I don't have any of the JoWood versions of Cryo games. I don't think JoWood bothered publishing Cryo's adventure games for the USA after acquiring Dreamcatcher. In fact, the only game I have that lists JoWood as publisher is Jack Orlando, which is nothing like a Cryo game.

My DVD versions are published by Cryo, not JoWood.
The DVD versions were never published for the USA -- not by Cryo and certainly not by JoWood.
I got some games from now-defunct UK company Software First, which was one of few companies in the UK that shipped games to the US. Pinnacle Entertainment was another company that would ship to the US, though I don't think I got any Cryo games from them. InteractCD would import games to the US, though I don't remember them selling many DVD versions. Once SoftwareFirst went under, my only source was an eBay seller who was based in Europe and was willing to ship to the USA.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+



***Front cover of my Egypt II DVD case***

***Back cover of my Egypt II DVD case***

(It's very annoying that places like Photobucket no longer let you see "just" the screenshot and instead force people to look at a lot of garbage around the edges. You may be able to right-click and choose "View Image" from the context menu, but you can't give a direct link to the image.)

If you want a picture in higher resolution for archiving, let me know.

The DVD only has two languages -- French and English
There is no trace of any "Making Of" video on the disc. I suppose it's possible that it installs with the game, but I doubt it.

Also the DVD is one-sided.
Some of my other Cryo DVD's (Faust, for example) are double sided -- you can flip the DVD to get a different selection of languages.

My Versailles 1685 DVD, Atlantis: The Lost Tales DVD, and China DVD are in boxes -- slightly more than 9.25" x 7.5" in size -- not the small DVD-size cased boxes. I always liked that size of box.
My other Cryo games on DVD are in plastic DVD cases.

Cryo normally did not increase resolution on their DVD versions -- not on the ones I own anyway.
Mostly they just added several languages.


That's a very nice picture.
I don't suppose you have the one for China.
I remember that one being super-wide, clearly showing you were looking in both directions at once.


I have not seen it. I remember seeing a Gameboomers message from someone who had it though, and said the resolution on the DVD version was much better than on the CD version. It may have been Slydos (or another reviewer for Adventure Archive) but I can't remember for sure.


I think Mystery of the Nautilus also needed DirectX 8, and doesn't always work with newer versions of DirectX. I was not impressed that the game was so dependent on certain versions of Media Player and DirectX that were certain to be "updated" in the future.

RichAlexis, Jenny100, thanks for the pictures! So Cryo did release 'Egypte II' on DVD after all!



You know, I have just tried running 'Odyssee' in Windows XP - and yes, there were glitches. Not with flickering text but with invisible 3d characters - I had to disable Directx 3D in order for them to appear. So, I can recommend Windows 7 where everything is fine for me - the issue is probably that of ATI drivers. Also 'Versailles 1685' does not run for me in Windows XP but works fine in Windows 7 x64.


I think I want that DVD now But if I won't be able to find it I will ask you for higher resolution pictures!


Hmm, that is sure waste of DVD space - just two languages and no extras! Still, I am glad this edition is real. Maybe 'Arthur's Knights' were released on DVD as well?


I have Versailles 1685 DVD in a box - but it takes too much space with not much to offer - just a DVD in jewel-case, a small manual and a registration flyer. At least, my 'Versailles 1685' CD boxed edition has full-sized manual and a large map! So I bought all other games just in DVD cases (besides of Russian CD boxed editions which are my primary play-sources for Cryo adventures).


That was the case with their later releases - 'Atlantis III' and 'Versailles II'. It is strange that you can't see those versions today - even GOG sells CD low-res 'Atlantis III' and not the better DVD one.



Well, I have these pictures Downloaded them from Cryo site back in 2000. Here is that 'fish-eye' look:





I think that was Elena Steingrad who mentioned DVD version in her review while not actually seeing it yet.

Thanks for the China pictures. It's nice to see them again.

Here are pictures of the Egypt II DVD.

