Introducing the Leap (and perhaps the start of a beautiful friendship)

PolyKhrome is interested in this technology!  The developers of the Leap are providing free software developer kits to registered and qualified developers, to have more software utilize this revolutionary device (which, by the way, is planned to be priced at a mere $70).  This strongly interests me as a developer, and immediately brings to mind some great uses for our next games.

For instance, Deuces Wild! is a secret agent game where you'll get to play around with all sorts of gadgets at your disposal developed by A>C<E, where gamers will be able to use Wacom Bamboo tablets, touchscreen tablets and microphones as input devices--the Leap goes right down the alley of a game like that!  I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, though.  In our upcoming game Dis_connected, players will be controlling their mech units from within at times, switching to the perspective of operating the machine as a mech pilot in the real-time battle encounters.  You can start to see the sheer potential this technology has for gaming.  Even indie games.  At the Leap's planned price and availability of the SDK, I'd say this is something every indie game developer should seriously consider.

Not to mention, you can just imagine how useful the Leap would be in the actual game development process itself--the technology was born out of a need to make working with 3D modeling programs work easier.  The Leap is more intuitive than the keyboard, more accurate than a mouse, and more sensitive than a touchscreen.  (You can see it more in action here.)  This is easily the most revolutionary step in user interface for computer technology to come along since the invention of the mouse.  And while I personally don't think it'll completely replace the keyboard and mouse, I think it'll certainly be an addition we simply won't live without (it's certainly a small enough device to accompany the keyboard and mouse)!

I can personally say that this company will be strongly considering becoming a developer for the Leap down the line, especially since this company will be developing its own game engine and other game development-related software soon.  We like using game engines, but we'd like to use a customized solution.  But in any case, expect to hear more about this technology in the media--and our concept usages of it for games on this blog--later down the road.  For now, you can visit their website for more information and to pre-order the Leap.

- Brian

Free terrain maps heading going to the Unity Asset Store today

We're releasing several terrain maps freely available at the Unity Asset Store a little later today.  Few of them we created to use in our game demos.  They'll be untextured and without additional props but free for any use, even commercial (just as long as you don't reproduce exactly our landscapes from the game!).  We can spare to freely share a few maps, since there'll be over 100 more in the game!

PolyKhrome will periodically release free assets from our game Cyka available at the Unity Asset Store and  TurboSquid, and BlendSwap.  We like to share some of our work with others, and encourage people to use them in whatever creative ways they can imagine.  You can expect more releases periodically in the future.  And hey, we'd love to hear from you about how you used them!  Post them on our Facebook page!  Enjoy!

- PolyKhrome Team


[5/25/2012] Update: Bare with us, folks--we've decided to provide some detail assets to the free untextured terrain maps, such as rocks and trees.  We're also uploading a package of 3 large maps for purchase at $10 that are fully-textured, loaded with animated and static props assets, low-poly and ready for any game production.  We'll post them up on the Unity Asset Store at the same time and post up a link to them both when we're done.

New PolyKhrome logo in development

The current temporary PolyKhrome Blog logo

The PolyKhrome logo is undergoing a redesign.  The current ones we've been using for this blog and our Facebook page are just placeholders we quickly created because at the time, we really didn't have an official logo yet.  But now ideas have been brewing, and soon we'll be replacing those temporary logos.  Our next one will be much more pleasant to behold, easier to create into an icon, and more readily identifiable.  Now only will our current blog's banner see this new logo, but when we've finally finished one, the new logo will be the one featured on the Cyka demos and eventually the finished Cyka game.

An early look at the Kickstarter pledge offerings

Soon.  Very soon...

Here's just an early look at just what supporters of this game can expect to get in return for supporting development of Cyka.  We're also using this article as the main reference to the Kickstarter offerings to use with our Kickstarter page (because this list is too long to put on the Kickstarter page, so we'll refer readers to this list).  Please keep in mind that many of these are still works in progress and that their expected delivery dates will be announced on our Kickstarter page (which is being finished up):

• At the $1 level, supporters will get a Cyka wallpaper, with or without the logo, for their computer desktop and mobile device, as our thanks.  Also, they'll receive their name placed on the interactive Hall of Legends on the official Cyka website (which is an explorable museum-like tribute correlating to the game).  (All pledge level supporters will receive this.)
• At the $10 level, supporters will get the desktop version and the mobile version of the Cyka (digital DRM-free copy directly from PolyKhrome).  I'll even give them them my personal gamer tag, just so they can play against me, the creator of Cyka, online--and this goes for all levels supported above this one.
• At the $15 level, supporters will get the desktop and mobile versions of Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition, which is the special edition of Cyka that features Cloud Quest mode, allowing exploration of the mysterious floating continent in the game (digital DRM-free copy directly from PolyKhrome).
• At the $25 level, supporters will get the aforementioned desktop and mobile versions of Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition, plus a Kickstarter-exclusive gold-edition Commander Cyka option in each game (you can switch between a gold-color Cyka and the standard bronze-color Cyka), along with the official Cyka soundtrack.
• At the $50 level, supporters will get everything mentioned before, plus the Cyka: Steamed Edition to enjoy on Steam, plus a signed poster print of a scene of the almighty blue grid falling on the battling units on the field (a picture will be provided).  We'll also send three of the supporter's friends a copy of Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition (non-Steam PC or Mac desktop version), to enjoy Cyka with each other online.
• At the $100 level, supporters will get everything mentioned before, plus we'll customize the commander unit in the supporter's copy of the game after their request (to use with any faction).  They'll be the only one in the world with that model.  They'll also receive all purchasable downloadable content that ever comes for Cyka of any version, including Steamed Edition (more info on the DLC will be later provided).  They'll also receive the Cyka: Steamed Edition 4-Pack package for Steam, with one copy for themselves and three copies give to away and to enjoy with three friends on Steam.
• At the $500 level, supporters will get everything mentioned before, plus we'll customize any one already-existing faction in the game of their choice completely tailored to their request.  These supporters will be the only one in the world with their specialized army.  We'll also send them a limited-edition highly-detailed stainless steel miniature figurine of Commander Cyka (their choice of 1 of 3 designs), with a glossy antique bronze finish to truly make the commander shine in true steampunk fashion.
• At the $1000 level, well, we'll need to really step it up here.  Supporters will get everything mentioned before, plus we'll create an entire new downloadable continent in their honor (which they'll receive).  They can name it whatever they want, tell us what geographical features they want with it, and tell us what style of music they want for it.  And in addition to already creating their one-of-a-kind customized army from the previous pledge level, we'll create an entirely new faction of units after their request to go along with their new continent.  We'll help them design it well, because we'll create a small website and webstore just for them to sell their faction and continent as purchasable downloadable content and they'll keep 100% of those profits.  They can play with pride as other gamers explore the world and use the brand-new faction in Cyka they designed.  Supporters will also receive an exclusive collection of stainless steel miniature figurines of Commander Cyka (their choice of 1 of 3 designs) and four other figurines of the 4 types of units in Cyka's Knight faction: archer, brawler, swordsman, and heavy artillery.  They can let their miniature figurines shine in their glorious glossy gold-plated finish, presented on a beautiful plaque (beautifully-etched copper surface on a glass board) of our appreciation.
• At the $5000 level (a limited reward - 10 available), supporters will get everything mentioned before, plus they'll get 50 copies of Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition bundles that each include 5 downloadable content packages and a royal outfit for Commander Cyka exclusive to those copies (valued at about $25 each bundle) to do whatever you want with them--sell them, give them away, or keep them (if you want).  They'll receive a copy of everything PolyKhrome ever produces (all our games, our purchasable downloadable content, our game soundtracks, and even our non-game stuff such as our animated feature of Cyka--everything!).  If they're another indie company/small business, we'll place their company logo and website in the end credits of the game, and give a special shout-out to their company website in the interactive Hall of Legends on the official Cyka website.  We'll give each of these supporters a special character cameo as special agents in our next game Deuces Wild!, with the character made after their image and their name listed in the ending credits.
• At the $10,000 level (an exclusive reward - 1 available) the supporter at this point can almost have one of my kidneys.  They'll get everything mentioned before, plus access to the full assets to the entire Cyka game (their choice of the Unity assets or the UDK assets) in order to develop their own company's edition of downloadable content for Cyka to release commercially (royalty-free) to contribute to the franchise.  We'll also include their company logo with a special thanks in the opening credits of the official Cyka game from PolyKhrome.  They'll also receive a giant memorial in the Hall of Legends on the Cyka website, with their logo created in the form of a crest and their contribution told in the form of an ancient historical account of how they helped found the land of King Cyka's people centuries ago.  Also, as many members of the PolyKhrome as possible will plan with the supporter a day to visit them and we'll have lunch, chat about future projects of PolyKhrome, and, of course, play a few some rounds of Cyka together.

