Star Resonance (Formerly Blue Protocol) -PC/Mobile/Console

[Bombur]

This thread is for the Tencent version of Blue Protocol. It is now called Star Resonance.

Tencent has taken over as a 3rd party. In an agreement with Bandai, Tencent will take over, but will pay a royalty to use the IP.

With the IP in place, Tencent has created and built a new studio called Bokura (Shanghai Bokura Technology) in Shanghai for Star Resonance. If this game is successful, they will take on more Bandai IP's.

Video of the new Studio Bokura

[Bombur]

Do the the nature of the game, and to get it to optimize for Mobile, Studio Bokura has gone back and re-built the code from the ground up.

The game is being made for PC first. Then it will be ported to Console and Mobile.

The game is now labeled as an Open World MMORPG and will be playable on PC, Console, Mobile Devices. There are no more zones or cap limits. Studio Bokura has added Flying in the game. Also monster AI have been redone.

Changes from the JP version

General & Technical Details:

Spoiler: show

- 1 character per account.

- Ultrawide support is in.

- The art style is very similar to the JP version, but the models have been adjusted and look similar to characters in other mobile games like Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact.

- The combat is more fast-paced, but re-done to play on mobile.

- The overall customization and costumes have been re-done, and are more in-depth than their Japanese counterparts.

- Aim assist and one-click combos can now be turned on/off.

- Studio Bokura has brought back Hiroyuki Sawano, and brought in other famous J-pop bands for the OST.

- The PC recommended specs are the same as the JP version (RTX 2070), which indicates that graphics and visuals should be at least as good as the JP version.

- Additional types of accessories are now added, such as mouth accessories.

- You can switch between Mobile and PC keybindings/layouts.

- There is a leveling/newbie guideline book in-game now, which helps you progress and also rewards additional materials at certain milestones.

- There is now an Achievement System, which kind of replaces Adventure Boards. Some achievements reward you with unique costumes.

- Studio Bokura has put in an Auction House, and you will be able to do trades between players. : Items available for trade include weapons, equipment, Battle Echo (b-imajinn) materials, crafting materials, enhancement materials, and costumes.

- The main trading currency is Luno (in-game currency). You can also trade it for bound Rose Orbs (premium currency) listed by other players.

- Each player has an Adventure Card ID similar to the JP version.

- You can now preview Costumes.

- You can now dye your costumes and customize certain character appearances using a Colour Wheel. The Colour Wheel has hex code. It is unknown if you can edit the hex code manually. However, you can use the Colour Wheel freely via mouse/finger.

- PC goes up to 120FPS. Mobile and console goes up to 60FPS.

- MSQ quests reward you with cosmetic items now.

- Camera Mode now includes a "Selfie Mode" option.

- There is now a "Language" setting in the options.

- Foods now provide non-stackable buffs or healing effects.

- Some clothing and accessories can be crafted, requiring Energy, corresponding materials, and blueprints.

- There is a now dancing option in the menu.

- Items of a higher quality than gold exist (red, level 5 )

Guild Details:

Spoiler: show

Star Resonance has been given a much-needed face-lift. Hosting completely new content, which never existed in the JP version. The CN version has your very own Guild Housing area, a shared warehouse, and multiple other areas, each with a specific function for Guild Members to collectively grow together.

- Reputation NPC: Rewards you with upgrade materials amongst other things. Increase reputation by donating materials.

- Training dummies.

- Fountain of Blessing: Grants buffs for Guild members. Not sure if it is a global buff or a personal one, which needs to be refreshed manually.

- Weekly Guild Activities.

- Kitchen area for cooking.

- The guild hall features an aquarium where members can place their caught fish (introduced in the Guild Tutorial.)

- Guild Vendors.

- You can customize large picture frames on the wall inside your Guild House with screenshots taken in-game.

- Shared Warehouse.

- The Guild Emblem can be customized.

- Guild Member Count seems to start with a cap of 40 players.

- In-game Voice Chat for Guilds is available but can be disabled.

