Talking with Levia Draconia About her Dinosaur Game
After playing a little bit of The Archotek Project, I wanted to know a little more about the game. I contacted the head dev Levia Draconia, who was more than willing to answer some questions. You’ll find her really active on Twitter, as well as the game’s Steam community. Read on to learn a little more about her, and the future of The Archotek Project!
First up, what is your favorite dinosaur?
If I really would have to choose, I would say Parasaurolophus, but at the end of the day I am more a fan of extinct aquatic creatures like Dunkleosteus.
When you just wanna see dinosaurs, where do you go to get your dinosaur fix?
I usually just browse the internet or check some of my books, but technically dinosaurs are everywhere these days even though they are extinct.
Of all the subject matter out there, why a game about dinosaurs?
It was rather a coincidence. I got the chance to make a game about dinosaurs and I took that chance. Originally I had plans for a game about dragons (with realistic graphics) and even started working on assets, but in December 2016 I had a conversation with someone from an old dev team I used to work with and ended up working on Archotek.
Where did the name ‘The Archotek Project’ come from?
The name was originally created, when Archotek was still about building a “financial empire” and heavily focusing on gene manipulation. The concept got changed a few times, but we decided to keep the title, since it is still kinda fitting. The gene manipulation aspect is still there, although people won’t be able to actively influence DNA as much anymore.
Has there been anytime during development that you’ve had to change your plan solely because you were using dinosaurs? Maybe the scale of something, a new scientific development, or just anything that only mattered because you were using dinosaurs?
No, Archotek has always been about dinosaurs and got built up on that aspect. The only thing that we added to the roadmap, was the multiplayer mode and another gamemode (can’t give you more details about that yet), because ATP has the potential to be more than just one type of game. I think most of our players like the idea of having more variety in one game and even be able to create their own content for it.
I’ve seen your halloween ‘glow stick’ and rainbow skins, are there any other cool skins that you can share or tease?
There is one special skin for the Archaeopteryx that will be a unlockable skin later at some point, but we haven’t shown that one to anyone yet and will probably keep it secret until someone accidentally unlocks it one day. That being said there will definitely be more of secret unlockable skins.
What is your long term vision for the game? Where do you want to see it in say, 3 years?
I wish to see Archotek having it’s own small community, with people, who create mods, skins or add new dinosaurs.
I personally want to add a few small events during the holidays, if the players are interested in such things, but right now we mainly focus on finishing the game.
What have you found is the best way of getting the word out about the game?
It was probably the art style, confirmed mod support for the game and also that we constantly check the feedback of our fanbase and ask them what they would like to see in the game, that made Archotek attractive for a bunch of people. And of course the fact that we have dinosaurs in the game.
How can someone join or support The Archotek Project and its community?
We aren’t hiring anyone at the moment, but people can always join our Discord and give feedback or make videos, art or just spread the word.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about The Archotek Project?
Right now there isn’t a lot of information, which I could share, except that we already have two new dinosaurs (herbivores) in the making as well as AI. I am also thinking a lot about adding natural disasters, such as earthquakes and heatwaves, but that is something we would add later at some point, depending on how complex we want to make them.
