Egyptian, Nubian Skins and new Unreal Tournament movement 2014

[Chaos8192]

lol... meh

[U1849KA]

"Sun Blade is comprised of former Temple Guardians and veterans of the Desert Legion. They see victory in the Tournament as their only hope for burial and eternal life in the Valley of Kings on Luxor IV."
http://liandri.beyondunreal.com/Sun_Blade

The Nakhti aren't too different.
http://liandri.beyondunreal.com/Nakhti
UC 2 was centered on the Ascension Rites. When the current emperor becomes unfit to lead they hold a planet-wide tournament to determine the next emperor. They fight for glory, and to honor their ancestors, though there is a bit of a schism between those who still hold to tradition and those who seek to move to a more modern sensibility (this was the central conflict between Anubis and Selket, which Liandri was looking to exacerbate and exploit in order to get the new Nakhti emperor in their pocket.

According to the racial stats in 2k3, they are often adrenaline junkies and show-offs, which fits with their tradition in UC 2 of making their "election process" a planet-wide gladiator tournament. That said, their mercenary / military outfits can be very pragmatic and practical, whereas their tournament gear is quite extravagant.
Compare:
http://i681.photobucket.com/albums/v...AnubisMerc.gif
with
http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2.../0d/Anubis.gif

Essentially, the story as it stands is that they are a proud and often flashy and even flamboyant warrior race that is culturally caught between tradition and modernization. It's never really explained why they're based on Egyptian culture, though. d:

[MacD11]

Essentially, the story as it stands is that they are a proud and often flashy and even flamboyant warrior race that is culturally caught between tradition and modernization. It's never really explained why they're based on Egyptian culture, though. d:

If the Egyptians do come back in their current form, though, they should at least explain why they are based on Egyptian culture.

[Krenum]

I'd like to see some kind of Hybrid of the Jackal, Horus and Hawk guards from Stargate.

[Zaxx]

agreed on all counts. It could be a mistake to restrict focus too narrowly at this formative stage. I saw a thread keen to OUTLAW the heavy armour from UT3. Now, thinking of it from a model perspective, I felt obliged then, to ask whether that would also bar the Juggernauts from the game. A circumstance I would not like to see. Like you say, and the point I made, was that they felt the best strategy to compete in the tournament was to clad themselves in bulky armour and adapt their physique to cope- I find the idea of such diversity in Unreal to be a strength of the series, not something to be cut away as a flaw.

Yep totally agree: bulky armor design has a place in UT and actually if you take the time to compare the GoW character design to what UT3 had, they are hardly similar in core design. Yes, UT3's characters were massive and badass but to get the GoW feel you have to double what you have in UT3. I think this idea of the characters being similar comes from people who:

- never played GoW, just saw some images
- get the feeling of the chars being similar by looking at the art style of the environment and the early UE3's features
- Reaper (UT3 "Demo Guy") looks like him a bit more than he should

I downloaded a Marcus Fenix model for UT3 to mess around with him in third person mode (not recommended, horrible) and he's so out of place it's unbelievable.

[U1849KA]

If the Egyptians do come back in their current form, though, they should at least explain why they are based on Egyptian culture.

True.
The most obvious answer would be the whole, "They're the aliens who built the pyramids," schtick, but I think we can come up with something better than that, and it would likely be our best starting point in getting a real handle on these guys. Maybe the descendants of ancient Egyptians who stumbled onto some buried alien technology that transported them to a different world, and instead of collapsing as they did on earth this offshoot continued to thrive? Could help give weight to why they're so attached to history and tradition.

[MacD11]

True.
The most obvious answer would be the whole, "They're the aliens who built the pyramids," schtick, but I think we can come up with something better than that, and it would likely be our best starting point in getting a real handle on these guys. Maybe the descendants of ancient Egyptians who stumbled onto some buried alien technology that transported them to a different world, and instead of collapsing as they did on earth this offshoot continued to thrive? Could help give weight to why they're so attached to history and tradition.