As you can see, we have quite a lot lined up for supporters who will help make this game reach its fullest potential.  We're not ready to disclose our fund goal just yet, because we wish to first show our work before we ask for anything.  PolyKhrome is working to create a good example showing just what supporters will get and providing some foresight as to just where their support will take this game.  I personally want this game to play myself, and so PolyKhrome is expecting nothing less than the best for this game.  Stay tuned for more frequent updates about the upcoming playable demos and the Kickstarter campaign pretty soon.

- Brian


[5/26/2012] Update: About the customization at the $100 level, supporters will have many available choices for customization for their commander units shown for them.  The commander units will be truly unique, nonetheless.  We have to point that out here because there's simply no way we could completely customized from the ground up for hundreds of people, which is most likely to get far more support than the higher levels.  The customization the of models at the levels higher than the $100 level, however, are completely customization to their models, as they are expected to have fewer supporters.

I also wish to make clear here that these customized models are just aesthetic customizations only--they will by no means operate differently than other models in the games and for the sake of the game, we will not make any units more powerful than the others.  The only exception somewhat, though, will be for any supporters at the $1000 level, where we'll help them define the attacks and movement styles of their newly-created faction for their newly-created continent in the game.  But again, there will be no major advantages given to these models over other units in the game, for the fairness of the game.

Update: EVERYONE will be able to play Cyka

Cutting straight to the chase, we're making two versions of Cyka so that anyone on any preferred platform can enjoy the game.  Excuse me.  [Writer does a little dance.]


One game, two experiences


One version of Cyka will allow gamers on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android to play together online cross-platform, and now, we've already began creating a version of Cyka that will be exclusive to Steam called Cyka: Steamed Edition.

We've said earlier today that we're working on two different playable demos for Cyka.  Well, this is why we're doing such--to provide a playable example of each version of Cyka, to show our supporters a good taste of what they'll be supporting soon.  And really, this came to us just as a great solution.

Cyka: Steamed Edition


As we've mentioned before, Cyka: Steamed Edition will be a special version of the game built just for Steam to best take advantage of Steam's features.  One problem we were having in making Cyka available for Steam was that it wouldn't be able to play cross-platform with other non-Steam versions of the game, namely the mobile versions, and so we wanted to make a special version for Cyka that would justify being available only just for Steam.

But what's new about the development of this Steam version of the game is that now it will be a very different experience from the original non-Steam version.  While the two versions of the game will play the exact same way in terms of gameplay, the major noticeable difference about Cyka: Steamed Edition will be that it is created using the Unreal Development Kit, and so it will have visuals in a league of its own compared to the standard Cyka game for non-Steam versions built with the Unity Engine (which will still be one beautiful game).  The environments will be noticeably more destructible and interactive as well.  It will feel like its own game because basically it is--it's a version of Cyka built uniquely with UDK from the ground up.