***Front of case***

***Back of case***

***the DVD itself***

***the manual***

I think Photobucket shrunk the pictures. The manual should certainly show up larger if you "right-click and choose "View Image" (or however they say it with your web browser). I may try uploading somewhere else -- or I could email them to you if you want.


It was in a Gameboomers post from shortly after the game was released. I had the impression the person actually had the DVD version and had played it.

I remember my DVD version of Atlantis III allowed me to choose between 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768 resolution. I don't know if the CD version was different.

Jenny100, thanks for the pictures! But there were high-resolution images of the disk and manual - and low-resolution of the package. Can you please send me those last two images (front/back) by e-mail? I think it is listed in my profile for everybody.


No, that's another case. Both CD and DVD can change screen resolutions - but only DVD has the option to change texture resolutions. You can easily check it in game files - 'Atlantis III' and 'Versailles II' CD have SPW512 and WARP512 folders in their 'DATA', but DVDs should have not only SPW/WARP512, but also SPW/WARP1024 folders with (suppposedly) 2x times better graphics.
I have ordered 'Atlantis III' DVD on eBay two weeks ago - hopefully I would get it some time soon...

Rich, I have written him two days ago, no answer yet...

And I have finally tried 'Atlantis III' DVD! It has 'making of' movies and pictures, a screensaver, and high-definition textures!
Yes, the difference is clear, 1024-textures looks much better, and it seems they updated all videos as well, as they are located in '800' folders instead of '640' in CD and GOG versions.

By the way, I wonder why DVD has separate movies/voice folders 'USA' and 'GBR' - did they do different translation into 'British' and 'American' English?
Update: yes, curious enough, the two English versions are somewhat different. British heroine says "What the hell is all this?", while American says "What is all this?" etc.

Here is the comparison between Low and High texture resolutions:






It seems that High textures when copied from the disk to the game folder work fine with GOG version. The only problem is that Russian movies are available only in CD resolution (HNM640) while DVD uses high-resolution HNM800... But other languages shouldn't have this problem.

Oh, and the transitions are better as well! Too bad they are made only for the first world - no transitions later on...

The old Cryo site also promised 'full game walkthrough' to be released on DVD, but I can't find it.

Iurii, well thanks a lot for passing it on. I'm in no hurry whatsoever, so take your time. Is he the 'locarno' I found on a Polish gamer forum? Not that I'm thinking of joining that or learning Polish!

It's wonderful that some media have making-ofs and extras. As all the Cryo sites are gone now and only partially archived, you hardly get to see any of the artwork. I'm glad the Versailles 1685 DVD has at least got the making-of documentary. That's one of the reasons I bought the soundtrack CDs by Pierre Estève and Stéphane Picq, because they are in fact CD-ROMs with a lot of artwork and background information! Sometimes you come across a wallpaper or two on download sites like GOG or Anuman, but that's quite rare. Well, the encyclopedias on those DVDs and CDs of course remain valuable resources.

Thanks again for all the updates and details. Yes, I can imagine that if you have enough resources and distributors, as Cryo had at some point, it pays off to even make versions in different dialects, like British and American English. As a Dutchman (i.e. from The Netherlands/Holland), I'm kind of familiar with the notion, because you sometimes have both Dutch and Flemish dubbing or subtitles, Flemish being a dialect of Dutch, given its status by being one of the official languages of Belgium.

Yes, you can clearly see the difference in texture between the two images of Atlantis III, especially if you focus on the ground and the stone surfaces.

It's great if companies still invest effort into diligently porting or even remastering these old games, like Grim Fandango, because some of them are really unique, and of a genre not likely to be produced again, like the Cryo games. Just like influential records or movies, you can't just say, well, some people enjoyed them back then, and now they're gone forever, because there's no equipment to play them. In fact, preserving the digital medium, which looks so durable and reproducible on the surface, may be one of the biggest challenges of our times.

Rich

Hi Rich,

'locarno' is the person who asked for a Polish patch on our Russian forum (and was lucky to get it), not the one who created it.

