Stories are genuinely symbiotic organisms that we live with,
that allow human beings to advance

Neil GaimanThe Sandman

Overview

Chrysalis is a story inspired by the Tibetan book of the dead – a manual used by Tibetan monks to guide themself through the afterlife and ultimately avoid the cycle of reincarnation. The main narrative follows the story of a brave young warrior monkey tasked with protecting the all powerful violet lotus from the tyrannical Kunga, a power hungry gorilla who intends to use the power of the lotus to reign supreme over the kingdom of Soluta. The stories subtext metaphorically visualises the journey that each living soul must endure in order to harmonise each of its energy centres before experiencing ultimate enlightenment. Beginning life as a graphic novel the Chrysalis script has now been adapted for screen, game and even a forthcoming stageplay!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Characters

Mooki

The hero of our story. Mooki is a brave warrior who is heir to the throne of the kingdom of Souluta

Mimi

A mischevious monkey who captures Mookis heart and imagination along his quest.

Kula

Mookis wise and respected Father and Ruler of the kingdom of Souluta

Kunga

The Villain of the story! Hell bent on power Kunga will stop at nothing to gain the power of the violet lotus in order to reign supreme over the monkey kingdom

Klan

Kungas dedicated and dastardly army of baboons are well regimented and revere their dominant leader

Nadula

The druid of the story. There is nothing that Noreshi does not know about the flora and fauna of the land. Health, power and spiritual guidance are all in a days work for this wise but ever hungry caterpillar.

Artistic Style

Inspired by the sublime and mystical 3D environments created by Mikael Gustafsson on his amazing instagram and dribbble feeds we created a world that encompassed everything that is magical and mysterious about the world that our characters live in.

Music

The games audio has been thoroughly considered to compliment the games narrative and syncs with the frequency of the targeted chakra of each level. Primarily composed of hand or wind instruments the music is tuned to the frequency of each chakra meaning that as you play the game your audibly cleanse each chakra one sequentially as you move through the story.

You can read more about tuned music here –

Working closely with Crescent Moon we already have interest from Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid, Bayonetta) or Osamu Kubota (Beatmania, The Epic of Zektbach) to compose a Live orchestral score for Chrysalis

Influences

Studio Ghibli are a huge ongoing inspiration for this project. Utilising the magic of profoundly executed animation they convey deep menaingful narrative that is easy to digest and absorb by all ages.

The mysticisim and puzzle solving inherent in Labyrinth inspired us to integrate the aspects of this into the game.

The fantastical world Alice in Wonderland integrated with its deep humanistic psychology that drives the story is a huge inspiration for creating a narrative led game.

David Wenzels illustrated version of the Hobbit led us into being inspired to create the physical version of Chrysalis with a more visually led style that we felt was absolutely neccessary to filter into the game. This Gave inspiration as to how we approached the dialogue system within the game and how we framed each of the meaningful interactions

Consequently our influence led us onto discovering a beautifully crisp and dark russian version of the Hobbit from 1976 which in turn inspired some of the more graphically visual approaches to some of our environments.

The constant study of star systems and their effect upon nature and humanity and how we can learn to read the signs became another huge influence for our navigational mechanism within the game.

Targeted platforms

2352
Votes

Votes from the Steam community sent Chrysalis sailing through Steam Greenlight in under 2 weeks

Monetization model

The monetisation model for Chrysalis is based on a premium paid model with future dlc content limited to non gameplay enhancing products such as skins and themes. We aim to focus solely on creating an engaging, evolving and immersive experience giving players full value for their money.

