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PlaneShift (video game)

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PlaneShift
File:PlaneShift logo.jpg
Developer(s)Atomic Blue
EnginePlaneShift Engine Crystal Space for 3D
Platform(s)Macintosh, Windows, Linux, BSD, Solaris
ReleaseUnder development. Last release on December 10, 2009 (0.5).
Genre(s)MMORPG
Mode(s)Multiplayer

PlaneShift is a cross-platform fantasy MMORPG in development. Client software is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. It is a no-budget project produced by a group of developers, founded by Luca Pancallo, and guided by the Atomic Blue non-profit organization. The server side engine code is completely written from scratch by the PlaneShift team, while the 3D rendering features are based on the Crystal Space 3D engine. The game engine is released under the GPL. The content is released under a proprietary license.[1][2]

The game is free to play, with no monthly fee, no premium upgrades, and no advertising on the site or in game.[3][1]

The game is currently in the alpha stage of development at version 0.5, codenamed Arcane Chrysalis. The current version "Arcane Chrysalis" was released to the public on December 10, 2009.[4]

Here is a list of the major versions:

  • The first major version (0.1) released on May 2, 2002 was codenamed Atomic Blue.
  • The next version (0.2) was released on March 7, 2003 and codenamed Molecular Blue. The Molecular Blue server was shut down on December 16, 2004.
  • On December 24, 2004 a new version 0.3 was released, Crystal Blue[5].
  • This was subsequently replaced by the version codenamed, Steel Blue on March 2, 2008.

Setting

PlaneShift is set inside a colossal stalactite named Yliakum, divided into eight levels, of which the lower two are flooded.[6] Life is possible because a huge crystal, named The Azure Sun, draws light from the surface of the planet. PlaneShift currently has 12 playable races[7] that all have their own homelands and characteristics[8]. Outside of Yliakum are the Stone Labyrinths and through these the player can access even more areas, like the cave in which the stalactite hangs.

Races

Many different races populate the world of Yliakum. Players can choose to create a character with any one of these races:

Humans:

  • Xacha: Keepers of great knowledge, the Xacha use the magic arts and study natural phenomena as a tradition that is passed from generation to generation. Many scientists of Yliakum belong to this race.
  • Ylian: Ylians are a practical and disciplined race with fighters, sorcerers, merchants and politicians. They tend to learn a little of everything without choosing a preferred profession.

Elves:

  • Nolthrir: Almost all elves have familiarity with some form of magic, mainly elemental magic. Nolthirs have a particular disadvantage on using fire related spells, but on the other hand they master water spells.
  • Dermorian: Due to the long roaming in the Labyrinths searching for a final place to live, their race developed even more their acute vision, at the point of being capable to see in the dark.

Dwarves:

  • Stonebreaker: The clan of Stonebreakers have lived for centuries digging tunnels, shafts, wells and caves in the deep of earth until they arrived to Yliakum. They are talented engineers of machinery like winches, ventilation pipes, canals, means of transport for goods and everything that can be useful to overcome the drawbacks of underground life.
  • Hammerwielder: Hammerwielders have a more natural affinity with metals and gems than with granite, becoming often-clever blacksmiths and gem cutters. They tend to be skilful fighters and often put their crafted weapons to the test.

Others:

  • Lemurs: They have a clever intellect, superior to the other races. The Lemurs are brilliant artist, innate aesthete and researchers of beauty in all its forms.
  • Kran: Their skin is made of silicon, bringing very unique traits, like ability to breath underwater. They perceive sounds thanks to vibrations on their bodies.
  • Diaboli: The typical Diabolo has shiny oil-black skin, a thin pointed tail and little horns. Apart from that, they have almost the same body proportions as humans.
  • Enkidukai: a race of feline humanoids, they possess extraordinary acute senses, and excellent reflexes. Given the hard training and the constant competition of survival, all the Enkidukai are good warriors and valuable companions in battle.
  • Klyros, a winged reptilian: The Klyros are a humanoid race with a tall, slim body ( they range in height from 160 cm to 180 cm). Their skin is similar to reptiles, being slimy and cold, and varies from gray-green to steel dark blue.
  • Ynnwn: The Ynnwn race is a strange but relatively frequent crossing between a Diabolo and an Elf. Two such opposite characters generate a type of giant, never shorter than two meters, with dark red skin. [6].

History and politics

Yliakum's history is classified into five different epochs. The races of Yliakum were created by Talad and Laanx, the two chief deities of the setting.[9]

Yliakum is governed by eight "Octarchs", one representing each level of Yliakum. Under them are lesser representatives, twenty in each level (160 total), called "Vigesimi". At the beginning of every year there is a meeting of all Octarchs and Vigesimi that lasts for several months, where they address issues pertinent to Yliakum's inhabitants. Ochtarchs generally remain in power for life.[10]

The main currency is the Tria, triangle-shaped coins made of sturdy alloys, metals, or crystals. The crystal mineral can easily be found in the mines and is transparent or light green in color. Magically forging the crystals produces a perfect triangle with rounded-off edges. There are other units of currency, including Hexas (hexagon shaped coins that have a 10:1 exchange rate with the tria), Octas (octagon shaped; 50:1 exchange rate) and Circles (circular gold coins; 250:1 exchange rate).[6]

The Death Realm

When a character dies they are transported into the Death Realm,[11] a large network that the player must navigate, full of annoyances like dead-ends and perilous walkways. Upon return through the portal back to life, which is some fountain of sparkling purple stars, a temporary stat penalty occurs. The Death Realm will be expanded in future versions to be very expansive [12] and include many traps and puzzles for players to solve before returning to life.[13]

Gameplay

Roleplay

One of the main goals of the PlaneShift staff is to inspire roleplay between the players.[14] This is accomplished by extensive attention to roleplay details, background stories, books, and quests. New players are encouraged to read the guide set forth by the staff which details how to properly act in character[15]. In the world of Yliakum are GMs who help the players stay in character, along with players who spend a lot of time to develop the persona of the characters with which they play.

