The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and on their own do a decent job of explaining my lack of posting. Between finishing up my work and internship in Colorado Springs at RTA Architects, driving back to Kansas, cruising to Cozumel, and making my way back home has not left much room for blogging. Life’s hard, isn’t it?
This does not mean though that the absence from blogging has meant an absence from working on Ashianae’s Journey. On the contrary, progress seams to be flying all around us. Significant strides have been made on the realm programming, and in the last two weeks much has developed on the art front. Realm technology now allows us to limit a players building to a specific area which a month ago was a serious bump in the road. The HUD development continues to move along, evolve and improve. Additionally our artists have churned out an incredible amount of content over the last month.
Our goal for the realm technology is simple… perhaps more simple in words than execution: allow our community to create places that are unique, custom and personalized. Active Worlds is all about three dimensional content creation driven by the users. The current setup conflicts with gaming and access to the inferstructure makes allowing users these coveted features especially difficult. However, in an effort to bridge this gap we’ve come up with a new system that when completed will allow players all the benefits of Active Worlds building. The complexities of this system that AW currently uses and its difficulties in our application is perhaps more appropriate for another time. Suffice it to say, games can expect the same environmental customization found in AW, and on par with those in Second Life.
Here’s a screenshot of a realm mock up. The concept behind realms is that players will have their own floating platforms in the sky where they can build and customize an environment of their own:
In regards to the HUD - we continue to refine it so that it continues to become less intrusive to the game, and easily hidden if desired. Some pictures of it and its evolution can be seen above.
On my flight home yesterday, I found that turbulence in the air made for some great creativity strides by way of storyline. I’ve decided to share with you my scribbled notes and writing about Dekarne, one of the primary cities in Ashianae’s Journey. Take a look at it and share your thoughts with me.
<Begin scribbled notes
Dekarne represents the surface dwellers topside culture. Politically these individuals are cut throat and have been known to spread propaganda to achieve their goals. For decades Dekarne has dominated politics of the entire island, above and below ground and seeks to extend its influence throughout the entire civilization. In more recent years Dekarne has spear headed wars against neighboring empires Draeda, Sah, and Amala. Within the last two centuries Dekarne has publicly invested in and developed a starship program building the first and only space worthy vessel on the planet. As a result of its new technology Dekarne has become increasingly hostile towards neighboring empires in an effort to bolster its standing within the Ashianae Electorate and coalition.
The political forces within Dekarne are known for their cold and domineering demeanor, and it is common knowledge that money and violence tend to be responsible for many of its so called democratic elections. Almost as if born from the starship and cosmos programs, new political factions have emerged that work against the current politics. Often these factions spawn additional violence in the name of revolution, but there are factions amongst them that work silently and covertly attempting change.
Dekarne is controlled by the Aurelius family and their allies that dominate the cities electorate. Other factions have been able to infiltrate this governing body, but their power and influence tends to be limited. The elders of the family Rajan and Edaj Aurelius sit as heads of state, administering propaganda and maintain almost absolute power within the electorate. Beyond the powers that be, citizens of Dekarne tend to be passionate and seek a path of enlightenment. Typically Dekarne citizens feel minimal effects of its tyranical ruler, until so called “rogue” factions begin to gain powers within the electorate. Citizens of Dekarne enjoy a fairly lavish lifestyle in one of the richest cities in all of Ashianae. The Dekarne are also almost obsessively fascinated with the enlightenment that awaits them in their ascention to the cosmos. It is this afformentioned lifestyle, and their obsessions with enlightenment that makes for their general apathy towards their government that terrorizes those who stand in its way. Although it is a city of apathy towards its leaders, groups exist which seek truth and change. These are the factions of the Duval. The family run factions are appropriately referred to as those of The House.
<End scribbled notes
In the next blog I will talk about and discuss the behavior of the Karnaires - the city within the underground cavern. I will also try to give a few sneak peeks at some of the quest and cavern areas. Until then, share your thoughts, comments and questions. Until next time.
-Jim Rothfork
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