-
Dear Sentience Community:
The time has come for us to take a huge leap forward
in developing our game world and abandon everything
that has been holding us back. I'm talking, of course,
about the ROM codebase.
When I started Sentience 7 years ago, I had no idea
it would attract any players or staff, or even be
up a year after. We've had many ups and downs, but
have always maintained a small but loyal fan base.
Over the years, we as programmers have struggled to
fit our ideas into the ROM framework and have had
hopes of abandoning it. It wasn't until recently
that we have gathered a team of excellent programmers
who have made, among other things, the following
observations:
- It would be far easier to write our own codebase from
scratch than to try to adapt our ideas to ROM
- The ROM code agreement is legally stringent and demands
tribute through constantly spamming the game's players
with its creators' names and antiquated helpfiles
- Even ROM's designers have abandoned it as a viable
codebase (see http://www.rom.org)
Thus I hereby announce that we are, as of 02/01/2008,
developing our own codebase. It will be completely open
source, available to anyone who wishes to use it. A very
brief list of features we are developing are (summarized
from the MB):
* Classless, skill-based system with diverse trees of skills.
* Level-less. Players' strength will be determined by their
history and skills rather than some number corresponding
to how many NPCs you've slaughtered.
* Free-magic, wherein 'spells' are an arrangement of magical components,
strung together for the desired effect.
* Apprenticeship, players may teach their custom spells and skills to others.
* Crafting - everything from metalwork to glass blowing and sewing.
* Multiple combat styles, players will be able to set their own tendencies
for automatic combat which isn't just 'slash slash slash'.
* Reputation - you will not be known at first, but over time, your reputation
may grow and lead to being recognized by others. This extends to NPC's as well.
* Coordinate-based locations (vs. ROM's rooms) to allow for ranged combat, magic,
and actual flight.
* Player-run kingdoms, towns, and organizations, able to build out in the wilds
and form their own areas of control.
* Player-run armies, so that they may battle for territory and defend themselves
from the horrors of the wilderness.
* Massive wilderness, with multiple planes of reality (living/dream/death, as well
as Eden and the Abyss), with plenty of room for expansion.
* Chemistry, natural laws that control the world, invisible to players that do not
research it.
* NPC companions that can level with you, be hired on or join your adventurer on
a permanent basis.
* Quest system handled by staff, done in pieces which are strung together, allowing
for huge, large-scale quests as well as minor ones.
* Transportation - Ridden creatures and controllable vehicles will allow for
transportation through the vast wilderness.
* Interactive NPC's. NPC's will use the same skill system as players to decide how
they act. Additionally you will actually be able to talk to NPCs.
* Player creation - players may create their own homes/towns/etc, without needing
staff to do it.
* IRC style channel system, where players can make their own channels, as well as
vcommunicate on the public ones.
* More natural language parser, a normal and advanced mode which can prompt for
clarification on ambiguous commands.
I must clarify that we are NOT doing a player wipe or area wipe in developing
this new codebase. Doing so would be insulting to players and builders who
have hung with us through the years. The crappy areas (e.g. Reza) will be
ditched -- the good ones will be ported over so that we don't lose the Sentience
feel :).
Throughout the years, Sentience has been graciously supported by its
administrators and hosts. Having our own codebase will allow us to take
player donations so we can buy better equipment and bandwidth. This
MUD was free when it was established and it will be kept that way --
I strictly forbid any solicitation for money, e.g. for reputation,
"donation items", or any sort of favor with the immortals. But
it's great to announce if you enjoy the game and want to throw
a few bucks our way, we can accept them without potential legal
recourse.
Above all else, my goal over the last 7 years is to, above all,
provide a fun game for people to play, which encompasses the classic
features of RPGs we all grew up with, as well as awesome things
that have never been tried in a MUD. I am not alone in this -
we've been lucky enough to attract professional coders (Nibelung,
Vizzini, Soupboy, and Jonastio) to join our cause.
I hope to hear from everyone in the community soon. The players
have done the greatest role in keeping this game going, and we want
to include you in our development. Stay tuned for further updates!
Syn, Administrator, Sentience MUD
syn@sentiencemud.net
-
Looks good to me, just a few things:
~~@Syn:~~
> Thus I hereby announce that we are, as of 02/01/2008,
>
> developing our own codebase. It will be completely open
>
> source, available to anyone who wishes to use it.
This will need changed to reflect what we're doing (open API, closed source for most recent version)
~~@Syn:~~
> * NPC companions that can level with you, be hired on or join your adventurer on
>
> a permanent basis.
>
> * Quest system handled by staff, done in pieces which are strung together, allowing
>
> for huge, large-scale quests as well as minor ones.
We'll need to reword the companion thing, to fit with lack of levels, and the quest system will also allow players to create mini 'quests' of their own.
~~@Syn:~~
> * IRC style channel system, where players can make their own channels, as well as
>
> vcommunicate on the public ones.
Pointing out the typo in communicate, just because I'm an ass :P
