CyberStryke :: Beta 1.0 Release

[codestryke]

We are finally ready to release Beta v1.0 of CyberStryke to the masses. The game UI has gone though an entire re-design to focus on easy of play and usability. Since I'm really not all that hot of a graphics designer please don't judge the game by the quality of the graphics The interface now lends itself more to Flash like then a typical HTML based layout (no we don't use flash, air or silverlight).

Here is a screen cap of the new interface:



So if you have some free time please drop by and check the game out. You can leave any comments or suggestions you have about the game here or in the game itself.

[codestryke]

LOL thanks nox!!!!


The url is http://www.cyberstryke.com

Guess I was a little over excited and forgot the URL

[pavansss91]

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Check it out
it occured while uploading avatar file.

[Nox]

System things:
1) I can't see a "I have read and agree..." checkbox tick
2) Lightwindow titles are "null"
3) Lightwindow loading animation is missing
4) After clicking "verify" there appears a box with "entered text is too large" (jpnox.art@gmail.com)
5) I verified the adress but the verification didn't apply PLUS I receive +1000 credits for every mail I get...ouch
6) Ever tried viewing the manual on 22''+ display ?
7) 169.0.65.7 this column has some gap in between
I see a player 'pruhesi' probably, but it looks like img tag with missing image, filled with alt text... should be styled somehow imho

Logic and game, random thoughts
1) Nice idea rewarding player for verification
2) Would be nice to say "0:00 GTM 0" or something instead of "every day" in manual...just once, so the player can be sure
3) ICE is nICE name
4) "When connected to the matrix you are connected via a neural interface. What your mind feels your body reacts to and some ICE will attack your body believing the body is the weakest part of the human race." this could be incorporated more into manual /game texts etc, sounds interesting to me (though we all know it well from Matrix movies), I wasn't really sure before if it's not about a guy sitting in front of PC (I don't know Netrunner, that might be the reason)
5) I really like the various ways the NPC can attack you
6) "so attacking a Corruption v1 in a blue Corp is not going to be as easy as attacking a Corruption v1 in a black Corp" isn't it the other way round?
7) "Burner"...Nero, lol
"Hit & Run" ... imho would deserve a better name
9) Flatliner, Mindwipe, AI - nice descriptions
10) "your dead and will have to wait till the next day to play" ... you could explain that (revive?)
11) "Your deck memory should be 0 / 10 meaning all memory slots are full" the game treats it the other way round -> 10/10
12) Undocked chat windows maybe could contain a few last entries?

13) Okey, I'm inside the corp... the blue is a bit hard to see (dark)... I guess I should use Transfer on Data nodes..? Found none that wouldn't be empty
14) How do I leave a corp? I just found that it's possible by reconnecting to matrix...
15) Em... I was in Ono Seidai... I got completely lost after a while, but didn't find anything to transfer just all empty data nodes... or how should I steal those credits?

16) "The object of the game is simple break into the corporations (corps) and steal there credits." I think it would be good to have some higher goal... like Uplink
had some dark conspirative plot beside all those hacking contracts for money

Texts
1) Manual "Corps protect thereir credits with"
2) "your're/ are dead and will..."
... but I didn't read too carefully, might be more there

(Opera 10, some issues might be specific)

By the way...did you play Uplink?

That would be all for now, jacking out

[codestryke]

pavansss91, all fixed, thanks!

Nox,
Most of the issues you pointed out are now fixed, with the exception of any spelling mistakes Nyx will take care of those when she gets the time and/or when I finish writing the help.

Question though...
I have a 23" monitor so I'm not sure where you were going with the manual comment? Text to small or is it not rendering properly?

The gap at the 169.0.65.7 I believe might be a rendering problem. We checked it and didn't see anything. I need to put the corp images in memory, I think that might help with misc rendering issues (I hope).

"your dead and will have to wait till the next day to play", yes it's a revive every night if you get flatlined

The blue corps have always been a problem for people to see, I use to use transparency to make the outer nodes darker but now with the green lines showing connections I put them to there natural color which I guess is still to dark

You can leave the corp one of two ways by jacking out or by finding the SAN node you came in on. Each corp is a perfect maze with no dead spots.

With the release of the game a lot of ppl went though and cleaned the creds out for the corp. When you do find creds it will display an alert letting you know they are there.

I agree the game should probably have some sort of big story with it. I guess once I get out of coding an fix it mode I can try and get those creative juices flowing LOL

Yup, played Uplink though I will say I wasn't very good at it. I just couldn't seem to find those file names fast enough LOL.

