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CyberOwlGames
Home of Cyber Owl Games, we're a small indie company developing Cyber Rift, a story-driven romance visual novel (in development). In the mean time between updates we're making fancy pinups!

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CyberOwlGames's News

Posted by CyberOwlGames - September 28th, 2023


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We want to preface this by saying it is an UNFINISHED version. Even though the performance and overall feel is miles ahead of before, not all the character sprite poses are done or in game. We’ll rapidly improve the build every 2-3 days for the 3 weeks minimum. When the build is stable we'll be updating our demo on Newgrounds!


Been a little while! From our initial release of Cyber Rift we’ve been very keen on adding brand new content and planets to explore, new girls to meet, and brand new story content to the game. Due to issues with our initial implementation we were slowed to a crawl, and we really had to dig deep and comb through the build to make sure everything was up to snuff. We can happily say the build is now better, faster, and full of brand new content!


Big Changes and Fixes:


Naninovel has been removed

-With our initial build since we weren’t as confident in our skills we used a tool called Naninovel for all of the dialogue throughout the game. After realizing that this was a big mistake since it created a ton of conflicts with how the engine ran on top of our Adventure Creator tool, as well as slowed down the game dramatically, we decided enough was enough and now was the time to remove. We can confidently say with its removal the game is dramatically faster and overall much better feel


Character Sprites have been improved

-In our old format for sprites they were originally just a solid piece with the face as masks. This wasn’t an awful way of doing things, but we realized we could do so much more. Our brand new sprites are built from the ground up for easy movements and changes during dialogue. Each character has several arms, eyes, eyebrows and mouth poses to allow for much better expression during dialogue. They’re also now layered characters with all the pieces on top, which will let us give players the ability to change outfits in the future. This build does not have any alternative outfits besides the Cyberia jackets, but we’re excited to be adding whole new ones in the future.


Whole new dialogue system

-Even though we’ve built the primary way of talking in Adventure Creator we actually went one step further! Our new tool is able to directly convert text into usable gameplay in seconds. What this means is when we’re creating brand new content it’s a hell of a lot faster and it’ll make future updates take a lot less time. To put it in perspective, pretty much all the dialogue for the Cyberia update (all 41 pages of it) was built using the new tool and was implemented into the game in 3 days. We had to take the time to make sure everything was working correctly and wouldn’t mess up with the initial versions, but now we’re extremely confident for future content.


UI has been improved

-With the old build we were bouncing between Naninovel and Adventure Creator for the dialogue, but now it’s a unified and cohesive experience. Every single interaction and menu in the game is built in Adventure Creator. This makes everything much faster and smoother overall, and we’re hoping people enjoy the new UI elements.


Title Screen has been improved

-We wanted to improve the overall feeling of the game by fixing up our title screen and making everything feel smoother. We’ve also added a new “Start from Patch'' option to let people not have to play through the entire game just to see new content. This button will be up to date every single update so you’ll constantly be able to skip ahead if you just want to see the new stuff. You’ll be able to experience for yourself, but we really do think these new improvements to the menu will feel better the moment you start the game


All of the NSFW scenes have been converted to the tool

-These were a bit more of a pain compared to a lot of the fixes, but now you can view the replays anywhere on the ship (or offworld) and it’ll look exactly the same as if you were experiencing it like the normal story. We’re going to be adding all the new scenes once they’re ready to replays as well, and with each update this will continue to get added.


Transitions between Scenes have been improved

-Previously there was a jarring effect when you switched rooms. Now we’ve updated the game so each time you switch rooms there’s this smooth transition. We’re hoping it’ll improve the overall game feel for people but we definitely want to hear what you guys think!


Brand new Junky Minigame!

-In the earlier build Junky used to say he’ll have work and then just give you money. Not anymore! Fly up into Jukarya’s atmosphere and shoot some junk to find all the valuable bits.


Improved Shop

-The shop used to be more of a suggestion than a functional store. Now we have a much better implementation that’ll be very expanded upon in the future. Purchase the jackets and get started with the update!


Windowed Mode!

-Previously the game forced fullscreen in order to keep resolutions consistent. Not anymore! Now you can play the game and resize the window to your heart's content (definitely need feedback tho!)


New Content:

-New planet Cyberia -3 New backgrounds -Brand new character: Elsie -All character sprites redone in new sprite format -New panning background (this will be expanded on as well!) -New dialogue system that's more responsive -New sprite system (blinking sprites as well!) -Tons of new interactions throughout (double if you use DD-9 on them!) -3 New music tracks -New Junky minigame -and much more...


