Textured Temple Asset Models

After hours of painstaking UV mapping, I've added textures to some of the asset models for the game. Some of these, like the bone and jaguar throne, will be key objects in the game and others will be for decoration.

Game Asset Modeling in Maya

Some game assets I've been modeling for the game. These are yet to be UV mapped and textured...

Jaguar House Storyboards and Statue Designs

Below are a couple of ideas for the Jaguar House, the final level of the game. The first image is taken from an actual sarcophagus from Mayan ruins. The slab slides back into the wall and reveals a staircase.

Ixtab is the Mayan goddess of suicide. Ancient Mayan literature tells us that Ixtab lures men into the forest where they meet their doom. In the Jaguar House, the player will have to watch out for engravings of Ixtab in a forest of pillars. If they pass between two pillars marked with Ixtab's image, they suffer instant death.

Below are concepts for various game objects that will appear in the Jaguar House. The player must find bones hidden throughout the level and return them to the mouths of the Jaguars. The last image is of a statue which raises out of the ground revealing a down staircase or an item like a bone.

Updates and Concept Design Reference Boards

We've decided to change the premise of the game from Aztec warfare to a Mayan temple exploration/puzzle game. There are several reasons for making the change; first, UDK is a lot more friendly towards 1st-person exploration games rather than real-time strategy games. We also decided to avoid strict themes of warfare and branch out into the possibilities of educating the player on Ancient Central American culture, agriculture, astrology, customs, mythology/lore, etc.

Making a game set in a Mayan temple complex opens up a lot of design possibilities. Here are some reference boards on the kinds of things we want to accomplish: