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Project Neural Cloud

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Girls' Frontline: Neural Cloud or Neural Cloud, known as 少女前线：云图计划 or 云图计划 in Simplified Chinese, 雲圖計劃 in Traditional Chinese, 뉴럴 클라우드 in Korean and ニューラルクラウド in Japanese, is a roguelike strategy game from Sunborn and a spin-off to Girls' Frontline. The player, as the Professor, must lead a group of Dolls called the Exiled in a digital world called Magrasea and save them from deletion by the Sanctifiers. Each Doll has their own abilities, upgrade them and build their base. Certain Dolls in Neural Cloud share their identity with characters from Girls' Frontline.

"I can't sleep yet, I still have work to do..."

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The poster girl for the game is the Doll Persicaria.

The game released in Mainland China on 23 September 2021, in Global English on 21 November 2022, in Taiwan and Korea on 23 November 2022 and in Japan on 24 November 2022.

Characters

Three characters in beta files are not in the final game: Lancet, Naka and Yotsuba.

Returning characters

Certain Dolls are the same character, or appear to be, as characters from Girls' Frontline.

Gameplay

Neural Cloud is an automated strategy game with roguelike elements. Unlike Girls' Frontline, most of the game is in 3D.

Dolls

Main Article: Doll Info Menu

The units available to the player are Dolls, human-like androids created for specific jobs. Specifically, the characters in the game are the virtual representation of the Dolls in the Magrasea superserver based on their Neural Cloud. Unlike in Girls' Frontline, few Dolls in Neural Cloud qualify as Tactical Dolls.

Doll quality (also called "rarity") initially ranges from one to three stars. Each Doll belongs to one of five classes (called "Vocations"): Guard, Sniper, Warrior, Medic and Specialist. There are 18 attributes used in combat for each Doll:

  • Max HP: Can be affected during Exploration
  • ATK: Damage caused by normal attacks and certain skills
  • Hashrate: Determines the damage caused by certain skills
  • Physical DEF: Percentage reduction of incoming Physical DMG
  • Operand DEF: Percentage reduction of incoming Operand DMG
  • Attack Speed
  • Crit Rate (Skills cannot crit by default)
  • Crit Damage
  • Physical Penetration: Cancels out with target's Physical DEF
  • Operand Penetration: Cancels out with target's Operand DEF
  • Dodge Rate (only normal attacks can be dodged)
  • Post-Battle HP Regen
  • Skill Haste: Auto Skill charge speed
  • Debuff Resistance: Determines duration of debuffs
  • Backlash: Returns parts of incoming damage as True Damage
  • Damage Boost: Percentage bonus to attacks delivered
  • Injury Mitigation: Percentage reduction to incoming damage
  • Healing Effect: Percentage bonus to heals delivered

Moreover, each Doll has three skills: a passive skill, an auto skill and an ultimate skill. The Intimacy level of Dolls increase up to in battle and with gifts, gaining attribute buffs and new personal information up to level 14. Costumes are called "Projections" in this game, alternative Projections of a Doll's base artwork are unlocked with Neural Expansion while themed costumed must be bought in the shop.

Dolls increase their attributes by gaining levels and performing Neural Expansion. Neural Expansion increases the rarity of the Doll up to 5 stars in half-star increments using Diggcoins (DGC) and Neural Fragments. Neural Fragments are obtained in Resources Collection, with a drop bonus for Dolls at high Intimacy, and by getting duplicates in the gacha. Neural Expansion is needed for Dolls under 3 stars initial rarity to unlock their Ultimate Skill, and Expansion is the only way to upgrade the Ultimate Skill. Dolls don't gain experience in combat. Experience points are awarded after a fight as as general currency to be redistributed manually to the Dolls, up to level 60. A special level up called Breakthrough must be done every 10 levels, requiring Breakthrough Widgets and Diggcoins. Passive and Auto Skills can also be enhanced by spending Skill Samples.

After clearing Stage 3-4, Dolls can be further modified with Algorithms providing further attribute bonuses (this is similar to the Chips of Heavy Ordnance Corps in Girls' Frontline). Each Doll has Offense, Stability and Special Algorithms Slots organized in patterns of 2×4 squares (some Slots must be unlocked with Neural Expansions and Potential Breakthroughs). Each Algorithm enhances one attribute called the Main Attribute, plus some substats. There are three types of Algorithms for each grid: Offense, Stability and Special Algorithms. Algorithms are stored in the Algorithm Warehouse and can be equipped in available Slots. Moreover, Algorithms of purple and orange quality come in Algorithm Sets, and activate Set Effects when used at the same time. The Main Attribute of assigned Algorithms is made more effective by enhancing the Doll's Algorithm Efficiency, which occurs by gaining levels, using Algorithm Boosters and spending unneeded Algorithms (Algorithms can also be Decomposed to make materials used in the Processing plant building).

Players start with five Dolls: Persicaria, Sol, Croque, Fresnel and Mai. More Dolls can be acquired in the Neural Search gacha (requires the Search Terminal building). Basic Search is performed with a currency that is constantly produced and mostly yields items rather than Dolls, while Advanced Search relies on rare and premium currencies and includes a pity system of one 3-stars Doll guaranteed every 60 search. In Advanced Search at launch, 1-star Dolls have a combined drop rate of 78.4%, 2-stars 18% and 3-stars 3.6%.

Battle

Main Articles: PNC Combat and PNC Exploration

Entering battle and claiming battle clear rewards requires Keys, replenished at a rate of 12 keys per hour for a maximum of 150 keys.

Most stages are either Battles of Endurance or Explorations. At the start of a stage, the player sets a team of up to 5 main Dolls and 3 reserves which cannot be changed during the level. The player is presented with random "Functions" to choose from as they progress in stage, buffing certain unit types. "Protocols" can also apply substantial battle modifiers. Battle of Endurance stages are simple back-to-back battles. During Exploration stages, the player navigates branching paths of events including "Conflict Zone" (battles of various difficulties), "Function Library" and "Anomaly Area" (to receive items), "Trading Area" (to sell and buy Functions and Protocols) and "Recovery Area" (healing), and a final battle against a boss in the "Output Terminal" at the end of each layer. Exploration ends when all layers in the level are completed. Similar to the Normal and Emergency stages in Girls' Frontline, story chapters have a Standard and Dark Realm version. An Endless Exploration stage is unlocked when all Standard stages of an area are cleared, playing this mode yields Strategic Blueprints that enable the use of Procedural Efficiency Nodes to receive further bonuses when playing story stages.

Battles take place on boards made of hexagonal tiles. The player units start on the leftmost rows of the board and can be swapped during pre-fight to match enemy placement and take advantage of tiles with special effects. During battle, the player units move and choose their targets on their own. Player actions are limited to spend Tactical Energy to use Tactical Skills, spending Active Functions and choosing when to use a unit's ultimate skill. After a certain time in battle, Battlefield Overload will occur and multiply the effect of attacks while reducing the effects of heals and shields, becoming more and more drastic as the battle drags on.

Base building

Main Articles: Oasis Menu, PNC Dormitory and PNC Factory

The player's base in the Oasis menu unlocks new functions as they progress in the game, such as new Dolls in Neural Search, expanded resources storage and increased currencies production. Existing buildings can be upgraded with Prefab Units and Diggcoins.

Like Girls' Frontline, the base includes a Dormitory system (now in 3D), which can be decorated with furnitures to improve their Habitability (or Comfort) level and generate resources.

The Factory unlocked after Stage 3-6 can produce various resources in a set amount of time (or instantly with Energizers) by spending Data acquired in battle and other resources, with new order types unlocked by progressing in the story. At first only two orders can be placed in the Factory at a time and only the Extraction Mine (Oasis and Factory materials) and the Supplies Workshop (Dolls enhancement materials) are available, the Gift Workshop is unlocked at Stage 3-12 and the Data Encapsulation Center at Stage 4-14.