Features that are still WIP that will be added in the next 3 weeks: 

-3 NSFW scenes (Planned for initial but the sprites took much longer to fix and will be added once they’re ready)

-Music tracks will be improved a bit

-Smalls bits of dialogue needed to be added after NSFW scenes are implemented

-Windowed mode has small issues resizing (fixed by toggling fullscreen in options)

-Notifications for everything game related (pinups, objectives, items, etc…)


Known Issues and Stuff we’re going to fix

-During conversations with characters in scenes it is still possible to play certain animations

-Not all character portraits/poses are in every scene and will be fixed quickly

-Fae sprite has not been fully implemented

-Player name during specific dialogue sections does not show up correctly

-Animations for blinking with all the characters is still being fixed and added

-Various character positioning during dialogues will be improved


Since there are so many changes to the game we really need your help to make it the best game we can make! Please try and break the game, do weird stuff, just do whatever you can to mess with it and tell us how you did it. We want to fix as many of the issues as possible. If you have any feedback on the game, or simply want to let us know what you think just comment here or tell us directly on our discord!


We’ve really appreciated everyone giving the game a chance, and even though this version isn’t perfect we wanted to give you guys an experience sooner than later. After the build is fully polished and all the assets are in, we’ll be updating our public builds to have all the improvements. The public will remain one version behind gameplay/story wise, and you’ll have either buy the game on Itch or subscribe on our Patreon/SubscribeStar to get the latest content. Our plan is to do a staggered release at least until the end of Chapter 1 (each chapter is 4 parts), and we’re hoping everyone will enjoy the new content. Welcome to our refined vision Cyber Rift and hope you’ll join us on the ride!


Patreon:

SubscribeStar:

Itch:


Our Discord:


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2

Posted by CyberOwlGames - August 29th, 2023


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So we got some very good news to announce today and we wanted to go into detail on what to expect, as well as what we've been up to. But first of all the Cyberia Update will be releasing on the 27th of September. This update has definitely been a long time coming, and we wanted to go into a bit of detail on what's really caused this to take so long, as well as give a detail on the future of the game. Originally when we had released the rebooted version to Newgrounds things had actually been going very smoothly. We had a plan on how we were going to approach Cyberia, but due to unforeseen circumstances (not to go into too much detail but they were pretty significant IRL events for our team) we had to push stuff back a lot longer than we had originally wanted. During this period of time we did put a lot of effort into really figuring out the direction for the game, and also what really made it tick and where we could improve.


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One of the new backgrounds we're adding in the Cyberia Update.


This update when fully stable will actually be Cyberia Part 1 of 3. Our goal is to release the updates in a faster pace than what we were doing before, but we had to get the groundwork done in order for it to work. Our new dialogue tool now allows us to instantly code interactions through raw scripts, and will end up saving us an enormous of time getting new scenarios into the game. The new sprite system we've developed is also going to allow us to switch out outfits very easily, and we're aiming to have a lot more outfits/accessories for all the characters. We'll also allow patrons/fans to vote on new outfits to earn in game in the future!


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Concept of our brand new Elsie character we're introducing in this update

 

To give a bit of detail on what to expect in the Cyberia Update:

-New planet Cyberia

-3 New backgrounds

-3 NSFW scenes

-Brand new character: Elsie

-All character sprites redone in new sprite format

-New panning backgrounds

-New dialogue system that's more responsive

-New sprite system (blinking sprites as well!)

-Tons of new interactions throughout (double if you use DD-9 on them!)

-2-3 New music tracks

-and much more...


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Everie's new sprite is complete and has a bunch of new poses and expressions!


Once this update is released and stable we'll be updating our public/Newgrounds build with the updated experience. This will not include the Cyberia update since we want to make that waas Patron only for now, but when Part 2 of Cyberia is released we'll be updating accordingly. Our plan is to keep each version with fresh features at least until the end of Chapter 1. Chapter 1 will be split into 4 parts, and Cyberia is going to be parts 2 through 4. Our overall plan for Cyber Rift is for the game to be a full 7 chapters, so you guys are going to have a lot of content to look forward to! We've already got all the events planned for the next two updates, so hope you guys are excited for some brand new content!


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4

Posted by CyberOwlGames - July 27th, 2023


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TL;DR: Update has been expanded, systems needed to changed to make this happen, no firm ETA but one more small update before Cyberia.


So development for the Cyberia update has been pretty productive so far, and we've actually been expanding our goals towards it. Initially it was going to be a bit smaller, but we realized we really wanted to go all out for the newer content. So these past few updates to the game have been focused on fixing core issues throughout, and also slowly building the foundation towards what we'll be talking about today. The Cyberia update is going to bring some very significant changes to the game besides overall content, and we wanted to go into a bit of detail on what we've working on to make this happen.


