Mictlan: An Ancient Mythical Tale News

A very special "wise man"

[h3]More exciting news!

We are proud to announce our collaboration with one of Latin America’s most famous vocalists: Roco Pachukote! [/h3]

Roco is a legend of Spanish rock music and founder of the band Maldita Vecindad.
A music legend, an activist, a poet and an incredible human being, he will not only be our music producer but will also feature as an important character in Mictlan.

He will appear as a Tlamatini, a philosopher in ancient Mexico. It is a Nahuatl language word which means "someone who knows something", or "wise man", and we think that Roco fits this title perfectly!

What do you think?

We are extremely proud to welcome another talented artist to our team, joining our project both as a promoter of Mexican culture and a game character (did you know that Horacio García Rojas is going to be a main character in our game?)

Follow our social media channels to stay updated:

Discover Mictlan

When we started developing Mictlan, we decided to set our bar high in terms of quality to give you a vast and complex world to explore. We're trying to accomplish our goal using Unreal Engine, which allows us to create massive areas and a great diversity of locations.

Our map currently measures 38 km² and it will feature numerous types of ecosystems such as jungles, mountains, rivers, lowlands, highlands and forests.

[h3]Today we want to show you some of the places you'll get to discover in your journey![/h3]

Note that all of these are still work-in-progress, wait until you see the final version!

● Here you can see a beautiful beach near Tulum, Yucatan.
This is a simple render without Ray Tracing, imagine how it will look like on last-generation consoles and RTX cards!

● We are meticulously investigating the environments we want to recreate, in order to make our locations more realistic than ever. That's' why you can see such a diversity in the climate, flora and fauna of each zone.

● You'll be able to travel from the jungles of Southern Mesoamerica to the plains, plateaus and mountains of the great and untamed Aridoamerica.

In future expansion packs, we plan to represent different indigenous groups from the North of Mexico, such as Seri and Yaqui people, and also the Hopi. We want to include all the magnificent societies that populated both Oasis and Aridoamerica to represent the cultural richness of these regions. With your support, we might be able to include even more Northern cultures such as the Zacatecas and the Wixarica.

It's important to remind the people who are following us that we are an independent Mexican studio, working with very talented Mexican people and with an international team to bring you a AAA quality video game. We have ambitious plans, but that alone won't suffice:

[h2]WE NEED YOUR HELP![/h2]

How can you help? It's very simple, fast, and it won't cost you a thing:

[h3]Register on our Kickstarter page and follow Mictlan![/h3]

If you're having trouble, here is how to do it!

Please do it and tell your friends, it is a necessary step to be able to launch our campaign and raise the necessary funds to develop Mictlan!

Don’t forget to add Mictlan: An Ancient Mythical Tale
to your Wishlist on Steam!

Thank you for being part of our growing community!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1411900/Mictlan_An_Ancient_Mythical_Tale/

Tezcatlipoca: God of the Night Sky

Today we are proud to present to you one of the main deities of the Aztec pantheon, who will also have a key role as a character in Mictlan: Tezcatlipoca.

Tezcatlipoca was among the merciless ancient Gods who demanded blood. As a matter of fact, the practice of human sacrifice was introduced into central Mexico under his influence.

God of the constellation of the Great Bear and the night sky, his name means "Smoking Mirror" in Nahuatl. It refers to mirrors made of obsidian, a shiny black stone that Aztec priests used in divination.
Tezcatlipoca himself, a mischievous and mysterious figure, knew all the deeds and thoughts of humankind: he could see everything happening on Earth and intervene directly in human affairs, bringing both happiness or sorrow. Always present, always watching, he took delight in causing conflict and confusion.
As you can see from the model, we recreated an obsidian belt representing his powers of omnipotence.

Although it was believed that Tezcatlipoca could take on a bewildering array of manifestations, he has often been associated with the color black and the jaguar. As a matter of fact, Tezcatlipoca’s nagual, his sacred animal spirit, was a jaguar. That is why we included a piece of clothing in spotted jaguar skin, which has also been compared to the starry sky.

