Crystals of Equilibria

By creating our World Equilibria, we have laid a foundation for all further elements of our game. The special shape of the planet, which has been divided into countless island chunks, is only held together by the energy of the core. A detailed description of the process how we created our world concept can be checked out in my first blog post.

However, life isn´t possible on every single island anymore. The shards of the planet are held together by the core , but they are already very far apart from each other. A comprehensive atmosphere no longer exists.

After the decay of the planet the majority of mankind was extinguished. The survivors had to reorganize themselves and they had to adapt to the new living conditions on the planet. We needed a logical explanation of how human kind has succeeded in colonizing and surviving in this new world. It was also very important for us that the game should get more fantasy elements. However, we didn’t know exactly how we should manage it at this moment. Even our main character Law should get special abilities which will help him to pass the tasks of his journey. Law is a slim, poor boy who has no unique talents. So how should this character become something special? Are there any possibilities to combine special abilities with our fighting system to create something special for this fantasy setting?

Who has read our published blogs knows that we are strongly influenced by the manga One Piece and the game The Legend of Zelda.

Both sagas have released a series of games. The main character of the game The legend of Zelda is a young warrior with only a shield and a sword, who fights against several villains. The gameplay mechanics and the story as well are very unique and inspired us. One Piece is presented as a whole ingenious fantasy world and the story is perfectly staged. The so-called devil fruits vest an extraordinary power to the one who eats them. With this fruit you gain an ability that builds on a certain attribute and is unique around the world.

We like this force concept of One Piece very much! It resembles the ability of magical powers which even reach supernatural scales. Many other manga stories also use the concept of special super powers. In Naruto exists chakra which naturally flows inside your body. Fairy Tail takes magic as its element. Each of these stories has a main character that trains and perfects its ability. At first, this gift doesn’t seem to be anything special, but throughout the game story the ability reaches unimagined forces.

None of the survivors of Equilibria know where this incredible, apparently unlimited core-energy actually comes from. The explosion has freed this enigmatic energy structure. The whole planet is somehow held together by the energy that emanates from the core. We decided that the core – the world’s center – should have a special effect on the new world order. We were convinced that we could work very well with this energy system!

It was necessary for us to equip the energy with special attributes, so that the world can be made habitable for living creatures and that the energy has an influence to people as well. We needed a similar abilty for our main character. The only question was what kind of special ability it should be. Was there also a possibility to bring the outer bourder-islands of the planet to life again?

The question of a special ability occupied us for a long time. One thing was clear for us: the force, mainly for the main character, should be influenced by the core-energy. However, there were still many aspects to be clarified:

• Is the force pure mental strength combined with energy?
• Can anyone learn a force or are there certain people who are chosen for this gift?
• Can the force be consumed or absorbed by an object?
• If one can actually absorb or conusme it in any form, what could be the medium that gives you the force?
• If the force is bound to an object, how can this object be used?
• How does such a force affect the body and the mind in general?
• Are there any side effects?

It was an extremely hard decision for us to agree upon a coherent concept of force. Many ideas arised and were abandoned again. All doors were open for us to create a superpower, but it is more difficult than you can imagin for coming up with something new that didn’t exist before. Too many ideas already exist in other games. Too many elements and abilities are already in use. Unfortunately, we did not come to a consensus for the time being.

The best idea we had so far was an unknown force that is inherent within the body. This power can’t be learned by everyone that easily. Someone can only control this ability to a certain extent. Others, however, can develop unprecedented forces. Law should become such a medium for energy and throughout the story expand its power so that the energy becomes a partner in the form of an animal. We liked the thought very well that energy was not only a usable substance, but a “living organism”, which affects nature and creatures and gives power to them. So shouldn´t this energy be able to communicate with you and emerge in its own form?

Of course, there is always a progress for the main character in games, so its skills improve to be able to pass all the challanges. These energy animals can also be developed further and strengthened. If you gain enough experience and train enough, you (as the player) should be able to let the energy leave your body in the physical form of an animal. From then on, you are able to give commands and solve puzzles with it. This idea resembles the companion of Link (The Legend of Zelda), his little fairy which supports him.

This energy animal, which exists in harmony with the energy, should be a special gift that is not given to every human being in that scope. Every energy animal is special and owns a specific and unique attribute. This concept is similar to One Piece’s Devil’s Fruit, but you don’t consume an object to gain its power.

The force concept of energy animals wasn’t a bad idea, but it didn’t fit into our world philosophy yet. With every further discussion we had, the idea of transferring special abilities (in form of energy) to an object (medium) was strengthened. This medium should be found in different varieties all over the world. Whether poor or rich, everyone should be able to use this power in everyday life. The object containing the energy should serve as a vessel to transport and release the power according to the situation.

We firstly discussed the crystal as a medium of energy. There are countless crystal types in different variations on Equilibria. Starting with with fire crystals, water crystals and light crystals, we early expanded the power of the crystals to gravitation, air and many other properties that are important for life on the islands. They serve as a vessel for energy storage and can be unleashed in a certain form – depending on the type of crystal. The size of the crystal determines the power capacity and therefore it´s performance. A huge air crystal can produce thus a whole atmosphere around the island. Since each island is influenced by the energy, crystals are mainly needed by outer islands to create a sustainable life system.

Simultaneously we also have created the power relations of mankind. If someone has many strong crystals, he also has the power to rule over others. The distribution of crystals should be controlled by the government, since crystals could also be used as weapons. For this, there must be a strict force distribution on the planet to control that power. We deliberately created a abundance of crystals for the world government, moderate belongings of the middle class population and a lack of energy crystals in the poorer regions. The crystal is a fitting symbol for the force of the core. The concept appealed harmonious to us. But HOW can the power of the crystals be used in detail?

We designed our own concept of how to “use” a crystal: It´s a fact that energy flows through the whole planet. You can feel it everywhere, but you can’t use it without a vessel. We chose the crystals as a medium and vessel, which stores the energy. Form and color of the crystal define the type of energy that can be extracted from it. A crystal is a natural product of the core energy which was formed during the collapse of the planet and now exists in harmony with the core energy. We were looking for a logical explanation of how mankind has managed to use the containing power of a crystal.

 The energy inside of a crystal it doesn’t escape at command or by a magic spell. Furthermore, the energy itself doens´t own a certain condition. Only a crystal can transform the energy to a special state so it´s usable for mankind. Humanity has developed a mechanism for the use of crystals, called filter. The crystal as a vessel has basically no port for the energy to escape. With a special technique, a filter is mounted on the crystal, which works like a valve. The emission of energy can be regulated and manipulated with the aid of filters, which define the condition of the emitted power.

There are three important requirements to build an useable crystal:

1. the crystal itself, which is able to be refilled and converts the core energy into a certain condition
   
2. a valve that allows to release the stored energy
   
3. different filters, which are attached to valves and determine the form and strength of the energy emitting from the crystals

Example:

A valve is mounted on a fire crystal. This valve is a joint between the filter and the energy inside the crystal. Depending on the filter, the transformed energy of a crystal is released in a certain state.

• Filter 1: a small hot flame used for cooking (adjustable level of heat)
  
• Filter 2: a larger flame that can be used for heating or grilling
  
• Filter 3: an explosive flame that can cause great damage
• …

A filter allows the energy to be released in a controlled manner and predefined form as well. The crystal system is a central element for the energy economy in Kordex. Since there will be no electricity on Equilibria, the crystals are the only usable energy source for human beings in our fantasy world.

We liked the idea of crystals as energy transformers and as a storage medium. I haven’t seen a similar energy system so far. However, we always call our own ideas into question and search for a logical answer.

According to that we wonder where the crystals actually came from. Crystals shouldn’t have existed before the planet exploded. The creation of the crystals had to take place directly during the process of the explosion, or shortly thereafter. We came up with a really nice idea about the creation of the crystals. For reasons related to the story of the game, I will keep the secret to myself.

Our game Kordex will often encounter the question how crystals were created. In our fantasy game world even the most famous researchers can’t explain what might have happened. Even the old recorded documents of the destruction-period have no precise knowledge of the origin of crystals. Their appearance is a mystery to everyone and no one knows a logical explanation. Some prophets claim to know what happened, but whether this is true remains unexplained.

We won’t answer this mystery in this blog because it will be part of the game and this secret’ll be reveal another time.

