Stars United

Stars United is the first-ever Mixed Reality MMORPG produced by Pixel, with Grace Acosta as the development director. The game allows Lectros to travel to Sidera in virtual avatars that take on an appearance of their race via a Full Dive device. Its goal is to complete all levels and reach the top of a huge 145th floor floating castle in Astoria, the primary setting. Once Caelum acquired Stars United,  all Lectros gained access to explore all territories and the entire continent of Sidera outside of Astoria.

System
The game operates like a typical MMORPG with a level system and skill mastery with some limits. The entire game is monitored and maintained by the cardinal system, which self-corrects any problems. The Stars United mainframe is capable of incredible graphical and rendering capacities and renders the entire environment in full detail regardless of a particular region specifically observed by a Lectro. Stars United uses a Digital Focusing System, which brings out the finer of an object when a player shows interest. This increases the strain on the Stars United mainframe processor and can simultaneously render all marginal details of the environment. The Stars United mainframe has an easy time causing the sensation of water in baths or showers.

The system determines the race of the Lectro based on the birthday the Lectro types in, each with different powers and abilities. The Lectro has their avatar created randomly and only has the freedom to choose their avatar name. When Stars United first came out, high school and college-aged Lectros, along with the staff members of S.U. Academy has code numbers assigned to them and had to choose a name containing letters that correspond to their code numbers (A1Z26 Cipher). This system was later removed when Star United was re released. The sex of the Lectro's avatar will match the lectro's sex on Earth by default, and the Lectro cannot change it by any means. Skills are developed by the Lectro's own abilities and by repeating them repeatedly, so a new player with good skills can match a veteran player almost evenly in battle.

Mixed Reality Experience
As a complete Mixed Reality MMORPG, the Stars United system is capable of rendering the entire Sidera environment with incredible realism. By stimulating nerves in the brain, it is possible to taste food, feel the wind and weather, move one's body, and live in Sidera. Lectros can undergo severe injuries and doesn't only feel an uncomfortable tingling sensation. Star United can make a Lectro capable of doing everyday actions in Sidera, such as changing clothes by hand or attempting to wield two items simultaneously. While playing Stars United, Lectros can feel tired and hungry, like their human bodies. They can also eat in-game to dispel hunger on Earth. As a result, all Lectros must eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom within the game.

Certain stimulation, such as explosions, can result in negative feedback, like headaches and dizziness that last for several hours. Powers are implemented to produce various effects, with the chants being based on strings of words.

Global Setting
Stars United is set on a planet in another dimension called Sidera, which is divided into 12 racial territories. At the center of the land is the neutral megacity of Astoria, the base of Paramount Palace, a floating castle of 145 floors. It is approximately ten kilometers in diameter, and it is completely rendered. Because of the nature of Paramount Palace as a floating castle, there are no invisible barriers or no-access regions at the edges of the map.

Seasons and Weather
Stars United has seasons and weather settings that are effective throughout Sidera. Stars United' season correlates with the seasons of Sidera and Earth and is generally less mild. Weather settings are usually random and quite realistic.

Physical Surroundings
In Stars United, physical surroundings such as walls, buildings, monuments, and major features are considered "Immortal Objects". An error beep and a notification will sound if immortal physical objects are struck, even by accident. All non-immortal objects have a «durability» value. Durability is an essential feature of Sword Art Online. It measures how much an item or object has been used (similar to HP) and how much it will last before it expires. Clothes, equipment, weapons, potions, crystals, and food are all subject to gradual durability loss. Frequently, Lectros must invest significant resources into repairing and buying equipment. Food always declines durability concerning time, and freshly prepared foods will get rotten if not eaten soon enough.

Initiation and Character Creation
Logging into Stars United is done by using the voice command "Incipiam Nexum" (Begin the link) after powering up on a FullDive hardware brief few seconds of tunnel-vision colors are seen while the FullDive device intercepts signals from the Lectro's brain before the powerup screen is seen. A pre-game status check then confirms the link connection of the five senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Upon logging on, the login screen appears. After a welcome screen, a bright light ensues, and the Lectro can begin creating their avatar. The first time a Lectro utilizes the FullDive hardware, they are prompted to touch various body parts to calibrate the machine.

Upon avatar creation, a Lectro must type in their birthday; the system will then identify their race, each with unique attributes and skills. The avatars' appearances match the appearances of the Lectro's Earth bodies and mix those of the Astros as their hair color (although they have the option to add highlights on any color), eye color, and other features such as elf or dog/cat ears are generated based on their race identification.

Races

 * Aquarius: Skilled beast tamers specializing in animal manipulation powers. They are recognizable through their canine/feline ears and tails.
 * Pisces: Users of sound and music powers, which are used to confuse, attack, or support.
 * Aries: Considered the strongest Astro race and are users of earth and plant powers. They are styled in green.
 * Taurus: Considered the fiercest race, they specialize in fire powers and are styled in purple.
 * Gemini: Masters in light and darkness powers; they are styled in silver and have amber eyes.
 * Cancer: Healers, empaths, and masters of water powers; they are styled in blue.
 * Leo: Users of lighting powers; they are styled in red.
 * Virgo: Users of plasma powers; they are styled in yellow.
 * Libra: Blacksmith race specializing in metal powers, they are styled in different shades of red and pink.
 * Scorpio: Users of time manipulation powers; they are styled in orange.
 * Sagittarius: Considered the fastest race and are users of air powers, they are denoted by yellow and green colors.
 * Capricorn: Masters of illusion powers and dark arts, they are styled in black.
 * Lexie: A non-playable race and AIs with the appearance and intelligence of Gemixies that Lectros can purchase.

