Lore and Legend behind The Lost City of Radlantis and Gail Force

Hey all – I’m Jemima, I’m a writer here at Roll7, and I’ve been asked to share some details about the process of creating our latest OlliOlli World expansion – Locating the Flowzone. So, here’s a brief lowdown on how we developed the setting and characters – and how the city of Radlantis went from an underwater metropolis to a skateboarding paradise in the skies!

Let’s begin at the beginning; when we started working on the second OlliOlli WorldWe knew from the beginning that it was to be submerged. You may notice – based on the prevalence of clouds on the logo, and the flying ship in the cover art – that this did not end up happening! However, when we began to work on this idea of an underwater adventure.

We instantly thought of Atlantis when we saw the idea of deep-ocean skating paradise. We developed an interest in the oceans and a special fondness for them while researching tides and currents. NudibranchsAlso known as Sea SlugsA deep dive was made into the mythology of Atlantis by us. I ended up reading a bunch of Plato as a result, since he was the first person to write about the myth of Atlantis – I have to say, when I started writing for an all-ages skating game, I wasn’t anticipating the need to study Ancient Greek philosophy! I’m not complaining, as it was pretty interesting stuff (and possibly the first time that my history degree has ever actually come in handy in my daily life). Anyhow, the Ancient Greek influence is part of what drew us to the idea of a skating competition – the idea was that this adventure would end with a kind of skate Olympics held deep underwater by the people of Radlantis.

With this in mind, we created the Radlantis Three – the skate crew who join the player in the search for Radlantis. Lizz, a Lead Narrative Designer and Writer and probably the most cool person I know, worked with Christopher Licht and Squid. While Lizz worked on Professor Planks, it was me who created them. We liked the idea of a rag-tag team who don’t necessarily always get along but are bound together by a common goal. They’re all explorers in a way, but they bring different things to the table – Squid is a seasoned sea captain, Licht is an astrologer and a mystic, and Planks is doing research for her university… or maybe just avoiding her students! The new trio is slightly different than the original companions, so their energy and arguments are a little more intense. It’s still very lighthearted and fun, but it’s a bit of a change from the ‘old friends’ dynamic of the original crew.

So, there we were, merrily researching away and planning to create an underwater cityscape, filled with cheery sea creatures and cool new skateboarding buddies – and then, it all changed…

Halfway through our development we realized that it was time to shift gears and create a city above the clouds. Why? Well, it turns out that from a gameplay perspective, skating underwater just isn’t as fun as skating through the sky, propelled by the mighty Windzones toward bigger air, cooler tricks, and higher scores. It was also much more enjoyable from both an artistic perspective and a map space perspective, to bring the atmosphere up. So, a change of direction was called for – but all was not lost! We loved the idea of a flying ship – the characters we’d been workshopping seemed even cooler up above the clouds. Radlantis was placed higher than the sea, so we were able to maintain the skate competition theme.

What we did need was a new Skate god to meet at the end of the expansion – somebody who reflected the new sky-based setting. And so Lizz created Gail Force – a god who controls the wind and skies above Radlandia. Gail Force has a lot of fun, is very lively and lives up her name. She’s a force of nature. B.B. also made it into the expansion. Hopper and some of the main-game Skate Godz in the expansion – with so many fun new characters to meet, it felt important to also include some familiar faces. Although this story is separate from the main plot, it’s still part of the overall plot. OlliOlli World, it’s nice for players to still feel the sense that they’re exploring a cohesive setting that ties into the world.

It was easy to create some funny dialogue once all of that character and worldbuilding had been completed. It took quite a while! We worked very hard on it, but it mostly involved staring at blank pages and cursing at the sky, so it’s not super interesting to read about. Also, the team worked with the artist to bring the characters, environments and animations alive. After all this was finished, the translation team sent it to the translator for everyone to enjoy. And now – many many months later – all of you have the chance to explore the Flowzone, find Radlantis, and maybe even win a trophy in a contest thrown by the Skate Godz themselves…

We hope you find this expansion enjoyable as much as we did writing it. Bonne voyage, bonne chance, and Happy Skating!