I understand what you say about hunting for pieces of Cryo history all over the net - Internet archeology that is, and I feel very lucky to find some official Odyssey wallpaper or else Too bad I did not have regular Internet access in 2000 to copy the whole Cryo site. Maybe we can put it somewhere? There was a Cryo-fan site by Elena Steingrad once, I have archived some parts of it...

What CDs do you have by Pierre Estève? I have 'Atlantis II' from him, as it is my favorite game (along 'Versailles 1685').

I see!

Well, as for old media coverage, I guess I should ask one of our moderators why this is a text-only site - apart from some avatars and such. I can understand limited disk space or traffic, but that's more or less an outdated issue, and it's really no use trying to rely on outside servers for info, pictures bigger than 25k, patches, bits of audio and the like. They may be gone any moment, or at least have dead links. Of course, we should worry about copyright infringement, and shouldn't duplicate what is on MobyGames or the Patches Scrolls for instance, but it's such a pity sometimes to see all outside links with essential data gone.

I have Atlantis I & II on CD by Estève and Picq, 'II' being my favourite too, and Lost Eden by Picq. All contain artwork, sometimes a video, and background info. Downloads don't have these extras. I have some more of them, but they are not related to games.

They can be bought from the Shooting Star Shop.

Rich

I had dialup back then, and not much hard drive space.
I was always having to delete things from my hard drive to free up space.


She still has this site http://www.history-adventures.com/
Besides Cryo it has Kheops, Arxel, Index+, Wanadoo, etc.
Visiting that site makes me want to replay some of those games.


I only have Atlantis I. I bought it many years ago from German Music Express -- a site that doesn't exist any more.

I have a boxed edition of '3rd Millenium' by Cryo that has separate CDs for Scottish and Welsh 'languages' That's the level of attention to details we like Cryo for, although I was never able to finish their non-adventure games (and it seems that they had no success either while making the company bankrupt after all)...

Yes, I bought my CD from the Shooting Star Shop as well. Too bad they are very expensive, and no extras in cheaper download versions. I have 'Atlantis I' soundtrack from GOG - but now it is not available there anymore because of legal issues with Pierre Estève.

As for preserving Cryo games - I think that's not much of a problem. Even if modern PCs with Windows 7/8/10 can't run them, there is always 'Virtual PC' we can use that does that just fine. But old sites and goodies - that's another question. Do you have any more Cryo treasures to share? I have a whole copy of Russian site of the company that localized Cryo games, but not many of the extras it once had in its FTP. I once had a 'Time-machine-themed' desktop clock from them but lost it with my old HDD. But I have found original Odyssey wallpapers if you don't have them - here, with some extra-watermark, but still some pieces of history

That's another site - luckily it is still alive!
But I meant this one, dedicated to Cryo only.

Iurii and Jenny, thanks for all the great links!

I'd actually just come across Elena Steingrad's site, but these are all great to bookmark.

I happen to have the Odyssey wallpapers, but the Czech site is a nice find, though like others, its data are rather piecemeal. There's interesting bits scattered everywhere, also on some history or culture-related sites, the types that are related to educational resources.

Well, about saving or downloading media or sites, I used to be pretty naive until about 10 years ago, when I noticed most of my bookmarks were no longer valid. I became involved in various multimedia amd education projects where this turned out to be a huge issue, but mostly I just backed up my own local data. Now I always remind teachers and researchers to download their remote media and have them backed them up somewhere 'safe'.

I don't think I have a lot of Cryo or other game data, but I will look into that. Sorry to say, gaming has always been a sideline to my other activities ....

Rich

This is all I have right now:

Full-size German advert for Cryo games from German supplier Modern Games, 2002.

Image copy of the German version of the Cryo webpage for Atlantis II, 2000.

Some Atlantis II artwork on the Anuman site. Click the diskette symbol for full-size image.