Thanks for taking the time and giving us some great feed back!!!

[Nox]

No problem

I think the manual is too wide to read...at least for me

[codestryke]

Below is a screen cap of the admin panel showing a live feed of CyberStryke. Every 10 seconds an AJAX call is made and shows were all the player's are in the world. Being the geek I am I just sit there with the page open and watch everyone, looks pretty sweet on the big screen tv too LOL

The white squares are the current active player's in the net, you can mouse over them to get there name. The other colors are the corps, again mousing over them will show name, security level etc.

Anyways just wanted to share

[pavansss91]

Hey, do u build admin panel while developing your game or after finishing upto some % ?

[MystressNyx]

We have a basic admin panel that we use across all of our games. So the admin panel is added as soon as the game makes it onto the live server. It's modified later based on each game's individual needs.

[JGadrow]

It's a good thing you posted about the spelling being corrected later, codestryke. lol I'm assuming she'll also correct your grammar? lol

Also, I found these in the brief time I played:
System bugs:
(command issued: clicked 'delete' button on welcome message)
Notice: Undefined variable: deleteid in /home/cs/public_html/main/msgcenter-read.php on line 23

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/cs/public_html/main/msgcenter-read.php:23) in /home/cs/public_html/main/msgcenter-read.php on line 25

**note: message failed to delete.

(command issued: send blank line in chat)
Was directed to: javascript:chat_send()

(command issued: verify e-mail)
**note: e-mail was delivered to junk mail. Nothing I expect you to really fix... just figured you'd appreciate knowing that gmail, apparently, thinks that you're spam.

[Nox]

With the release of the game a lot of ppl went though and cleaned the creds out for the corp. When you do find creds it will display an alert letting you know they are there.

It would be a good idea then to implement replenishing of credit in corps and spawning players in that part of start locations where they can get some
...unless I get the mechanics wrong

[MystressNyx]

Yes, I correct grammar as well. lol

Fixed the msg center and chat button issues. As for gmail, we're not blacklisted, but it is hit and miss. We've done everything they require for verification, but it's just getting more and more difficult to keep up with each new change implemented to keep the spammers out. I'll go over the latest list and see if anything can be changed to increase the success rate of delivery.

Nox, credits and ICE are respawned every 4 hours. As things progress, we'll take a look at player trends and see about adjusting the timing if needed.

ETA: Just looked over the regen script and there was an error preventing the credits from being added. You should now see regular regens every 4 hours as planned.

[codestryke]

Thought I would post some design problems we've had and what we've done to address them

Biggest problem is people not reading the manual (go figure) or just running wildly though corps that are to high for there current level. To address this we've added decryption keys you need to find within the corps to unlock the next high corp color. Each key color will allow you to enter that color corp and all the ones below it, so a yellow key will allow entry into yellow, green and blue corps. Hopefully this type of system will help/restrict players to stay within the corps they can handle.

Next problem was the lack of an objective in the game. Since this is a PvE game we needed to put something in place that would give players a reason to come back to the game. This being our first PvE game I have to say PvP is much easier LOL. To address this problem I've added a hidden corp in the game that the players will need to find. Once they find the corp and enter the CPU of the corp the game will announce to them they are the winner of the game and the Zero Day virus has been released into the game. The Zero Day virus will basically ends the round 48 hours from the time of activation, any other player that enters will get there name in the winner table as well. Hopefully with an end goal in the game it'll give players a reason to continue playing.

[Chris]

Biggest problem is people not reading the manual (go figure)

What a surprise!
I try now to add funny pictures and humorous texts in beginner manuals (all is told/explained from a point of view of not so witty advisor), but wonder if it works...

Next problem was the lack of an objective in the game. Since this is a PvE game we needed to put something in place that would give players a reason to come back to the game. This being our first PvE game I have to say PvP is much easier LOL.

I have two 80%PvE/20%PvP games and it was probably the last time I made these. If you ever got working solutions to the problems you mentioned let us know.

[133794m3r]

just a little text error i saw. on the sign up page. When you're entering in your email address it says. "without a valid password you will not be able to recover your password"

[MystressNyx]

just a little text error i saw. on the sign up page. When you're entering in your email address it says. "without a valid password you will not be able to recover your password"

I haven't yet had the time to go through and make the internal corrections, but I did go ahead and change that since it's one I am likely to overlook later. Thanks.