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Revision as of 21:54, 17 June 2010
PlaneShift | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Atomic Blue |
Engine | PlaneShift Engine Crystal Space for 3D[1] |
Platform(s) | Macintosh, Windows, Linux, BSD |
Release | Under development. Last release on December 10, 2009 (0.5). |
Genre(s) | MMORPG |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
PlaneShift is a cross-platform fantasy MMORPG in development.[3] The game is free to play, with no monthly fee,[4] no premium upgrades, no micro-payments, and no advertising on the site or in game.[5][6][7][8]
As of 2003, it was the first open source MMORPG to reach 100,000 registered user accounts.[9] Client software is available for Linux,[10][11] Windows[12] and Mac OS X.[5][13] It is a no-budget project produced by a group of developers, founded by Luca Pancallo,[14] and guided by the Atomic Blue non-profit organization.[15] Bandwith for the servers is completely donated by sponsors.[16][17][5] The server side engine code and the client 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.[18][3][19] The content is released under a proprietary license.[8][18]
Development
The game is currently in the alpha stage of development at version 0.5, codenamed Arcane Chrysalis. Currently planeshift is under heavy development being ranked at the 99.909th percentile of all projects on sourceforge[20] with 10,656 individual source file changes in 2009,[21] 12,117 in 2008[22] and 11,812 in 2007 [23] (The year the project moved to sourceforge from the old CVS), as well as over 2,600 individual source file changes this year.[24] (This is not including changes to art, music, or anything else not covered under the GPL).
The PlaneShift development team is made of developers from all around the world, located in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia [25][26]
PlaneShift has been used in multiple studies as a base to develop video games and other free applications.[27][28][29][30][31][32]
PlaneShift team organization resembles one of a software company, with departments and leaders, and has been studied as a collaborative software engineering organizational model.[33][34]
The first major version (0.1) released on May 2, 2002 was codenamed Atomic Blue.[35][9] The next version (0.2) was released on March 7, 2003 and codenamed Molecular Blue.[9] The Molecular Blue server was shut down on December 16, 2004 and replaced on December 24, 2004 with version 0.3, Crystal Blue[36]. This was subsequently replaced by the version codenamed, Steel Blue on March 2, 2008. [37] The current version "Arcane Chrysalis" was released to the public on December 10, 2009.[38][39]
PlaneShift has been mentioned to have a mature and well established codebase, having increasing development activity year over year, and having a large active development team. [40]
Setting
PlaneShift is set inside a colossal stalactite named Yliakum, divided into eight levels, of which the lower two are flooded.[41] Players will find themselves into the main city, called Hydlaa, where they will start their journey. 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[42] that all have their own homelands and characteristics.[43] 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.
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.[44]
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.[45]
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).[41]
The Death Realm
When a character dies they are transported into the Death Realm,[46] 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 a temporary stat penalty occurs. The Death Realm will be expanded in future versions to be very expansive [47] and include many traps and puzzles for players to solve before returning to life.[48]
Gameplay
Scope of the game
Like the majority of games of this genre, PlaneShift has not a single objective the players should complete, but provides many options based on the playing style. Through character creation the player will create an alter ego, choosing his background, his main traits and life events. The player will then impersonate this alter ego into the 3d fantasy virtual world present in PlaneShift. One aim of the game is to explore all the available areas and to acquire knowledge about the world by speaking with the NPCs. They will provide hints on how to proceed and unlock new areas, items and powers.
Roleplay
One of the main goals of the PlaneShift staff is to inspire roleplay between the players.[49] This is accomplished by 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.[50]. There is also a separate server dedicated to power leveling and monsters hunting [51]
Character creation
PlaneShift character creation has been reported to be the one of the most complete of the genre [52]
PlaneShift features a character creation tool containing two options. The first option is to choose to make a "quick" character, in which a player chooses a "path" and a character is randomly generated for them. A "path" reflects the career of the avatar in his youth, and has associated events which will drive the final skills and stats. The available paths are "Street Warrior", "Enchanter", "Fighting Monk", "Warlock", "Knight", "Rogue". [53]
Alternatively the player can choose to make a character with the "custom" method. Starting from scratch allows them to choose every aspect of your character from childhood, life events, parents, race, name, and appearance.[46][54] Only after choosing all of these options are the character's stats revealed.
Combat
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.[55]
Players may fight with bare fists, known as melee, or wield a variety of swords, axes, daggers, and hammers.[citation needed]
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.[41]
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..).[56][10]
Quests
Quests provide rewards such as mounts. The NPC dialog system in Planeshift is a mixed system, made of predefined answers the player can pick from a list and free text. 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. [46]
License
For the players the game is completely free, and the license is like the standard end-user license agreement of many other games. [57]. The game has been certified to be 100% spyware free, 100% adware free, and 100% virus free by Softpedia labs.[58]
For the development, the source code for the server and client has been completely developed by the Atomic Blue development group, and it has been released as open source[28] under the GNU General Public License.
As a rendering engine, PlaneShift uses Crystal Space,[59] an open source game engine.
