The Matriarch's Tomb: The Tempering

Community Forums/Graphic Chat/The Matriarch's Tomb: The Tempering

OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#1]
Alright, the time has finally come. I'm announcing the first project by Chaos Theory Games. The Matriarch's Tomb: The Tempering is going to be sort of an experimental title, with a planned sequel to follow. The purpose of this project will be both to provide funds for our future work (price will be $9.99 when completed), and get feedback from customers on how to improve our future titles.

This project will be an arena style game, allowing the player to either progress through a scenario ladder of last man standing matches, or to play practice matches in last man standing, deathmatch, team deathmatch, or capture the flag games. The planned sequal will be a very different gametype, but more information will be released on that when the time comes.

Backstory removed pending update.

Temporary art replacement:



jfk EO-11110(Posted 2006) [#2]
Sounds good. Maybe "Warrioress" sounds a bit like "karate babes" if you know what i mean. maybe a female warrior would simply be called warrior. Then again my english isn't that good.
Her waist is looking a bit strange to me. Other than that: nice model. Good luck with this project!


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#3]
Thanks for the comments. By the way, warioress is just a female version of warrior...better than "Xena Warrior Princess," at least...

BTW: This game only includes females to cut down no resources needed. My artist and I wanted to keep it simple. Don't worry, in the sequal we will see that the Matriarch does in fact have male members in her order...and you will face off with both male and females of another order...


Red Ocktober(Posted 2006) [#4]
nice lookin' temple babe... i'm in love (again)

:)

seriously... nice artwork *two thumbs up*

but the title... well, it's just a lil too... ahhh, something or the other....

why not something simpler...

The Tomb Of The Undead

The Tomb of Ligia

Tomb Raider

Tomb Babes


you know... something simple and to the point...



--Mike


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#5]
Thanks for your kind words, I assure you she'll only look better in the coming days :-)

Actually I'm trying to think of a better name, this one is just a working title. If you want a bit of trivia, the original draft was titled "Battle Babes." That was sort of a joke, since the first game my artist got paid for working on (and the last until this project) was "Anime Bowling Babes."

It was hard work breaking him of the whole anime thing, but he's a talented artist and adapts well to your needs, once you get the picture across to him.


JustLuke(Posted 2006) [#6]
Looks good, but I second Red's opinion about the title. It's very clunky. You need something short, snappy and memorable.

And no subtitles! They're just cheesy.


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#7]
I wasn't very happy with the title, but I needed something better than Battle Babes for a working title...I'm trying to think of something better.

Also, a few slight changes to the plotline, to include respawning (alien resurrection technology), so we can include more game types than last man(woman) standing. Currently we're looking at LMS, DM, Team DM, and CTF gametypes for practice matches, and LMS for the ladder scenario.

Each outfit will have team colors, but aside from that you can still pick whatever customizations you want for the team based games.

The planned sequal won't be an arena style game, but will have very similar playstyle, and I hope to integrate user feedback from this project into it.


JustLuke(Posted 2006) [#8]
Why not just call it 'Matriarch'?


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#9]
Hmmm...that's simple but it's not really descriptive. Though the Matriarch is the key character in the story (though not as visual as the Guardian), her title just doesn't quite do it...

The first game is an arena/tournament game, while the second will be a third person adventure game. I have to keep this in mind if I'm going to get a name that fits both. Matriarch and Matriarch II just don't sound right...


Red Ocktober(Posted 2006) [#10]
i'd tend to agree with that... Tomb should somehow be part of the title...

Tomb of Power

Tomb of the Matriarch

ahhhh... i've never really been good at coming up with names and such... it all would've been a lot simpler if you had made a fps where guys ran around and blasted monsters and stuff... then i would suggest you name it...

DOOM

simple, direct, to the point...

ahhh, but that one's already taken... disregard...


--Mike


JustLuke(Posted 2006) [#11]
Well, maybe I'm mistaken about this, but I don't think that the type of player who likes combat will give too hoots about the story. Hence Quake, Doom, Unreal, Prey, etc.

I'm sure that your story is fascinating, but don't fall in love with it and forget what's important, if you see what I mean. The story is the absolutely least important element of the type of game you're making, really. If I were you, I would strip it down to the bare essentials and make the name short and snappy.

If you were making an RPG or an adventure game it might be different.

Just my opinion.


