Kyber City Sprawl

🌌 Inspiration

The neon haze of cyberpunk worlds has always fascinated us—stories where technology is both salvation and downfall. With Kyber City Sprawl, we wanted to capture the tension of a society wired into the grid, where every shadow hides a story and every neon sign is a mask for deeper decay. Inspired by classics like Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, and the tactical depth of Persona 5 Royal, our goal was to build a world that feels alive, oppressive, and yet strangely beautiful. The Chroma Awards’ celebration of creativity and AI-driven media, with the support of sponsors like ElevenLabs, Google Cloud, FAL, Freepik, Dreamina, and CapCut, inspired us to blend experimental storytelling, visual polish, and technical ambition in our project.[5]

⚡ What it does

Kyber City Sprawl is an immersive dystopian environment designed for exploration, storytelling, and interactive experiences.

• 🏙️ Dynamic cyber cityscape with neon-lit alleys, holographic billboards, and vertical sprawl.
• 🎭 Narrative-driven spaces where players uncover hidden lore and make choices that shape their path.
• 🎮 Interactive mechanics inspired by tactical RPGs—dialogue triggers, environmental puzzles, and branching outcomes.
• 🌐 Cross-platform ready: optimized for VR, desktop, and streaming showcases.
• 💡 Sponsored innovation: Leveraged AI voice and sound (ElevenLabs, CapCut), cloud assets and collaboration (Google Cloud), visual inspiration from Freepik/Dreamina, and experimental logic frameworks (FAL).

🛠️ How we built it

• Unity HDRP for high-fidelity rendering, leveraging the Kyber City HDRP pack as the foundation.
• Cinemachine + Post-Processing for cinematic camera work and atmospheric effects (rain, fog, bloom).
• Custom shaders for neon glow, holograms, and glitch effects.
• TypeScript scripting (for Horizon Worlds integration) to handle interactions and triggers.
• Blender + Substance Painter for asset prep, texture baking, and PBR workflow.
• Streaming overlays & branded polish for presentation.
• Sponsor technologies: ElevenLabs for speech/dialogue, CapCut for audio edits, Google Cloud for storage/versioning, Freepik/Dreamina for visual assets, FAL for AI logic.

🧩 Challenges we ran into

• ⚠️ Rendering issues: Desktop build black screens due to driver conflicts.
• 🔄 Asset optimization: Balancing HDRP fidelity with performance.
• 🎛️ Shader complexity: Keeping neon effects vibrant without sacrificing FPS.
• 🕹️ Interaction scripting: Adapting Unity assets for Horizon Worlds required new approaches.
• ⏳ Time constraints: Polishing branding and hackathon media alongside technical work.

🏆 Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Built a living cyberpunk environment and solved cross-platform issues by forcing DX11 and sandbox toggles.
• Crafted cinematic and branded assets for a compelling project pitch.
• Developed a Unity → Horizon Worlds pipeline that supports community creators.
• Integrated sponsored AI tools for sound, visuals, and cloud workflows.

📚 What we learned

• Debugging multi-engine GPUs and the importance of asset modularity.
• Merging game dev workflows with streaming polish.
• AI's role—especially sponsor technologies—in elevating new creative possibilities.

🚀 What’s next for Kyber City Sprawl

• 🌐 Multiplayer expansion for social experience.
• 🤖 AI-driven NPCs using sponsor platforms.
• 🎥 Cinematic demos: Game world as narrative stage.
• 🛠️ Expanded asset kits for creators.
• 🔮 Deeper lore and quest branching, ready for Chroma Awards spotlight.

Made possible thanks to: ElevenLabs 🤖, Google Cloud ☁️, Freepik 🎨, Dreamina 🖌️, CapCut ✂️, FAL etc.🔧, and the Chroma Awards organizers!

Built With

• ai
• blender
• branded-assets
• capcut
• cinemachine
• custom-shaders
• dreamina
• elevenlabs
• fal
• freepik
• google-cloud
• gpu-debugging-tools-(gpu-z
• msi
• msi)
• post-processing-stack
• streaming-overlays
• substance-painter
• typescript-(horizon-worlds-integration)
• unity-hdrp