Project Scope

7
Massive Immersive Levels
30
Gameplay Hours
1
Development Budget
2
Year Dev Cycle
Clarke N

Clarke N

Creative Director / Game Designer

Full Time

of budget

20%
Marie E

Marie E

Project Manager

Full Time

of budget

12%
Dinar K

Dinar K

Lead Developer

Full Time

of budget

12%
Branislav A

Branislav A

Developer

Full Time

of budget

8%
Nurzhan B

Nurzhan B

2D Artist

Part Time

of budget

4%
Cristian G

Cristian G

3D Artist

Full Time

of budget

8%
Hok X

Hok X

Social Media Manager

Part Time

of budget

4%
Akeem P

Akeem P

Level Designer

Full Time

of budget

12%
Unity Pro

Unity Pro

Game Engine

2X Licence - £2,000

of budget

1%
Equipment Lease

Equipment Lease

X3 Machines

Business Lease - £5,000

of budget

2%
Cinema4D

Cinema4D

Animation

Licence - £2,000

of budget

1%
Zbrush

Zbrush

2X Licences

£1000

of budget

1%
Marketing

Marketing

Publisher

£30,000

of budget

12%

What sets this project apart?

http://chrysalisjourney.com/wp-content/themes/salient/css/fonts/svg/basic_message_multiple.svg

Deep branching narrative

http://chrysalisjourney.com/wp-content/themes/salient/css/fonts/svg/software_layers2.svg

Tangential learning

http://chrysalisjourney.com/wp-content/themes/salient/css/fonts/svg/basic_globe.svg

Stunning immersive worlds

http://chrysalisjourney.com/wp-content/themes/salient/css/fonts/svg/basic_eye.svg

Fully realised characters

http://chrysalisjourney.com/wp-content/themes/salient/css/fonts/svg/basic_target.svg

Gentle introduction to meditation

http://chrysalisjourney.com/wp-content/themes/salient/css/fonts/svg/music_diapason.svg

Opportunity to try Yoga!

Core Gameplay Mechanics

Mookis natural power that he continually improves throughout the game is the ability to meditate on and call upon the power of any creature that he comes into contact with. In doing so Mooki must enter a form of deep meditation that allows him to pass his mind between his own physical form and the other selected creature. Upon entering this deep meditative state the player must solve a mental puzzle inherent to that creature – matching DNA, frequencies and thought patterns in order to unlock the mind of that animal and control their very essence for a short time allowing you to complete tasks and puzzles that would otherwise be impossible in your original primal form. An example of this DNA tunnel can be seen in use in the video above on a similar project of ours

 

The over-arcing objective of Chrysalis is to metaphorically move through the bodys chakra centres until you reach enlightenment of the crown chakra. The monkey represents the inner ape inside all of us that has the desire to grow and evolve spiritually and mentally. by traversing through each of the islands which represent each chakra centre the player gradually discovers more about the monkey, themselves and spiritual evolution. Each island contains a life lesson linked to the relevant chakra and this is represented as a quest that must be completed before moving onto the next island/chakra. In this format we metaphorically convey the journey a soul must make in its lifetime in order to attain absolute enlightment and ultimately released from the cycle of reincarnation.

In a reversal of standard mechanics in most games violence is punished rather than rewarded in Chrysalis. Although equipped with the power to damage enemies in hand to hand combat you are encouraged to discover and learn alternative methods to neutralising your threats and are rewarded when done so.

In level three single player mode an extra character is presented to the players gameplay. Mimi is adept with a slingshot and can take out enemies and obstacles from a distance. Mooki is adept at close hand to hand combat as well as being physically stronger allowing him to push and pull various environmental objects into place to facilitate utilisation and progress throughout. Mimi is more athletic and can jump higher and further than Mooki making for a unique partnership in which both characters must co-operate in order to complete tasks/puzzles and progress through the game.

Mimis natural ability is the power of premonition. Using her sixth sense she can detect danger ahead enabling the player to plan for confrontation or to use stealth to escape.