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New interface streamlined to remove any of unnecessary buttons and make the game feel a lot more cohesive


The current version we've released to patrons has been focused on completely uprooting the UI, and fixing a lot of the issues with overall interface cohesion with the previous versions. Each of subsequent updates have been on making sure the UI was working as intended, as well as streamline the experience to feel a lot more enjoyable. One big aspect was removing all the extra buttons, and consolidating them into 4 total buttons for the screen. We now have a dedicated Settings/Pause menu in the top left, and on the top right we have the Map button, Inventory button, and finally reworked Phone button. 


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Phone can be accessed over gameplay without going to a whole different menu. We'll be expanding this with new apps in the future too!


The Phone is actually a much more expanded feature than before, where previously it was only used to buy a single item. We've added a proper interface which includes a few highly requested features. The Objectives Menu now has a new interface and allows for easier access during gameplay with proper descriptions and information for each objective. The Pinup Gallery is a whole new gallery devoted to each of the pinups you collect throughout the game. And finally there's a Scene Gallery which can be used to replay the NSFW scenes throughout the game. We're most likely going to be expanding this to include more than just the NSFW scenes, but we wanted to have an easy way for people to repeat them. Finally we now have a proper shop interface which allows you to buy items with the money you get from doing work for Junky, and will be used for a lot more fun stuff in the future (like outfits to buy for the girls). 


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Even though it looks the same, it's actually built entirely with the new system which is much faster and responsive. This is also the newly reworked Everie sprite in action!


One of the biggest issues with the game has been the dialogue system. When the initial reboot happened we had switched to Naninovel, and though it had a lot of benefits, we realized the Adventure Creator tool was a much better fit for the game. However, because the Nani tool was still the game and used for a lot of the dialogue it wasn't as simple as just removing it. So we went back to the drawing board a bit to figure out a method to completely remove it from the game. In a great bit of news with that is we've finally figured out how to do so, and we're currently focused on converting all the older scripts to get the game ready to remove it. This has been a bit of a greater endeavor than we were expecting though, and we have figured it out but it's going to require rebuilding and remaking the sprites for each of the characters.


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An example of how we're working on the new interaction dialogue and what you can expect in the interaction update.


Since this will take a while and we're still working on the art for the Cyberia update, we've decided we're going to have one more smaller update to increase the amount of interactions throughout the game. These new interactions will be built with the new dialogue system, and pretty much every interactable object in the game will finally be able to be clicked and have dialogue. This is actually doubled when you include using DD-9 as an item on stuff, and we're going to try and make a lot of fun dialogue with the characters to expand the game. Since this will be built with the new dialogue system you'll be able to get a preview on how much faster it feels, as well as get a preview on what we're aiming for.


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The landing area is one of three backgrounds for the update but it's actually more than double the size of any of our previous ones to work with the new panning tech


We're also going to be updating the Newgrounds/Public versions the stable version once the Cyberia update has released. We wanted to create a staggered release schedule for at least all of Chapter 1, and let people experience new stuff with the option to see more if they subscribe. If all goes according to plan we might have something playable next month with unfinished art, but we want to make sure you guys are well informed before that. We still have a lot of work to do but we think this update is gonna be a pretty dramatic improvement overall. That's it for today, and we'll be adding a character preview for Elsie for our Cyber Owl tier patrons in the next few days.


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Posted by CyberOwlGames - July 2nd, 2023


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We just released out newest update to improve the UI and Foundations for Cyber Rift on our Patreon! We've been putting a ton of work behind the scenes getting the brand new UI foundation to work correctly, and this new version is mainly for feedback from you guys, and bugfixing the hell out of the new interface. We wanted to completely streamline the new experience and remove the awkwardness of the older icons, so everything has been reworked and added to the new phone! Our main objective was to make the game feel a lot more clean, and we're eager to hear what you guys think! We also have added two brand new pinups (they're unlocked by default but will be changed to done through the store once everything is working). If you have any issues with progression, or find something that we forgot to adjust please let us know and we'll fix ASAP.

PS: Saves from older versions will be incompatible, once this is stable saves will continue to work in future versions but we need to make sure everything is working.


What's changed:

-2 New pinups have been added

-UI has been entirely overhauled and streamlined

-Popup objective has been removed and changed so objectives are viewed inside phone instead.

-Brand new phone interface (WIP needs feedback)

-Brand new scene replay in phone (WIP needs feedback)

-Brand new pinup viewer in phone (WIP needs feedback)

-Brand new objective viewer in phone (WIP needs feedback)

-Brand new store interface for buying items. Very WIP but we need to know if it's working correctly so please test it out!