Rich

Thanks, Rich! That's a nice picture by Modern Games - and it has Egypt II DVD, but sadly no 'Arthur's Knights'.
I don't like Anuman though - it is terrible what they have done to Atlantis II (mobile and MAC versions).

By the way, I have noticed that the code bar numbers of DVD issued by Cryo in DVD-cases form a certain pattern - they are like 35545406XXYYY, and XX numbers here seem to indicate the disk number:

1. Atlantis I.
2. Versailles 1685 (thanks to RichAlexis!).
3. Egypte I.
4. Ring.
5.
6. China.
7. Faust.
8. Aztec.
9. Atlantis II.
10. Odyssey.
11. Time Machine.
12.
13. Egypte II (thanks to Jenny100!).
14. Pompei.
15. Devil Inside (not sure - I don't have this one as it is not an adventure).
16.
17.
18.
19.
20. Atlantis III.

Maybe somebody can correct this list? I don't have 'Versailles 1685' DVD-case, only a box with different codes, but it was published in DVD-case, maybe with number 2 or something. Other missing numbers must be unrealized plans...

Hi Iurii,

I didn't know that barcodes were part of the game puzzles! Looks like you can crack anything! It'd be interesting to find out what releases are missing or were even scrapped ....

Well, Versailles 1685 would be '2' then - final numbers 602325.

Yes, interesting that the German ad has Egypt II, which we now know was never released in German in this particular series!

As for Anuman, I guess the artwork was there well before Anuman! Just enjoy it!

I looked at the YouTube videos about a year ago, just thought it was nice they ported it that way, and left it at that. But now I realize they removed a lot of cutscenes, most of the transitional ones, at any rate between static 3D-positions (just zooms, which look cheap and lack orientation, plus missing out on the idea of exploration), clearly marked all the hotspots, turned all dialogues into static monologues, and what's with the loud music throughout all those dialogues!? Are there more vices I missed?

Are all Cryo ported downloads affected this way, also the ones from GOG, Big Fish and iTunes? I also read of considerable download and installation bugs from Anuman. Doesn't sound good! It's a strange 'reverse evolution' that, due to the dominance of the mobile platform, a lot of games look a lot worse now than they did 15 years ago!

Rich

The Anuman ports I've tried are stripped down garbage compared to the originals. The Mac ports seem to be the same as the iPad/iPod ports in the games I've tried. Hotspots are removed. Puzzles are removed. They increased the resolution of the graphics, but so many of the nodes are removed (nodes being the places where you can stand and pan around). And they didn't just do that with Cryo games. They also did it to Microids games like Amerzone. In the original Amerzone, there's a door on the upper floor of the lighthouse. You can open the door and walk around a sort of balcony outside the upper floor of the lighthouse. In the port, the door can't be opened. There are also objects in the lighthouse that you could interact with in the original. They are only pictures of objects in the remake -- non-interactive. When you go downstairs and through the tunnel in the floor of the lighthouse, there are places you could walk in the original that are missing in the port. They simplified the computer in the basement to the point that you "solve" any puzzle connected to it just by clicking on it at random. I didn't get further than that. I was too disgusted by what they did to the game.

With Atlantis II, they removed the Mayan number puzzle. This makes the clues given by the guards confusing and meaningless. You can pick up the little stick or stone, but you just plonk it on the wall any old way -- even though it's the wrong answer to the puzzle. Anuman also removed the rainbow bridge puzzle and some inventory puzzles. The only thing they left intact was that annoying jungle maze, where you can get turned around just as badly as in the original. I didn't play any more of the game after that.

With Road to India, it seemed there was practically nothing left. No real puzzles left. You just stumble around looking at things until you're done.

It's been that way with every Anuman port I've tried for Mac or iPad/iPod versions of games by Cryo, Microids, and Kheops. I do not recommend the ports at all.

The last time I downloaded the PC version of Beyond Atlantis from GOG, it was the old version with old graphics and all the puzzles, nodes, and hotspots intact. However the Mac version that GOG had was the Anuman version. Hopefully GOG will keep the old PC version available and won't replace it with the eviscerated Anuman version. Anyway, so far the PC versions of games from GOG were the original versions last time I downloaded them. But not the Mac Versions.

