Big shooters usually take a studio. SOL: The Last Imperium started as one prompt on Tesana.
@jonesiller described the game they wanted: a first-person sci-fi shooter with a world worth looking at. Tesana built it, and every new prompt added more: a rifle, then a squad, then grenades, a third-person view, tanks and a boss. 320 prompts later, Map I was done.
It plays in a browser on any computer with a keyboard and mouse. No install: open the link and wait for the first load, about 350 MB.
The idea
A shooter with a world to look at
SOL is a first-person sci-fi shooter. Forty days ago the city of Corvina went silent, and the stone-born sealed the Shattered Gate in crystal. You join the Legion to take it back.
The canyon is the star. A beam of light cuts through the sky, a giant hangs over the horizon, a shattered moon drifts overhead and a capital ship blocks out the sun.
Make a first-person sci-fi shooter for keyboard and mouse. You are a soldier of the Legion, sent with a small squad to retake the Shattered Gate, a huge alien gate sealed in crystal at the bottom of a red canyon. I want a world that looks epic: a beam of light in the sky, giant ships overhead, a shattered moon. Give me rifles, a pistol, a sniper rifle and grenades, a kick for close range, and let me switch to third person at any time.
2 hours to playable140 versions to Map I
The build
320 prompts to Map I
@jonesiller built SOL the way every Tesana game is built: by describing what they wanted and playing each new version a few minutes later. It went like this:
- StartThe first prompt
- 2 hoursPlayable
- 17 daysThe squad and the boss
- 5 NovMap I is out
Tesana wrote the code, built the 3D world and hosts the game. @jonesiller made the calls: what to add, what to change, what felt wrong.
The third-person view took one prompt:
Let me press V to switch to third person at any time, with the camera over the shoulder, and keep everything else working the same.
What got built
Everything in Map I
Map I, The Shattered Gate, is one long fight down a canyon. Along the way it picked up:
- An arsenal: the Sol Bolter rifle, a pistol, a sniper rifle and a thunder hammer you can throw.
- Two kinds of grenade, Sunburst and Lightning. Hold G to aim, T to switch.
- Third person, one key away.
- A kick for anything that gets too close.
- A squad: Sgt. Antonius, Stradia and X2‑Sol fight beside you and talk on the radio.
- Wardens, drones and walking machines to fight.
- Tanks and mechs on the canyon floor.
- A boss, the Crystal Colossus.
Hosting, the game page and the play link come built into Tesana.
Build stats
What it took
From the first prompt to Map I:
- 320 prompts to build Map I.
- 140 versions of the game along the way.
- About 350 MB of 3D world, played in a browser.
Map I is out now on Tesana.