Bugfixes:

-Cleaning either Player's room or Everie's room early stopping progression has been fixed (this time we're pretty sure, but please try and break it and let us know how you did!)

-Generator now has a glowing effect

-Objects within scenes were layered incorrectly and have been fixed (some areas might have objects close, so if you see any while in menus let us know!) -Fixed issue that would cause interface to disappear when loading saves (need testing to be safe on this)

-Fixed an issue after finishing wire minigame where screen would fade to blue for a second.

-Fixed an issue where the fuse box would look like it's both opened and closed at the same time due to texture overlap

-Various smaller fixes throughout

-Fixed an issue with the inventory and phone icons disappearing when opening the map

-Fixed an issue where the scene replay scenes were unlocked by default, this is now affected by ingame progression


New Bugfixes:

-Can no longer pause in main menu

-"Redeem the Slob" objective has been fixed to disappear when completed

-"Get some money for Everie's gift" objective has been fixed to disappear when completed

-UI for both the Phone and Objectives menus have been resized to fit better in scenes

-Entering various rooms from Map UI no longers disables the Inventory and Phone buttons (still needs to be tested but should be fixed)

-The "Old Tools" in the generator room will disappear correctly now

-"Prepare the spare" objective has been fixed to disappear when completed regardless of when room is cleaned

-The "Weird Rock" in Forgaris Workshop no longer appears during Fae and Everie conversation

-Shop now correctly deducts currency for items bought

-Some environments have had items changed layer wise to look better

-Soft lock for Everie octopus gift has been fixed (still needs testing to be sure)


Small addition: -Everie has a new dialogue option when her door is clicked after gift is bought (will be developed on later)


Known Bugs:

-All pinups are unlocked by default, will be fixed in patch to be unlocked through other means

Still working on:

-Notifications for when new objectives are active

-UI interfaces are not final and will be visually fixed. Artist is very busy on Cyberia update and will get to it once all art is done

-Button in main menu will be added to skip to latest content without having to playthrough everything

Hope you guys enjoy these new features! We really need feedback for these in particular to make sure everything's working, so please let us know what you think! We'll be updating this rapidly in the next few days, and both MAC and Linux builds will be available in the next few days.


PS: We added a preview of the new Cyberia environment on our Patreon :)


You can check it out here:

Patreon

SubscribeStar:


We've also updated our Itch page to have the latest build here:

Itch


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1

Posted by CyberOwlGames - May 17th, 2023


TLDR: New features and systems, status on update, and what we've been up to.


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Everie sprite has been entirely reworked (including a new nose!) and now has a nude version underneath. This also includes a ton of new facial expressions!


Hey everyone it's been a little while! Life has been a bit turbulent for members of the team, and not to go into too much personal detail but a lot of stuff has been happening IRL for me personally in particular, and it's definitely caused a slowdown in some areas. One thing that also slowed us down was that we were remaking the sprites in a new format, and the main reasoning behind that was to allow for some new additions which we'll be talking about later on in this post. But first we're happy to talk about our current progress and also list out a bunch of the new stuff we're working on!


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Not fully finished, but we think it's a bit cleaner! (arrows are something we're looking into improving as well...)


While working through the systems we realized that the UI really wasn't up to snuff in many ways, and we really wanted to go back and try and improve it overall. Positions of main UI elements have been moved around a bunch, and a few of the extra ones have been consolidated to free up some on screen real estate. Main reasoning is that it's not fun to have the screen cluttered by a bunch of icons going in different directions with inconsistent styling, so we've moved them to the top of the screen as well as removing the pull down for the inventory and giving it a proper dedicated button instead. We've also moved the objective panel into the phone, and the phone will be packed with a bunch more stuff as well!


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Phone UI is entirely placeholder and purely for function right now, but you can get a picture of how it will work!


The phone now includes the ability to go through all the USB pinups the player receives throughout the game. You'll have to put them in a new place in the player bedroom to unlock, but once you've done it they'll be added to your phone and you can look at them any time! Another one of the features is the ability to finally replay the NSFW scenes. This has been a highly requested feature, and has taken a bit more legwork to get functional but we're hoping people will be happy with it! The big issue with the tool we're currently using for conversations is that because we keep jumping between adventure mode and text mode, it's impossible to allow for backtracking after a conversation is done. We've added menu specifically to address this issue, and we're gonna work on adding more repeating moments in case players want to redo non-NSFW conversations again without having to go through the menu again. Finally the last feature on the UI front is the proper addition of the store.


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Still very WIP, but the idea is to let you buy items and get an image preview with a description before you purchase.