You are better off playing the old PC versions in a virtual machine if you're using a Mac. Or I suppose you could use Sheepshaver with the old MacOS 8.6-9.1 version of Atlantis 2 (Beyond Atlantis) if you have it. Just don't use the new OSX version from Anuman.

I bought several Cryo and Kheops games for iPad/iPod when I saw them offered. Unfortunately I threw my money away because they'd all been gutted by Anuman. I can't stand playing them in that state.

I tried the Big Fish version of Nautilus, and that was also stripped down, with many puzzles removed. So if Anuman had anything to do with an "updated" version of a game, avoid it.

Jenny100 and Rich, thanks for the info! I edited the list adding 'Versailles 1685'. Now, to find the elusive 'Versailles II' DVD... Our Russian adventure site happens to have a small picture of it - it is just like regular CD DVD-case-in-a-sleeve version, but with the line 'PC DVD-ROM' in bottom left (like with 'Atlantis III'). I tried searching this forum for slydos messages - but it seems there are no earlier messages archived? Slydos is said to be registered in 1999, but his earliest available post is from 2007.

As for the other missing releases - 'Arthur's knights' is surely the one. The site of the game I have archived definitely promised: "Christmas 2001 – PC/DVD and Playstation 2 versions combining both chapters." I still have a little bit of hope that was released after all! Both AK chapters are the only Cryo games I have to swap the disks while playing - as I can't get it running from images.

Rich, now that this topic has taken its due place in 'Adventure discussions', maybe you can rename it? Into 'Cryo games discussion' or something?

I have bought only 'Aztec' for iPad/iPhone - but I never played it as it does not have Russian localization anyway. Luckily, Anuman does not mess too much with PC versions. Out of their Steam catalogue, as far as I know, only Dracula 1-2-3 and Necronomicon are terrible, bugged and stripped down mobile re-releases (not sure about Amerzone) - while Egypt III, Salammbo, Nostradamus etc. are the same good old versions we used to play in 2000s. You can easily recognize their 'bad' releases by the 'Inventory' icon in bottom right - so I think we should avoid not Anuman but rather this icon of theirs

Thank you both for your extremely helpful information! I just changed the topic to a general Cryo discussion - thanks Iurii!

It's indeed a disgrace that stripped-down versions by Anuman could be produced like that. It sounds very Reader's Digest to me - To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book, but too long, let's condense it to 150 pages and replace difficult words.

Yet I realize that especially after a company has gone out of business, firms that take over its assets can pretty much do anything with them, as witnessed by lots of mangled music, film and TV series re-releases. So while I'm not too surprised, it does make me sad. Good to have detailed info on the various download options anyway!

As for Arthur's Knights, the only editions I have seen are on CD-ROM. Even the German boxed set (it takes some getting used to that in Germany, Arthur is known as Artus!) still has all 6 CDs inside its box. I suspect that the problem at the time was, that none of the original Cryo developers were around anymore to convert it properly.

German Amazon link for the 6-CD set of Arthur's Knights

By the way, Jenny, the Shooting Star webshop with the Cryo soundtracks can be quite expensive, but they do have regular 50% discount CD offers now, meaning you can order a CD for roughly 9 euros or dollars, but you still have to pay at least the same amount for shipping of course. If you're on their mailing list, you get alerted about this. In fact, they have a sale right now!

Also, I think it's a good thing all profits directly go to the composers. I actually suggested they represent more Cryo composers, but they like to keep it this way. Fair enough!

Rich

I once again split this discussion up and moved it to Glitches. I apologize for the three threads but these are going way off topic for the forum they are in.

Please continue the discussion here for getting the games to run: Gitches.

Hi Iurii & Jenny,

I've found some more Cryo goodies on their defunct websites.

