The Eternal Cylinder

The Eternal Cylinder
Developer(s)	ACE Team
Publisher(s)	Good Shepherd Entertainment
Director(s)	Carlos Bordeu
Composer(s)	Patricio Meneses
Engine	Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release	September 30, 2021
Genre(s)	Survival
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

The Eternal Cylinder is an adventure-survival open-world exploration video game developed by ACE Team and published by Good Shepherd Entertainment. The game was released on September 30, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Premise[]

On a distant planet inhabited by diverse ecosystems of extraterrestrial life, the Eternal Cylinder, a mysterious rolling structure stretching from horizon to horizon, gradually advances across the landscape, obliterating everything in its path. However, a race of small trunked bipedal creatures, known as the Trebhum, embark on a quest to stop the Cylinder and save their home planet, guided by their unique ability to evolve and mutate to adapt to the various challenges of their hostile environment.^[1]

Gameplay[]

The game is a third-person open world adventure game that puts the player in control of a small creature called a Trebhum. In its most basic form, the Trebhum is able to gather items with its trunk, run, jump, and roll to move faster, as well as spray water from its trunk or eject items from its inventory.^[2]

However, as the game progresses, the Trebhum gains access to a collection of various mutations, which are triggered by various items that can be gathered from the environment.^[3] The mutations are classified according to body part, with the five classes being eye, leg, trunk, body and skin mutations, with all mutations of each part being mutually exclusive (save for the Third Eye mutation that overlaps with other eye mutations). As such, a Trebhum can have a maximum of six mutations each, with new mutations overwriting previous ones of the same body part. However, Trebhum can recruit new members by finding them in the overworld, hatching them from eggs, or recruiting them from Trebhum houses. A party of Trebhum can have different mutations with different abilities, with the number of maximum Trebhum being able to be upgraded at special Trebhum shrines, at the cost of "crystal dust" a form of currency that can be either found in dust form, or be processed from minerals by Trebhum with the Mineral Processor mutation.^{[citation needed]}

Mutations grant the Trebhum a diverse array of capabilities, with leg mutations enabling them to jump higher, run faster or perform attacking stomps, eye mutations allowing them to extend their eyes to see further, find hidden objects or scan enemy creatures to unlock entries on their compendium, trunk mutations allowing them to shoot fire, spray acid or create small tornadoes, skin mutations giving them bioluminesence, spikes to deter predators or produce a malodorous scent, and most significantly, body mutations that allow them to process water from food items, process mineral currency from minerals, and create bombs from their inventories. These mutations require a catalyst and can by removed by some enemies equipped with a yellow light that de-mutates the Trebhum: however, once the mutation tree is unlocked, the Trebhum can access the mutations at will and are no longer affected by the enemies' yellow light.^{[citation needed]}

However, while the overall game is generally open-world, the linear progression is enforced by the advancement of the Eternal Cylinder itself. Rows of towers dot the landscape, blocking the Cylinder from moving and projecting a force field that the Trebhum can safely explore. However, once the Trebhum step out of the field, the Cylinder resumes its progression, and gradually accelerates, forcing the player to race to the next set of towers to activate them. If the Cylinder catches up to the players, or if they fail to activate the towers, it results in a game over.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout the Trebhum's journey, the events, dialogue and story progression are commentated on by a mysterious Narrator, who not only explains the events to the audience but also acts as a guiding voice within the Trebhum's minds. The Narrator can give helpful tips on finding certain items, utilizing new mutations, or defeating special enemies that are encountered in the game.^{[citation needed]}

Plot[]

The game opens with an unnamed narrator stating that this is not the story of the one, but the many.

A newly hatched Trebhum, driven on by an unknown voice within its head, just barely manages to evade the Eternal Cylinder. After a short encounter with a dead elder of its species that allows the Cylinder to advance forward slightly further and expanding its family through scattered eggs and ailing Trebhum, the Trebhum tribe discovers a living elder of their people, who encourages them to advance onwards, but to be wary of the Servants of the Eternal Cylinder, who have the power to steal the Trebhum's mutation. The elder offers encouragement, though, that should the tribe progress far enough, they will learn a way to shield their powers from the Cylinder and its minions.

