THE IDEA
Ben (Est. 2020)
Benjamin Alan Fried is an American game developer, folk songwriter, and history enthusiast. With a childhood spent programming games and exploring ancient sites around the world, a project like The Temple Of© was destined to be. He was born in a little known, rural village locals have dubbed Los Angeles. Nineteen years later, he moved to New York City to study Archaeology and Game Design at NYU in 2016. He spent his time there learning a collection of development styles, including but not limited to, procedural generation, AI nav-mesh mapping, php based server connection, shader design, and photogrammetry. He also focused his studies on Cultural, Biological, and Linguistic Anthropology as well as Archaeology.
Excavating "The Temple Of"
Ben wanted to make something special, something he wished he grew up playing. He wanted to find a chance to expose players to archaeology, suspense, and action in a way that evokes a constant feeling of "new discovery". The Temple Of© began with humble beginnings as an in-class assignment and eventually evolved into a flagship project. He engaged his knowledge in procedural generation, 3D world building, and Egyptology, to build an archaeological horror game that constantly remakes itself. Every time a player chooses to enter the temple, a new labyrinth full of puzzles, treasure, historical architecture, and monsters is randomly generated. No two instances of gameplay are the same.
The Future of The Project
The "icing on top of cake" is the player's reward for reaching the end of The Temple Of©. Each player who escapes the twentieth tomb is taken to a room where they can virtually contribute to the game's development. Players are given the opportunity to design a chamber to be added into the procedural generation algorithm. Any idea, spanning from a room full of mummies to a dungeon loaded with treasure, can be built. That being said, the future of "the project" is wildly unpredictable, but also exciting, much like the discovery of a new archaeological site. As more player-built rooms are added to the game, more diversity is integrated into the temple's architecture. This, coupled with developer content additions, will result in an ever-changing and evolving adventure.
With hundreds of ideas already buried within the temple, take the opportunity to explore some for yourself and find out what exciting new adventures await!
