- "T-Mat: An ancient race of technologically advanced nomads who travel about the galaxy completely stripping star systems of all usable matter, energy, and biomass to sustain their considerable consumptive needs. Though not overtly belligerent, the ruthlessness of T-Mat resource consumption, and their uncaring attitude towards the devastating effects of their practices, has resulted in them being feared throughout the galaxy. The appearance of a T-Mat Mothership in one's space is rarely a good omen." — Dust Wars documents
T-mat concept art.
T-MAT (also known as Tiamat or T'Mat) is the name given to a concept race for Homeworld.
Overview[]
Alex Garden, the CEO of Relic Entertainment, describes the P3 or T-MAT race:
- "P3, no one knows nothing about… they’re this extremely mysterious, extremely powerful race that you’re almost unable to defeat and they’re completely evil. They’re like the great evil of the universe; they have no motivation that you can discern, they just come in and basically kick your ass, and do whatever the hell they want to and then they leave. And you’re left baffled and not understanding why this is happening. But you hate them, you hate them… You really hate them and there’s nothing you can do because they’re so much more powerful than you. But at some point in the game you might have a chance to get your revenge, if you’re lucky." — Alex Garden
Several 'P3' ships appear in game files for Homeworld, including a frigate, destroyer, and the megaship (commonly referred to as the "lavaship"). The T-MAT also appear in Homeworld 2 concept documents.
Ships[]
T-MAT "Starfish"[]
T-mat concept art, flight configuration.
The most common design of the T-MAT ship is commonly referred to as the "Starfish." Illustrated by Jon Aaron Kambeitz in Homeworld concept art where it was named "t-mat." The ship has five arms capable of folding. The nature of its intended armament is unknown. While the T-MAT race as such does not appear in Homeworld 2, the ship itself was used as the Planet Killer in the final mission of the Homeworld 2 campaign.
Megaship[]
Megaship concept art with detachable frigates.
Due to technical limitations of the original Homeworld engine, the "Starfish" design was not able to be implemented due to problems with the collision box. Instead, a second design was created that featured detachable frigates in the shape of spires (and later barnicles)[1]. Though the detachable vessels were never fully realized (entries exist in the Homeworld .BIG files but no model data exists), the mothership to these frigates was created. The model appeared in the final cutscene of Homeworld as one of the ships of the Galactic Council.
The planned armament for the megaship appears to have been a single continuous-fire Ion Cannon. The concept art refers to a "lightning weapon."
Frigates[]
Two frigate concepts were created by Kambietz. The P3 Frigate concept appears sightly different from other P3 ships. It had two rear engines, and a large cannon mounted on a slim front section.
A ship similar to the Megaship, called the Barnacle Frigate, had four engines and unique element named "pad". However, the purpose of the Barnacle Frigate remains unknown.
Trivia[]
- In Ancient Babylonian mythology, "Tiamat" was the goddess of primordial chaos.