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

A brief look at upcoming titles from PolyKhrome

Here's a quick look at the next titles that PolyKhrome currently has lined up behind our development for Cyka (please note that these games are not listed in order of development):

Deuces Wild!™


Join Jack Deuce, former secret agent and present head of the rogue agent team A>C<E (which stands for "Agency of Criminal Encroachment"), as he engages in the business of "criminal encroachment," which is where they stop secret world threats and take their piece of the criminals' share while they're at it.  Along the way, he searches for his traitor older brother and former A>C<E partner, Magnus Deuce.  This is an espionage/secret agent-style action game with a style that's Maverick-meets-Lupin the 3rd-meets-Mission: Impossible, with an emphasized jazzy soundtrack that'll give Cowboy Bebop a run for its money.  (The first episode of this series is the next PolyKhrome title in line for development.)


Dis_connected™

Play as a runaway rebel in a mech, seeking freedom from a desert post-apocalyptic science-fantasy world where everything is connected online by a constant stream of neurologically-addicting signal waves--a form of mind Internet through powerful neurologically-altering signal waves.  Citizens are hooked on the signal wave like a drug, done by major companies contracted to keep the people under their residual tyrannical governments' thumbs, and though many try to escape, few people ever succeed.

While you're struggling to escape from controlled task forces and hired bounty hunters chasing after you, your character struggles as you attempt to break them away from the highly-addictive mental signal, which your runaway mech pilot must overcome.  Meet up with other successful runaways, and help each other reach the rumored haven that all runaways risk their lives hoping exists.  The characters face the dangers of escaping into a wild dangerous fantasy world together while fighting cold-turkey against their lifelong addictions.  This science-fantasy mech RPG feels like Final Fantasy-meets-Front Mission-meets-Zone of the Enders.


Dis_connected II: Salvation Age™


For now, that's all we're going to tell about this one--the title.  ...Well, and that the game also involves interplanetary space travel, a secret space colony, and effort to finally free humanity from the brain-drug signal waves.  But that's all we're telling right now.


Mega Bits™

The virtual gaming world needs saving from a looming threat, and it's up to three (moronic) 8-bit characters to transcend through the many gaming dimensions to save the day.  They'll meet other video game legends along the way, as well as get use to new things as they experience life in other graphical worlds (like having shadows and actual voices for once).  This game is a parody genre-hopping nostalgia-overload adventure-role-playing game that shouts out to classic gaming culture.




Jewel Huntress Mai™

In a nutshell: Deep adventure, shallow girl.  Mai is a jewel huntress, someone who makes a living hunting for special and rare jewels besought by high-paying employers who want them for whatever reason, and she's brash and action-hungry.  When she is commissioned by her best friend Kimiko to help her find a rare yellow stone, she is unaware just how important the stone truly is, and furthermore, that some very powerful people are also seeking after the stone at any cost.  This game has a rich Japanese animé illustrative style reminiscent of Dragon Ball, with funny characters, a wild plot that leaves Mai confused, deep exploration, a dynamic third-person battle engine, and nice real-time cinematic touches to the game that makes it feel more like watching a show than playing a game.


Cyka II™ (working name)

     In Cyka, the threat came from the planet Rhye and the world divided over it.  In Cyka II, the threat comes to the planet Rhye and the world will unite over it.


There's a lot of work ahead for this company, but it all depends on our success with Cyka, and so Cyka is getting PolyKhrome's full and undivided attention.  We won't rest until Cyka is complete and running perfectly.

Heads Up: A new Facebook page and new Cyka details!

We've completed setting up the PolyKhrome Facebook page for the most part.  There's still much we will do to it, but for now, it's up and running.  Follow us on our Facebook page, where you can follow us for news and screenshots there as well as here and just say "Hi" to us (we answer your questions and reply to comments). In addition to the official Cyka website in development, we'll also use our Facebook page as a means to announce official Cyka online competitions and events at gaming conventions.

Now, you might be wondering, "Well, what exactly IS Cyka before I go Liking it?"

Well, here's a good inside look at Cyka:

Genre-wise, Cyka is a science-fiction game that takes the best of action, adventure, shooter, real-time strategy, tower-defense, turn-based strategy, and role-playing games, and blends them seamlessly to create a whole new kind of game.  We call this game in particular a "dynamic-turn action" game, due to its being an action game that plays on dynamically turning between real-time strategy and turn-based strategy elements.

