Good morning, anxious adventuring archaeologists!

We are hard at work on the game and getting very close to a playable demo! We are hoping to have that done in a week or so if possible, depending on how hard it is to work out these last few kinks. However, once the demo is done, progress on the rest of the game will be much faster due to existing infrastructure.

We know you have all been waiting for a while for this game, so we appreciate your patience while we make Riddle of the Sphinx: The Awakening the best we can!

New Enhanced Settings

Today we have a few new screenshots and exciting features to show you! For veterans of the ROTS franchise, you will see that we have added a number of new features. One of the first things you might have noticed is that there are more settings sliders than in the original game. Specifically, you can enable/disable Environmental FX, such as millennia-old dust subtly billowing in suspension as you explore these ancient hidden chambers, etc. Plus you can switch between new immersive scarab-themed cursors and ROTS’ classic cursors, and switch between windowed mode and fullscreen.

Screenshot of additional settings: Cloud Save/Load, Environmental FX, new  Scarab Cursors or Original “Hand” Cursors. The new scarab cursors are very immersive, but we’ve redesigned the original cursors at a higher resolution for the original experience.

Enhanced Save States: Autosave, Local Save, and Cloud Save.

Another major overhaul from the original is saving. We now have three save methods: Autosave, Local save, and Cloud save.

•  Autosave is meant to be the main way to save game progress, so you can just hit the quit button and all of your progress will have been saved.
•  Local Save is meant as a bookmark of sorts if you wish to go back to a particular time and place in the game.
•  And for the pièce de résistance… Cloud Save. Start on desktop, continue on mobile. Cloud save allows you to transition between devices and platforms seamlessly. Here’s how it works: at the top, under settings, there is a bar that currently says: “Hi, Scarabhunter” (this will show your name). If you click on it, it will dropdown as you can see from the screenshots. When you create an account, you will be able to save your data to the cloud, simply by clicking the cloud save button. When you want to load to a new device, all you have to do is login and click cloud load.

 The Winged Things!

As we previously mentioned, ROTS: Awakening features enhanced, animated scarabs on the settings screen and as a new set of immersive scarab-themed cursors. You will be able to experience these fully in the upcoming demo. Until then, enjoy the scarab-esque indulgence.

New, Enhanced Scarab-themed Cursors!

Here’s a look at the ROTS: Awakening new scarab-themed cursors for a much more immersive experience.

What do you think of the new features and images? Let us know in the comments, and keep an eye out for the demo which will be released shortly!

Charlie and Jeff Tobler

New Treasures Chamber Rendering Comparison

We have completed the Treasures Chamber, featuring this majestic royal gilded throne. Take a look and behold its beauty…

Our new dramatic lighting techniques, Strata’s advanced renderer (Raydiosity), and hi-resolution 1080p rendering have only added the awe and wonder of this chamber.

Compare with the original rendering:

This exquisite gold leaf masterpiece from antiquity casts a warm golden ambience to the chamber, as compared with the original rendering. The shadows are deeper, darker, and more mysterious.

Plus, Charlie has done amazing work on real-time atmospheric effects within the Pyramid and other areas. Thanks to his hard work and creativity, you will now be able to explore Riddle’s ancient hidden chambers with dust subtly billowing up from the floor with each explorative step along with millennia-old musty dust particles seemingly held in suspension, ever so slowly settling back to the cold stone floors. These are the details we are working on in resurrecting Riddle of the Sphinx: The Awakening.

While the process is still very time-consuming, we are working toward a late Dec. release. However, we want this done right and we are making every effort to make your Riddle of the Sphinx expedition unforgettable! It will be worth the wait.

Next update: we unveil of the sacred flying Scarab in the settings screen and as the new cursor…

For those of you familiar with the legacy version of Riddle of the Sphinx, you will recognize this chamber. But what you haven’t seen yet is the difference in the new renderings we’ve been toiling over.

Much of our time is spent bringing the models out of the older 3D application (currently only running on Mac OS 9 on an emulator – still amazed this is possible!), converting geometry, cameras, and even lighting. We are intentionally enhancing camera angles and lighting, even textures, when called for. But we are most excited about the enhanced shadows, ambient light, and richer colors, due in large part to rendering in Strata’s Raydiosity.

Compare below and you will immediately see the difference!

Enjoy…

That is the original. Now, behold the enhanced HD Riddle of the Sphinx: The Awakening rendering…

And to give you an idea of the new details you will be experiencing in this version, take a look at this…

This close-up of some ancient Egyptian treasures beautifully displays the enhanced “Awakening” version…

More updates to come, plus some surprises in this chamber that were not in the original room!

THANK YOU for your support and your patience. We still have more conversions, rendering, and engine work, but it’s coming together and will prove to be an even larger archaeological adventure of the millennia!