Story

Main Article: PNC Story

On 23 September 2063, Persica digitizes the consciousness of a trusted Griffin Commander and send them inside a recently recovered backup of Project Neural Cloud. The troubled project was eventually lost three years prior when all research data was destroyed in the Wipe-off Incident, and the Professor who led the project disappeared. Using the identity of the Professor, the Commander must make contact with the Dolls who participated in the project, learn what happened and where to find the Professor.

When "the Professor" enters Magrasea, they find that the Dolls of Project Neural Cloud have been expelled from their original sector during the Wipe-off Incident and have been designated Irregular Agents by the Sanctifiers, who know aim to destroy them. To shelter the Dolls now calling themselves the Exiles, the real Professor created a new sector called Oasis, and built the Sandbox Barrier to protect them as they searched for a way back to the real world.

Teaser trailer message

751F "命" 7684 5F62 5F0F FF0C 54CD 5F7B 6D41 4EA1 4E4B 4EBA 7684 7948 7977 3002 4E0D 6B62 4E8E 4EBA 7C7B 81FA 6043 7684 8BA4 8BA4 77E5 3002 65E0 5E8F 7EDD 975E 6DF7 4E71 FF0C 865A 6784 672A 5FC5 4E0D 662F 771F 5B9E 3002 820D 547D 53EA 8FAB 53BB 5F80 7EDD 5730 FF0C 9690 533F 7684 5F52 9014 4E0A FF0C 54CD 5F7B 6D41 4EA1 4E4B 4EBA 7684 7948 7977 3002

生命的形式，响彻流亡之人的祈祷。不止于人类臺恃的认认知。无序绝非混乱，虚构未必不是真实。舍命只辫去往绝地，隐匿的归途上，响彻流亡之人的祈祷。

“Life's shape rings through the prayers of the lost. Human knowledge is not the only thing that can perceive it. Lack of order does not mean chaos, fiction does not always mean falsehood. To forsake one's life in desperation, in the hidden paths of return, rings the prayers of the lost.”

Social media posts

  • Top Secret letter: A letter from IOP to Griffin & Kryuger about their partnership with 42LAB on Neural Cloud technology and testing to be done. It reveals a number of occupations and original names for G&K T-Dolls used in Girls' Frontline: G36 was a butler model (unsurprisingly), PA-15 was named Florence, IDW was a security model named Betty, Zas M21 was a fashion designer model, AEK-999 was named Fendere, FNC was a pastry chef named Choco, Type 79 was named Azure, MDR was named Kuro, AA-12 was named Lind, M500 was named Abigail, HS2000 was named Hearate, Welrod MkII was named Insidious and C-MS was named Clara.
  • Recruitment message: An open recruitment notification by 42LAB for Dolls test subjects from all models, commercial, civilian, corporate or privately-owned (though not military and unemployed ones). It explains that Project Neural Cloud is a partnership between IOP and 42LAB, a branch of the International Institute of Quantum Studie (IIQS), to produce a quantum-based in-the-cloud artificial consciousness module framework to protect Dolls memory data in case of neural cloud damage. The experiment is set to last for 2 months after 30th June 2058 and will run experiments on their memory module, with the benefit of free subscription to the final product.
  • CLR Event: An internal message between a Griffin & Kryuger officer and their superior. A commander reported signs of tampering in one of IOP's emails about Neural Cloud sent a few weeks prior, and the same pattern was found again two days earlier. The perpetrator inserted a message within the email, saying that 42LAB was secretly "sacrificing lives" and erasing Dolls memories as part of Project Neural Cloud. The message also contained a keyword, "CLR Event", a plea for help, and the spectrogram message "project sanctifier". The officer reports that IOP looked into the safety of Neural Cloud and that G&K operation is not in danger, and with G&K currently needing 42LAB's cooperation, they decide to keep the file under locks in case negotiations with 42LAB would be necessary in the future.
  • PRJ_Sanctifier_PID: Worried about the emergence of super-viruses developed and deployed by AIs, 42LAB created the AI antivirus Project Sanctifier in 2055 in support of the IIQS and to protect its own cloud capabilities. Sanctifier was to be self-learning, self-monitoring, provide active detection and elimination against viruses and other forms of electronic attack, autonomously repair legal programs showing signs of infection and operate from within 42LAB's cloud. After its completion, Sanctifier became an industry milestone and the foundation for Project Neural Cloud. At the start of the animated image, two files can be seen aside PRJ_Sanctifier_PID, titled "stf_mara draft v2" and "stf_gavri’el draft".
  • PRJ_Sanctifier_ET: Live report of a network attack on 42LAB on 14 February 2056. The attacker uses very similar code than other 42LAB projects and acts much like an AI virus, but Sanctifier seems to work well against it.
  • Persica's email: After two weeks of consideration, Persica accepts to participate to Project Neural Cloud. Though she believes a lot of hard work will be needed to complete such a highly important project, she will lend to the respected professor in charge of the project her personal assistant, the Doll created after her image and personality by 42LAB themselves. Persica (the Doll) herself is very interested in participating in live testing, especially after being stuck on their current project for a long time. Her one condition is to ensure her assistant's safety.
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    Top Secret letter.
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    Recruitment message.
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    PRJ_Sanctifier_PID
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    PRJ_Sanctifier_ET.
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    Persica's email.

