Hi Thomas and all. Even though I am one of the voters for the game sticking to a sidescroller format and I stand by that vote, I want to say here and now for the record that I understand where you are coming from about not being interested and fired up about finishing the game as it was any longer and how you feared that would affect the quality of the final product. As you said you initially took on this project with a dream and goal in mind of giving all of us this accessible version of a game that we wanted and were then completely thwarted in that by the greedy lawyers. As someone who has done some development work on games, although not the programming end of things, I think I have at least some inkling of how much work and time and effort and time away from your family this stuff takes out of you. For it to be worth it and for you to turn out a good product in the end, I think it has to be something that inspires you and really makes you be creative. If this is not the case then I believe that those of us who are the end users and players of the game will definitely notice a difference and it will not be for the better. So while yes it is unfortunate things turned out as they did and I am as disappointed as anyone about that, I am going to make the best of the situation and I look forward to your progress on this project with great interest. And I agree with the sentiments of another poster, let's relax a bit about this ladies and gents, I am one of the people who bought the game way back when, and yes I want it to be out but I am not foaming at the mouth over it, trust me there are bigger things in life to worry about or if there aren't count yourself lucky.
Best, Tom -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 7:55 AM To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: [Audyssey] What's Ahead For MOTA Beta 2. Hello everyone, Over the passed couple of weeks I have received some inquiries about Mysteries Of the Aztecs Beta 2. I am writing this email in the hope I can answer as many questions at once as well as give all of you gamers an awesome sneak peak into MOTA Beta 2. There is a lot changing under the hood of the new MOTA game engine, and there is a lot of new features coming your way. In addition Mysteries Of the Aztecs is getting an expensive sound upgrade which will make the audio environment sound so much more realistic. First, let us explore the new game story. It is no secret that the Tomb Hunter series is USA Games new line of games similar to the Tomb Raider games produced by Core Design and Edos Interactive. While USA Games is forbidden by copyright law to use the official Tomb Raider trade marks and its leading character, Lara Croft, we hope our Tomb Hunter games will capture the Tomb Raider spirit in all other respects. Our leading character, Angela Summers, is an archaeologist with a variety of Lara Croft style moves such as back flips, jumps, forward and reverse rolls, safety drops, and other skills. In addition Angela is well versed in a variety of fire arms including her trusty 9 Millimeter Browning, 357 Magnum, Shotgun, and the M-16 assault rifle. Our game begins high above the Amazon rain forest as Angela Summers parachutes into the jungle where Dr. Pierre Romo's expedition went missing one year ago. Armed with her trusty 9 Millimeter Browning, two med kits, her laser sight, and an emergency radio she sets off on foot to find the Aztec Temple of death. In the first level Angela must work her way through the jungle on foot picking up gold coins, diamonds, reloads for her Browning, and fend off giant spiders and snakes. Inside the temple proper Angela must avoid several traps including lava pits, spikes, swinging blade traps, pits of fire, and rolling boulder traps. She must also face undead Aztec skeleton warriors armed with bows and spears. Unlike the snakes and spiders the skeleton warriors are much harder to kill with Angela's trusty 9 Millimeter Browning. She must pick up more powerful weapons including a bow and arrow, a 357 Magnum, Shotgun, and M-16 Assault Rifle left behind by Pierre Romo's failed expedition. If she makes it to the end she will face the Aztec King and Queen of death in combat. As stated above one of the major changes in Mysteries of the Aztecs Beta 2 is an all new sound upgrade. I have worked very hard to create or purchase only the highest quality sound effects for Mysteries of the Aztecs Beta 2. For example, Angela's weapons such as the 357 Magnum and Shotgun are pretty true to the actual sound of a Magnum and 12 gage shotgun being fired. I have added in some echo and other special effects to sound as though they are being fired inside a large empty structure such as a tomb or temple. Interesting enough in comparing my shotgun sound to the ones used in the majority of the Tomb Raider games my shotgun sounds are far more realistic and accurate. As someone who thrives on high quality authenticity in my sound effects I think Tomb Hunter is going to be as good as any TR game as far as the Audio environment goes. Taking a look at the new engine there is a lot of changes in game play. I have decided in order to really do Mysteries Of the Aztecs justice I have incorporated the new Genesis 3D technology into the game. Many of these upgrades involves Angela herself. I have been working on adding all sorts of realistic full 3D movement for Angela. When the engine is done Angela will be able to jump, do flips, rolls, turn in place, climb, sidestep, crouch, stand, crawl, swim, etc. While I know many of you were hoping for a side-scroller I really honestly think you will be impressed with the new direction the game has taken. The new and improved 3D Aztec temple will include secret passages, hidden treasure rooms, and a host of new dangers and puzzles to solve. For example, imagine having to climb a rope to a ledge at the top of a room to find a gold key that unlocks the door below. You might have to locate and pull a certain lever which allows a specific Aztec statue to be moved or pushed aside revealing a hidden treasure room behind it. It is these sorts of puzzle elements that draws many sighted gamers to the Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider games. Another aspect is random placement of some treasure and weapons. One of the major complaints I got about Montezuma's Return was nothing was randomized. I have heard your complaints and Beta 2 will have several items appear randomly in rooms. Some items such as gold coins in a hidden room will be static while some gems and weapons will be scattered around the temple randomly. In short I am working hard to make Mysteries Of the Aztecs the best game it can be under the current situation. I feel bad I was not able to complete Montezuma's Return do to copyright issues, but in the end I think what you will get in return is going to be a much more fun, exciting, and better game altogether. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