Story & Gameplay

We are introduced to Mooki, his friends, family and environment via intro cutscene. The player can roam around the monkeys home village chatting with the townsfolk and learning combat and mediation skills that will carry you through your quest. When the player is fully equipped an outro scene shows Mooki accepting his quest as the brave warrior who will return peace and harmony to the seven kingdoms of Soluta. The level ends as we see Mooki traversing into the sunset towards the volcanic island of Root.

root

In his tyrannical power surge towards Mushroom mountain Kunga has left a trail of wake and destruction in his path. The once peaceful and harmonic environments of Soluta are now in a state of disarray and energy is fading fast. Mooki must find his way to Muladhara, the guardian of the island of Root and help him restore his power so he can return harmony to the island. Mooki discovers the only way he can do this is to locate the places on the island where the laylines overlap and where the last remaining energy of the island can be gathered and returned to Muladhara to restore his power.

sacral

Having helped Muladhara bring harmony back to the island of Root Mooki must now venture deep into the jungles of Sacra, the kingdom of birds. Deep at the centre of Sacra is the jewelled temple, the meeting and resting place of all birds from each corner or the seven kingdoms of Soluta and is out of bounds for any other creature. But Kungas destruction has touched even the deepest parts of the jungle including the Jewelled city. Mooki must traverse the outer reaches of the jungle to locate the remaining energies that vibrate waiting for Mooki to collect and deliver them back to the city to restore its energy.

solar

In Development!

throat

Mooki is washed ashore a mysterious dark island where nothing is quite as it seems. Coming into contact with a variety of seabound creatures that have been stranded on the shore he discovers something dark is bubbling beneath the surface just out to sea.

third_eye

In Development!

crown

Mooki is at the final leg of his quest having now finally caught up with Kunga and his evil horde of baboons. But he must make haste for Kunga has already began industriously creating a mammoth structure to enable him to reach the top of Mushroom mountain and retrieve the violet lotus for his personal power hungry means. You must muster every means of power and technique that you have learnt along your quest to defeat the evil Kunga and stop him from destroying the seven kingdoms of Soluta.

Multiplayer

Integrating network multiplayer capabilities to Chrysalis enhances the concept of past life regression and quantum jumping by conveying other monkeys/players that you meet as an alternate version of yourself. As such these alternate realities can guide you with information that they have gained from their personal journey as too you can help with theirs. Choosing to team up as groups can enable you to better facilitate oncoming puzzles, traps and altercations by combining your individual strengths, skills and talents.

Schedule

Per Year

Planning & Prototyping

2016 was spent concepting the story, characters and environment to ensure that they transferred well from graphic novel to digital mediums. Initial development of a prototype began in Unity with the scope to create a fully polished vertical slice by December.

  • Budget Planning
  • Story Outline
  • Gameplay Mechanics
  • Unity Prototyping

Budget

1m

20%

Links

Scriptwriting & Production

Moving into full production mode having approved and tested prototype model in Unity. Detailed scriptwriting begins in order to integrate dialogue system with inventory and quests. Asset library and gameplay mechanics begin to be transferred over to Unreal engine

  • User Experience
  • Scriptwriting
  • UI
  • Level Design
  • Gameplay Design

Budget

1m

80%

Links

QA & Delivery

Final testing on the game cross platform will begin with eventual delivery across Steam and Xbox digital stores will begin with Sony following suit.

  • Testing
  • Delivery
  • Promotion

Budget

1m

100%

Stretch Goals

270
Animated Cutscenes

To break up the visual style of the gameplay we would like to input hand drawn animated cutscenes for key moments in the game

290
Live Orchestral Score

Live orchestral score composed by Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid, Bayonetta) or Osamu Kubota (Beatmania, The Epic of Zektbach)

310
Additional Level Designer

Additional level designer to expand the world of Chrysalis and make the world even more immersive

chrysalis_header

330
Addiotional Game Designer

Adding one additional game designer to the project will enhance the dimensions of puzzles and deepen the perspective of gameplay across all levels.

screen_2

What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of egoism and pride which is always prone to plunge the world into primeval barbarism and strife. Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment

Nikola TeslaFounder of the power of the 3,6 and 9

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