Chasing Elysium Prologue

I FINALLY DID IT! I PUBLISHED THE PROLOGUE OF CHASING ELYSIUM! It’s available to read over on Archive of Our Own.

I’m very excited about this. This story has genuinely been in my head for around 6 years now, and it has very rapidly developed since I started actually working on the game last year.

In terms of how frequently I plan to update - when it’s done. I want to update as each chapter is completed. I have no idea how frequently that will be. Right now I am approaching 1/3rd done with chapter 1 and it’s already over 2000 words. If it continues at this pace, we’re looking at around 6000 words a chapter. That’s so much more than I expected, but I’m excited that the words are flowing.

I’m currently aiming to write around 150 words a day minimum. If I can maintain that pace, maybe 40 days between chapters? I’m not promising that. I am not committing to that. It’ll be done when it’s done.

For now, I am tremendously excited to finally share this story! I still fully intend to turn it into a game and am still working on the game, but I also really want the story to exist in some shareable form and this is it and I am ecstatic.

I am not going to commit to giving commentary on each chapter as I release them, but you may get that from time to time.

Author Notes

The prologue is the first part of the story I conceptualized but the second part I actually wrote. Initially it was just the scene of SOL-7243 crashing into the Greenwood, but I later expanded it to include a 24 years ago scene (originally a 100 years ago scene!) showing the turning point in the history of Polanis. There was originally another scene in here, but after feedback from my beta reader I decided to cut it. It didn’t add much and was honestly a distraction.

I didn’t initially have a reason for why SOL-7243 crashes. The most important part of the concept and the very first thought that led to this story existing was the fact that it does, and it is seen by Juniper. But there was no actual reason for the crash at first.

When developing the prototypes for the game I put a tutorial boss fight there, but as I started actually writing I realized that there was no good way to put a boss fight there that wouldn’t contradict the story. Thus I had to find a new reason for SOL-7243 to crash. Thankfully by this point I had been fleshing out some details on how the world of Polanis works and realized I could just use one particular aspect of the world to make it work. Now the question for y’all to figure out is… what caused that geyser?

As for my end, I need to figure out how I want to put a tutorial boss in there again for the game… I do think it’s a good place for a tutorial boss, very quickly into the story, in a highly dynamic situation. That’ll let the player get into actually gameplay right away while setting the story up.

The first scene I actually wrote won’t be coming in until… chapter 29 or so? Maybe a little sooner? It’s something that came into my head after mishearing song lyrics while at work and feeling inspired, which really locked in what the focus of the story would be as well.

Currently I have the individual chapters for the first act all at least roughly outlined, the first chapter fully outline and one third written, broad strokes for the second act, and an idea of how the third act is intended to go. No details there at all, just one or two sentences. That’s not to say I am sailing blindly for the third act, I know how the story ends, it’s just… raw material right now, waiting to be shaped.

Anyways, that’s about it for today. I’m excited. I am hard at work on the first chapter, writing it as best I can. I’ll see you back when it’s done! In the meantime, I am cracking away at learning 3D modeling because I do think I am going to commit to a 3D style similar to Mega Man Legends for the game.