Down to business, the first progress update.

To tell you the truth the only reason progress has gone so slow so far is because I tend to get destracted by any new idea that comes to my head so in order to finish in a more timely manner I've decided to put my RMXP game off, atleast until I finish Cyber Factor. Nothing motivates you more to stay on track than the responsibility to show something new on a regularly bases (and don't forget fan responses) so hopefully this blog will help keep me on track (it's... kinda working so far, I guess). Now down to business, lately I've been working on a mini-game using Carius' Pac-Man starter kit as a base.



It's named Monster's Dungeon, your goal is to collect all the gold pieces which opens the door to the next area of the dungeon (there are 22 areas in all) while avoiding the three monsters. Your sword is rusty and too dull to hurt the monsters so you'll need to collect a shiny sword icon in order to sharpen it allowing you to attack the monsters... ok I'm not gonna lie to you, it's pretty much a Pac-Man clone with a 8-bit dungeon crawler graphic style but some stages are big enough to scroll and anyway little destractions like this are great for giving people something else to do in a game right?


There are three other arcade games planned including Geist Invaders (Space Invaders clone, not sure if I can do this but it'll be fun trying), Knight Runner (it will be a side-scrolling avoid shit while getting to the goal type game) and Mobile Gear (this one is not really an aracde game since it's played from a handheld game device in your inventory, it will be a game made from a modification of the default battle system where your goal is to use your robot to destroy the other person's robot by tactically disabling its various parts and destroying the torso before the enemy can do so to you).

Earth ??XX: Kaibyaki's Cape

Kaibyaki's Cape is located at the southern most point of the Mano-Mona Mainland. A rural area Kaibyaki is home to 2 Onnunaki era ruins, the Shrine of Onnu which is currently being used as a temple for monks, located on the nearby mountainside of the Cliffs of Onnu deep within Wand Forest and Naki's Alter, formerly a meeting place between humans and the Onnunaki. These sites are commonly visited by pilgrams and archaeologists. Because of this the nearby Rim Village has become somewhat of a tourist town commonly receiving shipments of valuable goods from other larger cities by way of the Kaibyaki Trade Route which goes all the way through the Cliffs of Onnu and on to the Mano-Mona Main City.

Notable Races

Humans - A race supposely created by the Onnunaki, humans are the most widely seen race on Cyber Factor's version of Earth. They're pretty much like our Earth's humans (plus the advances made in Datology of course). The 2 major human run countries in Cyber Factor are the Mano-Mona Monarchy and Everlon (atleast what's left of it, which is mostly Heaven's Edge).

Dragons - The other race created by the Onnunaki that advanced to a highly civilized stage, Dragon's have been pushed to the brink of extinction due to there high loses during the Great War between their country of Nevada and the human country of Everlon. Each Dragon is born under a certain sign which decides its elemental properties later in life.

Dragon Birth Signs
Pyro - Dragons born under this sign inherit the element of Fire.

Aero - Dragons born under this sign inherit the element of Wind.

Terra - Dragons born under this sign inherit the element of Rock.

Aqua - Dragons born under this sign inherit the element of Water.

Onnunaki - No one is sure what the Onnunaki are actually, though it is quite obvious due to relics and old ruins that they DID exist at some point. The Onnunaki are credited with the creation of Humans, Dragons, animals and heck pretty much the entire world. They are usually depicted in ruins by eyeless statues but some wonder if this is an accurate portrayal or just a metaphor for something. It's also not clear exactly why they left Earth long ago but most believe it was because humans rebelled by using the Onnunaki's technology to create their own creatures.

Geist - This so-called "viral lifeform" is the scorge of ??XX Earth and a central element in all of your conflicts in Cyber Factor. Most Geist seem to have no form of communication and it hasn't even been determined if they contain any intelligence other than the instinctual will to delete. Although there has been one noted occurance of a highly intelligent speech capable Geist, Ghantes. Geist usually appear as a smokey wisp but when the need arises these can transform through a process dubbed "Spontaneous Evolution" into a different, more threatening creature whos looks and features are decided by the Geist's current environment.

The Forum Post, Basic info on the game and the last demo.

I'm reposting the Cyber Factor forum post here for people who've never read it. The last demo's in there too (at the bottom) so go play it if you haven't already.

Introduction
The 3rd demo is finally ready. If any of you remember Cyber Factor is a Rm2k3 game that I've been making off and on since 2003-2004. It started as a Rm2k project, then became a Rm2k3 project and then a RMXP project (which is mainly where most of last year's development went) and now has returned to Rm2k3. This demo contains 2-4 more hours (maybe more idk) of gameplay which covered the entire 1st area and its related story arc. So basically it may be twice as long as the last demo which most people I asked said was 4 hours long but I'm not good at timing so I dunno.

NOTE: If you still have your save from the previous demo DO NOT USE IT WITH THIS VERSION since I've redone the way you gain Tech Arts (You use to gain one of 3 Tech Arts when you reacted Rank (Lv.) 5 but now you gain them when your Body, Mind or Soul reach a certain levels meaning now you'll eventually have all 3 of them) and done alot of other changes that might break the game if you use the old save files. For the record in future demos you should be able to use Save files from this demo since I don't plan to make any more major changes.
Well now that that's outta the way here's the old infomation. All of you may wanna read this since it's been awhile and plus I've changed alot of things in it...



What is Cyber Factor?
A semi-nonlinear RPG (think like Legend of Mana) based on a theory I had after stupidly watching the Matrix & Lawnmower Man on the same day (something I suggest you never do). I thought about how quickly AI has improved in videogames from when they were first created. Now imagine in say 100 years from now the AI in games will probably be so advanced that the game's characters will probably believe themselves to be alive & they will be after all when you think about it aren't we just an advanced code ourselves? Well what if this is all just a code written by beings more advanced than us? Many religions state that a god created everything well what if the method used by this god is the same method that we will use in 100 years to create a game world? Cyber Factor is a Rm2k3 RPG based around this theory.



So What's the Story?
This is sorta hard to explain in a game such as this but basically Cyber Factor happens in a world very much like our own only people are well aware of there datalogically coded make-up. The world itself has nearly been completely deleted by Viral creatures known as Geist. You play a guy named Heiro, created from Life Data that fell from the sky & it's your job to restore the world. There is no basic "this guy's evil go kick his ass plotline" to tell since through the course of the game many events happen each leading to a conclusion so I s'pose a summary of the story would go something like "You play Heiro & it is your job to restore the world while fighting against the Geist cause".



You Restore the World? How Exactly Do You Do That?
After completing events you gain what is called World Data & by using said data at restore points on the map you can restore anything from a single town, to a mountain range, to a continent. You then venture into these newly created areas completing new events & gaining more World Data. You can also change the areas themselves such as adding in a bridge or blocking off a lake to stop the water flow by finding & using Extra Data at reorganization points.



Game Features
-Restore the world using a system inspired by the Soul Blazer series & Legend of Mana.
-Enemies are see-able on the field & chase you similar to Grandia.
-Customized DBS with a heavier emphasis on the tactical use of arts.
-Combi system allows you to use powerful combinations of the arts you've obtained.
-Read various pages of books on shelves. (New book "History of the Dragon Wars Vol. XI: Jaleia Irving" in Jaleia Checkpoint's Inn room. I also added a guide manual to one of the houses in Rim Village).
-Unique upgrading system allocate skill points into the catagories Body, Mind & Soul to upgrade your stats & learn new Arts as you level up. (Changes to this system explained above in Introduction)
-Battlechars with more than 3 frames per animation. -Battle voices. (heyas & such)
-Various optional mini-games. (This will be the next thing I work on)
-Fight in an arena for money & items (Not in this demo, this is in area 2).
-Create and customize a robot mech in the in-game video game "Mobile Gear" and battle against the mechs of NPCs across the world. (One of the next things I'll work on, I consider it a mini-game, just a larger one)
-New Game +, play the game over with your ending stats & Arts as well as a few special items allowing you to discover new secrets within the game. (Obviously not in this demo or any demo following this one since it will only work when the game is finished)
-6 endings as well as 2 extra endings obtainable after New Game +. (Maybe I should remove these 2 from the features till the game is done?)
-Use alchemy to combine Extra Equipment to make new ones.
-Not really a feature but you can now see which Tech Arts Elemental Arts can make Combis with in the description of the Elemental Art's Exe Installer. Please keep in mind that some Elemental Arts also make new Combis with other Elemental Arts, theses aren't in the desrciptions.



Characters
Heiro
Age: Born when the game begins but his humanoid form appears as a 15 to 17 year old.
Weapon: Soliton (Sword)
Heiro was created from the Life Data that fell from the sky, has the ability to transfer and move the world's data at will. That's really all there is to know about him as you will decide his personality by how you play the game & what you say to other characters.