What is the world of Cyka like?  In a nutshell, steampunk alien droids in a medieval-styled world with hints of cybernetic technology, on a large planet where continents are suddenly drifting around on the oceans and nobody knows why.  Imagine that.

Cyka has three main modes: Story, Versus, and Conquest.

In Story mode, you explore the world of the Raants race through the eyes of a Raant named Cyka.  King Cyka Auren, king and commander of the Knight faction of his Aurenda kingdom on the continent Zera, must lead his people through facing their world in crisis.  His vast planet, Rhye, is undergoing a mysterious shifting of the continents, new continents seem to appear near his and other known continents from the mists.  An even more mysterious continent has been floating in the clouds, to Cyka's wonder.  And furthermore, other factions from other known continents have begun warring over the presence of a normally rare metallic substance called gellium, which naturally occurs thousands of feet underground, now occurring in a rare abundance.  Gellium has several unique properties that have the potential to power the normally steam-powered Raant perpetually, and to replace their rust-capable Raant armor-like bodies.

Commander Cyka is a thoughtful and poised individual, left in charge as king by his father, the late king Samra Auren.  He's known for his notable skills in strategy and desire for peace, which comes in useful with leading his people through the various conflicts arising during this time the Raants have called the Gellium Wars.  While the world is in conflict, Cyka is in conflict with himself, wanting to bring end to the warring, and wanting to find a solution to the strange occurrences undergoing with his planet.  He has a theory, along with a few others (as he later finds), that the sudden abundance of gellium is related to the reason for the strange shifting of the continents.  As he leads his army in expedition to find out answers about their world, Cyka will learn of the mystery of continent in the clouds, which fascinates him.  He'll learn much about his world, which has stood in mystery for ages due to its rather inexplorable vast size, but what he'll need to find out the most is a solution to ending the Gellium Wars.

Story mode is about 20 hours long (which is long for a real-time strategy game) and will have extended replayability due to alternative perspectives (play as another commander of another faction) available as downloadable content.  The game's visual style is somewhere between realistic and illustrative, and the plot is rather dramatic but with touches of humor.  And while the action gets intense, the action never gets graphic.  In addition to an engaging single-player story mode, there are online multiplayer modes.

Versus mode is where players can play against each other online in set matches in a variety of ways.  Battle your fully-controllable army in two ways:

• Player vs. Player (PvP) Battle: Lead your army of up to 100 units against up to 5 friends and other players around the world, in customized or randomly-picked battles, with optional objectives.
• Team vs. Team (TvT) Battle: Join a battle as a unit of your choice with a team of up to 31 other players joined together as one team playing against another team of up to 32 other joined players to complete one of several objectives to gain your team victory.

Rule the leaderboards, unlock downloadable content, and engage in periodic official Cyka competitions for prizes.

Conquest mode is an online persistent-world mode where this game shines its brightest.  Explore the many continents of Rhye, secure new lands, build your faction army, collect resources necessary for building strongholds, create strategically-placed strongholds, capture neutral sites, and maintain your strongholds.  This is a persistent world, meaning that when you leave the game online, the game still goes on online, and your strongholds can therefore be affected.

You can leave the world for the day being on top of a continent, and come back to find your strongholds decimated.  Of course, there are ways to better ensure your protection with measures to try to hold your position while you're gone (such as strategic unit set-ups for your strongholds and employing tactics such as insuring key units with resurrections during battle and using single-use stat boosters), but no one is safe from a good strategy.  A good strategy can take down even the most secured stronghold.  You can be that unstoppable force on the field and totally rule your map one day, and come back the next to find you've been completely torn down, and you'll have to find a new place to set up and regrow your destroyed conquest.  No one proves immortal in this game--unless your just that good.

You can also seek neutral or abandoned castles, offer truces with other computer-controlled factions, and build powerful alliances with other player-controlled teams.  Or attack other castles, steal sites on behalf of your kingdom, and decimate other teams.  What you build in conquest, you keep.  It's totally up to you how you play.

The basic gameplay is synonymous in all three modes in Cyka--control a faction to accomplish your objective, be it to overtake the opponent or to seize their stronghold.  A faction is a style of army in the game.  You have five general factions to choose from, each bearing their own look, specialties and fighting style.  Play as one of five factions available in the game: Knight, Ninja, Tribal, Brawler, and Gunner. (Additional faction packs and costume packs will be released as downloadable content.)