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#12]
Red: Tomb of the Matriarch, by itself, actually is starting to sound good...and it won't be too bad with "II" when the sequal comes round.

JustLuke: Well, for this game it may not seem that important, but in the sequal it will be much more...involved. This game is hopefully going to be more of an introduction, and a really fun arena combat game while it's at it.

It's hardly the most complicated story I've come up with, but it suits the purpose. Much like the old game, Blood. The sequal was obviously more involved, story wise, while the original really didn't need much more plot than "protagonist is murdered, protagonist becomes undead, protagonist kills lots of bad guys."

And mimes...he hated mimes...


JustLuke(Posted 2006) [#13]
So save the story for the sequel. With the type of game you're making, a heavy story is not only entirely unnecessary but, I suspect, unwanted and detrimental. Also, if the story is pretty simple, then a long, wordy title will seem pretentious at best, amaturish and difficult to remember at worst.

Perhaps you should analyse the preferences/requirements of your target audience some more? A little market research works wonders.


Red Ocktober(Posted 2006) [#14]
hey... great :)

for the second version Tomb of the Matriarch II: The Tempering (or whatever), in small caption, could work...

somehow, when it's a sequel, a lil more wordy title seems more acceptable when the additional text follows the number...

but definitely for version one, the simpler title sounds better...

(and the artwork continues to impress)

--Mike


JustLuke(Posted 2006) [#15]
Nah. Wouldn't it be better to vary the same theme for each sequel?

Like: Tomb of the Matriarch, then Wrath of the Matriarch, Legend of the Matriarch, Vengence of the Matriarch, etc.


Red Ocktober(Posted 2006) [#16]
that approach could work too... but i like the idea of the inital title being part of the sequels...

much like Star Wars was always part of the title of the different episodes... ie, the first one was simply called Star Wars... the subsequent episodes always maintained the original title, with the additional stuff added... example - Star Wars:EpisodeV:The Empire Strikes Back... Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones...

even though the first Star Wars was actually the third in the series, it immediately imbedded itself into the pop pshyce as Star Wars... not Star Wars:Episode IV A New Hope...

and the release of the movies out of sequence presented no problem this way as well...

--Mike


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#17]
Well, I think Tomb of the Matriarch sounds good. Especially since the entire first game (and at least a quarter of the planned sequal) takes place in her Tomb/Temple. The Tempering isn't needed, just makes the title harder to grasp.

JustLuke: Again, let me remind you that I'm going to limit the story in the first, considerably. I'll only be explaining what the tempering is, and why this time there's a prize to be had.

Summing it up:
The Tempering:
The Tempering is a form of training combat where the Matriarch's followers fight to the death to bolster their skills. Using alien resurrection technology, this allows them to learn from their mistakes and continue enhancing their skills, even if they lose.

The Matriarch:
An extradimensional being, trapped in a deathlike state on Earth. Her tomb is hidden, thanks to her advanced technology, but she relies on human followers for protection. A secret society, of sorts. There are other beings trapped on earth, with their own groups of cultists, which are far less benign, so it is neccessary for her followers to become adept fighters.

The Guardian:
The personnal guard of the Matriarch, this is her most skilled fighter. Imbued with great power by alien technology, she alone is trusted with the protection of the Matriarch's inner sanctum, the tomb itself. When the Guardian is slain, another is chosen with a special session of the Tempering.


puki(Posted 2006) [#18]
price will be $9.99 when completed


That model (pictured in the screenie) is worth that on her own - possibly more - why not sell it (the model)? I bet you have more of them?


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#19]
Actually, she's the only character model. The customization is done with a dynamic texture made out of three layers (base, body art, outfit), along with seperate hair models (and multiple skins for each hair model). Additional attachable meshes are also possible, though they won't be used very heavily.

Of course, there will be more character models for the sequal, including males...


Chroma(Posted 2006) [#20]
I smell tomb raider!!


Xip(Posted 2006) [#21]
wow, she is hot dude!;) nice work :D

The only thing i dont like is the nose? looks like some sort of bump-map on the face, but other than that... smoking hot! ;)

I wish my girl-friend looked like that .... or ... ehm...
I wish i had a girl friend.... or ... ehm...
I wish i have ever talked to a girl that looked like that.... ehm... yeah, that is about right :P


OrcSlayer(Posted 2006) [#22]
Thanks for the comments Xip, and Chroma, let me assure you that's the last thing I have on my mind for this game.