Eric W Bangle: GHOSTS OF ANCIENT IO

Click here for Ghosts of Ancient Io on Steam

Ghosts of Ancient Io is a single player video game designed to use
controller input rhythms and play styles reminiscent of older stand up arcade
games. The game is divided into nine play areas or chambers each separated by
an animated cinematic cutscenes that drives the story.
The idea for Ghosts of Ancient Io came to me after watching some of my
favorite live streamers struggle to find games they were comfortable playing. The
reality is people are different and enjoy video games for different reasons. With
Ghosts of Ancient Io I wanted to create a game that offered a fun exploration and
puzzle solving experience in a simple and some might say ‘classic’ way. To remind
myself this original intent I developed a short ‘living framework’ of principles I
want to explore with the design of Ghosts of Ancient Io:

Basic Navigation: Stick to up, down, left, right as much as possible.
Some people find it tough to navigate in 3D environments. People get
lost. 2D has an inherent classic feel, but also makes it more comfortable
to find your way around. From the beginning I knew Ghosts of Ancient
Io was going to be a 2D game.

No Large Inventory: Games with large inventories can be intimi-
dating for some players. Inventory management can also be a time sink
to those with minimal game time. With Ghosts of Ancient Io I wanted to
create a game with no or minimal inventory.

Linear story: I believe complex stories and lore that feature a myr-
iad of characters make sporadic game play less immersive for some
gamers. People forget who is who and what is what. I wanted to devel-
op a game with a simple yet strong story that featured only a handful of
distinct characters.

The Story

The Doctor asks the Professor a question

Set in the distant future Ghosts of Ancient Io centers around two main characters: The Professor whom you play and your friend The Doctor whom you eventually find and rescue.

   The story begins when we meet the pair on an intergalactic spaceship somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter. Returning from a galactic science conference the mood is relaxed until several explosions in nearby space stop the ship and
it begins to break apart. The Doctor and Professor find escape pods and along with the other travelers eject from the wrecked ship. As their pods speed away from the debris field; another explosion from a nearby space mine damages their pod computers and we learn the retro fire capabilities are malfunctioning.
   The escape pods lock on to the nearest gravitational body and the malfunctioning emergency landing sequence begins. As the terrain approaches we see an ancient mining facility in one of the moon’s large, now dormant, volcanoes. The pod crashes through the thin crust into a large empty mine shaft and through an ancient support structure that saps most of the escape pod’s speed and inertia. It
then impacts another strut and after a drop comes to rest on the floor of an ancient long-abandoned mineshaft deep in the Jovian moon of Io.
   The pod opens and The Professor emerges. After surveying the area (and
some credits) he discovers a personnel transfer pod that is in need of repair but
is marginally operational. The Professor powers the pod and now you are playing
the game. Eventually you meet the inhabitants of the moon and they help you
rescue The Doctor, other survivors and escape.

Here is some early development play testing of an area puzzle called "The Lock".