Caruso's Helmet Description and image

Idea for Caruso's Helmet

I'l post a Detailed description of it soon!

Rift Gate Transportation to the other Dimension

The world of one dimension dissolves away in fragments while the other dissolves in... This all happens within a very short space of time and witnessed by the human eye it seems to happen almost instantaneously. Let me know what you think of the idea... any thoughts, suggestions or questions about it?

The Knightside Chronicles Introduction Draft 3.2.1

Introduction 

The Knightside Chronicles: Caruso’s Journey is set on a Galactic  

stage in a far flung future where space travel has become as trivial as air  

travel is today. Humanity has expanded into the far reaches of the Galaxy  

with colonies ranging from prosperous resort worlds where the most  

wealthy spend fortunes in exquisite decadence to back water mining  

colonies where major corporations employ the most destitute and  

desperate individuals to exploit their hard work for pitiful pay and a  

meager existence.  

Caruso Mendes is an odd job gun for hire with aspirations of once again  

attaining the glory days of his late teens where he basked in the life of a  

music superstar. Having split from his former band due to creative  

differences. Caruso subsequently blew through his newly attained wealth  

almost as quickly as he acquired it in a wholly typical affair of  

unrestrained extreme decadence, further added to by his wallowing in self  

sorrow due to two short lived marriages in his early twenties ruined by his 

self destructive behavior and a failed solo album which resulted in the 

studio on which he had signed dropping him due to substantial losses.  

  

Once Heralded as a legend in the making. Caruso now largely forgotten,  

tours the fringes of the Galaxy playing any gig he can get as well as  

taking odd gun for hire jobs just to make ends meat. 

Prologue 

After being arrested for taking part in a botched raid on a supply 

shipment en-route to one of the newly colonized resort worlds in the far 

reaches of the Galaxy, Caruso is woken by the sound of 2 voices. Barely 

able to hear the two voices through his cells thick walls and protective 

shield glass he can faintly hear two men discussing what seem to be 

terms of a release. With no friends willing to bail him out again or 

anybody willing to lend him any money for anything anymore he figures 

that he is well and truly done for this time.  

Caruso had pinned everything on this last Job in the hopes of launching 

himself out of the depths of debt and despair he found himself sinking 

further and further into, and this Job like everything else in his life (of 

what he can now remember) seemed to end in tragic failure. To top it off 

he couldn’t see himself charming or improvising his way out of this 

situation… not with this lot. If found guilty of raiding a resort-world 

shipment; the punishment would be severe. If not death then one could 

find themselves on one of the many mining planets that scattered the 

galaxy. Suffering a miserable life of squalid conditions and hard labour 

until finally released only by the grim hand of death.  

Being caught red handed didn’t help his case much. Undoubtedly 

betrayed by one of his fellow mercenary “brothers” Caruso curses his lack 

of an opportunity having presented itself for him to do the same. Turning 

towards the wall that the bed on which he lays is fasted to; Caruso lets 

out an anxious sigh in anticipation of what the universe may have in store 

for him next…  

Just as He shuts his eyes to try and block out the sensation of nausea 

induced by withdrawal from any of the multitude of substances he had 

been taking before his arrest. The door to his cell slides open with an all 

too familiar swoosh and by the time he has turned and opened his eyes 

mumbling profanities in anticipation of it being one of the guards come to 

drag him to a quick trial, or just beat him for the hell of it. He Instead  

is not only presented with a guard, but a relatively older looking smartly 

dressed man with quite dark skin and greying tightly curled hair, probably 

of African descent. Though from what Caruso can make out through the 

sudden glare of bright lights is that there seem to be hints of other races 

in his facial structure too. The man smelling of expensive Cologne unlike 

Caruso who at this point stinks mostly of Body odour looks down for a 

moment at Caruso, who squints up at him still trying to adjust to the 

sudden illumination of the room. 

 Turning to the Guard the man exclaims in a sophisticated British Accent “ 

Aha!... Yes this is the one I was looking for.” 

“Looks like you’ve hit rock bottom Mr Mendes… if I may be so rude to say 

so…? 

“Kick me while I’m down why don’t you” Caruso thinks to himself bitterly while struggling to keep his eyes in focus against the spinning room. 

 Well lets see if we can get you back on your feet, shall we?...” Continues 

the strange man 

His mouth parched and his tongue feeling like cotton wool Caruso 

responds in a low crackled whisper: “who’re you?”  

“Me?... answers the strange man; I’m your Salvation Mr Mendes… or 

Sponsor could be another way of putting it.”  

“Rehab!?” Caruso retorts followed by a fit coughs; 

“Sure I guess you could call it that.” 

“Yeah I don’t think so… Mr?” Caruso dismissively replies. 