• The Knight-styled faction (Cyka's style of faction) are well-rounded and are the most balanced of any faction.  They feature medium-ranged light shooter types, medium-strength brawlers types, medium-strength swordsman types, and medium-strength heavy artilery types.  They have good offense and good defense, and have the fastest fort-infiltration time.
• The Ninja-styled faction are masters of stealth combat.  They can briefly go invisible and have the fastest travel rate of all factions, but the trade-off is that during stealth combat their team coordination significantly drops and their defense is low during turn-based actioning.
• The Tribal-styled faction are masters of terrain advantage combat and health regeneration.  They excel in team coordination attacks during turn-based actioning, but feature poor defense.
• The Brawler-styled faction are masters of hard-hitting close-range combat.  They feature the most powerful attacks of all units and high defense, but they're the slowest units of all faction, vulnerable to long-ranged attacks, and the lowest repair rate.
• The Gunner-styled faction are masters of all forms of gunnery.  Everyone uses a projectile weapon of some form and they all have the quickest reloads, but the trade-off is that in relying exclusively on munitions, they have to skillfully manage stronger ammunition in battle or else its back to the weaker ammunition.

There are several unit types available for each faction, including fighter units, defender units, shooter units, heavy artillery units, and of course, the commander unit.  Typical units in a faction include:

• battlers (balanced fighters, including swordsmen)
• defenders (powerful close-range fighters)
• siege engine units
• riflemen
• snipers
• medics
• cannoneers
• commander unit (there's only one main commander per team)

There are several kinds of strongholds you can build and defend, and each are fully destructible.  The active playing fields are fully physics-bound and many objects are fully destructible.  Use fallen debris from destroyed strongholds, rocks, trees, and even your comrades (such as defender units) as cover.

The varying terrain heights of the active playing field also plays into effect, as short-ranged attacks from higher regions typically cause higher damage, though it leaves attackers in a more vulnerable position, which can instead give some defending units the advantage.  Long-ranged attacks from higher regions give greater protection and greater range of attack on lower enemy units, but these attacks' accuracy and strength reduce with distance.

Cyka will likely be rated Teen, as the gameplay is better suited for older gamers.  This game will be available for PC, Mac, iOS and Android, and for Linux through a browser version, and will play cross-platform across each.  Matchmaking will be in accordance to an account and not platform-dependent, so PC Cyka players can play free against iOS players, Mac players against Android, and Android players against iOS, so on.  Owners of both a desktop version and a mobile version of Cyka will be able to play the game on one platform and continue it on the other via persistent cloud-based storage of game saves.

This game will seek support through Kickstarter.  The Kickstarter supporters will received their digital copies of the finished game (both a desktop and mobile versions, DRM-free) straight from us here at PolyKhrome, and others gamers will be able to buy Cyka from the PolyKhrome Store (coming soon).  They'll also be able to buy the PC or Mac version of Cyka from Indievania and a web-browser version from Chrome Web Store, where Linux gamers can buy and play the web-browser version of Cyka.  The iOS or Android mobile version of Cyka will be available from the App Store and Google Play respectively.  There will be available a special edition of Cyka called Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition, which features a special Cloud Quest mode where you can finally explore that mysterious continent in the clouds and solve its mystery.

Steam will have its own special version of Cyka called Cyka: Steamed Edition.  Steam users will be able to utilize Steam's matchmaking, Steam Achievements, Steam Leaderboards, and Steam Cloud save service.  As the Steam version of Cyka will only be able to use Steamworks, the Steamed Edition game will include the Cloud Quest mode, a special Steam-inspired Commander Cyka model, and free exclusive downloadable content.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg!  There's a lot in the works for Cyka, and PolyKhrome is going into overdrive with its development.  Screenshots are on the way, and will be posted on here and on Facebook.  Be sure to follow us on our Facebook page.

Oh, and the first 100 people to Like our Facebook page and leave the comment "I want Cyka!" will receive a FREE PC or Mac copy of Cyka upon its completion.  Readysetgo!

