_Guide Book_ Please Be Sure To Read.

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This is Sword Buster Online's Official Guide book It may not be as detailed as you may like but we didn't have a beta version. from alpha to realease. any notes may be posted to this guide in thought or whisper form and would probably be apreciated by many other SBO players.  

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System
The game operates similar to most MMORPGs with a level system and eventual skill mastery with some limits placed on it. The entire game is monitored and maintained by a system called «Cardinal» which self-corrects any problems.

While the Sword Burst Online mainframe is capable of incredible graphical and rendering capacities, it does not actually render the entire environment in full detail unless a certain region is specifically observed by a player. SBO uses a «Digital Focusing System», which brings out the finer details of an object only when a player shows interest and focuses their visual field on it. According to Beta Testers, this reduces the strain on the SBO mainframe processor, which, despite its high performance power, is incapable of rendering all marginal details of the environment simultaneously. This effectually produces the illusion that the SBO graphical and VR experience is incredibly detailed.

The SBO mainframe apparently has a difficult time rendering the sensation of water in baths or showers.

Sword Burst Online runs on NerveGear hardware, a form of FullDive technlogy. It was not made available for other platforms.  

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Virtual Reality Experience
As a complete virtual reality MMORPG, the SBO system is capable of rendering the entire Aincrad 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 SBO as if it were an alternate reality. However, there are several major differences that set the Sword Burst Online environment apart from the real-world experience.

First, no pain is actually felt in any situation. As a result, gamers can undergo severe injuries and still only feel a tingling sensation. Second, there is no blood; in its place are orange virtual gashes that are seen in the place of damage. Third, Sword Skills allow actions (such as fighting, cooking, fishing) to be performed with normally impossible speed, dexterity, and power, based on a gamer's stats. Fourth, there are some everyday actions that simply aren't done in the SBO world, such as changing clothes by hand or attempting to wield two items at the same time.

While playing Sword Burst Online, gamers still feel fatigue and hunger (even if their real bodies are not hungry). As a result, it is an absolute necessity for all players to eat and sleep within the game. However, there is never a need to defecate or go to the bathroom. The SBO system generally censors mature or unhealthy content (smoking, sexual intercourse, etc.), but it is even possible for players to disable the censor if «Ethics Code Off» is selected on the options menu.

Death or deletion in the game is visualized by fragmentation into thousands of polygon shards. All monsters, items, and players that have their HP or durability reduced to zero, disappear and fragment into polygons in such a fashion.  

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Environment
Sword Burst Online takes the form of a giant floating castle called Aincrad, like Sword Art Online but with 999 floors in it. Each floor has a medieval-themed setting and a dungeon with a boss, which has to be defeated before players can advance to the next higher floor. Like most RPGs, it implements a level based system.

Global Setting

The sunset at Aincrad's 1st Floor.
Sword Burst Online is set in Aincrad, a floating castle of 999 floors. At its base, it is approximately 10 km in diameter, and it is completely rendered in all dimensions. Because of the nature of Aincrad as a floating castle, there are no invisible barriers or no-access regions at the edges of the map. Aincrad's perimeter is merely surrounded by guard rails that can be jumped off of (the system will render falling for approximately 2 minutes before suicide is registered as death).

Each individual floor has its unique climate, geography, fauna, and environment. Some floors are known for being fairly cold, while others are known for flowers and forests. Most floors on Aincrad have a theme.  

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Seasons and Weather

Sword Burst Online has its own «Aincrad Standard Time» (presumably the same as JST, UTC+9), and its own «Aincrad Calender» with specially named months. Known calendar months are listed:

-Month of The Pine(Jan)
-Month of The Rose(Feb)
-Month of Rai(Mar)
-Month of The Dragon(Apr)
-Month of The Mayflower(May)
-Month of The Moon(jun)
-Month of The Crab(jul)
-Month of The Setting Sun(Aug)
-Month of Kai(Sep)
-Month of The Dead(Oct)
-Month of Arios The Shining God(Nov)
-Month of Holly(Dec)

Globally, Sword Burst Online has seasons and weather settings that are effective throughout the floors. Aincrad's season correlate with the seasons of the real world, but they are generally much milder. As a result, it is not always snowy in the winter, or scorching hot in the summer. Weather settings are generally random and quite realistic.  

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Physical Surroundings

In Sword Burst Online, physical surroundings such as walls, buildings, monuments, and major features are considered "Immortal Objects". A error beep and a notification will sound if immortal physical objects are struck, even if by accident.


