in their May 2011 issue with their first full-fledged review of a Sega Megadrive game since the late 1990s, scoring it at 90% with a Gold Award.
Homebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
role-playing game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, released in December 2010 by WaterMelon Co. The game optionally utilizes the Mega-CD expansion device to enhance its audio capabilities.
Setting
The story is focused around three best friends - Hoston, Alina, and Edessot. Hoston's father falls ill and the three friends are left to seek a very rare magic herb to cure him. However this later develops into a much larger plot surrounding Pier Solar and the Great Architects.Main characters
- Hoston A young botanist, taught by his father. Hoston is a carefree laid-back young man. When his father becomes dangerously ill, Hoston realises he is the only person who can save him and heads for the forbidden caverns of Reja where he hopes to find the herbs that will save his father's life.
- Alina Adopted at a young age, Alina grew up with Hoston and Edessot as her only friends. She is desperately trying to get her father to approve of her. She is a superficially strong and responsible young lady but at heart is very lonely. She feels that Hoston and Edessot are the only people who truly care about her. She is very protective of them and in many ways considers them to be her real family, though neither Hoston or Edessot understand this.
- Edessot A mechanics genius and mature beyond his years. Edessot is part of a wealthy and liberally minded family, and has been free to explore the world to his heart's content. Usually happier alone tinkering with machines he still likes spending time with Hoston and Alina, having formed a particularly strong bond with the latter.
Development
Development of the game began on June 8, 2004 as a small project by the community of the website Eidolon's Inn, a community dedicated to homebrewHomebrew (video games)
Homebrew is a term frequently applied to video games or other software produced by consumers to target proprietary hardware platforms not typically user-programmable or that use proprietary storage methods...
-development for Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s. The project was originally intended to be a simple RPG
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
based on the members of the community, and the target platform was the Sega Mega-CD. At that time the project was simply called Tavern RPG, a reference to the website's message boards being called "The Tavern".
As development progressed the original idea was abandoned in favor of a full-fledged fantasy RPG of greater scale. By 2006 the game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
had become sophisticated enough that the creation of actual content could really begin. While most of the Eidolon's Inn community was no longer directly involved, other people joined the team, leading to a core of eight members with additional help from many more.
Goals for the game became ever more ambitious, with the development being switched from the Mega-CD, for which CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s would have been inexpensive to produce, to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, a system using more expensive cartridge
ROM cartridge
A ROM cartridge, sometimes referred to as a cart, is a removable enclosure containing read-only memory devices designed to be connected to a computer or games console....
-based storage media. To allow for the transition without having to reduce the amount of game content, it was decided to use a cartridge with 64 megabit
Megabit
The megabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix mega is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 106 , and therefore...
s of memory, making it technically the "biggest" game for the system, while finding a way to utilize the superior sound hardware of the Mega-CD at the same time if the device was present. As a result the game became the first Mega Drive/Genesis game to use both cartridge and CD-ROM at the same time.
The game was announced in a developer's blog with the launch of a website shortly after revealing the game's final title in January 2008. A demo was released later the same year to play on emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
s, with pre-orders starting at the same time. A release at Christmas 2008 was announced. The game got considerable media attention for a homebrew title during the following months, with the UK magazine Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Although launched as a quarterly publication, Retro Gamers soon became a monthly...
featuring a two-page article in issue 49 and numerous websites reporting on it.
However this release date was not met, the developers citing the departure of a team member who had contributed essential graphics to the game, and his wish not to have his work used in the final version as main reason. The delay was announced on November 14, 2008, but no new release date was given. Still media attention remained steady, with Germany's longest running print video game magazine M! Games and UK magazine Games TM reporting.
The game was shipped in December 2010, two years after the originally intended release date. Three different versions of the game have been released: Classic, Posterity and Reprint. The Classic and Posterity editions each have three different language packs, while the Reprint features the three most common European languages: English, French and German. The Japanese language pack originally included Japanese and English languages but the Japanese language was dropped and French and Spanish included due to a lack of volunteers to proofread the Japanese translation.
Success
Even prior to the games official release date, the game had already sold out during through pre-orders. Due to overwhelming demand, Watermelongames decided to produce a second, also limited, run with a so-called "Reprint Edition", which sold out in 12 days. Watermelongames annonced the production of additional copies as Thursday, September 15, 2011Reception
The game was well received.Pier Solar first magazine review was published by Spanish multiplatform game magazine Games Tribune in their January 2011 issue (published December 28, 2010), scoring 90%. It was Games Tribune's first review of a 16-bit game ever. A preview article had already been published in their previous issue.
Dutch multiplatform game magazine Power Unlimited
Power Unlimited
Power Unlimited is a Dutch multi-format computer and video games magazine. It is the biggest gaming magazine in the Benelux. The first issue was released in June 1993.-History:...
covered Pier Solar in their May 2011 issue with their first full-fledged review of a Sega Megadrive game since the late 1990s, scoring it at 90% with a Gold Award.