All other elements like artwork, ruleset, dialog, etc. are proprietary[36] 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.[8]
PlaneShift’s licenses have been mentioned to facilitate creativity among the development community, while preserving as unique the creativity of artists and designers who contribute. [26]
Awards and notable mentions
In 2003 PlaneShift was elected the "Most Promising Linux Game" of the year.[60][61]
In 2004 PlaneShift was featured in an open source study made by CSC and was considered to be one of the most sophisticated open source multiplayer games. [26]
In 2008 PlaneShift had been invited as an emerging technology, to speak at GoogleTalk events in Google headquarters. [1]
In July 2008 PlaneShift reached 500,000 registered users.[1] This however does not reflect current user numbers, as this is over the course of the previous 4 years. [62]
Criticism
Planeshift has been criticized as being generic but good with its visuals, and for borrowing from the ideas of other MMORPGs.[63]
Latency times have been known to cause a disruption in playing the game partly due to lack of paid hosting services.[1][46]
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f "Massively Multiplayer Open Source Game Development". YouTube. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Planeshift: System requirements". Planeshift.it. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- ^ a b "Product Review - Net-Z/Eterna, ReplicaNet, SDLNet, and Plane Shift". GameDev.net. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ http://www.planeshift.it/pix/PSinPCgamer_small.jpg
- ^ a b c Apple Inc. "Downloads - RPG & Strategy - PlaneShift - MMORPG". Apple. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "PlaneShift. Download and information on Atomic Blue Corporation PlaneShift". Ptf.com. 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ PC Gamer UK October 2001
- ^ a b c Design and code by Karyuu. "PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ a b c Thomas -Mystery- Valley posted on 29 Oct 2003 10:52 (2003-10-29). "WarCry Network : News : Free MMOG Planeshift breaks 100k Players!". Warcry.com. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Jeuxlinux - Le site des jeux pour linux - Planeshift". Jeuxlinux.fr. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Linux Game Review - PlaneShift". Linux.about.com. 2009-10-30. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "PlaneShift for Windows 7 - A free and open source 3D fantasy RPG". Windows 7 Download. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Download PlaneShift 0.5.3 - A free and open source 3D persistent fantasy RPG - Softpedia". Mac.softpedia.com. 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Planeshift Second interview by MMOsite.com-www.mmosite.com". News.mmosite.com. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "PlaneShift. Download and information on Atomic Blue Corporation PlaneShift". Ptf.com. 2010-04-05. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ Claudius posted on 28 Aug 2003 10:59 (2003-08-28). "WarCry Network : News : Feel free to play - Literally speaking". Warcry.com. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ http://laanx.fragnetics.com/
- ^ a b http://www.web3d.org/x3d/learn/presentations/Web3DGames2007Workshop.pdf#page=6
- ^ "Planeshift: a 3D MMORPG | Get Planeshift: a 3D MMORPG at". Sourceforge.net. 2000-07-17. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Most Active - All Time". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Project Statistics for Planeshift: a 3D MMORPG". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Project Statistics for Planeshift: a 3D MMORPG". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Project Statistics for Planeshift: a 3D MMORPG". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "Project Statistics for Planeshift: a 3D MMORPG". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "PlaneShift World Map". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ a b c http://assets1.csc.com/lef/downloads/1142_1.pdf
- ^ Prototyping Game Design Workshop (Second Edition), 2008, Pages 175-212 - Tracy Fullerton, Christopher Swain
- ^ a b Free/Open Source Software Development: Recent Research Results and Methods - Advances in Computers, Volume 69, 2007, Pages 243-295 - Walt Scacchi
- ^ "Using Virtual Reality to make cultural environments more accessible to people with physical disabilities". Re-Flex. 2005-06-22. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ Patterns for computer-mediated interaction by Till Schümmer,Stephan Lukosch , Page 84
- ^ Dynamische Contentanpassung Bei Massive Multiplayer Online Games By Joachim Fohringer, Dr. Tobias Fritsch Page 57
- ^ Advances in computers: Architectural issues By Marvin V. Zelkowitz Page 262
- ^ Collaborative Software Engineering By Ivan Mistra-K, Page 317/318
- ^ Software process modeling By Silvia T. Acuña, Natalia Juristo, Page 14
- ^ Design and code by Karyuu. "PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ a b Linux Format March 2005 Issue 64, Pg 13
- ^ Design and code by Karyuu. "PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ news pages 2002-2009
- ^ "PlaneShift - Download - CHIP Online". Chip.de. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ https://www.ohloh.net/p/planeshift
- ^ a b c 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).
- ^ "PlaneShift for PC - PlaneShift PC Game - PlaneShift Computer Game". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ 3.2. Overview of the Known World
- ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
- ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
- ^ a b c d Template:Es icon https://www.linux-magazine.es/issue/18/Planeshift.pdf
- ^ PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG
- ^ under Death Realm FAQ
- ^ http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/Planeshift/interview/Planeshift-05-Interview-Grinding-is-Pointless
- ^ Design and code by Karyuu. "PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ http://planeshift.ezpcusa.com/register/
- ^ PCAction N.124 - Four full pages article on PlaneShift
- ^ http://www.planeshift.it/guide/en/guide.html
- ^ http://www.planeshift.it/pix/magazines/GameStar-LinuxExtra_July_2006.jpg
- ^ "PlaneShift Player Guide - Combat". Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ "Chapter 2. PlaneShift Player Guide". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ PCAction N.124 - Four full pages article on PlaneShift
- ^ "PlaneShift 0.5.3 - 100% Clean - certified by Softpedia - Softpedia". Mac.softpedia.com. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ http://www.planeshift.it/pix/magazines/page2_scaled.jpg
- ^ "Online Multiplayer Games Network (OMGN): News: Planeshift Demo Available and Other News". OMGN. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ Design and code by Karyuu. "PlaneShift - A 3D Fantasy MMORPG". Planeshift.it. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ Holloway, Brenda (2008-07-05). "Planeshift". Massively. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
- ^ "PlaneShift Steel Blue Review | Video Game Blog, Video Game Reviews, Video Game News". Gamersyndrome.com. 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2010-05-13.