Some new details about Cyka

Here's some new details about PolyKhrome's debut game Cyka:

• This game defines a new sub-genre of real-time strategy games, quite unlike anything out there.
• Though this game is genre-defining, it will strongly appeal to those who like online RTSes and RPGs.  If you like such games as StarCraft II, the Fire Emblem series or Fallout 3, you'll love this game.
• The game is a high-end indie game ("AAA indie game") featuring a highly-stylized realistic style, to be beautifully rendered by the Unity Engine.
• The single-player Story mode is about 20 hours long (which is impressive for an RTS game).
• In Conquest mode, the game goes on while you're offline and your stats are affected.
• The game comes with a PC/Mac standalone version of the game, along with an additional iOS/Android version of the game.  This will allow players cross-platform gaming on the road to play others online regardless of platform and access their Conquest mode game stats online from their mobile devices.  (A Linux computer version of the game would be supported via Chrome Native Client version of the game.)
• This game will be made to look beautiful no matter what you play it on.  Whether you play it on your high-end computer or your smartphone or tablet.  It will feature special consideration for controls and graphical capabilities for netbooks and ultrabooks.
• This game will feature a stellar soundtrack that truly make the atmosphere of Cyka as fantastic as the game plays.
• This game will be DRM-free.
• There will eventually be online tournaments and hosted events at indie gaming conventions around the U.S. and Canada (similar in the vein of StarCraft tournaments).
• PolyKhrome will enter the 15th Annual Independent Games Festival in 2013.  (Even though this game won't be 100% finished by time for submission in Autumn 2012, there will still be enough of the game finished to showcase it.  We are confident our game will win the grand prize.)
• The commercial release for Cyka is targeted at Autumn 2013.  (This is about 6 months more than originally planned, but the game is pushed back due to a new larger scope of the game planned.)
• The expected price of the game is about $9.99.
• This game will be supported by a Kickstarter fundraiser (which is currently being organized).  Early supporters of Cyka will receive special editions of the game earlier in Summer 2013 than the regular release targeted at Autumn 2013, which features exclusive special edition characters (exclusive to early supporters' special edition copy of Cyka) and a special edition Conquest mode (which will be available commercially).
• The special edition Conquest mode (called Cloud Quest mode) features an entirely new continent in the clouds (yes, a continent in the sky, which Cyka gazes at in the cinematics in Story mode) to explore and conquer, and we'll give it to the supporters, as our thanks.  We will let you know when the Kickstarter will be available soon, and will be offering special editions of the game to early supporters.
• Early supporters through Kickstarter will exclusively receive monthly development release versions of the game, as well as some of our latest concept art and a special behind-the-scenes look at the making of Cyka, all the way up to the game's final release.
• Early supporters will also receive a sneak peak into our next two games lined up.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg.  We have so many things planned for this franchise, and early followers are in for a treat.  Stay tuned for more updates on the development of Cyka!

Our debut is called...Cyka.

We're announcing development of our first game, a unique game called Cyka.  For the time being, we're going to be a bit sparse on the details (the game's mechanics are so unique, we want to be the first to create the first of its kind), but we will share this much with you:

In Story mode, you play as a steampunk robotic being named Cyka who is a commander of a medieval-style alien steampunk robot army of knights on an antique-style alien world.  As Cyka, you're in charge of defending your homeland against invading neighboring cities by leading an army of up to 200 units (in Story).  There are also two other modes: Versus mode and Conquest mode, both of which are multiplayer online, and though single-player Story mode will be top-notch (and extendable with downloadable content), the online multiplayer modes are where this game really shines.

The target period for completing development of this game is around December 2012, though the game is estimated to take about 7 months of full-time development (subject to change, and depends on how well the game can be supported and how much the company can get done). Cyka will be released for PC and Mac, and I plan for an iOS/Android tablet co-release and possibly Linux (depending how much support we can get for such).

I've already got a game design document near completion, and so far, it's about 15 pages.  I'll post the entire Cyka game document here soon.  Stay tuned for more details.

- Brian

PolyKhrome Games™ is now PolyKhrome™

Hi!  Just a brief update here.

First of all, we're simplifying our name from "PolyKhrome Games" to just "PolyKhrome."

Two reasons: One, we think it sounds better.  Two, it'll make our logo a lot easier to create (which is coming pretty soon).

We've been quite busy preparing some of the projects we're undergoing, and we'll keep you informed pretty soon.  And this blog is still in early development, as we're also working on an official website (coming soon).

- Brian Lockett, founder and chief developer of PolyKhrome