Chahi’s Project Dust is a “Spiritual Heir to Populous”
Author: Arthur Ricky // Category: Popular Games
Ubisoft revealed Project Dust at their E3 press conference earlier this week, the new game from Out of this World creator Eric Chahi. But in a new Q&A with Chahi released by Ubisoft, Chahi reveals Project Dust is taking inspiration from another classic PC game: Populous.
“Project dust is the spiritual heir to Populous,” Chahi explains. “The game is set in an extreme version of Planet Earth where nature unleashes her power in a much more violent way than what we are used to.” This includes tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and volcanic eruptions (which, sadly, kind of sounds exactly like the real Planet Earth these days), and the game is about using powers to harness these disasters and their elements to help the people of the planet survive.
“In this kind of God game, users will play with powers to manipulate the world around them,” Chahi further explains. “Ground, water, lava, fire, plants, and trees — model the world like a child playing sand castles on the beach. With such powers, players will help their people resist, expand and migrate so they can accomplish their quest to find a safe place.”
But Populous isn’t the only inspiration behind Project Dust — Chahi also sites a 1999 trip to the Yasur crater in Vanuatu, and also Rez “because music is an important part the universe of the game.”
Project Dust is coming in spring of 2011.