In addition to the visual upgrade, Cyka: Steamed Edition will be able to utilize Steam's matchmaking service, Steam Achievements, Steam Leaderboards, Steam Cloud save service, co-op multiplayer and in-game chat (though some of these features will be on the non-Steam versions, too).  As the Steam version of Cyka will only be able to use Steam's platform Steamworks, the game will cost lower than the non-Steam desktop version of Cyka, it will include the Cloud Quest mode, and there will be free exclusive content for this version as well.

Pick your store soon...

...now soon including Steam!

Recap


So, let's recap just a bit at what we're looking at here:

• Cyka (standard desktop version) (PC or Mac standalone; Linux supported via web browser version)
• Cyka (standard mobile version) (iOS or Android)
• Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition (PC or Mac standalone; Linux supported via web browser version)
• Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition (iOS or Android)
• Cyka: Steamed Edition (exclusive Steam edition for PC and Mac)

Phew!  And then you can also include the free browser-based game, Cyka Free (a scaled-down single-player single-mode version of Cyka with four playable maps and is totally free to play), but that's merely to a scaled version to whet gamers' appetite for the one of the richer multiplayer version of Cyka.

But how?!


But you might be wondering, "How are you now able to do this now?  Weren't you having problems with using the Unity game engine before?"

Well, we're able to do this now because after many hours of searching, we finally found a solution to the problem we were facing before in dealing with Unity's terrain system (two simple little scripts that solved our problem were sitting in the back of a Unity forum, waiting).  But now with Unity back as an option, while we sure didn't want to abandon using Unity (in order to keep Cyka truly cross-platform), we also didn't want to abandon this new version of Cyka we started developing on UDK--which before our solution we were looking at being the only version of Cyka to develop then.

But then we remembered that we were looking for a way to justify having our game on Steam, which wouldn't have allowed cross-platform gaming to non-Steam games (such as a mobile version of Cyka).  We had already had this idea of a "Steamed Edition" on the backburner of our ideas for quite a while now, but we recently just put the two situations together here.  We wanted to do this version of Cyka using the UDK that we started making and we always wanted to have the Cyka experience available on Steam.  So, in light of just recently finding a way around our problem with Unity Engine, we asked ourselves, "Why not make make this UDK-developed Cyka be our Steam-exclusive version of the game?"

So these two ideas just came together so beautifully and just in time for our Kickstarter crowd-funding effort!  Cyka: Steamed Edition finally gives us a way to justify both building a UDK-developed version of Cyka and providing an exclusive version of the game for Steam as well.   It fits in well with our development planning, and though it's taking a little readjustment to our Kickstarter plans (again), we think it'll be well worth it.  (Plus, we also really didn't want to give up that rather clever title--I mean, "Steamed Edition," for a special edition of a steampunk-themed game that'll be exclusive on Steam?  There's no way we're letting that one go!)

Supporters can get them all!


Many of our Kickstarter supporters can receive both the non-Steam and the Steam version of Cyka.  But we're making this so that any supporter both during and after our Kickstarter campaign receiving any version of the game can fully enjoy the rich experience that is Cyka--and you'll get to taste that experience very soon.  No matter which version you pick up, you'll enjoy the game, and no matter which version you'll have, you will have thousands of gamers to play with.  We will explain just what offerings we have in mind for our Kickstarter supporters on the next upcoming article.  Stay tuned!

- Brian

We're working on two demos to present with our Kickstarter

The title says it all.  We're working on two different playable demos to present as the example of Cyka that we'll be seeking some support with through Kickstarter.  This is something we've been planning for almost four long months now, and really, we want to kick our Kickstarter into final production pretty soon.  More details about the Kickstarter while be revealed soon (some later today, in fact), and we've got some great offerings in store for supporters (we're talking just plain awesome stuff), but we just have to say that the demos comes first.  Without these demos, we feel there's no selling the game with support through Kickstarter, so we've been taking our time and extra care on developing these demos.

- Brian

Update: Change of plans (and what it means)

I've tried.  I've really tried.  But for this game Cyka, the Unity Engine's just not working out.  Simply said, PolyKhrome just needs a better game engine for this game.  We need a better toolset with more options like better texturing options, tessellation and advanced lighting features and a far more memory-efficient terrain system.  We like the Unity Engine and really would like to use it, but PolyKhrome would rather have a successful game than an abandoned project due to us wasting time trying to find ways past Unity's technical limitations.  So now Cyka is being developed with the Unreal Development Kit, and really, we probably should've gone with this from the beginning.

Ah, the relief!

Now, with this change does come some changes in our plans as well.  The immediate change is that the targeted platform is reduced, because UDK currently only supports development for PC, Mac, and iOS.  So Cyka development will focus on those platforms.  The iOS version will still play cross-platform with the PC and Mac version.  We're losing a couple platforms here, but we're going with what's going to help make this project successful with completion, and that's UDK.

Another change with this switch, though for the better, is that Cyka is going to get a major graphical boost now--something closer to the original vision for Cyka, in fact.  In fact, thanks to UDK's memory-efficient terrain system, we can make the world of Rhye in the game feel bigger and livelier than ever.  In fact, that's largely part of why we're switching.

The biggest reason why we're switching is simple: Unity currently makes it quite difficult to create a game of Cyka's scale for both desktop and mobile platforms.  While we could just make the 100+ explorable regions in Cyka as meshes, the process would take just way too long to do, and we want to get something playable pretty soon.  Trying to work around the technical limitations of Unity's terrain system would cost us too much time and effort, and we've got a goal to meet.

As usual, this effects our plans with our upcoming Kickstarter soon, as well (which has been in planning for about three months now).  It takes time to set up a Kickstarter, because you have to do a lot of planning (and re-planning).  Believe it or not, we'd only see about 50% of any Kickstarter funds going towards the actual game development, due to various costs.  Kickstarter wants 5% and Amazon would take 3-5% for credit card processing fees, and then there's applicable taxes, pledge offering production costs, shipping costs, 5% going towards KickItForward, and now a 20% royalty to give to Epic Games to figure into the costs (they consider such efforts as Kickstarter as applicable for royalties).  But we'll get to that pretty soon.  In fact, we really need to get our Kickstarter started by this month.

Before we can start talking about Kickstarter and go through with raising financial support, we have to show them something with promise, and UDK's definitely going to help us there.  I want people to totally love this game as much as I love it.  We have to sell this game just right.  We want to make sure that perfect is what folks will get.  UDK will help PolyKhrome do this.

- Brian

By the way, this effectively ends our platform poll.  Thanks to those who participated.

New Follow Us! page (as well as a couple others)

If you've visited this site before, maybe you've noticed that we've been gradually adding some pages to it, notably the Demos page and the Behind The Scenes page (which will be used really soon).  Well, now we've added another page--the Follow Us! page.

From this page, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and, soon, YouTube.  And you'll want to check out each, and consider following us one (or maybe even all--if you can handle it) of these ways.

We plan not just to use these social networking venues as a means to broadcast updates on game development, but as time goes on with our game development, as our official PolyKhrome website undergoes construction, and as we near our Kickstarter campaign (which should be arriving sometime in the fourth week of this month of May--about two weeks away), we're going to be using each of these social networking sites big time, and each one has its own advantage:

• During Cyka development, we'll be posting updates on Facebook and Twitter often times before we post them here on the blog.
• During our Cyka Kickstarter campaign, you can help Cyka become the game of our dreams by sharing news of our Kickstarter with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
• You can help PolyKhrome get put on the map by giving a "+1" to our blog site with your Google account (which shows up on your Google + accounts as well).
• After Cyka is finished, we'll be using the Facebook page extensively for everything from announcing official online Cyka tournaments to giving news about newly available downloadable content.
• And, of course, you'll be able to easily share any of this directly with your friends!

At any of these sites, you'll be able to chat with us directly, and with other fans of this and our other series (and we just know our series will draw fans).  We love to hear from gamers and we want to keep an awesome community about our games.  After all, we want to play our own games, too!

