| PlaneShift | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Atomic Blue |
| Engine | PlaneShift Engine
Crystal Space for 3D |
| Platform(s) | Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Macintosh, Windows |
| Release date(s) | Under development. Last release on November 27, 2011 (0.5.8). |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| Media/distribution | Download or BitTorrent |
| System requirements
Minimum[1]
Recommended |
|
PlaneShift is a cross-platform 3D Online Multiplayer Role Playing Game in a fantasy setting.[2] The framework is open source with the server and client released under the GNU General Public License,[3] while the artistic content is covered under a proprietary license. All content, however, is free to play. The game requires client software to be installed on the player's computer. The project is no-budget and produced by a group of developers guided by the Atomic Blue organization.[4] The development team comprises developers from all around the world, located in the Europe, North America, and Oceania.[5][6]
PlaneShift takes place inside a colossal stalactite named Yliakum.[7] Players begin in the main city, Hydlaa, where they will start their journey. PlaneShift has 12 playable races,[8] each of which have their own homelands and characteristics.[9]
Contents |
One aim of the game is to explore all the available areas and to learn knowledge about the world by speaking with the NPCs who provide hints and tips on how to proceed and unlock areas, items and powers.[10] Players can trade using the currency Tria, triangle-shaped coins made of alloys, metals, or crystals. There are other units of currency, including Hexas, Octas and Circles .[7] The NPC dialog system is a mixed system, made of predefined answers the player can pick from a list and freeform text entry.[11] Another goal is to increase the character skills and knowledge by completing quests and tasks in the game.[10] One of the main goals of the PlaneShift staff is to inspire roleplay between the players.[12]
The PlaneShift character creation tool features two options. The first option is to choose to make a "quick" character, in which a player chooses a "path" and the character's specific attributes are chosen randomly. A path reflects the career of the character 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".[9] The second option is to make a character with the "custom" method. This method allows the player to choose many additional aspects of the character by describing the story of his or her birth, parents, jobs, house, siblings, and the life events that happened up to his or her adulthood.[11][13]
Planeshift features both player versus environment and player versus player combat. The latter is implemented as the ability to engage in duels on a voluntary basis, which requires both parties to agree to the conditions of the duel. 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.[9] Characters attain progression points (PP) when they successfully engage in combat and use certain abilities, which are used for training skills. PlaneShift uses a skill based progression system, which allows the player to develop this character in any skills without the mandatory choice of a profession.[9][14]
When a character dies they are transported into the Death Realm,[11] a large network that the player must navigate.
PlaneShift is currently in the alpha stage of development at version 0.5, codenamed "Arcane Chrysalis". PlaneShift has been open to players for free since its first public release. At that stage the game had very little functionality. The first major version (0.1) released on May 2, 2002 was codenamed "Atomic Blue".[15][16] Four different public versions of the game came out since then, with different changes in functionality between them. The current version "Arcane Chrysalis" being released on December 10, 2009.[17] The server side engine code and the client code is written from scratch by the PlaneShift team, while the 3D rendering features are based on the Crystal Space 3D engine. The internet connection for the game server is donated and has been known to suffer issues with long latency times.[11]
The game uses two different licenses, with the engine being released under the GNU General Public License,[2][18][19] while the content is released under a proprietary license.[18][20] The artwork, ruleset, dialog, and other non-engine content of PlaneShift are proprietary[21] 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.[20] PlaneShift has been used in multiple studies regarding development of free software and video games.[3][22][23]
The PlaneShift development team organization resembles one of a software company, with departments and leaders, and has been studied as a collaborative software engineering organizational model.[24][25]
