In an ancient age, a magical civilization known as Atlantis rose and flourished. This happened so long ago that the centuries have clouded it in rumors, speculation and partial truths. According to legend, its great prosperity largely stemmed from a single piece of knowledge, how to create a material called Oriharukon. No one else possessed the secret, so it was perhaps only natural that many other nations would beseech the Atlantians to share the information. Rather than granting these requests, the society reacted by closing itself off from outsiders. Anyone foolish enough to persist was dealt with swiftly and harshly, by sheer force. In due course, however, all supplies of the four crystals needed to make the substance were used up. Destructive campaigns were quickly mounted to conquer the rest of the world in the hope of finding some more. 

Without the powers provided by the Oriharukon, Atlantis disappeared in what seemed the blink of an eye. However, it appears that some quantity of the material still exists after all. What's more, it's poisoning the world. In Ndoors' Atlantica Online, the players' primary goal is, of course, to prevent this from producing a complete global catastrophe. The massively multiplayer title is apparently a hybrid; it's said to combine strategic turn-based combat, an advancement system that applies to both the player characters and NPC mercenaries, and a territory management element. With the company's US office in the throes of starting a regional closed beta this month, we were eager to find out about this unusual endeavor in much greater detail than just these broad highlights. Fortunately, Executive Producer Kim Tae Gon was willing to make the time to answer our questions.

Includes three exclusive screenshots

Jonric: Looking back to the beginning of the Atlantica Online Gold project, when was that, and what were the high-level goals you set for it? And what's the status of the North American version?

Kim Tae Gon: What we wanted to do with Atlantica is to create a game where you have to go around the world, explore and uncover the secrets to the lost civilization of Atlantis, creating a rich RPG environment while also giving users a different form of action through the turn-based combat and mercenary systems. We've also developed a world where politics and economics play big parts, incorporating some of the strengths from our previous releases like Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu.