Video game on Rajendra Chola’s legacy hopes to introduce Chola dynasty to the world

“One of Rajendra Chola’s cardinal traits is that, from childhood, helium was raised to beryllium a king. He was the strategical and almighty one, and helium was brought up with that successful mind,” Abraham tells indianexpress.com, revealing what gamers tin expect from the game, wherever each the combat and strategy revolve astir this facet of his character.

To recreate the Chola era, Abraham and his squad studied South Indian inscriptions and work books. (Image credit: Ayelet Studio)

First of galore stories

Abraham says portion the game’s taxable is rooted successful history, the gameplay storyline is fictional. He chose this attack partially to contiguous his position connected Rajendra Chola. “I wanted to guarantee we picked a taxable that didn’t interaction connected spiritual oregon mythological themes. I wanted to absorption connected the humanities aspects, similar what we learned successful puerility astir the Cholas’ galore expeditions and the stories surrounding them.”

He added the extremity was to physique games astir antithetic kings and their kingdoms, with the Cholas being the archetypal of galore stories they wanted to tell.

In the video game, Abraham focuses connected the play erstwhile the Cholas launched an expedition to Srivijaya, present-day Indonesia, which is wherever the communicative begins. The prologue covers Rajendra Chola’s conquest of Srivijaya and his triumph there, and the 2nd portion of the game, which Abraham and his squad are presently moving on, centres connected Rajendra Chola’s instrumentality to his kingdom aft securing the Srivijaya empire and wherever the main communicative unfolds.

The video crippled is presently successful improvement and expected to deed the marketplace sometime successful the mediate of adjacent year. Abraham has completed 70 per cent of the crippled and plans to showcase a gameplay trailer successful the coming days astatine the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) successful Hyderabad. To gauge involvement and get a consciousness of gamer excitement, Abraham released a prologue of the crippled arsenic a method demo earlier this year, which garnered 83,000 downloads.

The Unsung Empires: The Cholas II: Legacy of Rajendra Chola is an open-world crippled with an accent connected action. (Image credit: Ayelet Studio)

A premix of emotions and action

The crippled is divided into 10 chapters, capturing Rajendra Chola’s journey, starting from a flashback series wherever the king returns to his childhood, allowing the subordinate to acquisition his quality astatine a young age. “It’s much of an full journey, and each section has a acceptable portion astir which the communicative revolves.”

Abraham says helium didn’t privation to bounds Rajendra Chola to conscionable being a warrior. While enactment is cardinal to the game, helium besides aimed to represent the king arsenic a person. “It’s a spot affectional arsenic good and heavy action-driven. It’s much of a idiosyncratic travel for everyone. The crippled has each the ups and downs starring to a climax,” helium says, adding they wanted to amusement Rajendra Chola prioritising his radical implicit conquest. He says the archetypal section includes a opus series that celebrates a important moment. One of the chapters features a series from Jallikattu, a accepted bull-taming athletics held successful Tamil Nadu during the Pongal harvest festival.

To recreate the Chola era, Abraham and his squad studied South Indian inscriptions and work books specified arsenic Udaiyar by Balakumaran, The Cholas by K A Nilakanta Sastri, Gangai Konda Cholan by Balakumaran, and Brhadisvara Temple: Form and Meaning by R Nagaswamy. They besides watched movies similar Raja Raja Cholan, Ponniyin Selvan, and Yaathisai.

Abraham besides consulted galore radical successful and astir Thanjavur. Drawing connected insights from poesy and section lore, the squad past recreated the humanities satellite successful their acceptable designs, moving with architects who helped plan the houses and recreate the unsocial motifs connected each structure. The squad recreated the full metropolis of Thanjavur, capturing the aesthetics of the 11th century. Abraham notes that important probe and clip were besides dedicated to creating covering and costumes for each quality successful the game. For this, the squad collaborated with a manner decorator who created garments for the king, incorporating circumstantial colours and designs to guarantee humanities accuracy.

Abraham said helium was heavy inspired by games from the Assassin’s Creed franchise, known for its distinctive play benignant and immersive world-building. (Image credit: Ayelet Studio)

Channelling Kalaripayattu

The Unsung Empires: The Cholas II Legacy of Rajendra Chola is an open-world crippled with an accent connected action. Abraham said helium was heavy inspired by games from the Assassin’s Creed franchise, known for its distinctive play benignant and immersive world-building. However, helium incorporated a unsocial combat benignant from confederate India, called Kalaripayattu — an amalgamation of 2 words: kalari oregon grooming crushed and payattu which means grooming successful martial arts. This benignant was utilized to plan enactment acceptable pieces and showcase authentic combat techniques.

“When we started, we explored this unsocial combat benignant originating from confederate India, which was utilized by galore kings of that era. It involves 3 main weapons: the sword and shield, the dagger, and the urumi, besides known arsenic the sural vaal, a flexible, coiling sword. The urumi is particularly unsocial to this region. In fact, I don’t deliberation determination are immoderate games successful the manufacture close present that diagnostic a limb similar the urumi — a sword susceptible of sidesplitting with unthinkable precision and style,” helium explains.

“The combat mechanics are wholly different, from the sword fights to the posture… We recorded implicit a 1000 animations conscionable to recreate the Kalaripayattu. So, whether you’re walking, taking a stance, oregon fighting, everything aligns with the intended colour scheme,” helium says, adding that sizeable thought went into making the crippled arsenic internationally appealing arsenic possible.

For the gameplay mechanics, Abraham and the squad created a strategy called DAS, which is simply a dynamic architecture. The subordinate tin play arsenic much than 40 characters, each with 4 antithetic combat types, offering an wholly caller warring benignant successful an open-world game.

The inheritance euphony has besides played an important relation successful creating the close immersion successful the game. The euphony is composed by Chandar Karunakaran. Abraham has besides worked with Kosai Nagaran, a Chennai-based troupe that specialises successful playing and preserving centuries-old accepted instruments, on with Madhan Karky, a fashionable lyricist known for penning dialogues for Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), and Antony Dassan for a song. The crippled features 3 songs, says Abraham.

The crippled is implicit 40 hours, with 8 hours dedicated to completing the main story. (Image credit: Ayelet Studio)

18 main characters, implicit 200 characters and 8,000 props

Making a play crippled isn’t arsenic casual arsenic it whitethorn look and comes with its acceptable of challenges. “It’s truly hard to recreate. There are a fewer things you tin visit, similar temples that are inactive standing. But getting the close concepts, adjacent imagining definite things, is simply a immense task. You don’t person galore references to enactment with,” helium explains.

The crippled is implicit 40 hours, with 8 hours dedicated to completing the main story. Like a mainstream movie presented connected a expansive standard with hundreds of characters, this crippled features 18 main characters and much than 200 characters.

Abraham and the squad person created 8,000 props, ranging from tiny cups and mugs to dolls. “We had to make everything from scratch, and you won’t beryllium capable to find each these things connected the internet,” helium says, adding that readying it with a tiny squad tin beryllium a immense task. “We don’t person the luxury of having thousands of developers to program and execute, truthful we effort to marque the astir of the resources, time, and wealth we have. Those factors travel into play, and we effort to optimise them arsenic champion arsenic we can.”

Abraham, 30, has nary expertise successful crippled improvement oregon ceremonial grooming successful designing games — helium was a solution designer earlier starting Ayelet Studio successful 2022. However, helium has ever been a gamer and enjoys playing narrative-based games. Abraham said it took him six to 7 months conscionable to larn and recognize however crippled improvement works portion besides moving connected the studio’s debut game.

He present leads a squad of 25 radical and juggles galore roles himself, from programming and moving connected creating the situation to mounting up the full DevOps pipeline. “I person tried to instrumentality the methodology from mobile app improvement and incorporated it into the studio, and that truly helped america get the crippled retired arsenic accelerated arsenic we could.”

Abraham said the crippled is being developed for Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation 5, and PC. However, the crippled volition archetypal released connected consoles followed by the PC.

‘People expect quality’

Abraham said helium ever intended to marque Unsung Empires: The Cholas II: Legacy of Rajendra Chola a planetary game, targeting Western audiences and the Indian diaspora.

India has a immense gaming base; however, it’s uncommon for an Indian workplace to interruption into the planetary country and marque a people successful the Western market. “I deliberation 1 happening is the quality. Whenever radical play the crippled from an Indian studio, they comparison it with the manufacture standard. From time one, we knew our 3D enactment crippled would beryllium compared to titles similar Assassin’s Creed. It doesn’t substance whether you’re processing with a 20-member squad oregon a 20,000-member squad — astatine the extremity of the day, radical are buying it, and they expect quality. I deliberation that’s going to beryllium the immense situation we request to address.”

Although crippled improvement successful India has been connected the upswing, Abraham agrees that India has yet to make a crippled with planetary appeal, which is wherefore Indian developers don’t person the aforesaid budgets to marque AAA games arsenic their Western counterparts.

“It’s much astir the standard and the level of hazard radical are consenting to take. I don’t deliberation anyone is acceptable to put $50 million. We besides don’t person a rubric that has performed good capable to alteration the full industry,” helium says, addressing the existent authorities of crippled improvement successful India.

Abraham leads a squad of 25 radical astatine Ayelet Studio. (Image credit: Ayelet Studio)

His workplace is presently bootstrapped, funded by his wealth and from a friend. The budget to marque Unsung Empires: The Cholas II: Legacy of Rajendra Chola whitethorn hover astatine $2 million, and Abraham is talking to a fewer publishers to get backing for the project.

Although the crippled is inactive months distant from release, Abraham said helium plans to terms it arsenic an indie game, betwixt $25 and $35. For the Indian market, the crippled whitethorn beryllium priced locally astatine astir Rs 1,000 oregon somewhat supra that.

Abraham calls S S Rajamouli his relation exemplary and wants to amusement him the crippled earlier anyone other plays it. “Rajamouli creates memorable experiences. I look up to him. I respect however helium sets the template and the acceptable pieces successful his movies,” helium says.