You may also notice that Tezcatlipoca has one foot missing. According to the myth, he lost his foot when he used it as bait for the reptilian monster Cipactli, which he later dismembered to create the World.

(Did you know that the colossal sea monster Cipactli will actually be in our game? You can take a look at our concept art and read more about her and the myth of the Creation in this post!)

In our model, Tezcatlipoca's missing foot is replaced by a coyote foot, because it is said that another of the God's manifestation in animal form was a coyote. In a benevolent act, he would place itself in the path of travelers, blocking their way. That's how travelers understood that danger of some sort lay ahead, and that the God was warning them.

Tezcatlipoca's head is also adorned with resplendent quetzal feathers: a magnificent, emerald plumed bird venerated by Aztecs and Mayans.

Lastly, you may notice a very particular skull nestled in Tezcatlipoca's unsettling mask. That is the most common representation of Tezcatlipoca, who is often portrayed wearing a turquoise mask with a black eye band. In the image below, you can see one of the most famous art objects of the God, which is a decorated skull displayed in the British Museum in London.

The reference for our 3D model of Tezcatlipoca was the concept art of our incredible Art Director and and lead concept artist Yashaswi Karthik.
We put so much effort and attention to details in order to offer you a AAA quality character, because we believe Mictlan deserves it! We hope you appreciate the hard work and energy we are pouring into this project. We are just a small indie studio, not a multimillion-dollar one, but our team is still doing everything possible to match the quality standards of the international gaming industry.

[h3]Take a look at the video to appreciate the details of the mighty Tezcatlipoca![/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]What do you think of the final result? Let us know in the comment![/h3]

It would be great if you registered on Kickstarter to follow Mictlan, helping us to reach our goal of launching the campaign!

Have you heard the latest news?

[h3]The news about Mictlan is spreading fast! [/h3]

● El Heraldo de México, an important Mexican national daily newspaper published in Mexico City, has featured an article about our game which you can also read online at this address.

● News about Mictlan has also been aired on Mexican national tv (watch the video here!)

● Moreover, the communications company Totalplay has recently transmitted a segment dedicated to our game, which you can watch here.
We are currently working along with them to prepare an in depth interview next week to reveal more of our future plans about Mictlan. Stay tuned!

● Finally, we want to thank our friends from Pólvora for the interview to Mictlan's creative director Guillermo Alarcon. You can read it here!

A big thank you to our beautiful Mexican community and our international team of talented Mexican and non-Mexican members for helping us grow and create the game of our dreams.

We hope Mictlan will be something more than just an amazing videogame.
We see this as an opportunity to value our culture, heritage and indigenous traditions.
We want Mictlan to be something that Mexican people are proud of!

Make sure to follow us on our social media channels for the latest news:

and don’t forget to add Mictlan: An Ancient Mythical Tale
to your Wishlist on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1411900/Mictlan_An_Ancient_Mythical_Tale/

The Music behind Mictlan

As you know by now, Mictlan is heavily inspired by pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, customs and myths. We want to convey a sense of authenticity and wonder not only in our gameplay but also in creating a great soundtrack.
Take a look behind the scenes at the outstanding work our friends from Mazatecpatl have done in recording sounds and music from authentic Mesoamerican instruments.
Mictlan An Ancient Mythical Tale Sound Production BTS

Moreover, if you want to know more about the music ad sound effects behind Mictlan, you can listen to the interview with Mictlan's creator Guillermo Alarcon hosted by Del Bit a la Orquesta, where he also talks more in depth about the game features and the talented artists creating Mictlan's music.

It would be awesome if you took a minute of your time to register on Kickstarter and follow Mictlan, helping us to reach our goal of launching the campaign!
We have already reached 5k subscriptions, the next step is reaching the 20k subscriptions mark! We can only do that with the help of our Mexican followers and through the support of anyone else interested in our game!

Thank you for being part of our growing community!