Zoei Fritzgard
Age: 18
Weapon: Z Armor (Martial Arts)
Zoei is the daughter of Cirel Fritzgard a famous Professor of Datology (the science of data & coding of it) & the creator of the Heaven's Edge Airship. After the fall of Helmsberg 12 years ago Zoei was taken in by Heaven's Edge & is now on her way to one day becoming an Einlanzer (Einlanzer: A military force based on Heaven's Edge who are trained to fight Geist).

Kayne Alexander
Age: 35
Weapon: Varii Gun (A gun that can shoot any know type of bullet)
Kayne is a monk of the Shrine of Onnu & son of the famous monk Azriel Alexander and Fheyana a mysterois woman found by his father near the Shrine of Onnu one day. It is said that he is the one who discovered the book which contains the Lux Legend but if this is true or not is unknown.

Serafin Alexander
Age: 42
Weapon: Gaian (Book)
Serafin is Kayne's older brother. He's gained fame as a warrior monk who travels the world destroying Geist with his followers. Some people look to him as the world's only hope.

Jack Banner
Age: 32
Weapon: Brawlingtons (Gauntlets)
An Einlanzer, Jack was a close friend of Cirel Fritzgard. During the fall of Helmsberg it was Jack who saved Zoei & brought her to Heaven's Edge.

Saceli Irving
Age: 36
Weapon: Excalia (Sword)
Saceli is a member of the Irving family of knights who have long served the Mano royal family. She was a childhood friend of Mari Fritzgard, Zoei's mother. After the Mano-Mona Kingdom's deletion Saceli joined Heaven's Edge mainly as a teacher but she also takes part in some missions.

Caprine Callenco
Age: 18
Weapon: Nothing (Attacks like your little sister)
Caprine is the daughter of the notorious mobster team of Sal Callenco & Rachelle Karris. Caprine joined the Junior Einlanzers around the same time as Zoei & they quickly became bestfriends & have even rented an apartment on the Eastside of Heaven's Edge together...well actually she pays like 95% of the rent but...well they live there together.

NOTE: There are some more characters who join you during certain events Legend of Mana style. The one you need to know from this demo is...

Wendolyn D'Marco (Wendy)
Age: 10
Weapon: Change Purse (Yeah really, an old lady's change purse)
A pirate captain from an unknown land. Claims to be from an orphanage somewhere but her true origins and how she became a captain over pirates at such a young age are a mystery.



Things You Need to Know Before Playing the Demo
Enemy Weaknesses: The icons beside the Geist name aren't there elemental properties it's there weaknesses. As will be explained later (you play Zoei during a class) unlike most RPGs enemies in Cyber Factor don't have certain elements but they are weak to certain types of attacks. For example a Ruby Dragon just because all its attacks are Fire based doesn't mean it's weak to Water. Its "fire pit" is inside its belly but the mighty horn on its head is a direct line to its nervous system, this means that it's actually weak to Lightning. So you see weaknesses aren't based on a "this counters this" system but on more realistic terms thus I'd be crazy if I expected you to just look at an enemy & figure out what it's weak to. Every enemy has atleast 1 Tech weakness & Elemental weakness & exploiting these weaknesses is key to battle superiority.

Combi Arts: As you perform Normal Attacks & Arts you'll notice that the Trianglar Meters next to the character's name will fill (they fill more when you use Arts). When atleast 1 of these meters is filled you can then perform a Combi Art. Combi Arts usually do not use Energy (MP).

Saving: You can save anywhere so don't go around looking for a save point cause there aren't any.



Older Screenshots
http://img159.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyf139gj.png
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http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyf170hp.png
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Newer Screenshots
http://img238.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyf23xi0.png
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http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyf29us7.png
http://img410.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyf30np3.png


Demo III Download Link
http://www.savefile.com/files/1506411

Time to finish the fight... or something like that.

Hello and welcome to the blog for my game Cyber Factor.
I needed something to keep me motivated and on track and so I decided to start this blog.
I will try to post something meaningful here atleast once a week, mostly updates on my progress but also just little tidbits of info on the game (actually the updates will probably just end up being anything I feel like talking about so don't expect much in the way of order here).

If you've never heard of Cyber Factor well go to the next post since it contains the info that I've posted on various forums over and over since its conception.

Well that's about it for now, you people who are actually fans of the game I'd appreciate it if you'd comment on the stuff I post here since the whole point of this is to motivate me and keep my very short attention span focused on Cyber Factor.