Hello all! As has been hinted, Mantra has in fact returned. It is now available for Mac OS X and Windows, and is as identical to the original version as was humanly possible. Here is a story of how this new version came to be:
Sometime in the late 90’s or early 2000’s (who can keep track of such things), the Syzygy Cult made a website with a forum. In September of 2005, Christopher O’Neill, a loyal fan of the original game, found the site, created an account, noticed an overall lack of activity, and continued on his way. However, much to his surprise, he soon received an email from none other than Ben Birney himself! He proposed the idea of collaborating on a sequel, and Chris jumped at the opportunity. After some discussion with the other members, it was decided that there was not enough time or manpower to create a whole new game, but that it might be possible to recode Mantra to work for Mac OS X using the old code as a template. Chris, being the sly programmer he was, rewrote the game using the Allegro Game Programming Library, so that Windows users could also enjoy the game. Some 5 years later, and after many starts and stops in progress, the game was finally ready for release. It was released for beta testing in December 2009, and released soon thereafter. Now, longtime fans and newbies alike could enjoy Mantra once again.
I hope it brings you all as much nostalgia as it has brought me. Here is a link to the sourceforge page where both versions can be downloaded.
Chris – thank you for all your hard work on rebuilding Mantra for modern computers. You put in a ton of hard hours on this project, owned it, and made it real. We are all deeply grateful, and I hope some folks out there that enjoy Mantra will get a kick out of this blast from the past.
My life is now complete. You guys have no idea how much this game contributed to my childhood, and I thank you for that.
come to think of it, it is amazing that all i see from people who played it back then is that they loved it..such a simple game… but it really did well in emotionally bonding with the player and i have no idea how the hell you guys did it… really, get a team and make a new game..brand new…cause you guys really have what it takes…your careers can act as funding.. plz.. you all know its what you want to do!