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Kromaia

Kromaia is a six degrees of freedom adventure shooter which takes action, speed, agility and immersion to a new level.

Kromaia

Kromaia is a six degrees of freedom adventure shooter which takes action, speed, agility and immersion to a new level.

1 Campaign |

Zaragoza, Spain

$2,062 USD 58 backers

5% of $40,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Story

FAQ

Updates 15

Comments 30

Kromaia is a six degrees of freedom adventure shooter which takes action, speed, agility and immersion to a new level. Insane enemy patterns, impressive swarms, giant god-like guardians, ancient temples, contraptions, treasures, visual ecstasy... All in a vast and unexplored universe only ruled by physic laws.

- #14 FINAL HOURS!! -

Just a few hours left... We want to remind all of you, hesitant watchers: Kromaia will be completed regardless of the funds raised, so join us while you're in time!! :D

A BIG THANK YOU to all our backers. Your support will help us boost the development and marketing for Kromaia as much as possible, trust our hard work! Stay tuned for upcoming news about version updates, your perks and content addition!

The Kraken Empire salutes you!

- #11 PUBLIC DEMO!! -

Download it here while our crowdfunding campaign lasts!

- #8 THE SCORE ATTACK TAKES OFF!! -

From now on, every new $10+ pledger will gain access to the score attack minigame preview in less than 24 hours!

- #7 PERK UPGRADE NOW SUPPORTED! -

We have received several questions asking about the possibility of increasing the pledge amount to receive a higher perk, as Indiegogo doesn't offer the option to increase your initial pledge.

All our perks include the previous ones, so we can sum up all the pledges from the same user and give him the higher perk that would be reached with his combined pledge.

This way, from now on, you can start pledging to try our demo and pledge again later to increase your total pledge amount in order to receive the perk you really want to get!

Unique and immersive journey, mixing technology and myth, in an innovative gameplay experience
Get your hands one of the fastest and most agile gameplays to date
Interact with hundreds of physical objects, like asteroids, structures and devices, and fight dozens of enemies at once
Believable and destructible world with its own rules and physic laws
Breaking visual atmosphere which combines ancient architecture, mechanical artefacts and weird creatures
Artificial intelligence based on independent simple brains that cooperate creating emergent behaviours
Different selectable ships with unique weapons and capabilities
Moddable content using plain text (XML) including levels, objects, weapons, player and AI units...
Several playing modes for every kind of player: Story Mode (adventure), Score Attack (arcade), Timed Circuit (racing)...

Kromaia takes place in a multiverse and tells the story of a stranded soul who awakens in a weird shrine, finding itself sealed inside a mechanical unit. Having no memories at all, it must make its way in search for answers, in a world of forgotten devices and hostile creatures, while a somehow familiar voice within claims to know its mind better than itself.

According to the mechanical armor system log, the shrine and the infinite void surrounding it, Kyllene, is actually an artificial anomaly. It serves as an access port to several parallel realities, recorded copies of the original Universe, presumably collapsed. Kyllene's very existence seems related to this copies and its machinery appears not to be 100% functional.

Is it still possible to make something different set in outer space? We do think so. For that reason, you will not find in Kromaia slow movement, ships maneuvering like planes or boats, nor endless steering pursuits in circles, but a completely different approach. Our navigation system is entirely driven by physical forces, a different set of thrusters is arranged for each ship in order to maximize maneuverability: Fluid displacement for novices and, for experts, impossible turns and extreme dodging, combined with a powerful multidirectional boost system that allows moving over the real speed of sound in any way you can imagine.

Forget all the vehicles you have already controlled like aircrafts, rockets, choppers or traditional spaceships, think of all of their capabilities available at the same time at the tip of your fingers. Besides, Kromaia features a special kind of emergent gameplay: Here we will use the word "procedural" for something different than just randomly generated worlds. The advanced A.I. system in Kromaia uses physical parameters and a sophisticated prediction model to adapt units speed, attacks, flocking and smart group formations to the actions you take during your quest. The results: the game experience is different every time depending on the way you play.

One of our main motivations was that we think of space as a great game environment, but we wanted to try something different from the standards prevailing in most of games. For that reason, what you will find in Kromaia is a different approach.

- ZERO G MEETS ÜBER AGILITY -

Our navigation system is entirely driven by physical forces and consists of a set of thrusters arranged in order to maximize maneuverability: Fluid displacement for novices and, for experts, impossible turns and extreme dodging, combined with boost, while moving over the real speed of sound ( 340m/s!! ). The power curve of the thrusters is directly controlled by the inputs specified on XML files which defines them, in addition to other structural and modular features.

