Cyberworld QBORGs (partially found 3D content; 1999-2015)

Logo for Cyberworld International Corporation

Status: Partially Found

Cyberworld QBORGs are 3D "web pages" that utilized multimedia in a simple, grid-based 3D environment. The QBORG technology was developed by Cyberworld International Corporation in 1999. Their clients included Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Stan Lee Media, ATI Technologies and Discovery Channel Canada.

Technology

QBORGs are 3D levels that can only be properly accessed through Cyberworld's proprietary browser.^[1]

Levels are stored in an XML format that map the world in a 16x16 grid, and contain references to textures for ceilings, walls, floors, and sprites, as well as an "emblem" and a minimap graphic. Despite having unusual file extensions, these graphics are simply PNG or JPEG files. Sprites are also PNGs or JPEGs, though with extra metadata that dictate their behavior in-game.

Availability

The company's website suddenly disappeared in 2003, though some QBORG projects hosted elsewhere were seen as late as 2015. While a few projects have now been found in full, several more remain lost. This partly due to the links used to download or access the worlds using "borg://" in place of "http://", which stopped web crawlers, such as those on the Internet Archive from being able to navigate to them.

The Cyberworld browser does not play well with missing content. When it comes to missing sprites, if a level is loaded offline, the browser will not load any remaining sprites, whether they will work or not. If the level is loaded from a website, the level will not load at all. In the former case, this can be remedied by placing empty files with the proper filenames in the "objects" folder. Earlier versions of the browser, such as the version "bundled" with Pokémon 2000 Adventure, can tolerate missing floor or background textures for levels loaded from the local disk, though later versions of the Cyberworld Browser are less forgiving.

One quirk in regards to the Cyberworld Browser as opposed to other browsers is that QBORG content is downloaded to the installation folder rather than simply being in browser cache. This opens up the possibility of finding lost QBORG content on old hard drives. On September 17, 2023, an Internet Archive user named rufus10 uploaded assets for many of their games.^[2]

The official Cyberworldcorp site placed the projects into different galleries, which were designed to group projects together based on a shared purpose. Some projects were duplicated across multiple categories, but this article will avoid duplication.

Partner Worlds

The "Partner Worlds" section was dedicated to different companies that Cyberworldcorp had partnered with, mainly for advertising their partner's brand.^[3]

Pokémon 2000 Adventure

Status: Found

Pokémon 2000 Adventure was developed in collaboration with Warner Bros. to promote Pokémon: The Movie 2000. The player is tasked with traveling to three islands to retrieve three Ancient Spheres by solving trivia questions. The game is notable for having a custom version of the Cyberworld browser, known as the Pokemon 2000 browser. This game floated around with incomplete assets for many years, before it was found in a complete state among the CDs provided by developer Eddie Ruminski. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Stan Lee Media: Perrona Prime

Status: Lost

Perrona Prime was a media project by stanlee.net. The player would explore a futuristic city on the titular planet, meet a virtual version of Stan Lee, and get sent on a mission. It is not immediately clear if this was related to, or a rename of, another stanlee.net QBorg project, Scuzzle Station X. This project apparently used a special version of the Cyberworld Browser known as the "Stan Lee Media Net Browser". However, this browser was only available through the stanlee.net browser, and its currently lost. The project as a whole is entirely lost, save for the four surviving promotional images. ^[4]

The Skulls: Initiation

Status: Found

Based on the 2000 Universal thriller The Skulls, The Skulls: Initiation took the player through an "initiation sequence" featured in the film.

This project can supposedly be found on DVD releases of The Skulls. ^[5]^[6]. It has been found in a complete state among the CDs provided by developer Eddie Ruminski. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

NorstarMall.ca 3D Mall

Status: Lost

This QBorg made for the Canadian mall NorstarMall, was billed as “The Ultimate Canadian Online Shopping Experience”. The idea was the player would do their online shopping by walking through a virtual mall. ^[7] Then custom browser used by this QBorg can be downloaded via Internet Archive captures of the page. ^[8] However, none of the assets are known to have survived.

ATI 3D Site Map

Status: Lost

A traditional sitemap serves as a list of the different webpages for a website. The ATI 3D Site Map was meant to be a new spin on the concept that created a walkable 3D world. The original Cyberworldcorp description notes that it contained product information, FAQs, product drivers, and on-line contests. Some screenshots from the ATI Technologies page appear to show robotic figure inhabiting this world. ^[9]

Ancient Egypt

Status: Lost

Ancient Egypt from Discovery Channel Canada, showcased, as the name implied, parts of ancient Egypt.^[10]

3D Hangar

Status: Lost

Another Discovery Channel Canada project, 3D Hangar was a recreation of a hangar and showcased aircraft from the Canada Aviation Museum.^[11]

Scuzzle Station X

Status: Lost

Produced by Stan Lee Media, Scuzzle Station X showcased the comic co-creator's then-newest superhero project, The 7th Portal^[12]^[13]. Not much else is known about this project. The few surviving screenshots suggest that it used a custom version of the Cyberworld browser, possibly the lost "Stan Lee Media Net Browser" variant used for the "Perrona Prime" project.

