Zeus - Volition's cancelled post-apocalyptic game

Admixon

Admixon

Moderator
So hi. I was looking for video on Volition YT channel about map editing in SR TT and I found a video called Defining A Project Vision. Yes, there is a beta map of SR3 but also a full description of ZEUS game and concept arts.
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Core Vision (Pillars)
A modern Western set in post-apocalyptic Rio
A hardened gunslinger
  • I’m deadly in a firefight
  • My vehicle is my lifeblood
  • I go where others fear to tread
  • I take on challenges others will not
Exploring a lawless and broken city
  • A world where life is cheap and resources are scarce
  • A hornet's nest of competing factions
  • A wasteland of opportunity to discover
Defining my legend through my actions
  • I make enemies and allies as it suits me
  • I develop skills to fit my style
  • I craft and improve my gear with loot
  • I play by my own rules and do what I want
Core Gameplay
  • World Exploration
  • Ranged Combat
  • Player Progression
  • Lootility
Supporting Features
  • Cover/Traversal System
  • Social/Asynchronous Gameplay
  • Non Modal Missions
  • RPG systems : player, weapons, vehicles
  • Customization
  • Vehicles
  • Conversation System
  • Memory System/Player Awareness
  • 2 Player Co-Op
  • PVP, Free for All MP Areas
Core Tenets
Sell the experience of a hardened gunslinger surviving day to day in post-apocalyptic Rio.
  • Mostly an on-foot game
  • Most gameplay takes place in urban areas
  • Rules of the world need to be consistent and accessible
    • Not a "everything fits and goes" world like SR3
  • More realistic than SR3 when it comes to:
    • Art direction
    • Tone
    • Gameplay and Situations
Player Experience
When I explore the world I feel ADVENTUROUS, TEMPTED and CURIOUS
  • I need to see what's going to happen next. I’m always tempted to investigate one more thing.
  • Havens are no picnics but I know what to expect. Outside the walls, all bets are off.
  • I am compelled to balance risk and reward.
When I shoot enemies, I feel EMPOWERED and SKILLED
  • Confident, even when vulnerable.
  • Even though I've seen a lot, there's some horrifying shit I haven't seen.
  • Nothing comes easy in this world but death.
When I progress my character and gear, I feel RESOURCEFUL and REWARDED
  • The car makes the man. When you see my vehicle you know who I am.
  • I know how to use what others don’t see.
  • As a gunslinger I have to keep adapting or I’ll die.
Special Sauce
  • We make third person city-based sandbox game.
  • Our players are agents of mayhem with lots of toys.
  • Our players own and share their experiences.
Dev Pillars
  • Focus on the Core
    • Do fewer things and do them well.
  • Brains over Bureaucracy
    • Don't let process get in the way of doing what's right for the game.
  • Teamwork
    • Work together, be accountable to each other, and push each other to do our best work.
Core Essence (5 sec pitches)
  • A modern Western set in postapocalyptic Rio
  • Mad Max meets MacGyver
  • Post-apocalyptic Game of Thrones
  • A hardened gunslinger surviving day to day in post-apocalyptic Rio
  • Mechanical Alchemy
Core Premises
Sell the fantasy of a hardened gunslinger exploring postapocalyptic Rio
  • Primarily on-foot
  • Slower paced than Saints Row
  • Most gameplay takes place in urban areas
  • Rules of the world are consistent and accessible
  • More realistic than Saints Row
Inspirations
  • The factions, intrigue, and ever evolving plot from A Game of Thrones.
  • The exploration, freedom, and RPG progression of Skyrim.
  • The character and tone of A Fistful of Dollars.
  • The ever evolving world of The Walking Dead.
  • The tone, humor, and Spaghetti Western aesthetic of Django Unchained.
  • The traversal fluidity found in Unchartered and Tomb Raider
Player Experience
I am a hardened gunslinger exploring a postapocalyptic urban ruin, forging my legend through my actions.
By playing this game I want to satisfy:
  • My curiosity about the world and the people in it
  • My need to progress and attain mastery
  • My desire for better rewards and loot
  • My need to connect with friends and other players
  • My desire to express what makes me and my character different
Players should be thinking this when they play the game.
  • I want to know what’s out there
  • I will find a way to deal with whatever happens
  • We __________________ when we play together
Zeus World
  • A dense urban ruin, re-built 20 years after an apocalyptic event that occurred in 2018.
  • The Wild West in 2038 where pockets of civilization and factions function behind walls in Havens to guard, trade, and fight for control over resources and power.
  • A world that functions on technology and resources available in 2018. Only a select few control experimental technology from that time. Society in general makes do with few creature comforts.
  • Outside the Havens, adventurers and scavengers risk danger against the potential for extreme wealth and fortune. Outside these walls, it’s anything goes in a world full of roving bandits, fortune seekers and other dangers..
  • A barren Wasteland surrounds the city, littered with the bones of the old world.
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Source:
http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vaul...Donovan_Greg_Volitions_Challenge_Defining.pdf
 
Last edited:
Well, the reason why this game was cancelled seems quite obvious to me...
Zrzut ekranu 2017-01-29 17.49.28.jpg

No sexual jokes? In a Volition game? Is that even possible? :p

EDIT: Oh wait...
Admixon said:
Special Sauce:
  • Our players are agents of mayhem with lots of toys.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
enjoyingorc6742 said:
i think this may have been an early version of AOM.
Click to expand...

Nope. Not even slightly related. AOM was a completely different project and didn't evolve from Zeus in any way.
 
Yet another cancelled volition game. Starting to wonder if AOM will even be released :p
 
Fan of Saints said:
It's a Saints Row derivative so nothing to worry about, only serious games get cancelled. :v
Click to expand...

It's difficult to think of Zeus as actually being cancelled when it never even got out of pre-production, and was never announced. This kind of thing happens all the time in this industry with pitches that never get approved by the publisher or simply fail on some fundamental level early on. Volition is simply more transparent about these kind of things.
 
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