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Author Topic: AMA, i was a developer in Polybius
SavannahDJ
Retired game developer

Member # 764

posted 01-04-2002 01:42 AM     Profile for SavannahDJ   Email SavannahDJ     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
Hello everyone, i was one of the developers in the now lost videogame Poly-bius(added a - so the link is indexed, search engines detect the word polybius and don't include it in the results). I worked in Atari, and in 1980 we where asked to make a videogame that convined vector and pixel based graphics to create an experience that adapted itself to the players. You can ask any questions about it. To verify that i am in fact a developer i uploaded a video containing gameplay to download.
Posts: 19 | From: Georgia | Registered: Dec 2001  |  IP: Logged
Rhindle The Red
Atari Pro III
Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy.

Member # 51

posted 01-04-2002 02:42 AM     Profile for Rhindle The Red   Author's Homepage   Email Rhindle The Red     Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
I dont rly believe the leyend, but here are some questions

  • why make a videogame that adapts itself to the player?
  • how many people worked on the game?
  • why the name polybius?
  • did the game have anything to do with the military??

All the "made by the military to control kids to go to war* bs makes the veracity of existence of the game very very rare

--
Philip R. Frey
a.k.a. "Rhindle The Red"

"...and there is Rhindle, the Red Dragon, who is the most ferocious of all."


Posts: 534 | From: Rochester, NY | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
bangles66
Sr. Atari Fan

Member # 209

posted 01-04-2002 07:30 PM     Profile for bangles66   Author's Homepage   Email bangles66     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
*how* did the game control people? i'm tired of this copypasta shitty history


Posts: 87 | From: New Hampshire | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Rhindle The Red
Atari Pro III
Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy.

Member # 51

posted 01-04-2002 08:04 PM     Profile for Rhindle The Red   Author's Homepage   Email Rhindle The Red     Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by bangles66:

*how* did the game control people? i'm tired of this copypasta shitty history



So am I. To internet is starting to be filled with fake histories

--
Philip R. Frey
a.k.a. "Rhindle The Red"

"...and there is Rhindle, the Red Dragon, who is the most ferocious of all."


Posts: 534 | From: Rochester, NY | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
liquid_sky
High Atarian
The positive aspect of negative thinking

Member # 181

posted 01-04-2002 08:50 PM     Profile for liquid_sky   Author's Homepage   Email liquid_sky     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
I personally believe the game maybe was real, but i didn't have all the others things mentioned on this thread

So i have a few questions: Are you allowed to talk to about the game? If not, is this the reason the game isn't talked very much? What is the objective of making a game like this?

I could go supersonic, the problems chronic, tell me, does life exist beyond it?


Posts: 1144 | From: TX | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
SavannahDJ
Atari Fan

Member # 764

posted 01-21-2002 04:35 PM     Profile for SavannahDJ   Email SavannahDJ     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
I will respond the questions i think are the most relevant:
  • I was one of the lead developers in the game, but only for a short time, because we all got changed from project some months later in development
  • We where 5 people initially
  • Polybius means many lives, the game changed when you died, adapting to your skills, so thats why i think the name was choosen, also maybe an inside joke? An internal production code? Maybe it was that
  • I don't really know if it had ties with the military, it was a very messy time at Atari. They got at us one day and told us to create a game given a description, i don't remember what it was, a long time passed.
  • In my opinion, the games was never supposed to be released, it was a experiment to the idea of a machine adapting and altering someone memories and thoughts. Clearly the arcade wasn't meant to be known to the public, hell, we had only one. I eard that for some reason it ended up in an arcade, it was never meant for that. And for that reason a day later it was taken away never to be seen again. The only time it was saw by the public a terrible accident happened. So they objective was only to test modifying someone conscience to their will. So, who is *they*, i don't know, i never saw it as a only Atary project?
  • There was one person in the team, i think the most talented one, he was the one that pushed the most the conscience and adapting to players thing. He dissapeared one day, after i leaved the team.
  • I leaved the team very early in the game development, that was one of the luckiest decisions of my life, most of the crew had terrible fates... Did you know that you can affect the brain of a person indirectly? You don't need any special tools, just the right messages to tick a certain part of their brains, and thats what Polybius did.

Posts: 19 | From: Georgia | Registered: Dec 2001  |  IP: Logged
SavannahDJ
Atari Fan

Member # 764

posted 01-21-2002 04:46 PM     Profile for SavannahDJ   Email SavannahDJ     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
Those months i was developing the game were the most stressing months of my life, i had never done anything like that before. Every week "control people" entered the office and checked if everything was all right, and talked to us about how our mental health was important etc.
Posts: 19 | From: Georgia | Registered: Dec 2001  |  IP: Logged
Raccoon Lad
Atari Pro
Supreme Vidiot

Member # 218

posted 01-21-2002 04:47 PM     Profile for Raccoon Lad   Author's Homepage   Email Raccoon Lad     Send New Private Message   Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote
I will not spend more time with this. Believe what you want i guess

* The Most Powerfull Raccoon In The Universe's Website *


Posts: 242 | From: Culver City | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged

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