Aztec Weaponry

I'd like to show off to you what kind of weapons you'll see in Aztez and also to tell you a little bit about them since they're all based heavily on actual Aztec weapons. The Aztecs were so war-centric and ritualized that every instance of weapons like these were created with care, maintained, and either passed onto new warriors or alternatively - buried with their renowned owners. Bear in mind that the Aztecs were far more concerned with injuring enemies than they were for outright slaughter; an injured enemy can be captured and sacrificed. More on sacrifice later!

1. The sling, "tematlatl". Used to propel small rocks and tightly packed balls of clay at incredibly high speeds. More than capable of breaking bone but not particularly effective from far away.

2. The dart, or "tlacochtli". Throwing spear that was thrown by hand, but also propelled with a mechanism called the "atlatl". Much more effective at longer ranges than the sling but much more cumbersome.

3. The shield, or "chimalli". Large defensive object made of wood or maize cane. Often decorated to signify rank and prestige.

4. The obsidian blade, or "macuahuitl". Large wooden sword that was laced with razor sharp obsidian stones in either side. The most legendary of the Aztec weapons and the very symbol of the elite warrior ranks.

5. The spear, or "tepoztopilli". Long wooden pole with sharpened obsidian at the end.

6. The scythe. I realize this one is a little bit of a stretch as Aztecs warriors are not purported to have used these formally, but I'm taking the liberty here because scythes are rad. And besides, there is no reason to believe that in the entirety of the agricultural Aztec's history no one ever picked up a scythe and used it as a weapon. C'mon.

7. The stone club, or "quauhololli". An elongated weapon with a stone sphere at the end that was used to do the kind of things one does with clubs.

8. The knife, or "itztli. Made from obsidian, flint, or quartz. Warriors used knifes as sidearms and priests used knifes as sacrificial aids.

I'm going to go ahead and get it out of the way now; the only hand-to-hand weapon you will use in Aztez is the obsidian blade. You will have a shield, and I'm planning on giving you the ability to use the sling, but that's about it. As much as I would love to provide combat mechanics for multiple types of weapons, it's ultimately a matter of animation production. I'm the only artist on the project and I feel that creating animations for one deep weapon system is better for the game than creating animations for multiple shallow weapon systems. The rest of the weapons are for enemies only, I'm afraid. But the good news is that there will be multiple variants of the obsidian blade you can find and equip so you're not always looking at the same tired weapon.