“Would you rather take your chances in the courts?” Rhetorically states 

the man. “I’m not sure that I would recommend such a decision given the 

charges held against you.” 

Clearly Frustrated with Caruso’s manner the guard angrily slams a release 

form on Caruso chest and bluntly states: “Look Scum you either sign this 

form and go with this Gentleman or its to the mines with you!” 

Calmly The mysterious man asks Caruso “So what will it be Mr Mendes?” 

Caruso not having much of an option silently signs the form and hands it 

back to the Guard. 

The Mysterious man lets out a sympathetic smile and formally introduces himself. 

“I remember when you were greatly admired by many for your remarkable musical talents Mr Mendes. It seems that you yourself somewhere along the way lost or forgot what it was that gave you that special spark. I think I may be able to help you in that regard.”

“My name Mr Mendes is Dr Syndau… Maximilian von Syndau to be 

precise, but you can just call me Max.” 

Chapter 1 

A Few Days Later 

- Uncharted Galactic Fringe Sector- Subject 0 –Mendes; Caruso.  

Caruso opens his eyes Having shut them in anticipation of the worst. Mere 

Moments before now he had been subjected to intensely bright lights and 

a flash of stifling heat when sitting inside a strange spherical machine.  

Suddenly He finds himself sitting atop a cliff top in a meadow looking out 

on a tranquil scene of a beautiful sunset on a strange looking world 

covered with giant crystals surrounded by large sky blue lakes. Floating 

islands that have smaller crystals of equal beauty protruding from them 

float in a circular formation around the giant central crystal structures 

while small crystal lined creatures frolic all around him. Only seconds into 

witnessing the tranquil scene that suddenly appeared before him there is 

another flash and Caruso is left sitting in a dead wasteland where the 

crystal structures no longer radiate bright awe inspiring illuminating 

colours, but contain dark looking hues that seems to match the overall 

sense of hopelessness and despair now seeping into the core of 

everything on this once momentarily beautiful strange world. The skyline 

now replaced with a menacing swirl of clouds and thunderstorms in the 

distance echoes a sombre tone across the ravaged landscape. The small 

frolicking creatures are no longer small, but have transformed into large 

lurking phantom like crystalline beasts with menacing glares that seem to 

be protecting the dark coloured crystals that they’re crudely armoured 

bodies seem to reflect.  

A small spherical floating robotic drone bobs gently on it’s thrusters from 

just out if Caruso’s view and from it he can hear max’s voice. 

 “and Prepare for a full diagnostics che… ah Good Mr Mendes! Apologies 

for the slight delay in the world updating to your subconscious. It must be 

a bit jarring to go from one extreme to the other like that; but I guess it’s 

good you got an opportunity to compare the two states… if only briefly.” 

“The first scene you witnessed was what the physical manifestation of your 

subconscious should look like, and the second unfortunately is what your 

subconscious physically manifested currently looks like… not pretty is it?” 

How do you feel…physically I mean? 

“I’m fine…” Caruso answers flatly; 

 “So how do I get it back to the lakes and the sunset and… ynkow, all the 

nice stuff?”  

That’s the spirit Mr Mendes! Yes well first things first you will need to get 

up on your feet so we can run some diagnostics before we can set you on 

your merry way…  

To be continued… 

The Knightside Chronicles Story Summary Draft 3.2

The Knightside Chronicles: Caruso’s Journey

Bullet Point Story Summary.

• Caruso wakes up in a Corporate Alliance jail cell after being arrested 

for taking part in an intercepted raid on a corporate supply ship in 

transit to one of the galaxies Corporate Alliance run resort worlds. 

• Caruso is visited by a mysterious man who offers him an opportunity 

to avoid prosecution and inevitable sentencing to Death or labour on 

one of the many mining planets scattered across the galaxy. In return he must remain within the strange man’s custody and take part in an experimental therapy program utilizing alternate dimension technology in a bid to figure out if through this alternative therapy he can return Caruso to his former self. 

• Initially suspicious and dismissive of the man’s offer Caruso relizing he has no other way of avoiding prosecution signs the 

release form to be taken into the mans custody -   

• The mysterious man is a scientist who when studying rift gates and 

alternate reality states. Stumbled upon a way of physically manifesting 

a persons subconscious that could potentially be used as an 

experimental form of therapy and has chosen Caruso to be his first 

Patient/subject). 

In the alternate dimension’s world of his subconscious

• Caruso on first entering the alternate dimension is greeted with a 

tranquil scene of a crystal powered world of awe inspiring beauty that 

is quickly replaced with a desolate wasteland filled with menacing 

creatures that have seemingly drained and absorbed the beauty and 

life from the world. 