Yeah, that might work as well. We might even have a chance to make a new alien race (The one based on the technology they found buried in the desert) that uses the same theme for clothing and all of that to be able to make the Egyptian faction even more unique. I still think my "Culture based on the Egyptians located on a Terraformed Venus" idea could work though as well.

[Spinarax]

I wish it was easier to find examples of the Nakhti females other than Selket. :/

http://sheffield.lismitchell.net/work/akhet.html - Akhet model. That site has a good number of UC2 examples actually (I guess the owner created them for the game)

Also, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeYlfkvRDb4 A modder added the UC2 characters in to UT2004. (plus, Nakhti-exclusive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v58H9ZzgHBI )
With this being the case, perhaps you can use these as a reference to start designing from, incorporating the original "essence" (tone/theme/lines etc)

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/xbox...ct/screenshots There are a couple of non Selket Nakhti female characters that can be seen amongst that article's screenshots - if they show good enough detail to be of use (unfortunately, I haven't been able to identify them)

Youtube has one of the pre-rendered story cutscenes from UC2, showing Sobek having a run-in with Selket - if you wanted a look at the former.

Finally, BeyondUnreal has an image showing the render of a Nakhti Scorpion, if that helps inspire you. http://liandri.beyondunreal.com/Disp...Championship_2

[Loeder]

Characters derived from actual earth history should not be a part of this game, it should be a humanoid/scifi/aliens/cyborgs. I always hated the Egyptian/Asian style characters and maps.

[Bah_Mee]

Characters derived from actual earth history should not be a part of this game, it should be a humanoid/scifi/aliens/cyborgs. I always hated the Egyptian/Asian style characters and maps.

I couldn't disagree more. Why would earths past not be highlighted as a diverse range of Tournament teams? Sure there are aliens, sure there are robots, But think of it as a tournament viewed by millions of spectators, think of wrestling as it were, there were MANY different cultures referenced in wrestling. People play to the crowd. Why limit what is possible as different teams? Open your mind!!!!

[MacD11]

I couldn't disagree more. Why would earths past not be highlighted as a diverse range of Tournament teams? Sure there are aliens, sure there are robots, But think of it as a tournament viewed by millions of spectators, think of wrestling as it were, there were MANY different cultures referenced in wrestling. People play to the crowd. Why limit what is possible as different teams? Open your mind!!!!

Pretty much what I think on the situation too. I mean, the series is called Unreal Tournament, why not play with stuff that is, well, Unreal?

[Spinarax]

Pretty much what I think on the situation too. I mean, the series is called Unreal Tournament, why not play with stuff that is, well, Unreal?

+1
I would also point to the idea (for their business of being included) that the Nakhti team emphasises pride, domination and seeking to exude superiority, and their arena-garb is a part of that. We're still influenced by, and marvel at Egyptian symbology, architecture and styles to this day - what's wrong with drawing from that, if it gives everyone more to work with, creatively?

My view is that the best play, re: concepts, while Epic are building the game is to straight-up throw out the rulebook on design if what you can see lies beyond it, yet works with the style of game.
At worst, your idea doesn't resonate - and?- well, as long as it's solid enough, and YOU believe in it enough to build it out, and it can get to a point you can distribute it through marketplace. I really dislike the conservative view that to have a competitive Tournament, you inevitably need to also have an essentially generic one. That should be so far from what we're looking to, with the opportunities from Unreal.

[Gebloner]

I'd be pretty happy if all of a sudden there was SPACE RUSSIANS with crazy half-built menageries for armor built from tanks and stuff. It would be rather amusing, haha.

[Gregori]

The whole future Egyptian thing is aping Stargate of course. I actually like it once it's kinda futuristic and looks like military armor rather than ceremonial attire. Like having a massive Pharaoh's Crown would be ridiculous in battle.

[DeadSImple]

I had mixed feeling about the Egypt themed characters, mostly that it practically was ancient Egyptian clothes they were wearing.

Now, when you take something futuristic and make it predominately gold instead of chrome/silver to me it already starts to look a little Egyptian. That seems like an idea that would be worth playing with, to make the attire more futuristic so it has the feel of the Egyptian characters without being pharaoh crown blatant about it.