RICKY "RYKROS" RUNYON
I am a full-time automotive technician at a local BMW dealership. I specialize in diagnostics, and over time, that mindset has naturally carried over into my interest in tech. Whether it is tracking down a complex fuel system issue at the shop or figuring out why a script refuses to execute, I enjoy the process of identifying what is broken and quietly making it work again. I am also a quiet person by nature. I am introverted with a low social battery. While I can be talkative in the right setting, I often prefer to work behind the scenes. This is never meant to come off as rude, I just value solitude and focused work more than conversation. That curiosity and focus are what keep this site going.
The name Rykros comes from a long time love for the Phantasy Star series by SEGA. In the original series lore, Rykros is the mysterious fourth planet of the Algo star system. It remains hidden for most of its highly elliptical orbit, only becoming visible once every 1000 years. Built as an alarm system by The Great Light, the crystalline planet's true purpose was to serve as a seal to keep the Profound Darkness imprisoned. In Phantasy Star Universe, Rykros makes another appearance as a rogue planet and the true home world of the SEED threat invading the Gurhal system.
Part of my spare time is spent working on command-line operations utilizing zsh, bash, and git, as well as automating local filesystem tasks through Termux. Everything I post here is part of that learning process, whether it is a working shell script, a private server configuration, or a project that is still in progress. My love for computers has been around since I was a child. I started out on Windows 98 using America Online to access the internet, and my first MMORPG was EverQuest back in 1999.
I have been playing video games since I was four years old. The first was the Superman arcade game, but then the NES landed in our house and everything changed. That love for games has stayed with me, especially when it comes to older titles and strange digital leftovers. I run Linux full-time now on a machine named Deathegg using Debian Trixie with the GNOME desktop environment. I keep learning more about it by using it daily, breaking things occasionally, and fixing them when I can.
I originally signed up for Codecademy back in 2024 to pick up some basic coding skills. It is an online bootcamp for software development, and while they have free courses available, the paid subscription is where the truly valuable material is found. I recently rejoined the platform to push myself further, focusing heavily on shell scripting and building real-world field experience. I will be using this space to post my completed certifications and document everything I learn along the way.
Certificates:
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WEBSITE HISTORY
I have been experimenting with personal websites since the late 1990s, starting out on GeoCities. Like many at the time, I transitioned from using their basic page editor to learning HTML by studying and copying source code from other sites. None of those early attempts became permanent fixtures, but they included a site dedicated to reviewing Dragon Ball Z movies as they aired on Toonami, alongside several Mega Man fan pages hosted under various aliases.
After a long break, I eventually returned to web development with Noxium Elysium, launched on August 17, 2024. It is currently hosted on GitHub and remains online today. The scope was small, serving mainly as a repository for minor coding projects and an information archive for Phantasy Star IV on the Sega Genesis.
That project was followed by Instance Zero, an experimental livechat and livestreaming service. While I no longer have any screenshots of the live page, the project served as a practical way to learn server configuration and streaming protocols. When a live broadcast was not active, the server looped classic video game commercials for visitors in the chat. The gameplay streams themselves are archived on my YouTube channel, though the chat logs were not preserved.
That brings the timeline to Save Crystal Corrupted, which serves as the final, consolidated iteration of these web projects. I originally launched this site on June 7, 2025. However, development was placed on a full one-year hiatus following the catastrophic data loss of my Phantasy Star I port project, Phantasy Star: Prism Edition. I officially resumed work on this archive on July 5, 2026.
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SPECIAL THANKS
The Cyber Vanguard for the Debian Powered, Firefox, Google, Internet Archive, Neocities, Winamp, and YouTube old internet buttons.
THTH at RealWorld Graphics for the Final Fantasy style cursors.
Background image by Stockcake.
LaunchBox Games Database for the Phantasy Star IV logo.
Bonzai at Sprite Database for Phantasy Star IV sprite sheets.
Gamathecast at DeviantArt for the Phantasy Star Online 2 style cursors.
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