You'll now be able to use your hard earned money to get brand new items for the girls! This will be simple stuff like gifts for Everie and Fae, but will also include some new spicy things like lingerie! If you buy something nice enough for the girls they may even let you see them wearing them ;) . The main reason we've redone the sprites is to allow for stuff like lingerie and other outfits to be easily added onto characters without everything having to be redrawn. We're hoping this will let us add a lot more stuff for players to do, and also add some more interesting interactions with each of the characters. It's been a bit tricky getting the UI to work, but now it'll have an active graphic once one of the items is clicked, it'll have a description for each item, and will show the price and the ability to purchase. We're still in the planning stages for a proper Junky minigame, but we wanted to get the shop properly working before we went too far with it. We have another section of the store that'll come in the future, but we wanted to get this part working for the Cyberia update.


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New panning tech (background is just Forgaris stretched, we'll have the new one done for update though!)


The last thing we wanted to mention was the addition of something exciting: panning backgrounds! This is a new feature that'll let you scroll across the new landing area on Cyberia (this gif is the testing grounds not the actual background) and we're hoping it'll feel a lot more engaging then compared to normal static ones. Sure we could have just made a single background, but this is also tech we want to incorporate for stuff in the future. We're really aiming to improve the game overall and do some exciting stuff, and we're excited to show it off properly as soon as it's ready. 


In summary features to expect in Cyberia Update:

-Improved UI

-New Phone interface

-New Scene replay menu

-New Pinup gallery menu

-New store interface

-Improved sprites

-New panning background tech

-And much more...


And that's about it for this public post! We'll be giving patrons a brand new pinup extremely soon! We have no firm ETA on the update, but we just wanted to give a proper status update rather than just keep you waiting. Once the update is functional though we'll be allowing patrons to play the update before it's completely finished, partly for just simple bugtesting but also because we want you to be more involved with the process. We'll be showing off new sketches of the backgrounds for higher tier patrons soon as well. Tune in for more exciting stuff very soon!


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5

Posted by CyberOwlGames - March 24th, 2023


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Hey everyone! It’s been a whole month since our public release, and we thought that we should update everyone on our future plans for this game. We were completely blown away by the reaction to the build, and we're just so happy people have been giving our a game a shot! Thank you to everyone who’s joined us on our journey, whether you’re an old hat who’s been around since the very beginning, or if you just joined us on our adventure. 

First, let’s talk about technical fixes. As with any release, the game is not without its bugs or without room for improvement. We’re happy to say that we’ve received a lot of good feedback, and released a build with the following changes:


  • Players are able to choose their name
  • There's now a minimap button to better navigate the ship
  • Hallways were reworked for better navigation
  • Removal of unnecessary interactions


We decided to release this build publicly with these changes, and our first content update (the Cyberia Update) will be in 1-2 months with earlier builds for patrons to test features. 

Next, let’s talk about our content plan and how our updates will work from here on out. We plan on implementing a tick tock update scheme. In other words, we’ll alternate minor and major updates each month. Every major update will be an additional new part to the story with all the bells and whistles that go with it, including new art, CGs, NSFW scenes, and story progression. Each minor update will be focused on bugfixes, QoL improvement, additional content that may not have made it in before, and other miscellaneous things that might have slipped through the cracks. So, since our big public release was in February, our next release will be a minor patch in March, before having a major update in either April or May.


And now for the really exciting part: a sneak preview of our next planet, Cyberia! It’s cold, it’s snowy, and it just might be hiding a secret underneath all that ice…


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The Cyberia update will introduce a new character, Elsie! She's a little mysterious and a lot fierce. We hope you're excited to learn more about her very soon!


Before we end things off, we’d also like to remind everyone that a perk of being a patron is our monthly pinups! These are high-quality works of art done by our in-house artist. Previously, we’ve featured characters like Melenia from Elden Ring, Jinx from League of Legends, and many others besides. Look out for more lewd art coming your way, and we do take suggestions for future pinups as well. We're currently more than halfway done with the Dehya pinup, and our higher tier patrons can see the WIP sketches a bit early!


Again, thank you all for sticking around, and we hope you continue to play and enjoy Cyber Rift! Please let us know of any feedback you might have either here or via our Discord; we’re always trying to make the game better.


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3

Posted by CyberOwlGames - February 25th, 2023


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TLDR: Addressing feedback with bugfix in the next 1-2 weeks, showing our history from RenPy to Unity, and Cyberia Update coming in 1-2 months. 

Things have been pretty interesting since we released our first public build for the reboot! We've had a ton of interesting comments and feedback, and we've been carefully going through all of them to figure out what's the most pressing issues to address in the future. 