First of all, here's an Egypt listing by Microïds of Cryo's Egypt II & Egypt Kids games, and Kheops/Adventure Company's follow-up Egypt III, with fully functional Shockwave Flash-video's and a Gallery. It's even got music! It's really nice to check this out.

I've also gathered some beautiful Arthur's Knights site screenshots, and Egypt II images and artwork, a high-resolution cover design and even a working screensaver (I've tested it, no bugs, running the executable results in a *.scr file) in a zipped file as a Mediafire download.

These were the old sources, now defunct:

http://arthur.cryogame.com/
http://egypte2.cryogame.com/

As for The Devil Inside being part of the DVD reissues, this German Amazon page shows this is correct. It doesn't show the barcode, though.

This French Amazon page suggests Egypt II used to be available at one point as a multilingual DVD in more languages than Jenny's French and English copy. However, as the image is really small, it may have been copied from some Cryo catalogue, and not be an actual cover.

I have not been able to find other evidence of these versions, such as on eBay.

I hope this will pander to your feelings of nostalgia.

Best wishes,

Rich

Thanks, RichAlexis.
Very interesting links.

Thanks, Rich!
I have local copies of Arthur's Knights and Egypt II sites - and I have also found Egypt II in German and French Amazon marketplace.
But I am hesitant to buy them as those sellers do not answer any questions as for confirming they actually sell DVD versions. They do not ship to Ukraine unfortunately and when I used to buy from them through some mediators, it often turned out that the game was listed as multilingual DVD edition but what I actually got was just German-only CD version that I do not need...

Yes, I see what you mean, Iurii. It's hard to rely on third-party sellers, when the information and product image are sketchy or even missing. And of course we in the West must remember we are privileged with a wealth of reliable services and guarantees, and lack of trading restrictions.

You said you hadn't seen Egypt II, Casanova and Arthur's Knights I on DVD yet. Are those the ones missing from your collection? Are you looking for other games or versions as well?

Rich

Here's a very interesting - and lengthy - introduction and interview about the historical background of Egypt II: The Heliopolis Prophecy, which I salvaged from an old Cryo site. The interview hasn't been archived elsewhere on an active site, though part of it can be found in the paper or online manual. I took the liberty of making some minor corrections, based on the French original.

Rich

Introduction

Source: http://egypte2.cryogame.com/uk/uk_presse.html (archived)

From Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, the center of learning, one of the most important capitals of Egypt in 1350 BC. A frightening and horrible epidemic threatens to destroy this city devoted to the cult of the god Rê (Ra). Tifet, a young priestess of Sekhmet, the goddess of illness and medicine, sets out to find a cure to save her adoptive father and the inhabitants of Heliopolis. From mysterious revelations to strange disappearances, her adventure will lead her the heart of the temple of Atoum-Rê, where religion is power…

Of Heliopolis, nothing remains. On the site of the former religious capital of the Egyptian Empire stands an obelisk, the only remnant of a city that cast its influence over Egypt and beyond more than forty centuries ago. Reconstructing it represented an unprecedented challenge for the Cryo teams: bringing back to life the market, the port, the streets, the Temple, the inhabitants going about their daily tasks, without being able to rely on the results of excavations.

"As the excavations have not revealed anything that we would have been obliged to respect in the most absolute detail, we were then able to focus on the reconstruction of contemporary architectural details and re-exploit their structure. This practice of "recycling" was as it happens common enough in ancient Egypt to justify this approach," notes Yann Troadec, project leader of the game.

This flexibility in the reconstruction is a great advantage in terms of gameplay, since it gives greater freedom in the scriptwriting. The game's historical aspects have been validated, but it is above all a great adventure. Special care has been taken with the sound background, the light and the colors in order to recreate the most intense and realistic atmosphere possible. The practice of medicine, the status of women, the mythology: the authors have tried through these themes to give new life to the most fascinating of ancient civilizations.

Two consultants oversaw the historical accuracy of the facts related and the reconstructions:

• Jean-Claude Golvin, director of research at the CNRS, a historian and an architect, Professor of ancient history.
• Isabelle Franco, Doctor of Egyptology, professor of civilization and Egyptian epigraphy at the Ecole du Louvre and the Institut Kheops.