Visual Interface
In a Lectro's display, one can see several interfaces without accessing any skills. The hit point bar is located in the upper left corner of one's field of vision. It displays the Lectro's name, a visual hit point gauge, and numerical hit points (current/maximum), level, and MP (80/80). It also shows the hit points and names of all other members in the Lectro's party in a smaller bar. A clock displaying Sidera local time can be seen in the bottom left corner of the visual field. A color cursor can be seen over every NPC, monster, and Lectro in the game. This cursor is either green (for Lectros), yellow (for NPCs), or various shades of red (for monsters). During battle, the health bar of monsters can be seen around the targeted enemy and the name of the monster. Bosses typically have multiple health bars. As for a monster that level is too far apart, hit point bars of that monster will be unable to see and instead indicated with 'unknown'.

Main Menu Window
The main menu is the primary means of accessing a Lectro's items, maps, skills, and inventory. The menu window can be summoned with the Lectro's right hand by extending its index and middle fingers together and swinging them downwards in a straight line parallel to the Lectro's avatar axis. Due to the strict motion requirements, it may be difficult to summon from a supine or lateral decubitus position. Hence, performing the gesture command from a standing position is recommended. Once the gesture command is performed, a ringing sound is heard, and the menu appears. The main menu has a white layout and is structured with the summary diagram on the left, circular category buttons in the middle, and a detailed dialogue to the right. There are three category options: inventory/equipment, maps/quest, and settings. These four-category icons scroll, and the category being accessed moves to the top. Even though an item storage feature exits, items can be carried by hand, while clothes and weapons can be equipped the same way as on Earth.

Inventory/Equipment: The icon for the category is a character icon. This is the default screen when opening the menu interface. The left screen is an image of the body, with multiple points that allow the Lectro to equip items or clothes. The right screen has three sub-menus:


 * Equipment: Selecting this sub-menu will open another three sub-menu:
 * Weapons: The icon for this category is a sword like the one used in equipment.
 * Equipped: The icon for this category is a piece of armor.
 * Accessory: The icon for this category is a necklace.
 * Items: Selecting this sub-menu will open an additional scrolling screen on the left that lists all items. When an item is selected, it materializes in front of the Lectro. The inventory turns red when a Lectro has too many items.
 * Skills: Selecting this sub-menu will open an additional scrolling screen on the left that lists all skills of the Lectro.

Maps/Quest: The icon for the category is a balloon location icon. The right screen has three sub-menus:

Settings/Main menu: The icon for the category is a gear. The right screen has three sub-menus:
 * Field Map: Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a map of the floor and/or field that the Lectro has explored and show the Lectro's location on the floor and/or field.
 * Dungeon Map: Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a map of the dungeon that the Lectro has explored.
 * Quest: Selecting this sub-menu will open the Lectro's quest log/window, displaying information on current quests and their progress, all the quests that the Lectro has accepted, and their description.


 * Option
 * Help: Selecting "Help" will call a GM (Game Master) on the left screen.
 * Logout: The logout button was disabled on the first day of the official Stars United launch. Consequently, the left screen is also completely blank. It was made available following the launch of the New Stars United, with a quick log out in a safe area and a several-minute logout in a soulless state. The Lectro can be attacked if the Lectro attempts to log out on the floor and/or field.

Equipment
A number of equipment exists in Stars United, including armors, weapons, etc. Lectros can equip them on over ten different parts of their body, including the left and right hand, head, arm, body, wrist, and so on. Equipment in Stars United can be divided into two groups: «Astro-made» and «Monster-drops». Astro-made equipment was usually the better of the two, but even a few rare monster-drops rivaled their counterparts. However, there also exists a third group of equipment, including those purchased in shops.

Level System
Stars United uses a level-based system to determine the strength of a Lectro. Once the Lectro gains enough EXP, their avatar glows a golden hue, and their current level is raised by one. Three stat points are awarded at each level-up, which the Lectro can use to increase their STR or AGI attributes. Stars United did not have a level cap when it was cleared, though had the game continued and a cap was needed, the Cardinal System would have generated one. As for the near-unlimited number of Skills within Stars United, the skills have to be utilized to level up. After reaching a skill level of 200, that skill is said to be «complete». It cannot be further leveled.

Parameters
Several factors go into the calculation of damage in Stars United. Among them include the efficacy of hits, the skill level of a Lectro, the weapon skill used, and the weapon's stats. Weapons have the following enhancement parameters that determine stats: Sharpness, Quickness, Accuracy, Heaviness, and Durability. These parameters cannot be seen regularly unless a weapon is «Appraised». When a weapon is given to a blacksmith to upgrade, bonuses such as +1 or +2 are appended to select categories. Lectros use an abbreviated notation to describe the effective bonuses on a weapon. Choosing a weapon will only show its name and aggregate bonuses (the sum of all enhancement parameters).

Status Effects
Status Effects, like many MMORPGs, play an important role in combat. Many attacks have a random chance of dealing with status effects. They are generally not curable unless healing spells and/or potions by Cancers are used. Most status effects expire after a set period of time.

Monster Battle Mechanics
Lectros can fight using their «Weapon Skills». The system assists the execution of Weapon Skills, and it can fall into any of the four properties: Thrust, Slash, Pierce, and Blunt. Stars United has projectile weapons, including throwing picks, darts, boomerangs, and chakrams. Defeating a monster brings up a Congratulations screen with a summary of results: EXP gained, Alexandrites gained, and items dropped. Like the systems of many MMORPGs, Stars United has a battle log and announces to others what items other Lectros receive. Distribution of loot occurs automatically, and Alexandrites are automatically divided while items are placed in the inventory of the Lectro who receives it. As a result, boss battles can't end awkwardly as there is a fair mechanism for splitting the loot among the victors. In boss battles, the Lectros or summon to deal with the finishing last attack produces a rare drop for the lectros or individual summon.