Character creation

PlaneShift features a character creation tool containing two options. The first option is to choose to make a "quick" character, in which you choose a "Path" and a character is randomly generated for you. A "Path" reflects the career (or job) of the avatar in his youth, and has associated events which will drive the final skills and stats.

Alternatively you can choose to make a character with the "custom" method. Starting from scratch allows you to choose every aspect of your character from childhood, life events, parents, race, name, and appearance.[11] Only after choosing all of these options are your character's stats revealed.

Combat

File:PlaneShift screenshot 4.jpg
A character fights in the arena.

Yliakum is populated by many creatures that can be fought for loot and experience, ranging from simple rats up to large creatures which may require many players to defeat. Players may also engage in duels on a voluntary basis, which requires both parties to agree to the conditions of the duel. There is also a Guild system, where players can create and join Guilds. If two players' Guilds are at war with each other, they do not need to agree to a duel in order to initiate combat with each other.[16]

Players may fight with bare fists, known as melee, or wield a variety of swords, axes, daggers, and hammers.

Magic

Planeshift magic comprises several distinct "Ways" (Schools): Crystal Way, Red Way, Brown Way, Azure Way, Blue Way, and Dark Way. Casting spells requires combinations of special magical items called glyphs.[6]

Glyphs should be purified before usage, which binds them to the caster until they are purified again by another character. Glyphs actually belong to one of the 6 Ways, but spells can be generated using a combination of Glyphs, also mixing Glyphs of different Ways. Actually the higher rank spells are the ones which use multiple Glyphs of different Ways (harder to obtain). Glyphs are considered pretty precious in game, and are not easily found, except the basic ones, which gives additional challenges to the spellcasters. [17]

Crafting

Crafting, as the art to create artifacts from certain ingredients, is available in PlaneShift for the creation of weapons and shields, but also for the creation of food.

Training

Characters attain Progression Points (PP) when they successfully engage in combat and uses of certain abilities. These are spent at NPC trainers to increase the power of various abilities. PlaneShift uses a skill based progression system, without the mandatory paths found in other games (ex.: wizard, warrior, etc..). It provides anyway predefined "Paths" to setup your character quickly (See the char creation section). [18]

Quests

Over 200 quests are available to the player, providing rewards such as mounts. The NPC dialog system in Planeshift is a mixed system, made of predefined answers you can pick from a list and free text (similar to the one used in Tibia and EverQuest ). In addition player characters can communicate with computer-controlled characters (NPC) by typing in words and phrases, and NPCs will answer with a basic intelligence. [11]

Mounts

Since version 0.5.1 mounts are available in PlaneShift through quests. Completing a quest you are able to get a creature you can use as transportation. Mounts include manta-like creature, which floats above the ground about 0.5 meters and a horse-like creature with long horns.[19]

License

PlaneShift uses Crystal Space, an open source game engine. The source code for the client and server, that the game employs, is open source under the GNU General Public License.

All other elements like artwork, ruleset, dialog, etc. are proprietary[5] and licensed under a custom license: the PlaneShift Content License (PCL). The PCL prevents modifications, redistributions, and assigns the copyright of accepted contributions to Atomic Blue under work for hire clauses. This license also forbids using the content for profit or for unofficial hosting.[1][2]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c http://www.planeshift.it/license.html
  2. ^ a b Bartle, Richard A. (2007). A survey on Virtual World Creation Platforms (PDF). Web3D Games 2007 - First International Workshop. p. 5.
  3. ^ http://www.planeshift.it/pix/PSinPCgamer_small.jpg, PC Gamer UK October 2001
  4. ^ http://www.planeshift.it/, news pages 2002-2009
  5. ^ a b Linux Format March 2005 Issue 64, Pg 13
  6. ^ a b c d TUX December 2006 Issue 20, Pg 60 Cite error: The named reference "tux#20" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/planeshift/index.html?tag=result;title;0
  8. ^ 3.2. Overview of the Known World
  9. ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
  10. ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
  11. ^ a b c Template:Es icon https://www.linux-magazine.es/issue/18/Planeshift.pdf
  12. ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
  13. ^ http://www.planeshift.it/faq.html, under Death Realm FAQ
  14. ^ http://www.planeshift.it/roleplay.html
  15. ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
  16. ^ "PlaneShift Player Guide - Combat". Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  17. ^ http://www.planeshift.it/guide/en/guide-magic.html
  18. ^ http://www.planeshift.it/guide/en/guide.html#guide-creation
  19. ^ http://www.planeshift.it , news on mounts on 2010.02.21
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