At first we defined some crystal-classes which are necessary for daily life and are also easy available for the poorer population stratum. This mainly includes the fire crystal, water crystal and the light crystal. People must be able to heat, boil, drink water (if there is no water-source on an island), lighten dark areas, or even use the crystal as a valuable payment method.

Some boulder-islands have barely enough oxygen or gravity for life. In this case, the power of the crystals has to be used permanently around the clock:

• air crystals – build up a atmosphere
• gravity crystals – build up a new field of gravity within a certain radius

Each class  of a crystal (fire, water, light, …) has its own shape and color, which makes it easily recognizeable. There exist already a lot of those crystals on our Kordex homepage. In the following timelapse video you can follow the painting process of a water crystal.

WATCH HERE the water crystal timelapse

The world´s population uses the power of the crystals every day. This generates an automatic demand for the core-energy. The world government observes and regulates the distribution of energy to the individual boulder-islands, as crystals can also be used for crimes.

A crystal class divides itself into two categories:

• static crystals
• dynamic crystals

Behaviour.

All crystals classes are basically passive. That implies that one can only use the energy contained within the crystal. When the energy reserves within a crystal are exhausted, they can be refilled in mostly public places. These crystal classes are called static crystals and are also tolerated by the government for private use.

Cladding.

Static crystals require a valve and a filter to use them. Humanity invented a special method called cladding to attach a valve to the crystal. So called cladding-clans have mastered the art of this craftsmanship. The knowledge about cladding is not shared with others and so this technique is reserved for the clan only. All raw crystals (without a ventile) are handled and can be sold by the clan.

Application.

On many islands life is a challenge for the residents. Different needs can arise depending on the climate situation. On a desert island the demand for water will be higher than on a winter island, where people grave for warmth. Light (light crystal begins to glow according to the filter) can turn the night to a more comfortable time when horrors lurk in the dark. Fire, water and light are the basic needs to offer humans a simpler life. The distance between an island and  the core is also very important decides whether life can exist on it or not. If the oxygen content is too low to allow life, the island needs its own air crystal. Supplied with the energy of the core the air-crystal produces enough oxygen to colonize the island. However, the energy on each island behaves differently. There are exceptions where even an island near the center has no gravitation or atmosphere at all. It is also possible that boulder-islands very far away from the core have an very strong gravitation-mutation.

As already mentioned, the first designed crystals are useful for people’s basic needs. There are so many variations of crystals, which have many diverse powers. A special feature on Orodir will be the deformation crystal. Its power can affect the nature and deform it. Orodir is a poor island where its soil is held together by the roots of a giant tree. Its roots roam the entire island. It can happen that the powerful roots comes to surface on places where the population is actually settled. Humans can take advantage of these roots with the deformation crystal and deform them in a special way so they can use their own purpose with the new form. The basic structure of a whole house can be created with it. This is an enormous support for a simple person. Villagers of Orodir use the environment, they do not have to eliminate those roots and rather live in harmony with it.

Merchandise.

The energy from the core is extremely valuable for every island. The energy is connected by powerstreams all over the world. This is the reason why it is everywhere usable with the help of crystals. A population on an island is described as rich, if the surface character is fertile and depending on how many crystals are used on this island. However, at the same time this is related to whether there is sufficient core-energy. If an island is supplied with a high level of core-energy the population is able to use a great number of crystals.  These two factors are important for the economic activity.

Crystals can even be used as a means of payment. Besides the other crystals there +exists a special gold crystal as well, which has gained extreme value for humanity. So far, the gold crystal is the only class of crystal which isn’t compatible with a valve. Not only the extremely solid outer layer makes the crystal special but the energy inside the gold crystal is highly compressed, which allows it to store huge amount of energy. That also means that the size of a gold crystal isn’t that important, because even small ones have significant energy capacities. Because of its tremendous value, this crystal is used as a means of payment.

Black Market. The trade is not always legally operated. There exists in secrecy a flourishing black market. The world government was unable to stop these illegal transactions so far because they have not been able to find the organizers yet. Illegal goods can be bought and sold behind this smokescreen. An example for popular goods, which are forbitten by the government would be the dynamic crystal. The property alone, is going to be cruelly punished.