Also, on YouTube, you'll be able to watch trailers, development diaries, brief showings of test matches (when our game goes into the testing phase), and even a full-length animated feature of Cyka planned.  PolyKhrome plans to release full tutorials of not just how we do some of our game development, but also how to use some of our game-development-related software coming soon from a sister company (which we'll leave unnamed just for now, but you'll hear much more about later down the road).

We're currently a small indie company (and I mean really small), but we have the intention to grow as a company, the ambition to create truly awesome content, and the determination to deliver it all in style.  Please considering following us along the way!

Oops!: A simple correction about the map's size!

Two days ago, I wrote that the terrain map for the development demo was 10 square miles (16 sq. km.) in size, and after reading through my article again (and never thinking those numbers were right to begin with), it just didn't seem right.  It rested unsettled on my mind like an endless itch on the brain, an unending quivering in my soul, and even made me question the meaning of life (well, okay, it just bugged me, that's all...).

Well, just in case you thought that sounded funny or weren't really impressed with those numbers, that's because I was measuring the terrain in accordance to the units of the other program I used to build the terrain instead of the accurate units of measure of the game engine itself.  :P

Indeed, Captain Picard...

The correct size of the terrain is actually about 98 square miles (or 256 square kilometers).  The terrain itself in the game engine measures to 16,000 meters (or 16 kilometers) long and wide, which is close to 10 miles (9.94 miles, to be more exact) long and wide, and when you do the math there (you know, the right math which I failed to properly arrive to), it's about 100 square miles (98.8 square miles, to be more exact).

The units of the other program I was using to get the base of the terrain was set to using its own non-standard measure of units (though, I could've set them as meters, which I thought were already done) and that's where I got that funky number from.  And it's funny, too, because I did the calculation several times because it just didn't seem right, wondering what I was missing, if I was missing something.  But, silly me, I was calculating using the numbers of the non-standard unit of measure from the other program, not the metric units of the game engine.

And when you do the math (again--and right this time), that means you'll have about 800 to 1,000 square miles (or about 2,072 to 2,590 sq. km.) of fully-traversable in-game terrain with the game, plus the additional continents that will be available for Cyka as downloadable content!  (Phew!  That's better!)  Again, for an indie game, that's an amazing amount of world to explore.  We want this game to easily compare to the size of maps in games like World of Warcraft (even though this game itself bears very little resemblance to that game).

I thought I'd clear that up, because the size is rather hard to determine at this stage of the current demo.  Between the faster rate of travel you're going in the demo, and the lack of references that give you an idea of just how big the mountains are in the terrain, it would've been near impossible to get a sense of just how big the terrain actually is (and furthermore, a sense of just how big this game will be).

In the real world, 300 square miles really isn't very big, after all, but it's tricky capturing that sense of actual distance in a game and kinda taking account of that I just figured that the numbers must've been right.  But nope--ignore that!  The game's not that small!  If anything, 100 square miles is the size of one map in the game, not the sum of all the map in the game!  Though, the size of the maps will manifest better once you've seen actual models and animated characters on the terrain.

Too many numbers, too many programs, too little sleep!  Sorry about that!

- Brian

Update: A first demo and an early look at Cyka himself!

Hey, folks!  You can download our first demo released this week here (available for Windows and Mac)!  It's just a simple development demo built to show just how big one region in Cyka is.  Keep in mind that this is a development demo, and it's kept rather barren here to showcase the terrain size itself.  This is demo "1a" because we're releasing updates to this demo soon (you can expect two more, demo 1b and demo 1c, within the next week).

Screenshot from demo

You're exploring this map in first-person view, which is unlike in the game, where characters will roam around in third-person view (by default, though they can roam in first-person view as well).  There is a "README" file that provides a few more details about this demo, but basically, this map is about 10 square miles (16 sq. km.) and it's just one of about 100 persistent-world regions you can explore in Cyka.  As a note, in this demo, you're traveling across it at a much faster rate than the actual characters will walk and run (though, even in the game, faster means of transportation will be available in the game).