[Bombur]

Character Progression & Gear Details:

Spoiler: show

Gear in Star Resonance, consists of 11 elements:

4 Armour slots (Head, Chest, Gloves, and Boots)
1 Earring,
1 Necklace,
2 Bracelets,
1 Talisman,
1 Ring,
1 Weapon.

- Armour and Weapons can't be crafted; they're obtained as drops or through other means of rewards.

- You can equip an item similar to Ability Stones in Lost Ark. These Ability Stones have multiple nodes on each affix and they are based on rarity. The affix attributes on the ability stones are RNG-based, and they can include both positive and negative effects. The number of positive and negative affixes is not fixed.

- Gear and Weapons are only obtainable through dungeons and not available in the Cash Shop.

- Enhanced Echoes (e-imajinns) have been removed. Instead, you have different types of Gear acting as your “Armour”, similar to other MMORPGs.

- The Battle Echoes {b-Imajinns) has a strengthening system where consuming duplicate B-Imajinns items guarantees an enhancement.

- You have to use materials to upgrade your skills.

- Defeating Field Bosses rewards you with Skill and Talent upgrade materials.

- Gear can be enhanced by using duplicates. Seems to function similarly to the Quality Bar in Lost Ark. Higher quality leads to better stats. Before reaching a Perfection Score of 51, every enhancement guarantees an increase in the equipment's attributes, though the third advanced attribute may fluctuate. Once the score reaches 51, all attribute values become RNG-based (with the possibility of a decrease), and the score dynamically adjusts according to the equipment’s attributes.

Class Details:

Spoiler: show

There was currently 7 classes available in the last Closed Beta Test (CBT) Build. We have broken down what weapon each class wields, and the role they play.

In Star Resonance - you pick a starting class from one of the 7 listed below. Unlocking additional classes requires a certain Cash Shop item. The price for the class unlock item is subject to change depending on region.

-Heavy Guardian (tank)
Weapon: Great Blade

- Aegis Knight (tank)
Weapon: Sword & Shield

- Thunder Swordsman (Dps)
Weapon: Tachi

- Frost Mage (Dps)
Weapon: Staff

- Marksman (dps)
Weapon: Bow

- Wind Knight (dps)
Weapon: Spear

- Verant Orcale (Support/Healer)
Weapon: Magical Rings

- You can level up individual skills. Upgrades are guaranteed (NO RNG) as long as you have the materials.

- Some materials are obtained through gear dismantling.

- Some materials can also be purchased from the Cash Shop.

- Each class has a Talent Tree (passive traits) separate from the skill system. These Talent Trees have 3 tiers of depth.

- According to some testers, the talent tree available to each class branches out into at least two different paths at some point.

- Based on the talent UI, each class might have 3 different talent trees to choose from aka. sub classes. (Unconfirmed)

- Players now have Jump and Gliding skills, each with their own skill tree.

- There are 3 fixed skills (based on your class), 3 flexible skill slots (you can slot any skill from your class skill tree), and 2 activatable Battle Echo (b-imajinn) slots.

- Each class has its very own Trial based on its role (Tank/DPS/Healer). These seem to be solo trials, similar to Adventure Rank-ups from the JP version.

- Each class has a fixed Element assigned to it, which could mean that the Elemental System may be less complex compared to the JP version.

- "Character" Level remains the same, but Class Talent Level needs to be leveled individually.

Content & Dungeon Details:

Spoiler: show

- It seems to have content similar to the JP version, which provides you with Glory Coins (GC) and Medals. Both can be exchanged for costumes and other rewards.

- "Looking For Group" posts can be listed similarly to the JP version.

- Dungeons have 2 difficulties. Basic and Hard. Basic Mode Dungeons can be completed solo or with multiple players, but higher difficulties require at least 3 players to enter.

- Specifically, Hard Mode Dungeons have "Hard" and "Extreme" versions of certain Dungeons.

- In Hard Mode dungeons, players can choose specific buff affixes (similar to Mythic+ in World of Warcraft), provided they have the corresponding affix item.