Complaints:

-Players want to be able to change their character's name instead of being called "Player"

-Players want the ability to instantly go to the floor layout rather than clicking aimlessly across the ship

-People really enjoyed the art and environments, but they want more to do and more interactivity

-Plot needs a little bit more work to feel more coherent overall.

-More types of gameplay for rewards rather than the wire minigame


All of these are extremely fair complaints, and we have some solid news in that regard! The first bugfix for the public version will include a new minimap/elevator button so players can immediately jump to anywhere on the ship. This will also remember the location they pressed the button from. We're currently fi

guring out how to change the player name through the various tools we're using. Since we're using a visual novel making tool on top carrying the variables can act a little weird, so we're just ironing out the kinks currently. The ability to change the player name will be included as well. We're also reworking some hallways, but those fixes will take a little bit longer to implement compared to the other features.

We're currently looking into adding a proper minigame for players to earn credits from, as well as a proper shop interface to buy items for the girls. This is something we're going to be developing in the future but we wanted to announce it a bit earlier. We'll have a lot more details soon on this, but for now here's a look at our new minimap feature!


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When pressed it'll take players to the map of whatever floor they're on. It'll remember location of what room the player is in when pressed as well! (UI still WIP and will have an icon)


Today we also wanted to look back at how much has changed overall, as well as just showing some of the older environments that we started with. Originally Cyber Rift was designed on RenPy and its creation was inspired by a ton of various NSFW VNs like Four Elements Trainer and Summertime Saga. From the very beginning we wanted to have a galaxy faring space adventure inspired by Cowboy Bebop, and wanted to use space travel for some really fun and unique locations, all with cyberpunk inspired visuals and themes.


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This was from the very first version! The team was a bit different, and we were still trying to figure out what type of game we wanted to make.


Before our artist originally hopped aboard the style of the game was completely different. It went for a more industrial and gritty take, which leaned far more heavily into the cyberpunk genre. The only issue with going this far industrial wise is it created a bit of a mish mash in terms of genres and settings. It created a variety of issues, and made it a little bit difficult to establish what we were trying to do.


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Everie went through a lot of design iterations over the past few years, and we really feel like we found something special with this new design


Characters originally looked completely different, and we were definitely having trouble figuring out exactly what we wanted to accomplish with the overall story and visuals. The plot started pretty similarly where the player ended up on Jukarya and meeting Everie, but there was no pod or anything holding her. Within the first few minutes of meeting her she gets completely naked and flirty. Although nudity in these types of games is great, this was extremely fast for a character you only just met, and the flirtatiousness of every character created issues plot wise. Cyberia was also introduced extremely quickly, and although we're bringing back Elsie in the new update, the context to going to there is going to be a lot different.


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There were a ton of positives to the old artstyle, but there were a lot of inconsistences with the characters and the environments.


One absolutely major issue with the game which also proved to be a serious enough problem for us to reboot was that our artist lacked experience with these types of games. A lot of the issues were caused by simply not knowing what to look for, or how to make environments make sense without having a proper reference. Near the end of the original version's development the build kept feeling more and more strung together, and it took some time to reevaluate exactly what we wanted to do with the game. Our artist ended up playing through a variety of different VNs and point and clicks, and he proposed the idea of completely scrapping what we had and starting over. Initially we were hesitant, but after some consideration we realized a fresh start was in order to fix the problems we had.


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Though the original pitch room was cool, it didn't quite make sense from a gameplay perspective so we weren't able to use it.


When the team first got this image we were extremely impressed and immediately wanted to consider the idea of a reboot. Originally we considered using RenPy again, but the amount of issues we had with adjusting art and allowing for different gameplay caused us to consider different alternatives. One of the greatest strengths with Unity is the ability to drag and drop art directly onto a scene environment. RenPy you have to structure every single piece of art through code and pull it based on where you want images to appear directly in script. This alone really made the switch a hell of a lot easier, and it allowed us to completely revamp every part of the game. 


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Cockpit had a major overhaul, and we were extremely happy with the results!


One major issue we discovered was the tool we were using did not save Unity environments within their save system. When you're making progression based game this can completely ruin everything, and we realized if we didn't find a solution the game was pretty much dead in the water. After a lot of searching we realized that the game was actually stuck between two genres, and it was a creating a conflict of interests between the two. We had to decide on whether to stick strictly to a Visual Novel version, which completely defeated the point of using Unity, or we could take some time and convert it into a full blown point and click adventure. This decision was definitely a not an easy one, but in the end we really believe it was worth the effort.


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The new artstyle takes a different approach in creating the environments, and the amount of detail really speaks for itself.