Boneville 3D

Status: Lost

Boneville 3D featured locations and characters from Jeff Smith's comic, Bone. All that has been found of this one is the front page.^[14]

Zeta Quest 3D

Status: Partially Found

Based on the DCAU cartoon The Zeta Project, Zeta Quest 3D put the player in the role of the robot Zeta as he seeks out his creator, Dr. Selig with guidance from Rosalie "Ro" Rowan. The player faces obstacles such as finding key items or choosing the right disguise to get past security cameras.^[15]^[16]

Leisure Worlds

The "Leisure Worlds" section appears to have been mostly for entertainment for different age groups. Among other entries, it features a murder mystery game, some colorful cartoon characters for children, and an edutainment game about the Olympics.^[17]

Cyberworld Olympiad

Status: Found

Cyberworld Olympiad is an educational exhibition on various Olympic sports, including gymnastics, track and field, and swimming. Some of the levels have a degree of interactivity, such as lights turning on when entering a room. ^[18] It has been found in a complete state among the CDs provided by developer Eddie Ruminski. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Theatre CYBERWORLD

Status: Lost

Theatre CYBERWORLD was a 3d world meant to resemble a movie theatre, though it featured streaming video of movie previews, rather than entire movies. It also featured movie posters and movie props. It is not entirely clear what age groups it catered to. One of the few immediately recognizable movie posters in the surviving screenshots is "The Green Mile".

Hillsgate Manor

Status: Found

Hillsgate Manor is a horror-themed adventure where the player takes on the role of a private investigator tasked with investigating a murder in an abandoned house. It has been found in a complete state among the CDs provided by developer Eddie Ruminski. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project. ^[19]

Hockey

Status: Lost

This QBorg, simply titled Hockey, was focused on the Boston University Terriers ice hockey team. It focused on something called the "season to remember" for this team, but the surviving description doesn't specify the time period. The Cyberworldcorp description talks about the user lacing up their skates and step into the action. However, it is not clear if this was an actual hockey game running on the QBorg engine, or if this was a hockey rink for the player to walk around and learn facts about the members of the team.

Kids Cartoon Land

Status: Lost

The QBorg, which is sometimes shortened to just Kid's QBorg was meant to present a colorful cartoon world that would appeal to children. According to the surviving Cyberworldcorp description, it was meant to be customizable for different audiences. ^[17]

The Collector: Chapter 1

Status: Lost

This QBorg is presented as the first chapter in a planned series of adventure games, which focused on finding and returning a mysterious old man's possessions. There is also a mention of a strange method by which he wants you to dispose of the items. This first chapter is currently entirely lost, and there is no evidence that further chapters were produced.^[20]

E-Commerce Worlds

The "E-commerce Worlds" section was dedicated to demonstrating that the QBorg concept could be used to sell things online. Most of the QBorgs on display are marked as demos, and none of the QBorgs on display mention brand partnerships in their descriptions. It appears that these QBorgs were put out to attract brands to sign on, rather than showcase brands that had signed on already. ^[21]

Toy Box Store Demo

Status: Lost

The purpose of this QBorg was to show toy store owners that they could setup a 3d world containing the same sorts of shelving and other displays that they used in brick-and-mortar stores. The emphasis on the "enchantment of a children's playland" suggests that children would be playing the QBorg themselves and picking out toys to ask their parents about. This may have been a small part of a larger QBorg known as "Plaza Cyberworld".^[21]

Adventure Athletics Store Demo

Status: Lost

This QBorg constructed a premium sports equipment store, under the fictional brand "Adventure Athletics". According to the surviving description, the QBorg was meant to integrate webpages into the 3D world and allow for chat sessions for customer service. It's not clear if these chat sessions would be against chat-bots, or if the viewers would be connected to real people. This may have been a small part of a larger QBorg known as "Plaza Cyberworld". ^[21]

Demo: Mediaware

Status: Lost

This was meant as a demonstration for a virtual store, using the fictional electronics store MediaWare.^[22]

Car Show

Status: Lost

This QBorg was meant to be a virtual car show, with displays rotating in and out over time. is one of the few E-commerce QBorgs that is not marked as a demo. The surviving screenshot also appears to feature cut-outs from photos of real cars. It is unknown whether these were placeholders, or if they actually signed on any car brands. ^[21]

Plaza CYBERWORLD

Status: Lost

This QBorg appears to have been intended to combine multiple other QBorgs into an outdoor shopping plaza. The URLs that once led to the "Toy Box Store Demo" and "Adventure Athletics Store Demo" suggest that they were part of the larger Plaza CYBERWORLD QBorg. It is unclear whether any real shopping centers were planned to be added, or if this was purely for mock-up shopping centers. ^[21]

Intranet

Status: Lost

The purpose of this QBorg was to present the idea of turning a corporate website, either in its internal form (Intranet) or its public form (Extranet) into a 3D world, rather than a collection of 2D webpages. According to the surviving description, this specific QBorg was a version of Cyberworldcorp's own corporate website as a proof-of-concept. ^[21]

