Tag: Bavel Macrostructure

‘Milhamah’ launches first video game demo

Posted on December 2, 2020 by eczarnik

Get your game on, and prepare to fight a global censorship empire to save the future of free speech in action-arcade style!

Aksanyah Studios, a metro Detroit-based media and entertainment publisher, today released its first playable “Milhamah: Fighting Words” video game demo.

Aksanyah invites gamers, streamers and more to test the demo’s play mechanics, follow “Milhamah” on social media, donate to the project and watch the game grow.

Plot

“Milhamah,” which follows the 2018 indie comic series, is set in a world where the linguistic parts of speech become living warriors. The plot is loosely tied to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible’s Tower of Babel story:

“The Bavel Macrostructure promised an era of peace with ‘one language, few words.’ But its decadent dictator, Beli Ya’al, strangles speech and curates a consensus of lies.

“Bavel’s empire seeks to control the 22 letters that formed the universe — so its broadcast tower can brainwash the world. Only the sentient parts of speech, Shem ‘Etzem and his Holy Tongue Society, stand in the way. They’re using the ancient alphabet to fight Bavel’s brainless Guf soldiers. 

“‘Milhamah’ means war. It’s a biblical apocalypse for the freedom to tell the truth!” 

Fight Bavel's Guf soldiers.

Gameplay

The “Milhamah” demo, created through the Godot game engine, lets players try out the basic combat system. Move around your character, Shem ‘Etzem, and attack enemy Guf soldiers with punches or bone shards. Defeat them for points and healing Medicinal Eye Bandages. Stay alive as long as possible and earn a high score, but beware: The enemies also grow stronger over time!

Aksanyah plans to upgrade the demo every few weeks into a full-fledged game with lots of new features. In the next three months, the game’s development will focus on a dynamic inventory system plus new enemies, weapons, abilities, battlefields and items, including the 22 Hebrew letters.

Get involved

Dodge enemy bullets

Play the game by clicking the “Video Game” link on this site’s top menu, which connects to itch.io. If you like the game, please donate to our project over there. It will help us release faster updates. Also, spread the word on social media, and tell your gamer friends about it!

Keep updated on “Milhamah” news via the following websites and social media:

  • Milhamah.com
  • @MilhamahSeries: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Parler
  • @Milhamah: YouTube, Niconico

Game credits

Publisher: Aksanyah Studios
Music: Threadborn

Sa’ar Teres and Sartan (Inktober Day 29)

Posted on October 29, 2020 by eczarnik

Sarṭan and Sa'ar are a dangerous pair!

Sa’ar Ṭeres is a Violator who slaps the ‘Ivrit Revival Movement in the face by joining Beli Ya’al’s Kittim force. He’s an ex-media official gone bad, and his camera now crafts propaganda to smear the Revival. His large left hand delivers powerful backhands!

In this picture, Ṭeres rides Sarṭan, who represents Cancer on the Bavel Macrostructure’s Linguistic Imperialism Division. Sarṭan nimbly crab-walks and causes grievous injuries with his carcinogenic claws. One of them is a razor-sharp clapperboard.

These characters come from the סרט shoresh root or its broader family, which deals with film, cancer, crabs, slapping, sides and more.

 

Catchword Guard (Inktober Day 28)

Posted on October 28, 2020 by eczarnik

The Catchword Guard monitors, surveys and preserves Bavel’s grip on ‘Ir Risshum and sometimes beyond. Many station themselves at guard booths dotted throughout the city.

Many of the Catchword Guards used to be linguistic conservatives in the Descriptivist-Prescriptivist War, as they wanted to preserve the memories of the old tongues. Now their job is to quietly stalk and persecute Bavel’s dissenters, as well as systematically destroy documents and records of the past. Despite this, most of the ‘Ir Risshum public tolerates the guards due to their reputations as good Samaritans.

The guards are based on the שמר shoresh root and family, having to do with guarding and protecting. Their standard uniform consists of a surveillance camera and a colander-style helmet decorated with a fennel emblem. Their weapon is a pencil-shaped rapier with an abrasive emery tip. Many guards carry documents and lists to track down their targets, and some also tote a vacuum flask and preserved rations for long shifts.

Shelomoh Mashlim (Inktober Day 25)

Posted on October 25, 2020 by eczarnik

Shelomoh Mashlim is the complementizer.

Shelomoh Mashlim is the complementizer part of speech in “Milhamah: Fighting Words.” He is a low-level bureaucrat who works for the provincial government in ‘Ir Risshum (formerly Yerushalayim).

When Mashlim is not at his depressing pay clerk office, he is at peace and glows with an iridescent halo. He tries to be perfect employee, diving into work wholeheartedly to complete it on time.

But the Bavel Macrostructure breed corruption. And as Mashlim’s work culture grows more corrupt, so do the policies. Local suppliers get ripped off in a sea of bribes. Managers scoff at even the concept of counting numbers. Embezzlement, graft and grifting overflow.

Amid all this, Mashlim tries to be sincere and diplomatic. But even his repository of folk wisdom, parables and fables leave him empty for answers. So he keeps his head down and tries to escape attention. His glow dims. And he waits patiently.

Though this crisis threatens his serenity, he hears rumors about this Holy Tongue Society. And suddenly, a new future is possible: one where he rules instead of taking orders, and metes out some payback of his own.

Mashlim’s powers are based off the שלם shoresh root and its family. He is good at tuning into his teammates to  complement and synergize their attack. His Opal Glow dazzles opponents, and his ability to meditate on wisdom gives him high willpower against mental and spiritual attacks. His demeanor can also calm and pacify enemy aggression, especially when amplified by his bardic poetry.

 

Beli Ya’al (Inktober Day 24)

Posted on October 24, 2020 by eczarnik

Beli Ya'al leads the Bavel Macrostructure.

Beli Ya’al is the decadent leader of the Bavel Macrostructure. From his low-level office in Bavel’s Migdal Tower, he deconstructs the world’s nations and strangles speech through a censorship regime.

(In many ways, he just *might* have a passing resemblance to certain modern-day tech titans.)

Beli sees himself as a socially conscious dictator. He promises humanity a global jubilee from the burdens of inquiry, debate and truth under the inclusive mission of “one language, few words.” However, his leadership style is lazy, and he often spends his time having trivial fun rather than doing hard work. It’s no secret that his enemies call him the Worthless One.

His typical powers are based on the בלי shoresh root and family. He emits radiation that ages his targets. He corrodes equipment to make it useless. And he can stir up necrotic debris, set his enemies on fire, or cause waters to flood. Rumor says he can transform too, but no witnesses have ever seen it.

Beli is an aging hipster at heart who longs to embody the spirit of the age. He shows symptoms of male menopause. He is negative, cynical and against all ideologies except his own. While he holds the brainwashed masses in contempt, he ironically wears shabby vintage clothing to signal his connection to the common man.

In his free time, Beli is an avid pilot. He owns a wealthy cottage by the watercourse of Yaval, near the mighty Perat River. He plans to make his own Hanging Gardens like the Garden of ‘Eden, where he can put the Syntax Tree in its “rightful” place. But for now, all that grows is devil’s grass.