• Dr Syndau the strange man who paid for Caruso to be handed over to 

his custody informs Caruso that the ravaged Phantom infested world 

he has found himself on is the physical manifestation of his 

subconscious, and the beautiful tranquil world he momentarily 

glimpsed is what his subconscious should look like. 

So he must defeat the phantom like beasts that have drained the life energy of the world to restore it to its former beauty. 

The Phantom like creatures are the physical manifestation of the repressed bad memories and turmoil within his subconscious that are stifling his creativity that has been the result of his gradual decline in life. 

• Dr Syndau and his assistant Liorna Samuelson assist Caruso via Tamil 

the flying robot in the goal of defeating the Machine Wraithes (the 

phantom like creatures) to bring back life to the world and thus free 

more of Caruso’s creativity giving him more power in the Crystal world 

and over his creative music ability. 

• Caruso’s powers in the crystal world are powered by his creative music 

ability and so the more he attacks in rhythm the more it fuels his 

creativity thus allowing him to be more powerful in the world and 

against the Machine Wraithes. 

Crystals

During our meeting on the 28th March, we discussed more about the design of Caruso's mask but a great deal of time was spent working out the details of the role of the crystals in the game.

-There will be different types of crystals that will have varying physical properties and powers (e.g. make platforms float, create water...)
-When enemies are defeated any harvested energy is returned to the crystals in the surrounding environment.
-Caruso's keytar is made from the same crystals so can store/transfer the energy.

Naturally, the energy in the crystals are pure and sustain life, all living creatures that die will return energy to the crystals and this in turn creates and sustains new life. The crystals are also used to create man-made environmental structures and provide fuel for machines.

In the game world, a greedy individual is harvesting and draining the crystals' energy in order to live forever. Many crystals have been drained and as a result surrounding lands become barren and life in the world is dwindling. The hero, Caruso, must travel the world to defeat all the enemies who are harvesting the crystals' energy.

There are several ranks of enemies, the highest rank have the ability to wander into pure-crystal areas and corrupt the crystals causing the energy to become impure. This corrupted energy gives birth to small enemies who harvest and feed on this energy until the crystals are drained. These low rank enemies can only stay within areas where there are corrupted crystals, they are afraid of pure areas.

The corrupted energy can only be used by the enemies, so all other life lose their source of energy when crystals become corrupted. Upon defeating the enemies, Caruso is able to purify the energy which returns and purify the crystals.

Maps will be broken down into "zones" and within each zone are a max. number of enemies with a set number of enemies required to be defeated in order to purify the zone: e.g. zone 1, 10 enemies. Defeat 8 enemies to restore enough purified energy to restore the zone's crystals. If less than 8 enemies are defeated and player leaves the zone then enemies will respawn when play re-visits zone. If area is purified, enemies will no longer appear within the zone.


Information is still subject to changes :)

Visual Filter style reference (images and videos)

Nell shows some lens Flare in her sketch too. These images also showcase the light distortion effect to give the impression it is being filmed by a portable camera/camcorder.

Visual Filter style reference (images and videos)

Hey here are some videos and images to give you an idea of the CRT filter effect and camcorder light distortion effects I had in mind. I'm thinking it could be a bit more subtle than is shown here, but hopefully this will give you an idea of what I'm on about. The idea is that there will be faint lines visible as though is were being watched on a CRT monitor and digital distortion effects to give the impression it's being shot on a portable camera. 

Videos of the camcorder light distortion lens flare effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2StEvMRv5d4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wDXunftPB4&feature=related

Video of the CRT TV filter effect.

http://vimeo.com/12034856

First attempts at overall look & feel.

Hello everyone!

I am adding here the first sketches of how I imagine the world of Caruso, and Caruso himself. You tell me if I got the vision correctly:

Also, I am including a collage with the mixed race/latino traits I imagine Caruso might have:

Tell me what you think!

Refence Images description

My thinking behind 'Caruso Mendes' is that he would have similar vibe to that of 'Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo' and that he would look kind of like a cross between 'Keanu Reeves' and 'Michael Mando'.

I picture him being a bit unkempt due to his general demeanor and the rough lifestyle he has found himself living. 

He used to be on the cutting edge of cool and was the definition of charm, swagger and charisma, but he is slowly becoming a bit more of a weary unfocused meandering lost soul. Unable to get his swagger back and gradually losing his once famous charm and charisma. 

During his adventure/Journey he gradually rediscovers his winning spark and flair. Lifting his general attitude and outlook on life.  

Reference images (Caruso)

Knightside Story Overview Draft 2

 The Knightside Chronicles: Caruso’s Journey is set on a Galactic 

stage in a far flung future where space travel has become as trivial as air 

travel is today. Humanity has expanded into the far reaches of the Galaxy 

with colonies ranging from prosperous resort worlds where the most 

wealthy spend fortunes in exquisite decadence to back water mining 

colonies where major corporations employ the most destitute and 

desperate individuals to exploit their hard work for pitiful pay and a 

meager existence. 