Our aim with the new version of Cyber Rift is to really focus on developing our characters, and creating a very memorable player experiences through the new point and click adventure gameplay and story elements. We have an enormous amount of content planned, and this really is only the first piece of a much bigger picture. Chapter 1 Part 2 The Cyberia Update (name still WIP) will be released in the next 1-2 months for patrons, and our demo will be updated until all four parts of Chapter 1 are done. 


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Amazing the difference a few years can make.


Overall we're extremely excited with the reaction so far to Cyber Rift. This is only the beginning of our journey, and we really hope you guys stick around see what we have in store! If you want the latest in all development news, as well as access to all our latest content you can check us out on our links below!


Our Patreon

Our SubscribeStar

Our Twitter

Our Discord

Our Itch Page


We're super excited to hear what you guys think of the new reboot!


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Posted by CyberOwlGames - January 22nd, 2023


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TLDR: Bugs getting squashed, build on track for public on Newgrounds mid February


Today we're excited to talk about the current status with the patron build, and when everyone can expect a public build for Cyber Rift. Currently we released v0.1.9a which was the first technical build for the conversion to an adventure game, and feedback has been pretty great so far. This build was primarily focused on letting patrons experience the mechanics early, as well as garner feedback for the new systems in case we missed anything major. Biggest source of criticism was lack of player direction, so that's why today we're gonna talk about a big new feature: Objectives!


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It'll look a bit prettier than this in the future, but here's the WIP!


Since we improved the new mechanics to get the player to engage with the environment more, we also felt like we need some form of guide in case players get a bit lost. We do have a walkthrough, but now with this system players will be able to have a direct note for what they are currently doing in game as well as a picture of the location that they need to go. We'll also have a small button to toggle objective text on the main screen, currently we're deciding how we want to implement but here's another WIP:


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The squid is purely to get it working though!


The hope with this new system is for players to be able to naturally explore, and hopefully figure out where they need to go without consulting the walkthrough. Patrons have also been showing us places that need a bit of work, and we're continuing to try and fix every major bug we can before we go public. Currently we want to get the NSFW scenes finished before we start showing it off fully, but the build is pretty stable in comparison to previous ones. We're working on getting all the new dialogue and scenes fixed up as well, and we also have a whole new writer to help fix up future dialogue. When the build goes public we're very excited to see how people react and play this whole new version of Cyber Rift!


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Our artist is still plugging away at even more new backgrounds!


Currently the aim is to get the finished build for middle of February. What this means is it will include every feature we're aiming for. We're very much on track to meet our goals, and we're very focused on fixing all the small issues currently. To get a picture of how much content there will, here's the current list of WIP features we're working on:


New Features:

-Full conversion into a point and click adventure

-Ship has been redesigned from top to bottom to allow for exploration

-Inventory system and puzzles using new items

-Redesigned character interactions and story progression

-Over 20 new backgrounds

-4 New music tracks

-Brand new UI

-Foundation for reworked story (this will be heavily iterated on in the next 3 weeks)

-New WIP Currency and Phone UI buttons with access to shop (shop is still WIP)


Our current focus:

-Removal of placeholder dialogue and fixing existing scenes

-Finish new maps for all three floors on the ship

-Finish all backgrounds across the ship (cockpit hallway, hangar hallway, and others)

-3 NSFW scenes (currently in progress and our artist is focused on finishing them to the highest standard)

-Several new character expressions and poses

-Fully reworked dialogue (will be a huge focus)

-Several backgrounds need to be fixed resolution wise (bathroom hallway, bathroom, recroom)

-Adding a lot more character dialogue throughout

-Basic UI shop through phone (in the game but needs work)

-Objective system and way to track progress

-More dialogue across the various interactions

-Gallery accessible through player's room

-Cyberia Teaser


February is going to be a very big month for Cyber Rift, and we're extremely excited to let you guys see what we've been cooking up these past few months. Once the build is done we'll also be doing a retrospective on how much has changed as well as a clear timeline in when the next update will be. Hope you guys are as excited as we are!


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Posted by CyberOwlGames - December 24th, 2022


TLDR: Progress and Dates to look forward to:

-Aiming for build to be functional by end of December (without all art/nsfw scenes done)

-Fully functional with dialogue throughout and most art complete for mid to late January


Hey everyone, we've been working really hard on the new build these past few months. We had some unfortunate issues where the coder we had threw in the towel about 1.5 months ago, but we're now back on track and things are starting to go smoothly again! Biggest thing is creating proper functionality with the new features, and currently we've figured out a new structure for how new content and features are going to be developed. A good example is the player room, where we've been able to make it so each option within the room for cleaning can now be individually clicked and the player can now fully clean the room!