Progressing further through the savannah, evading both the Cylinder's Servants and hostile wildlife, the Trebhum eventually devise a plan to fly over the Cylinder it while it rests to determine if the land beyond is habitable. They manage to do so just as the savannah gives way to tundra, only to find a barren wasteland, where they are confronted by the greatest of the Cylinder's servants, the Mathematician. The massive servant captures the Trebhum and sends them through a strange portal in its face. Inside the portal, the Trebhum find a strange, white void, filled with thoughts of various beings and the silhouettes of Trebhum and what appear to be humans, while a mysterious voice tries to talk to them. The voice reveals that the void is the Cylinder's mind, but is unable to provide further information before growing too weak to continue. The Trebhum eventually exit the white void, somewhat perplexed by the events that occurred there.

Back in the physical world, the Trebhum find that the Cylinder has progressed further, and are now deep in the tundra of their world. Evading new lifeforms and more aggressive servants, while finding additional elders, the Trebhum eventually formulate a new plan to escape their world using a flying palace their people built long ago. Doing so will require knowledge that the Cylinder took from the Trebhum, so they are forced to return to the Cylinder's mind after first imitating an item the Cylinder wishes to study. Inside, the Trebhum finally here the voice speaking clearly, revealing it to be the game's narrator. The narrator reveals that he was once a human, and that the Cylinder has invaded and destroyed many worlds, including Earth, but his kind have refused to pass quietly and work in secret to help the Trebhum progress onwards. Though only able to speak with the Trebhum briefly, the Narrator encourages them to keep progressing forward.

Upon their return, the Trebhum make their way across a shallow sea into a desert, where they begin searching for the components needed to activate the flying palace. They manage to retrieve three lenses needed to charge the strucure's power supply, overpowering a powerful servant known as The Hand of Fate in the process. Eventually reaching the palace, the Trebhum manage to activate the structure, only for the Mathematician to appear. The ensuring struggle sees the Mathematician slain, but leaves the palace just out of the Trebhum's reach. Seeing no other option, the Trebhum reenter the Cylinder's mind, now heavily damaged due to the Mathematician's death. This time, the Narrator is silenced by the Cylinder, which reveals its motivations - it seeks to absorb all of existence into itself, believing that the variety of forms in the universe all contribute to suffering, and that when all have become part of the cylinder, there will be peace. The Narrator manages to regain the power to speak just before the Trebhum leave, and begs them not to give up.

Exiting the Cylinder's mind, the Trebhum find that the destruction of the Mathematician has causes the entities within the Cylinder to spill out into their world, creating a mutated landscape containing both creatures from the previous biomes and new and deadly creatures unique to the corrupted plains. Finding a final surviving Elder, the Trebhum learn that they can still escape their world, but must seek the aid of the Celestial Trewhaala, titanic eel-like aliens that have guarded elder shrines throughout the Trebhum's journey. Acquiring a mutation that allows them to speak to the Trewhaala, the Trebhum reach an agreement - the Trewhaala will ferry the Trebhum to the palace on the condition that the Trebhum consume items that will give them Trewhaala mutations, ensuring that the dying Trewhaala will have their species preserved in the Trebhum's memories.

The Trebhum complete their goal and are ferried to the palace by the Trewhaala, only for the restored Mathematician to appear and launch a final assault on the Trebhum. A trio of Trewhaala battle the Mathematician while the Trebhum evade the crossfire, ending with one of the Trewhaala sacrificing itself in an attack that appears to kill all four. Entering the Cylinder's mind for a final time, the Trebhum are greeted by the Narrator, who congratulates them on doing what others could not: defeating the Cylinder. After leading the Trebhum out of the Cylinder's mind, the Narrator appears to take control of the Mathematician, after which he uses it to attack the Cylinder, ultimately sacrificing its body to destroy the Cylinder. His mind fading away, the Narrator concludes the story by reminiscing on the Trebhum's victory, and declaring how he was happy to have been a part of the Trebhum's family, even if it was only for a moment.

Development[]

On August 15, 2019, while a third sequel to Rock of Ages was announced by Modus Games, instead of Altus, in collab with Giant Monkey Robot and would be released in 2020, another game, based on another prototype in 2015 titled The Endless Cylinder by ACE Team co-founder Carlos Bordeu, was announced from Good Shepherd Entertainment which sets in a survival genre later on.^[4][5]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website

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