This demo is a big deal because it helps convey the sheer size of one region, and gives you an idea of the scope of this game.  Each of the ten main continents in the game will each feature around 8 to 10 different regions similar to this map's size in the demo.  When you do the math, that means you'll have about 80 to 100 square miles (or about 128 to 160 sq. km.) of fully-traversable in-game terrain with the game, plus the additional continents that will be available for Cyka as downloadable content!  Yeah, for an indie game, this game is straight-up huge!  And for the kind of persistent-world gameplay Cyka will have, it has to be.

Also making news today, we have a first look at Cyka...we mean the actual character Cyka!  You've been waiting for some kind of concept of our lead character Commander Cyka for a while now, and there are several designs in development for Commander Cyka, but we thought we'd share this early concept of Cyka, to give you a basic idea of where we're going with his design.  Here you go:

Commander Cyka, in the metal!

This concept design feels cooler when you listen to it with Foo Fighter's "Bridge Burning" playing (well, maybe I'm just saying that because it's in my personal soundtrack while I work...).  Anyways, this rough concept design merely reflects the general idea of Cyka's design--by no means will the final form look exactly like this.  In fact, it's missing his royal helmet, emblem, body (obviously), and quite a lot of other details you'll see in the final design, and this design will look rather naked.  You'll see in the future released concept designs of all our characters retain a feeling of both medieval classiness with hard rock/heavy metal attitude.  There are a number of designs we're not ready to share just yet (yeah, we know--we say that a lot), but we work better not sharing our latest designs immediately.  We want good first impressions of our work.  We're putting a lot of care into designing our cybernetic steampunk alien robotic world-exploring royal commander.  Holding ourselves to a high standard, it's a quality thing with us and we're working to make sure it's worth the wait!

On to other news, if you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, then you already got this update before this blog did, and generally, those places are where we'll give our latest updates first.  If you haven't already, consider following us on Facebook or Twitter.  The first 100 people to Like our PolyKhrome Facebook page and leave the comment "I want Cyka!" (or something of that nature) will get a free copy of the game (Windows or Mac version) when its completed.  And an official Cyka Facebook fan page is also in the works.

By the way, in case you didn't know, we have a poll (right below the "Search This Blog" search box to the right of this blog), titled "What platform(s) would you play Cyka on?" and with choices and everything.  If you'd be so kind, you can help PolyKhrome out by simply choosing all the answers that apply to you (you can choose more than one answer).  Your input would help us out--a lot, in fact.

You see, we're currently experimenting with game engines, and while Unity seems to be the first choice, if Android and Linux demand just aren't high enough, we might just go with the Unreal Development Kit for Cyka instead.  And if mobile versions aren't significant enough in the poll, we might postpone the mobile version of Cyka to focus on working on the desktop version, doing the mobile only after finishing the desktop version.  But if Android and Linux versions are of noticeable demand, and/or if mobile versions are of noticeable demand, we'll carry on with the Unity Engine as we have been, to best provide the game for as many platforms as possible (something not easily done with UDK or CryEngine SDK).

And finally, you can view more new screenshots like the one pictured above here by visiting the Screenshots page.  They are screenshots of what you'll find on the simple development demo, showing a concept design of a map in Cyka to reveal just how expansive a single region is in the game.  There's also a screenshot showing you where a secret little path is on one area of the mountain (there's two subtle paths in the mountains--find them!).  Expect future screenshots of this map to blow these developmental screenshots away.

- Brian


Correction: This terrain is 100 square miles big, not 10 square miles!

Hey, we got a poll.

Yep, it's right there on the right side under the "Search This Blog" search box.  Multiple choice, too.  It's small, but it'll help the development of Cyka.  And I know you're waiting on more content--we're working on a little demo now.  Patience, my children...

Also, check out our Twitter updates like two blocks down below the poll.  (And maybe even consider Following us at Twitter, if you feel particularly daring today...)

- Brian