(Before Cleaning)

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(After Cleaning)

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After extensive testing we're now able to confirm the saving/loading issue has been fully resolved, and our current focus is getting every objective the player has to complete functional, and creating a streamlined route for players to progress through. In terms of art we're still heaving focused on getting each of the new hallways and rooms done, but at the rate we're currently going we believe that we can get the build functional (as in all the progression without dialogue) by the end of the month. This means our patrons will hopefully be able to play the build without all the bells and whistles early January. We know it's been a longtime coming, and we've had many issues along the way, but we're resolved to get the game working and get all you patrons and new fans alike the best experience we can make!


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Current goals for releases:

-Functional by end of December (without all art/nsfw scenes done)

-Fully functional with dialogue throughout and most art complete for mid to late January


Also we wanted to list what we're working on still background wise for full transparency. These are all the backgrounds we will be featuring in game, as well as future ones, so if you want to go in completely blind don't read. Overall we're very excited for the future of Cyber Rift, and we wanted to be clear where we're currently at. We'll keep you guys posted, and hopefully the next patron update will be something playable!


(THESE CONTAIN SPOILERS SO BE AWARE)

Maps for ship floors

-Floor 1

-Floor 2

-Floor 3


Ship Art Done/Doing Floor 1:

-Recroom Hallway

-Gym Hallway

-Recroom (needs improving)

-Kitchen (future)

-Gym (future)

-Bar (future)

-Greenhouse (future)


Ship Art Done/Doing Floor 2:

-Left Hallway

-Right Hallway

-Bathroom Hallway

-Cockpit Hallway

-Plant Area

-Bathroom (needs improving)

-Player Bedroom

-Everie Bedroom (Needs improving)

-Fae Bedroom (future)

-Elsie Bedroom (future)

-Spare Bedroom (future x2)

-Cockpit

-Command Center (future)

-Medbay (future)


Ship Art Done/Doing Floor 3:

-Hangar Hallway

-Engineering Hallway

-Engine room (future)

-Fae Lab (improving but prob future)

-Generator room (perfecto)

-Hangar (future)

Jukarya Art:

-Junky Landing area

-Junky small pile

-Part for generator 


Forgaris Art:

-Landing Area

-Mountain Area

-Workshop

-Inside lab


(BIG SPOILERS SO DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED):

NSFW Scenes 


-Everie forgets she's not wearing a bra (in her doorway)

-Fae Doctor Inspection (in her lab)

-Fae towel slipup (in bathroom)

Cyberia -Planet approach


For all the latest developments check out our links!

Patreon:

SubscribeStar:


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Posted by CyberOwlGames - November 18th, 2022


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TLDR: Game is being expanded with more rooms/levels, objectives, and NSFW scenes


Hey everyone! Things have really been getting on track lately, and we're getting close to where we need to be. The saving/loading issue has been fixed, but right now we're working on a lot of expanded features due to the conversion. What this means is we're currently redesigning the ship layout to be far more expansive than before, and allow players to be able to click to any room they want in the ship from the handy map!


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(Current WIP of ship layout that jumps to each room)


The ship has expanded to be 3 floors (including rooms like a hangar!) , and we'll be adding rooms that will be opened in the future. Biggest thing is we want the game workable and playable sooner rather than later, but we're super focused on making sure the foundation for future content is properly done so we don't need to redo everything again. We've also expanded functionality where there will be actual objectives for the player to complete, and we're working on having detailed objectives in game so players will be able to discover locations and figure out things on their own without being explicitly told what to do. Biggest thing is we don't want the game to feel like you just click a few buttons and then bam you're done. Objectives will make sense based on the situation, and we're going to be adding 3 more NSFW scenes into the build when we properly release.


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(WIP of new Left Hallway from map above)


This time we really wanted to correct all the issues from the initial rework, and once it's complete it'll be the basis going forward. This build will expand the story from the initial build that was Chapter 1 Part 1 to Part 2, and we'll make sure that it feels satisfying to play through it. Features that we're aiming include once it's finished:

-Fully converted to Adventure Creator for Point and Click navigation

-Saving/Loading fixed

-Inventory system

-Objectives and streamlined quests

-Newly expanded ship and navigation with brand new backgrounds

-New music!

-3 NSFW scenes


We don't currently have an ETA, but we're aiming for it to be functional and playable hopefully be end of December. All the art will most likely take longer, but we're gonna let patrons play earlier! We're also really not a fan of keeping you guys waiting, but the initial saving/loading issue really tanked progression for us build wise but we really do think this new version will help alleviate future issues in that regard. On one final note, we're currently working on a brand new logo and we're hoping to show that off to you guys very soon!


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