As we said before, not like aircrafts or traditional spaceships, but all of them at the same time: you can even edit the unit file to change the position/orientation used by thrusters, add or remove them and modify their power capabilities; assign thrusters groups for certain inputs, as well as tuning or disabling the artificial friction system, which eases navigation in a vacuum environment like outer space.

- EMERGENT GAMEPLAY: PROCEDURALITY AT ITS BEST -

Here we will use the word “procedural” for something different than just randomly generated worlds. The advanced A.I. system in Kromaia uses physical parameters and a sophisticated prediction model to adapt units speed, attacks, flocking and smart group formations to the actions you take during your quest. The results: the game experience is different depending on the way you play. Maybe you ace at dodging at full speed or you prefer shooting and killing everything that moves around.

Maybe you prefer shooting while stopped or at a low speed, you can even move backwards while shooting. Our AI will adapt to your gameplay style and your experience will be unique, just as your game style is.

- YOU MAKE THE WHOLE THING BE GREAT -

The strategy chosen by the player will lead an enemy swarm to adopt an aggressive behaviour to defend an item that you are supposed to pick, or gather in number to pursuit you when you decide to be more conservative. A straight line is not necessarily the fastest/smartest to reach your goal: use asteroids to cover yourself from enemy attacks or break them to generate shockwaves; if a giant creature looks at you ready to fire a fatal beam, throw a gravity bomb to attract and turn his head. Physics + A.I. + Your Brain in all their glory!

- WEAPONS -

The way you play is also the way you attack and defend. Through your adventure you will be able to use a wide range of technologies, including

High speed impact projectiles
Precission laser beams
Smart bullets and homing missiles
Special items as gravity bombs
An energy blades melee system!

- MOVE THE STORY FORWARD -

We strongly believe that truly immersive experiences start with an underlying big, deeply complex system able to make the player feel like a drop in the ocean. And giving the game a story is giving the game a soul. To create this universe, we have taken inspiration from ancient mythological poems. It involves a solid cosmology, hidden legendary treasures and a “hero” gifted with great abilities, confronting by himself a whole world commanded by machine-like gods. And, like in many mythological stories, there is no good, evil or time limits. You are just given the option to trigger events and advance to see what’s next, using your power.

- EXTREME ENGINEERING -

Piloting at ultra-high speeds; moving and colliding hundreds of physical objects simultaneously; soft bodies like physical hair; multi-hull breakable entities... Is this possible avoiding at the same time those typical vibrations and precision glitches affecting ships, projectiles and cameras movement? And still have a good and fluid performance? Yes. We decided to create our own engine to break these barriers and it’s being tough, but we are passionate and mad enough to bear with that. No fairy tales here: We’ve spent more than two years since the first prototype, refining and optimizing our engine before reaching what we talk about today.

The game we want to create demanded from us to forget about some indie-related assumptions regarding “fast development”. Keeping that in mind, and after being told several times we were nuts, we decided to combine our passion and experience in the games industry with the most technical aspects regarding our professional and academic background. As a result, we built what we call an "extreme software engineering project" to achieve a powerful, highly flexible environment or universe in which no object could move by means of nothing but physical forces.

A huge and modular system allowing customisation for a lot of physical parameters and behaviours is great to experiment with, but complicates a bit the creation of The Editor. Anyway, We don’t want Kromaia to be a “closed” creation. We’re assembling a version that we think you will like, but this does not mean you can’t make another one by yourself! We are considering making a modding manual, so don’t be afraid of XML files, they are not only technical, but also fun!

Some Examples:

Modify the scale, mass, local position and orientation for each hull of every structure unit, enemy or boss.
Redesign your propulsion system. Add or remove thrusters, modify their power and arrangement. Set movement inputs for groups of thrusters.
Modify your weaponry module. Do you want to fire at a higher rate? Do you want to use another type of projectile or a beam weapon? Do you want more cannons? Do you want to fire backwards? Do you want to throw enemy units??!! Up to you...
Modify projectiles features. Right, they have their own files, so you can edit their linear and angular velocity or set them to scale themselves with time.
Tune your units and your enemies, even bosses. Add extra and removable hulls which will come off when they are severely damaged. Attach them with fixed joints, or use physical ropes. Add layers of weak points and set physical hairs to achieve an organic appearance.
Create and add new units. You will decide whether to include many hulls, modules for weaponry or A.I., a powerful propulsion system...

Copy modules from one unit to another. If you think that a certain enemy is too friendly, give him a pair of laser cannons and regret later.
A.I. tuning for every enemy unit. Experiment with different values for angular and linear velocities, accelerations, movement type... Besides, select the behaviours to be used by A.I. groups, group movement and formations, as well as how close do you want the enemies to be before they start firing.
Create new planets and black holes with custom physical parameters, which determine the range for their gravity field.
Edit the colour layers for areas/levels and their units and structures.