The interview

What aspects of Egyptian civilization are particularly illuminated by the game Egypt II: The Heliopolis Prophecy?

Yann Troadec, project leader for Egypt II:
"We chose to give priority to the themes of religion, beliefs and medicine. For the Egyptians, the gods personified the forces of nature, with which it is best to be at peace in order to survive. There was a constant interaction between man and the environment in which he lived, hence an omnipresence of the gods, including in everyday life. On the topic of medicine, the game reveals that the Egyptians had a good knowledge of remedies and anatomy (because of embalming). Many medical papyri which have been found give examples of their advance in this area. Furthermore, the profession of doctor was commonly exercised by women, which shows that in Egyptian civilization women had their natural place, and had not yet been given an inferior role because of cultural prohibitions."

How was the city of Heliopolis reconstructed?

Yann Troadec:
"The ancient city of Heliopolis is not well known, since it still lies under the housing and modern districts of Cairo. This enabled us to reconstruct a prestigious Egyptian city as it might have been. The absence of archeological markers meant we had great freedom in the matter of the reconstruction, without however straying from historical reality (known from other cities, such as Tell-El-Amarna). The playing evolves in an urban district (reconstruction of houses, villas and streets of this period) and in various parts of a temple (library and dispensary ("House of Life"); storage areas and shops). This gives a glimpse of urban planning, and shows the economic and cultural aspects that a temple included."

Jean-Claude Golvin, scientific consultant:
"Today of Heliopolis there remains just one of the obelisks erected by Sesostris I, around 2000 BC. The existence of great walls of the temple made of green brick is revealed by the famous Description of Egypt, published after Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt.

However, an evocation of the whole of the famous city did not seem impossible to achieve in the context of a game, provided that the geographical characteristics of the place were respected and the buildings represented had a certain resemblance with those which were constructed at that time and that we can study today at other better preserved sites.

Our Heliopolis stands on the right bank of the Nile to which it was to be connected by canals. At the Eastern limit of the city are to be found the necropolises located at the foot of the rocky peaks of Gebel Ahmar (the Red Mountain) and further off, standing on the other bank, are the pyramids of Gizeh.

The site is extremely ancient, since the cult of Rê (Ra, the sun god) goes back to the origins of the Pharaoh's civilization; we have to imagine in the New Empire a constantly changing complex city which had an irregular contour and winding streets. It can be imagined in the image of Thebes, but smaller since we know that the priesthood of Heliopolis and the domain of its temple were distinctly less important than those of the great sacred Theban domain of Karnak.

We have respected the general orientation of the temple (East-West) known from the Description of Egypt and reflected the complex development of buildings which, like at Karnak, had to be built along this line during the time from the most mythical center of the city of the sun (Helio-polis). This center was materialized by the Ben-ben, a monument whose symbolic shape is known from the sacred texts. This perfectly pure shape was that of a small pyramid oriented to the four cardinal points. It evoked the first earth mound to emerge from the waters at the world's origin.

We imagined the appearance of the Ben-ben as the heart of the famous solar temple of Abu-Gorab, a well preserved building in the center of which stands a sort of gigantic stone obelisk. The appearance of this obelisk, constructed not far from the famous city, could well have been inspired by that of the nearby real Ben-ben which also existed in the Ancient Empire. The main components of the temple as it may also have existed in the Ancient Empire are inspired by other sanctuaries from the New Empire.

The city's houses and the gardens have been imagined in the image of the buildings of Thebes, discovered in part by archeology and depicted on several tombs of the necropolises of nobles. We are well acquainted with the appearance of the residences of this period: walls of green brick, differing levels, and terraces. The palace of the Governor has been imagined in the image of the grand residences of Tell-El-Amarna, a capital whose architecture expresses the ideas of a "revolution" started as from the end of the reign of Amenophis III and led by his son (Amenophis IV-Akhenaton).