Community Worlds

While most worlds in the "Community Worlds" gallery were also featured in the "E-Commerce" gallery, and they were intended for E-Commerce in part, there was also an emphasis on building or discovering a community.^[23]

Downtown Toronto

Status: Lost

This QBorg was meant for tourism. As the name suggests, it was focused on Downtown Toronto, particularly its Theatre District. It was mainly geared towards advertising restaurants and hotels in the area. ^[23]

Real Estate

Status: Lost

This was an example of a customizable QBorg mainly intended for Realtors. It was supposedly very simple to drag-and-drop images of houses to build virtual communities. It is unclear whether this was limited to strolling down a street looking at houses from the outside, or if it was possible to setup interior 3D tours of the houses. ^[23]

Cyberworld Square

Status: Lost

This was meant to present a fictional downtown area with a focus on advertisements. The surviving description claims that it would make advertisements less annoying and more entertaining. ^[23]

Educational Worlds

This gallery was meant to showcase a series of QBorgs featuring educational content. ^[24]

7 Wonders

Status: Lost

This QBorg was meant to be edutainment in the area of ancient history. Players were brought to digital versions of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Of course, six of the real-world wonders would have been destroyed by this point, so some artistic liberties would have been taken.

Children's Playroom

Status: Found

This QBorg was meant to be 3D classroom full of fun games for children age 4-7. A copy of this project, which is presumed to be complete, was recovered from Eddie Ruminski's CD archives. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Holiday Worlds

A few QBorgs were produced with Holiday theming. ^[25]

The Elf Adventure

Status: Found

This was a simple Christmas-themed game, in which the player is an elf attempting to complete their certification by doing simple tasks for Santa. It has been found in a complete state among the CDs provided by developer Eddie Ruminski.^[25]

Holidays

Status: Lost

The surviving description noted a variety of activities. They include the following: flashing Christmas lights, ice skating kids, magical snowmen, Christmas carols, and links to recipes. ^[25]

Hanukkah

Status: Lost

This QBorg was Hanukkah-themed. ^[25]

Miscellaneous QBorgs

A few Qborgs that are known to exist do not easily fit into the above categories, either because their purpose was unclear, or because they were created as internal tests of simple ideas.

Harry Potter Hogwarts

Status: Found

This QBorg was at least inspired by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as it features the Great Hall, Diagon Alley, Snape's Potion Class, and the Third-Floor Corridor with Fluffy, the three-headed dog. The characters are represented as illustrations, though the artist has not been identified. This game is only known from the complete copy recovered from Eddie Ruminski's CD archives. It is unclear where this would have been hosted online, or if it was even officially licensed. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Scriptlet Testing

Status: Found

This was a small test project used to test the action of running scripts to make changes to a running QBorg world. There are options for changing wall height, changing sprite size, and other things. A copy of this test project, which is presumed to be complete, was recovered from Eddie Ruminski's CD archives. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

User to Point

Status: Found

This was a small test project used to test the action of setting a user's position to specific place within the QBorg. A copy of this test project, which is presumed to be complete, was recovered from Eddie Ruminski's CD archives. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Disco

Status: Found

This was a small project consisting of a disco dance floor, silhouettes of dancers, a sprite consisting of a cut-up image of a dancer, and music playing. The purpose of this project is unclear, and it is unclear whether it was ever distributed online. A copy of this project, which is presumed to be complete, was recovered from Eddie Ruminski's CD archives. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Memory

Status: Found

This appears to have been a test project for a memory game. The player clicks squares on the floor to flip them in order to find matches. A copy of this project, which is presumed to be complete, was recovered from Eddie Ruminski's CD archives. It has been submitted for inclusion in the FlashPoint Archive project.

Gallery

Moltres's Island from Pokémon 2000 Adventure Game
A level from Zeta Quest 3D
Cyberworld Olympiad
The "War Room" from The Skulls: Initiation
Scuzzle Station X
Ancient Egypt
3D Hangar
The first surviving promotional image for Perrona Prime from stanlee.net
The second surviving promotional image for Perrona Prime from stanlee.net
The third surviving promotional image for Perrona Prime from stanlee.net
The fourth surviving promotional image for Perrona Prime from stanlee.net
A surviving promotional image for NorstarMall.ca 3D Mall from 3d.norstarmall.ca
The first surviving promotional image for the ATI 3D Site Map ati.com
The second surviving promotional image for the ATI 3D Site Map ati.com
The third surviving promotional image for the ATI 3D Site Map ati.com
The surviving promotional image for the Hanukkah QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the 7 Wonders QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Downtown Toronto QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Real Estate QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Cyberworld Square QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Adventure Athletics Store Demo QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Car Show QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Hockey QBorg
The surviving promotional image for the Theatre Cyberworld QBorg
The first surviving promotional image for the The Collector: Chapter 1 QBorg
The second surviving promotional image for the The Collector: Chapter 1 QBorg
The third surviving promotional image for the The Collector: Chapter 1 QBorg
The first surviving promotional image for the Boneville 3D QBorg
The second surviving promotional image for theBoneville 3D QBorg
The third surviving promotional image for theBoneville 3D QBorg