Pier Solar and the Great Architects

Pier Solar and the Great Architects

European Mega Drive box art
Developer(s) WaterMelon
Publisher(s) WaterMelon
Designer(s) Tulio Adriano[1]
Gwénaël Godde
Composer(s) Zable Fahr
Tulio Adriano
Tiido Priimägi
Platform(s) Sega Genesis, Dreamcast, Ouya, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Wii U, Microsoft Windows, OS X, GNU/Linux, Android
Release date(s)

Sega Genesis

  • WW December 20, 2010

PS3, PS4, Windows, OS X, Linux, Ouya

  • NA September 30, 2014
  • EU November 12, 2014

Wii U

  • NA November 6, 2014
  • EU November 27, 2014

Xbox One

  • WW November 21, 2014

Dreamcast

  • WW October 25, 2015

Android, PS Vita

  • WW TBA
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Pier Solar and the Great Architects is a homebrew role-playing video game developed and published by WaterMelon for the Sega Genesis. The game was released worldwide on December 20, 2010.[2] The game optionally utilizes the Sega CD expansion device to enhance its audio capabilities.[3]

Plot

Setting

The story is focused around three best friends — Hoston, Alina and Edessot.[4] 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.

Characters

Development and release

Development of the game began on June 8, 2004 as a small project by the community of the website Eidolon's Inn,[5][6] a community dedicated to homebrew-development for Sega video game consoles. The project was originally intended to be a simple RPG based on the members of the community, and the target platform was the Sega 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.[7]

Goals for the game became ever more ambitious, with the development being switched from the Mega-CD, for which CD-ROMs would have been inexpensive to produce, to the Sega 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 megabits of memory, making it technically the "Biggest" game cart 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.

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 emulators, 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.[8][9][10][11]

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 the main reason. The delay was announced on November 14, 2008,[12] but no new release date was given. Still media attention remained steady,[13] 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.

Even prior to the game's official release date, the game had already sold out through pre-orders. Due to overwhelming demand, WaterMelon decided to produce a second, also limited, run with a so-called "Reprint Edition", which sold out in 12 days. WaterMelon announced the production of additional copies as Thursday, September 15, 2011. The third and final forecast re-print of the Genesis/Mega Drive cartridge was due to be released on March 25, 2014. It has yet to happen, but Watermelon has assured fans they will be ready for late April/early May. However, this release date was not met either. This reprint edition finally started shipping to customers in late February 2015.

Pier Solar HD

On November 5, 2012, the game's developer WaterMelon announced on its Kickstarter page that it was developing the game for Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux and Sega Dreamcast. Later in the same month, WaterMelon elaborated their project further, additionally opening an opportunity to make the game available in Japanese, and to release the game on Android platforms, Ouya and Wii U.[14] Early in the following December, the Kickstarter page successfully surpassed the project's minimum donation goal, and assured game's release on Wii U, which had the highest required stretch.[15] On November 15, 2013, it was announced that the Xbox 360 version was currently delayed, and the game will come to both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in March 2014. WaterMelon announced their studio's acceptance into Microsoft's Xbox One developer program on December 4, 2013, as well as their intention to publish Pier Solar HD on the console.[16] In February 2014 it was announced that Pier Solar HD had been delayed again and is now expected to be released in Q2 2014.[17] On August 19 it was announced that Pier Solar HD is in certification and will be released as a Cross-Buy title for PS4 and PS3 on September 30 and as of October 2 PS Vita.[18]

On March 20, 2016, the game's developer WaterMelon announced, through an email conversation,[19][20] that the PS Vita port of Pier Solar has been cancelled. The reason being that Sony has failed to provide PS Vita Dev Kits, even though the developer posted on their Facebook page on October 2, 2014[21] of receiving them.

Reception

Reviews of the game were positive, but mixed. Dutch multiplatform game magazine Power Unlimited covered Pier Solar in their May 2011 issue, their first full-fledged review of a Sega Megadrive game since the late 1990s; it scored 90% and earned a Gold Award. A review on the site RPGFan gave the game a 69% citing the tedious battle system and mediocrity that increases as the game progresses.

References

  1. ↑ Agnello, Anthony John (November 19, 2013). "Back from the dead: 9 modern games for obsolete consoles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  2. ↑ Nreive at 4:17 pm. "Pier Solar released on Mega Drive/Genesis • Retroaction". Retroactionmagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  3. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=774473165953696
  4. ↑ "The Storyline Of Pier Solar". Piersolar.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  5. ↑ "Eidolon's Inn : Tavern RPG". Eidolons-inn.net. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  6. ↑ "Eidolon's Inn : Pier Solar aka. Tavern RPG". Eidolons-inn.net. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  7. ↑ "Pier Solar, credits and contact details!". Piersolar.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  8. ↑ "Pier Solar, they talk about Pier Solar!". Piersolar.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  9. ↑ Travis Fahs (2008-10-03). "Independent's Day, Vol. 5: Pier Solar Flares - PC Feature at IGN". Uk.pc.ign.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  10. ↑ computerandvideogames.com Mike Jackson. "News: New Megadrive game in the works". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  11. ↑ "Re-Genesis". 1up.com. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  12. ↑ fonzie (2008-11-14). "Pier Solar DevLog.: Important Notice Regarding Pier Solar's Release Date". Tavernrpg.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  13. ↑ "Why would anyone develop a new game for obsolete Sega hardware? | Game development | Features by Develop". Develop-online.net. 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  14. ↑ Green, Andy (2012-11-28). "Pier Solar Kickstarter Campaign Successful, Wii U Port Added As New Stretch Goal". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  15. ↑ McFerran, Damien (2012-12-04). "Pier Solar HD Kickstarter Smashes Through Wii U Stretch Goal". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
  16. ↑ Goncalves, Tulio (2013-12-04). "Dreamcast and Other News". WaterMelon. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  17. ↑ "Throwback RPG Pier Solar HD delayed to April, 3DS version considered". joystiq.com. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  18. ↑ "Pier Solar HD Certification Status, Elysian Shadows & Juicy Diary". WaterMelon. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  19. ↑ http://i.imgur.com/8XtHu7F.png?1|title=First Email Conversation Directly with WaterMelon
  20. ↑ http://i.imgur.com/vle8AaT.png
  21. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/watermelongames/photos/pb.110283612372658.-2207520000.1450849723./762220217178991/?type=3&theater

External links

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