ARG

The countdown images shared on social media before the game's release contained hidden puzzles to access images containing extra lore. The full decryption process is explained in this series of post in Chinese.

  • FromDrJSubjectRe_.jpg: Email exchanges about an early human consciousness uploading technology developed by Ultilife.
  • BACKGROUNDCHECK.jpg: A Svarog investigation on a Griffin & Kryuger Tactical Commander whose resume include duties in “S09”, excellent command and combat abilities, cyberwarfare experience, involvement with Sangvis Ferri's rebellion, exposure to Collapse radiation and service after Berezovich Kryuger's capture.
  • vitalsigns.jpg: An Ultilife memo about a woman named Irida who fell into a coma on 29 September 2060 during a surgery at an Ultilife facility.
  • screenshot_2797294210.jpg: A socials post from Universal Anything Services reassuring customers that they only plan to make Dolls with obedient second generation Neural Clouds and not the more independent third generation ones.
  • DOCRECONSTRUCTING.jpg: A shredded 42LAB memo.
  • DOCRECONSTRUCTED.jpg: The same memo, reassembled to reveal the true meaning behind of the events of the game.
  • NeursoulCocoon.jpg: The last picture introduces the Neural Cocoons further discussed in the game in Chapter 1 Dark, and contains an in-game code for 100 Keys.
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    The countdown images.
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    The assembled ARG image without the last piece (no spoiler content).
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    The last piece of the image (contains spoilers).
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    NeursoulCocoon.jpg

Music

Vanguard Sound remains Sunborn's music partners for Neural Cloud.

Gallery

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    Player character, "the Professor".
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    Allied NPCs.
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    Sanctifier enemy units.
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    Childlike Fantasy costume event.
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    Theater Retro II costume event.
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    First Anniversary Promo Artwork.
  • Seasonal illustrations
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    Summer 2021.
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    Halloween 2021.
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    Christmas 2021.
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    New Year 2021.
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    New Year 2022.
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    Chinese New Year 2022.
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    Valentines 2022.
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    Summer 2022.
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    Halloween 2022.

Links

Games
Anime Girls' Frontline (anime) · Healing Chapter & Madness Chapter
Books Guns&Girls · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1 · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.2 · Confidential Files · Girls' Frontline: Doll's Song · Others
Music Withered · Codename: Bakery Girl Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Original Soundtrack · Project Neural Cloud Original Soundtrack · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline ECHOES · Girls' Frontline Concerts
Companies Big Firebird and Liverless · Sunborn (Mica Team) · Vanguard Sound · Game publishers
Community Community Resources · Community Events
Misc. April Fools · List of cultural references · Minigames · Shadow Confrontation
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