All non-immortal objects have a «durability» value. Durability is an important feature of Sword Burst Online, and it a measure of how much an item or object has been used (similar to HP), and how much it will last before it expires and shatters into polygon fragments. Clothes, equipment, weapons, potions, crystals, and food are all subject to gradual loss of durability.

Oftentimes, players must invest significant resources into repairing and buying equipment. Many characters carry extra back-up weapons into dungeons, others rely on merchants and smiths who regularly repair and upgrade equipment. Food always declines in durability with respect to time, and freshly prepared foods will disappear if not eaten soon enough. Merely dropping food can cause food to lose its durability and fragment into polygons.  

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Initiation and Character Creation
Logging onto «Sword Burst Online» is done by stating, "Link Start!" after powering-on NerveGear hardware. A brief few seconds of tunnel-vision colors are seen while the NerveGear intercepts signals from the gamer'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, a language-select is prompted, and then the login screen. After a welcome screen, a bright light ensues and the gamer can begin creating their character.  

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Visual Interface

Health Bar
In a player's display, without accessing any skills, one can see several interfaces.

The health bar is located on the upper left corner of one's field of vision. It displays the health of the player, name, numerical HP (8120/8120), and level. It also shows the heath and names of all other members one's party in a smaller bar.

A clock displaying Aincrad local time can be seen in the bottom left corner of the visual field.

A cursor interface can be over every NPC, monster, and player in the game. This cursor is either green (for players), orange (for players with criminal infractions), yellow (for NPCs), or red (monsters). During battle, the health bar of monsters can be seen around the targeted enemy, as well as the name of the monster. Bosses typically have multiple health bars. As for a monster that level is too far apart, health bars of that monster will be unable to see and instead indicated with 'unknown'.  

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Main Menu Window

The main menu is the primary means of accessing a player's items, maps, skills, and inventory.

SBO's Menu Interface.
It can be accessed by putting one's right index finger and thumb together, then pulling downwards. Immediately afterwards, a ringing sound is heard and a shining purple rectangle appears. In the anime, the main menu is structured with the summary diagram on the left, circular category buttons in the middle, and the detail dialogue to the right. There are five category options: inventory/equipment, friends/guild, messaging/chat, maps/quest, settings/main-menu. These five category icons scroll, and the category being accessed moves to the top.
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 gamer 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 an 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 player. The inventory turns red when a player has too many items.
Skills: Selecting this sub-menu will open additional scrolling screen on the left that lists all skills of the player.
Friends/Guild: The icon for the category is two character icons together. The right screen has three sub-menus:
Party: Selecting this sub-menu will open three additional options. The first is "Create", the second is "Invite", and the third is "Dissolve".
Friend: Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a list of a player's friends. Selecting a single friend will produce three additional options: "Message Box", "Position Check", and "Profile".
Guild
Messaging/Chat: The icon for the category is two chat box icons together. The icon flashes automatically whenever a player receives a message. Apparently messages cannot be send to player who is currently in the dungeon.
Maps/Quest: The icon for the category is a balloon location icon. The right screen has three sub-menus:
Field Map
Dungeon Map: Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a map of the dungeon that the player has explored.
Quest
Settings/Main-menu: The icon for the category is a gear. The right screen has three sub-menus:
Option
Help: Selecting "Help" will call a GM (Game Master) in the left screen.
Logout: The logout button is missing. Consequently, the left-screen is also completely blank.
Touch Interface

Players can interact with the environment by tapping various key objects (door knobs, items, etc.). Doing so either performs the default function, or brings up a floating dialogue that has several options, similar to right-click on a PC.

In Sword Art Online, the Touch Interface replaces many actions and simplifies the process of actually performing an action. For example, in Episode 2 of the anime, Asuna taps on a jar of cream to "use" the jar. Tapping again on bread automatically spreads the cream on the bread. The Same goes with Sword Burst Online.  

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Status Effects

Main article: Status Effect
Status Effects, like many MMORPGs, play an important role in combat. Many attacks have a random chance of dealing status effects. They are generally not curable, unless the appropriate Crystals are used. Most status effects expire after a set period of time. The following is a list of known status effects:

Stun - Many Sword Skill attacks have a random chance of dealing Stun, which disrupts the next action of the affected player.
Delay - Slows the movements of the affected player.
Tumble - Disrupts the standing balance of the affected player.
Paralysis - Prevents movement for several minutes.
Poison
Hate - Attracts the attention of enemies, and causes NPC attacks to be focused on the player. It is automatically gained by being the most predominant attacker in a group.