The image of imaginary Heliopolis that we have given is hypothetical yet essentially conceivable. It allows us to dream in the streets, the houses and the temple of one of the most legendary cities of Ancient Egypt. Only the context of a game allowed the freedom required for such an evocation, and offered the only chance of seeking out the lost image of the famous city of the sun."

Egypt II: The Heliopolis Prophecy: between archaeology and fiction.

Isabelle Franco, scientific consultant:
"The archaeology of Ancient Egypt offers us enough information to reconstruct the monuments and facts of civilizations, but it restricts pure knowledge when there are very few remains. It is within these limits that Egypt II:The Heliopolis Prophecy was created. We had to make choices between strict historical truth, often too arid, and the imaginary framework given to the game that had to be relocated within an actual true context.

Heliopolis, most of which lies beneath Cairo, has yielded us very few ruins. Yet an overall evocation of the famous city was not impossible to achieve in the context of a game, under certain conditions. The geographical characteristics of the place have been respected. The buildings have been reconstructed in the same style as those which were constructed at the same period and that can be studied today at other better preserved sites. Tell-El-Armana, for example, roughly contemporaneous of the period when the game takes place, supplies an excellent model of civil architecture and the decoration of this opulent century of Egyptian history, otherwise well known thanks to the tombs of Thebes. The latter allow us to rediscover costumes, jewelry and other "fashionable" accessories under Amenophis III.

Contrary to the capital of Akhenaton, the ancient city of the sun had existed for over a thousand years. Its winding streets and its sometimes dilapidated houses bear witness to the life and the evolution of the city as time goes by. We have imagined the appearance of the major sanctuary of Heliopolis, the Castle of the Ben-ben, on the basis of the famous solar temple of Abu-Gorab, a well preserved building, in the center of which stands a sort of gigantic stone obelisk. The appearance of this obelisk, constructed not far from the famous city, was itself inspired by the true Ben-ben which had existed at least since the Ancient Empire. The main components of the temple, for their part, were inspired by other sanctuaries of the New Empire.

Apart from the places, the story itself is set in a plausible framework which however in some regards strays from the strict historical truth. The characters, for example, are imaginary, but their functions, their role, but also their weaknesses are well attested to by the texts. Even in the land of the pharaohs, there were unscrupulous officials, rivalries for influence and misappropriation of property. On the other hand, the illness evoked was not known in ancient Egypt.

The image of Heliopolis that we have given is hypothetical but conceivable. The story that takes place there is a fictional scenario which has allowed us to evoke one of the most famous religious capitals of ancient Egypt, giving the player a plausible glimpse of a real city of the 18th dynasty. Only the framework of a game could allow the liberty needed for such a reconstruction, a unique opportunity to set off in search of the lost city of the sun and meet the men who lived in it."

The themes addressed in the documentary base

This is a mini-encyclopaedia of some 110 information sheets concerning the main characteristics of Egyptian civilization, which have been written by Isabelle Franco, scientific consultant. Each information sheet contains a short text, hypertext links and a captioned image.

The information sheets of the documentary space are written from the point of view of the heroine: this gives a representation of all the acquired knowledge, the know-how of a young Egyptian girl of the period.

The themes dealt with are urban planning, Egyptian society, the status of women, medicine, the gods, daily life and the reign of Amenothep III.

Thanks, Rich! I remember those interviews - that's the level of historical reconstruction no one was able to follow but Cryo (and later Kheops - but unfortunately they are all dead now with no new historical adventures in sight)...


Yes, you are right, but I think that finding 'Versailles 2' DVD would be of priority to a collector like you and me - as it offers not just a piece of history but an enhanced version of the game itself! We now now that there is 'Egypt II' DVD - but all other disks missing are not proven to exist. After all, Cryo site promised 'Jerusalem', 'Nautilus' etc. on DVDs as well - and I don't think somebody have seen those either. But it would be great if somebody will confirm that there was 'Arthur's Knights I' DVD after all.