- Dungeons to have 2 modes: Basic Mode and Hard Mode. Hard Mode is split into two additional modes.

- In some difficulties, achieving certain scores grants additional rewards.

- A (1v1v1v1) 4 Player obstacle foot race game mode. Race 3 other players to the finish line, dodging oncoming attacks, status ailments, and weather effects to emerge victorious, netting rewards for your character.

- There are 20-player Raids, which require at least 12 players to enter.

- Boss monsters in dungeons have actual patterns. Some upcoming special patterns are indicated by a timer or visual cues.

- Bosses still seem to have something similar to an Elemental/Stagger Gauge.

- Dungeon boss mechanics are more complex compared to the JP version.

- Dungeons have optional/additional tasks you can complete for extra rewards.

- Dodging certain enemy attacks has I-frames. There's a perfect dodge indicated by a special animation. Some patterns seem to give you visual cues to make dodging easier.

- The combat UI seems to be way better and less bloated with debuff icons compared to the JP version.

- Talent tree branching is confirmed. The same classes can have different talents and skill builds.

- There are Raid Bosses. They have a contribution meter similar to a DPS meter. Rewards seem to be based on contribution, which currently seems to favor the healer class. Additionally, a minimum contribution is required to receive any rewards.

- Dungeons have additional loot for which each player rolls a dice. The winner gets the loot.

Overworld/Zone Details:

Spoiler: show

- There are no more loading screens. Zones that were originally broken up by loading screens have been opened up by unlocking Vista Points.

- The overworld zones feature multiple jump/parkour/glide puzzles and some quests with a quiz-like system.

- Monster drops, gathering, and fishing materials can be used for cooking, which requires energy. Energy replenishes over time.

- Energy potions can be bought in the Guild Shop.

- Fishing is now in the open world.

- There are chests in the open world that can be unlocked by completing mini-events similar to Genshin.

- Wall Running & Terrain Scaling (Similar to popular Gacha games: Genshin Impact & WUWA)

- The Gliding and Sprinting skills need to be obtained at specific points on the map, and these skills have a duration (30 days). After expiration, players must revisit the corresponding points to reacquire them.

Fishing & Cooking Systems Details:

Spoiler: show

- The Fishing skill has proficiency levels.

- Fishing rods may break, and the chance of damage varies depending on the quality.

- You need to purchase bait, which also varies in quality; higher-quality bait leads to better catches.

- There is a leaderboard mechanism, where players can rank the size of their fish, either among all players or within their Guild.

- There’s a research mechanism where you can study caught fish. Higher research levels make it easier to catch specific types of fish.

- A Fishing Log exists, with different regions and maps offering different fish species.

- Areas on the Map/Zone contain physical fish, which you can catch.

- Cooking is now a life skill. The quality of cooked products varies (RNG-based).

Gacha & Monetization Details:

Spoiler: show

- Gacha is focused on Costumes/Mounts/Special Emotes/ Other cosmetics. With have a pity at caertain pulls (still to be decided). There are 4 different rarities, with the top rarity containing costumes.

- Certain Battle Pass levels also reward you with Energy Potions (Energy is used for crafting/Fishing, and is replenished naturally).

- Each Season Pass has different seasonal achievements (as a replacement for the Adventure Board system), which reset at the start of a new season.

- Each Season Pass has a free and paid version.

- Rewards and Titles are given based on the progress of achievements.

- Title ranks can be displayed through badges.

- Badges can be enhanced, and enhancing them improves player stats and grants specific buffs.

- Enhancement materials are provided when advancing Title ranks or can be purchased in the Season Pass Shop.

- Enhancing badges consumes enhancement materials and season points (BPP).

- There will be a cash shop.

- Also a BPP shop. (You can grind points to use in the Gacha or Cash Shop)

[Kachiko]

Just need to start seeing some gameplay videos and such, but looking forward to trying it out eventually.

[Bombur]

Studio Bokura gives out updates like twice a month. They post videos on WeChat, TapTap, and QQ. This is where I get the videos and info from. I am also in the WeChat and QQ community, so I get info from there as well.