Caruso Mendes is an odd job gun for hire with aspirations of once again 

attaining the glory days of his late teens where he basked in the life of a 

music superstar. Having split from his former band due to creative 

differences. Caruso subsequently blew through his newly attained wealth 

almost as quickly as he acquired it in a wholly typical affair of 

unrestrained extreme decadence, further added to by his wallowing in self 

sorrow due to a failed solo album which resulted in the studio on which he 

had signed dropping him due to substantial losses. 

Once Heralded as a legend in the making. Caruso now largely forgotten, 

tours the fringes of the Galaxy playing any gig he can get as well as 

taking odd gun for hire jobs just to make ends meat. Unable to reclaim 

his former spark and flair, he gradually begins to accept his decline into 

obscurity until he is sent a personal vid message that turns out to be an 

advert. The video presented by an eccentric looking scientist of some sort 

and his robot assistant claims to have invented a new virtual world 

simulator and is looking for physically capable musically talented 

individuals to immediately begin testing the virtual world program that 

could potentially help one find their true musical potential. Considering 

that it could be a scam or trap of some sort for a moment, Caruso decides 

out of blind curiosity and a lack of anything much to lose to head to the 

coordinates given in the vid message. 

After some initial hesitancy, Caruso Decides to follow the adverts explicit 

warnings to jump directly to the coordinates given rather than risk 

navigating the anomaly heavy stretch of space where the facility is 

supposedly situated. 

On Arriving to the coordinates given Caruso is met by a very Large space 

station, and on docking is greeted by the very scientist and robot 

assistant from the video message. The scientist: Maximilian von Lugner 

introduces himself and his robotic assistant Tamil. 

Max as eccentric as Caruso expected, is more than a little vague and 

indecipherable when asked how his experimental virtual world simulator 

works or more importantly how it will allow him to find his true musical 

potential. Rather than merely explain how it works, Max convinces Caruso 

to give the Machine a go. 

Donning special mask, gloves and keytar provided by Max. Caruso is 

instructed to enter the strange spherical device and stand in the middle of 

it. 

On activation of the machine Caruso closes his eyes in anticipation for the 

worst and after an intense moment of very loud whirring and a sudden 

burst of heat, all is silent.  

Caruso opens his eyes to a strange desolate land populated by Glowing 

crystals protruding from the ground around which hints of greenery have 

begun to grow. Similar crystals jut out of floating islands of various sizes 

that circulate around a giant crystalline structure upon which there seem 

to be the remnants of some sort of buildings. 

Hearing Max murmur in his ear about heart rate readings being good 

among other scientific calculations via the communicator in his helmet. 

The first words out of Caruso’s mouth after standing for a moment in 

awestruck silence are “This is real! isn't it?”! 

Max ‘about to begin asking him how he is feeling’ responds: Um… what? 

How did you?…. Yes… remarkable… yes Well done mister Mendes you 

have figured it out much faster than the others did…. I’m afraid I haven’t 

been quite honest with you about where it is you really are! 

Caruso insists Max tell him what is really going on but barely gets the 

barest of details out of Max who assures Caruso that things will be best 

answered as Caruso experiences them first hand, but that basically Max 

has managed to create a gateway to a planet in another dimension. The 

planet has been overrun by a race of machine like spirits that invaded the 

planet and wiped out the indigenous people by draining all their life giving 

crystals of their energy. 

Later Max informs Caruso that he is not the first of his “subjects” to have 

been successfully transported to the planet, but all the others perished 

except for his last recruit who initially thought dead has recently been 

showing intermittent signs of life. 

Caruso must locate the signal of Maxes last inductee Liorna Samuelson 

(Li) and figure out what really happened to her.  

The crystals on the planet can physically manifest the music Caruso 

plays on his Sword Keytar into a powerful energy capable of destroying 

the machine wraiths. The special mask, gloves, and gun provided by 

Max can also utilize the power of the crystals in various ways; thus giving 

him the power to destroy the machine wraiths and release the life energy 

they have absorbed. Releasing the life energy by destroying the machine 

wraiths will allow the crystals to fully re-energize and eventually bring life 

back to the planet. 

When a large crystalline structure has been fully charged Caruso will 

be able to use it to view the memories of the extinct indigenous race and 

piece by piece discover more about how they came to meet their fate and 

the connection the information gathered on their demise has for the fate 

of Caruso’s dimension. 

Rift Gates Allow Caruso to travel back and forth from his dimension to 

the crystal planet. Rift Gates are only located at specific points on the 

planet where a Rift anomalies are found.