Esoteria is a computer game developed by Mobeus Designs, Inc published in 1998 by Kirin Entertainment.

It runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system.

The main features of the game include:

• Seamless 3D environment.
• 2nd person perspective view.
• Advanced enemy artificial intelligence (AI)
• Interactive, dynamic sound track.
• Support for 3dfx Voodoo 3D graphics cards.

Story

Esoteria is the name of a star system, the 3rd planet of which is where the game is set.

Raven is the name of a secret military project to create a cyberneticly enhanced SUPER-soldier. The aims of the Raven's military creators are of questionable morality, and Raven ultimately turns against them.

Gameplay

The player assumes the identity of Raven in the quest to defeat his military creators.

Raven's primary weapon is the arm-mounted ARC blade which is used for close attack or to fire bolts of energy at a distance. Holding the fire button charges up the ARC blade, allowing multiple projectiles to fire in a spread pattern to hit multiple targets. Secondary weapons can also be added to the player's arsenal such as heat-seeking missiles.

Other abilities of Raven include a stealth mode which makes him invisible to enemies, a sniper mode allowing precision attacks at great range, and the ability to jump from high places safely.

Development

Development of the game started in 1995 at a start-up company called Mobeus Designs, Inc in Champaign, Illinois. Most of the developers were graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The game's code was written mainly in C++, with some parts (notably the software 3D rasterizer and texture mapping code) written in Intel assembly language.

2D artwork was mostly done in Adobe Photoshop.

3D modeling and animation of the game's characters, and pre-rendered cut-scenes were created with Newtek's Lightwave.

Credits (incomplete)

Producer: Chris Lai

Associate Producers: Robert Kovach, Geoffrey Y. Leu

Lead Programmer: Adam Hayek

Art Director: Robert Kovach

Story Writer: Geoffrey Y. Leu

Programmers: Geoffrey DeWan, Francois Klier, Terrence McGhee, Michael Saladino, Jennifer Tsou, Darian Woodford

Enemy AI: Terrence McGhee, Mitri Vanichtheeranont

Low Level Graphic Engine: Michael Saladino

Conceptual Artist: Shi Kai Wang

Interface Design: Robert Kovach

3D Artists: Hugh Suh, Mitri Vanichtheeranont

Graphic Artists: Andy Chang, Andrew J. Collins, Hoang Pham

Cinematic Animation: Hugh Suh, Mitri Vanichtheeranont

Lead World Designers: Robert Kovach, Chris Lai, Geoffrey Y. Leu

World Designers: Elliott Hsu, Dion McGhee, Shi Kai Wang, James Yu

Sound Coordinator: Hugh Suh

Project Manager: Joan S. Looi

Administrative Assistant: Dion McGhee

Documentation: Francois Klier, Geoffrey Y. Leu, Joan S. Looi, Terrance McGhee, Michael Saladino

Manual Design: Elliott Hsu, Shi Kai Wang, James Yu

Composer: David Berk

Music Software Design: Camille Goudeseune