I use MORT (Real-time translator with OCR) to translate to English. So be aware that translations are never 100% accurate. Also Star Resonance is still in Beta, so it's an ever-changing product, so things can change on the fly.

Latest Update Videos



UI & HUD Improvements

Spoiler: show

Start of Video
As mentioned in the previous newsletter, two different UIs will be developed for PC and Mobile versions of the game, respectively. Which will in turn be similar to the style we grew to love in BLUE PROTOCOL.

In the previous testing environment, the in-game chat interface would take up most of your screen. To address this, the new chat interface will integrate the new escape key (ESC) interface with this new style, such as emotes, mail, friends, etc... The main interface of the game will be simpler, less cluttered, and overall more optimal for your experience while playing.

As for the mobile UI, there have been significant improvements that make the player have an easier time using buttons that were previously difficult to navigate and press.

It should also be mentioned that the player's Heads-Up-Display (HUD) has been improved to hopefully please PC players. The HUD changes shown share similarities of Blue Protocol's HUD.

Graphical, Performance & Animation Improvements:

Spoiler: show

Starts at 2:10 mark
Graphics need to stand the test of time. So the developers decided to improve the quality of plants, shadows, shading, structure and flooring details, details of material, and enhance fabrics to be much cleaner.

As a by-product of the character model improvements, the gestures and animation quality of movement may have changed for the better. This is aimed to improve the quality of the special effects made while interacting throughout Regnas.

With improvements to the loading screen function, they have managed to increase the speed and ultimately shorten the loading time between major zones, so it makes it feel like an open world. This is a dual-port performance optimization. Both PC and Mobile performance optimization will be increased.

Combat & Story Improvements:

Spoiler: show

Starts at 3:54 mark
Studio Bokura has been working hard to implement adjustments towards combat, overall development, and the story of Star Resonance. They received and considered all the player feedback submitted, and will be sharing more information about those changes with us soon via the next Star Resonance Briefing.

Combat, Story & Content Improvements

Spoiler: show

Start of the video
The combat system in Star Resonance will be significantly improved upon, compared to the previous beta version. The team is working on improving control responsiveness, reducing delays when using skills, and adjusting animation times. There are also plans to rework the mechanics of air attacks, which should make battles more dynamic and tactically better for the user.

Additionally, the damage system will be improved. The developers want to increase the importance of tactical planning, as well as adjust the vulnerable zones of enemies and the impact of different types of damage on the course of the battle. The leadership system in groups and raids will also undergo changes to increase the importance of teamwork.

Character Talent Tree Overhaul

Spoiler: show

Starts at 2:26min mark of the video
The Talent Tree will get an overhaul. Players will now be able to discover new talents faster, and be able to go into different branches, so that players will have more choices to their play style. It is planned to divide leveling into stages, which will allow for better balance of progression and avoid situations where some skills become too strong or useless.

Equipment will also undergo significant changes. The developers will reduce the influence of randomness when upgrading items, increase the stability of progress and reduce the cost of resources for upgrading. The crafting system will also be revised and the algorithm for item drops in dungeons will be reworked.

Studio Bokura has decided to get rid of timeouts to dungeons and raids. You can now do them as many times as you want. To balance this, all equipment will be BOE. There will be no trading or putting equimpent on the AH. Now the main way to get equipment will be to knock it out in battles and participate in game activities.

Fixing the Story/Plot

Spoiler: show

Starts at 6:30 min mark
The new version will feature a reworked plot tempo. The developers want to make the narrative more organic, smoothly revealing details of the game world and its characters. The story will become lighter and more focused on developing relationships between characters, and some dialogues will be updated for better immersion in the game world.

In addition, much attention has been paid to the emotions and facial expressions of the characters. Future updates will feature improved facial expression animation, an expanded set of gestures, and improved voice acting.

Optimization and improvement of user experience

Spoiler: show

Near the End of the Video
The developers of Star Resonance continue to actively develop the project, focusing on player feedback. Future updates are aimed at improving the convenience of the gameplay, improving the combat system and developing the plot. In the next issue of Developer Briefing, the studio promises to talk about new mechanics and upcoming events, as well as answer the most popular questions from the community.