To sum things up: You can edit almost every aspect in the game using XML


$10	SCORE ATTACK MINI-GAME: EARLY ACCESS

Chain Drive is an action mini-game which condenses all the piloting and fighting gameplay from Kromaia in a vintage arcade style experience. Now the only goal is to survive in order to face a bigger swarm, achieve a longer combo, fight a harder boss and get to the Olympus of High Scores. You gain access to our current version of this mini-game and the final DRM-Free digital version on release.

+ [Current version: PC-Windows. Take a look at our Stretch Goals for Linux and Mac support]

+ [Includes all future platforms we reach (Linux, Mac, Steam…) as long as they don’t imply a cost for us]


$15	THE GAME

A DRM-Free digital copy of Kromaia awaits you! The original adventure featuring the multiverse and the journey in search for the final answer. Kyllene system activates your armor and awakes you after your soul calibrates the unit. The year is NaN.

Along with the story mode, some secrets and trophies remain hidden, waiting for the most tenacious players to unveil them.

+ [All the previous rewards are included]

+ [Current version: PC-Windows. Take a look at our Stretch Goals for Linux and Mac support]

+ [Includes all future platforms we reach (Linux, Mac, Steam…) as long as they don’t imply a cost for us]


$20	EVERY ALPHA/BETA FROM NOW ON

You will gain access to the monthly preliminary versions we will deliver. Follow the development process from the inside!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]

+ [Current version: PC-Windows. Take a look at our Stretch Goals for Linux and Mac support]

+ [Includes all future platforms we reach (Linux, Mac, Steam…) as long as they don’t imply a cost for us]


$25	MULTIMEDIA EDITION

Digital pack containing the original soundtrack, HD version of the promotional art we release (currently 1 cover) and the Comic*.

[*] Only if the comic stretch goal is reached

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$35	ALL DLC DERIVED FROM KROMAIA

All future DLCs and mini-games derived from Kromaia (New ships, Asteroids, Out Run-Like...).

+ [All the previous rewards are included]

+ [Current version: PC-Windows. Take a look at our Stretch Goals for Linux and Mac support]

+ [Includes all future platforms we reach (Linux, Mac, Steam…) as long as they don’t imply a cost for us]


$45	EXCLUSIVE UNIT

An exclusive unit with unique weapons/abilities. Only for Indiegogo backers!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$60	ALL THE PREVIOUS PROTOTYPES / EXPERIMENTS

You will receive all the prototype versions in the road to the final build of Kromaia. The evolution of the project in your hands!

+ [Old prototypes are PC-Windows only]

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$80	YOUR NAME IN THE BACKER CREDITS

Your name will be linked for life to the name of Kromaia. As a main backer, you will appear in a special section of the credits sequence/screen dedicated to all of you in this tier: Our eternal gratitude!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$100	KRAKEN EMPIRE SUPPORTER

A digital copy of every future game released by Kraken Empire! We want Kromaia to be just the beginning of this journey. Come with us!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$150	EXCLUSIVE COMPANION DRONES

Two autonomous A.I. drones which will fight by your side during your adventure, enhancing your combat abilities and introducing a new form of gameplay! Indiegogo Exclusive!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$200	PHYSICAL EDITION

Kromaia physical Edition including: Physical copies of the game and the original soundtrack, postcard, t-shirt and comic*.

[*] Only if the comic stretch goal is reached

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$300	CONTROL SCHEME DESIGNED BY YOU

The thruster arrangement you design, including inputs and active thrusters for each movement, to be able to pilot in any way you can think of!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$500	THE ENEMY GRUNT YOU DESIGN

Help us designing an enemy grunt! It may have various hulls, weak points, a basic A.I. behaviour...

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$1,000	ENGINEER

With your help we will create a new unit following the hull, propulsion, weapon modifications and control scheme you design!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$5,000	LEVEL DESIGNER

This reward will give you the chance to help us to design an extra level including the path, targets and enemy waves!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]


$10,000	RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

The ultimate perk! Along with us, you will create an extra boss featuring layered weak points, weaponry variations and the behaviour you design!

+ [All the previous rewards are included]

Probably you are wondering how we will use the funds raised and why we chose the "flexible funding" model. To answer those questions we should refer to the very nature of this campaign, which differs from most of the crowdfunding projects out there.

As you may have noticed, we've already put a lot of effort and time in Kromaia, and that's why we are determined to complete the project: The main purpose of the campaign is not launching the project or deciding whether the game will be developed or not, but achieving the quality level we want for our game in this crucial stage.