[Bombur]

Classes/Jobs

Shield Knight(Tank)

Spoiler: show

Weapon: Sword and Shield
As a Tank, the Shield Knight is good at close combat, has a strong damage absorption ability, taunt and can heal himself while causing damage to the enemy.

Ultimate Skill Combo

Protection
Gives a HOT and increases your blocking.



Light Shield
Increases your defence the more you attack, also increases your attack speed.

Blade Guardian(Tank)

Spoiler: show

Weapon: Great Blade
He is a Tank who can resist enemy attacks, protect his companions, and create a favorable output environment for the team. His normal attack will swing a thick blade for up to 4 attacks, each of which will cause physical damage and gain +5 aggro.

Ultimate Skill Combos

Block Flow
The falling attack will slash from the air to attack the target on the falling path and cause physical damage when landing. The "Shield Slam" will consume 40 rage points, and while slamming the surrounding targets to cause physical damage, it will also gain a shield for 12 seconds. When there are enough sand crystals, they will be consumed to increase the shield value.



Rock Shield
The player will charge forward, gain +40 aggro after hitting the enemy, cause physical damage to the enemy and stun the enemy. The enemy can't block you during the charge. The finishing move will stimulate the power of rock, instantly causing physical damage to a large area.

Thunder Swordsman(Dps)

Spoiler: show

Weapon:Tachi and Sickle
This Job has the highest burst ability in the entire game, and also has a weapon model switching mechanism. It uses a combination of two major weapons, the Tachi and the Sickle (you can switch back and forth). Its mechanism lies in the initial 3 energy points. Use skills to accumulate energy points, and then use output skills to play out the energy points, thus forming a set of cycles. The more energy points you have, the higher the damage you can do. The passive skill is that every once in a while, you can use Iai without charging time.

Ultimate Skill Combos

Iai Slash
High Burst Dmg done with the Tachi. It it is highly dependent on energy points. The combo is very weak to use without energy. This decreases your attack speed, but increases your dmg.



Moon Blade
DOT Dmg done with the Sickle. Like Iai Slash it is highly dependent on energy points. The combo is very weak to use without energy. This increases your attack speed, but decreases your dmg.

Wind Knight(Dps,Off-Tank,Off-Heal)

Spoiler: show

Weapon:Spear
Wind Knight is a jack of all trades class. It doesn't have the burst dmg as other classes, but it can do dmg, can heal a bit, and can tank a bit. It is suitable for many combat environments. It is good at close combat, uses a spear as a weapon, and has excellent small-range attack capabilities.

Ultimate Skill Combos

Reload Flow
Reload flow is a flexible heavy attack combo that increases your mobility to avoid enemies attacks. It also adds extra DOT's to the enemy.



Air Combat
Air Combat can avoid attacks from the ground by jumping up. You also suppress enemies with status effects on the ground by accumulating power in the air.

Marksman(Dps)

Spoiler: show

Weapon:Bow
Marksman has an advantage in that they are very good at long-distance combat, They can summon animals to attack together, and has a strong large-scale attack capability. It is a favorite of many solo players. For many wild bosses, single-player kiting can be done, and players with good skills can deal super high damage.

Ultimate Skill Combos

Beast Taming
Summons giant wolf pets to fight together. The giant wolves can attract the enemy up front, and draw agro away, so the Marksman is free to do the combo in the back, to do dmg.



Falcony
Summons a falcon pet to see the enemies weakness, and attacks. When a Markstorm does a critical hit in their combo, the falcon's dmg will increase.

Frost Mage(Dps,CC)

Spoiler: show

Weapon: Staff
Frost Mage does very strong magic damage and crowd control. When facing a large ammount of enemies, they can use their long range aoe attacks. They have many CC skills, such as Frost Nova, which can freeze all surrounding opponents and bring a slowing effect, as well as single target DD skills.