This means that your perks are safe, even if our main goal is not reached. :)

With the funds achieved we will build entirely the worlds we originally designed; your help will contribute to finance the music, sound effects and the sound library licensing, as well as the extra development costs to to push our engine to the max, in addition to the company costs required to make that additional effort. Besides, these funds will allow us to afford the campaign and promotion costs, which eventually will give Kromaia the chance to create a strong community and the visibility it needs to move towards digital distribution in this huge ocean, the indie community is. Let's go!

As we said, the way to reach this point has not been easy at all. In addtition to the years of self-funding, we have had to push our engine to the limit to overcome some limitations and being able to achieve the features and performance we wanted. Now we can say we are convinced that Kromaia will be a truly unique experience and determined to give our best to complete a great game.

With all that work and time spent in a project, having your game more exposed to the public before it's finished is not a decision to be taken lightly, even more considering Kromaia is far from being a casual game. At its current status, the project needs to gather the support to start the race to the final release more safely, with a strong community, and then evolve according to this support to reach the quality levels which allow the game to make its way.

Your help will mean a boost for our team to keep moving forward to materialize such a final effort, deal with licensing, having by our side great professionals and all the costs this final stage implies for our little company. All this will make possible to provide Kromaia with the production values in terms of engineering, art, and music to make a difference.

Rest assured that we will work harder than ever, and with your support Kromaia will be much more than what we dreamed of.

Hey, Daniel here!

Hi there! I'm Antonio!

Our team consist of just two developers, Daniel Blasco and Antonio Iglesias. All the design, engineering and art you can see in the game are the work of two guys doing their best in all the fields they know about. Music is the only thing we have outsourced.

We met at university while studying "Informatics Engineering" in our hometown, Zaragoza (Aragon, Spain), where we began to develop small games and have endless discussions on design and gameplay. Later on, we met again and worked together in a studio called "Enigma Software Productions" where we developed "War Leaders: Clash of Nations" (PC), "History: Legends of War" (PC, PSP, PS Vita, PS3, Xbox360) and "Music School" (Nintendo DS). During that time, and using the little spare time left between crunches, we started putting together a set of ideas we had been discussing for years in a new project, trying to create a different space game experience: the goal was a complex, highly immersive system or universe able to support a high amount of compound physical entities, in which no object could move by means of nothing but physical forces, while keeping a good performance.

The project kept growing and at some point we realized that the engine had the potential to become something great and worthy to share. That's how we decided to start our own studio to develop Kromaia, and that's what we have been doing for three years with no external funding at all, work, work, more work and good advices from great people in the indie community, as well as volunteers who selflessly helped us out to polish the gameplay. Additionally, the talented composer Josh Whelchel is creating an awesome soundtrack for us in order to complete this experience that we feel is so unique.

This campaign would be impossible without some great people helping us set everything up for the Indiegogo launch, and, in some cases, since the very beginning of the project, so let us introduce them!

Kevin Greenlee, AKA LoudCore is a critically acclaimed US Video Game Composer and Music Producer. Since his start in 2006, he has been able to compose music for a wide variety of games and other media outlets. He is best known for working with StarForge.
David Daza is (an experienced comic-book artist. He has worked for several publishers in USA and Spain – Dark Horse (STAR WARS), IDW Publishing (TRANSFORMERS), Moonstone Books and Planeta-DeAgostini among others.
Josh Whelchel is a video game music composer and enthusiast, also scoring for Castle Story and Mojang's Scrolls. He brings years of experience to the Kromaia soundscape, including a love for spacy geometry inspired landscapes. You can follow his updates on twitter @soundofjw and listen to his current drafts on Soundcloud. Follow him on Loudr.

OGRE (Object-Oriented Graphics Rendering Engine) is a scene-oriented, flexible 3D engine written in C++ designed to make it easier and more intuitive for developers to produce applications utilising hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. The class library abstracts all the details of using the underlying system libraries like Direct3D and OpenGL and provides an interface based on world objects and other intuitive classes.

Bullet Physics is a professional open source collision detection, rigid body and soft body dynamics library.

IrrKlang is a high level 2D and 3D cross platform (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) sound engine and audio library.

All previous tiers + The ultimate perk! Along with us, you will create an extra boss featuring layered weak points, weaponry variations and the behaviour you design! Notice that this perk combined with all the previous ones, will give you the ability to design a complete level with a unique player spaceship, special enemies and an exclusive final boss. A different experience inside Kromaia. A new game inside our game! ;)

Estimated Shipping

June 2014

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