Ultimate Skill Combos

Ice Spear
The Ice Spear combo is a strong continuous output of Dmg and you gain greater mobility to run out of enemy attacks. But it comes at a cost, it sacrifices your defense for greater dmg.



Ray Flow
This combo can do more dmg than Ice Spear, but it requires luck in Critical Hits. But if you can stack Crits, you will do massive dmg. The cost is that you can't move very well while doing this combo.

Verdant Oracle(Healer/Support)

Spoiler: show

Weapon:Chakram
This class can heal and assist while also dealing damage. Normal attacks will hit in four stages and cause magic damage. Special attacks will summon huge vines to attack the target area, causing damage while also healing yourself and the surrounding friendly forces with the lowest health.

Ultimate Skill Combos

Punishment
This will consume 30 energy points and summon giant vines to attack the enemy target area, causing magic damage while healing himself and their teammates with the lowest health around him.



Healing Flow
This will summon seeds to attack the enemy, causing magic damage and reducing their movement speed by 25%. "Nourish" will allow yourself and surrounding teammates to gain 10 seconds of forest power, which will heal every second. The finishing move will use the forest power to create a barrier, which will first cause continuous magic damage to the enemy when it is deployed, and you and your teammates will receive continuous treatment and a certain amount of damage reduction.

[Bombur]

SR is currently in Closed Beta. The Closed Beta is under NDA. But Tencent does put out Beta Events every 4 months to drive hype. The Beta Events are NDA free.

The next Beta Event starts on Apr. 24th. It will last 3 weeks. So there will be lots of gameplay streams and videos posted then. Tencent wants to focus on the Chinese market first, so sign-ups for these events are for the Chinese market only.

Of course there are ways to get in outside of China. If you have a verified wechat account, you can sign up for the beta events. Unknown if they will filter any applications outside of China. You have to use your phone number and email so it will be pretty obvious IF they decided to do so. If the game is succesful in China, Tencent will bring it out west.

The Apr.24th Beta Event will have a PC client, and a Andriod client. Both will be cross-play, and NDA free.

iOS and Console are not ready to be NDA free yet.


Apr.24th Beta Event Trailer

[Celeras]

Are you the 6Souls of the MMO section or do you just have an incredible passion for abandoned games?

[Gokulo]

Are you the 6Souls of the MMO section or do you just have an incredible passion for abandoned games?

I mean this is a new upcoming game

[Krandor]

A game that already horrendously bombed and got cancelled.

But sure, "new"

[Kachiko]

In the same way FF XIV ARR was new after it initially bombed. But yes, I think it's obvious Bombur has a love for what Blue Protocol was and is hoping the reborn version will be successful this time.

[Bombur]

Are you the 6Souls of the MMO section or do you just have an incredible passion for abandoned games?

Well I do spam the MMO thread allot. I guess I have a bit of OCD, and get too excited..lol

But yes I am hoping this remake will be successful this time.

[6souls]

He's kinda like me, but Canadian

[Bombur]

I'm back !! ..lol

SR has kicked off CB 4. It started Apr.24th, and there is no NDA.

Because it's CN only, there is very few American players/streamers. But there is a ton of EU/JPN players. I was able to get a CB Key, so I have been playing. Unlike JPN companies, Tencent doesn't care where you come from. As long as you follow the rules, they figure the more players = potential for more money. But it is a complicated process.

This game is like a combo of FFXIV and pokemon. It has a MSQ, that you are forced to lvl up to open up the dungeons/content. It is 100% open world, with quest hubs for side content.

In this game (like in BP) the pokemon are called Imagine's. You go around the world and capture them, or you can craft them. You can train and lvl them up. When you lvl them up, they can randomly give you special abilites, or give you bonuses. Like + stats or gear score.

You can use them as pets to attack mobs, but they blow your mana/stamina/blocking. So you can only have them out for a shot time. You usually summon them, and then do thier special ability, and then de-summon them.

Charater Creation

This game does have a robust charater creator. Tencent has restored the Loli types, and gave us additional options for character creation.

I noticed Steparu got a beta key, so he has been posting SR stuff.