It's been a while since my last "Future of the Realms" post and a lot has happened both in my personal life, and gamewise. Accordingly, it's been a slow year for Realms of Kaos, however that doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of updates and changes planned for the near future.

Beta2 Client
An update to the original Beta client is in the works and should be available for release shortly. The new client includes multi-server support and a host of new features. I don't have a specific release date set as of yet, however the new client is 99% functional and should be ready pending additional testing. I'm also looking for some last minute ideas so be sure to read my post in the Suggestions forum to suggest features that you would like to see in the client!

Multi-Server Support
As mentioned in a recent post, our goal towards purchasing a new server has changed somewhat. It has been decided that best way to meet usage needs and remain scalable is to port the game to a multi server environment. This means that we can run as many servers as we need to accomodate usage and that our goal now is to add multiple servers to the game. Codewise, the changes to the server are complete and the multi-server routines work even better than expected.

We have two additional servers scheduled to be placed online shortly (the first of which will be online come February, possibly sooner). A secondary server will run an additional Continent, as well as any excess traffic in the Syndar continent. A third server is being set up for the sole purpose of events (moshes, etc). This means we can run lag free moshes of up to 200 players, while other players can explore and level with no lag at all.

How will multiple servers affect gameplay? Not a whole heck of a lot to tell the truth. The routines were written to be as transparent as possible to the user. You'll still be able to chat and page users on other servers as if they were sitting right in the Tavern next to you. A global clan chat option was added to allow clans to speak globally, regardless of the server they're playing on. Odds are, you'll barely notice the difference, other than the removal of lag ;)

Play a Monster
Many of you "old-timers" will remember the original Realms of Kaos client, which had a "Play a Monster" button on it. This feature was always intended for the game, however the button was removed sometime in 1998 or 1999 due to the fact that the feature required a LOT of development effort and other more important features were largely unfinished. Development on this feature is about 95% complete and it will be available in the upcoming Beta client.

Playing as a monster is going to be a quite unique experience. Ever wonder how all those poor Hell Rabbits in the arena feel after being surrepetitiously whomped for 24 hours a day? Well now you'll get your chance! Initially you'll begin your first experience as an arena monster. Now this may be a bit of a grueling experience (similar to leveling your first level 1 character with terrible stats), but as you accomplish objectives you gain "Monster Points" which are similar to Experience Points. As you gain Monster Points you will be allowed to play higher level missions and higher level monsters.

Monster activities are classified in "Missions". Monster Missions specify which monsters you will be available to play, as well as the objectives for the monster you are playing. Some missions are always available, and some missions are only available at certain times. For example, the mission below is only available from Midnight to 1AM:



Missions can also be run in conjunction with quests. This means that when a quest is running a Monster Mission (or multiple missions) can be opened up to allow you to participate in the quest as a monster. Note that when in monster mode you will not be able to log in Player characters - a safeguard to prevent uneven game balance. Life as a monster is quite anonymous as well. While playing as a monster you will not be able to communicate with other players. In fact other players won't be able to tell the difference between a player controlled monster and a regular monster. You will be able to communicate with other monsters however, and you'll need to do so if you want to effectively play your monsters. A single goblin attacking players at the gates of Terra is going to go down quite quickly, while an organized raid could give you the opportunity to really stack up on those monster points!

So what does this mean to you as a player? Well first off it means more challenging and intelligent monsters. Monsters that are capable of reasoning and strategy. It also means reduced lag. Our primary bandwidth limitations are of the CPU resources on the server, and monsters are infinitely more expensive on the server CPU routines than player characters. Therefore player controlled monsters equal less CPU usage which contributes to the reduction of lag.

K3D
The primary development focus at the moment is on Realms of Kaos, and development on K3D has been slow, but still quite steady. K3D testing will be available to Charter Members, however with Realms of Kaos still in the development forefront it could be a while yet before the initial test release is ready. ETA? About 6 months.

Here are some screenshots from several months ago once the modeling system was added. (Lesser Demon model done by Daniel Beswick):

    

Here are some more recent screenshots. The interface was reworked to allow a much larger viewing window while still retaining the original elements of the interface. There's still a lot of work to be done on the interface, but the benefit of the larger viewing window is well worth the effort. The results of the larger window are stunning in comparison to the original interface.

    

The old File menus are still available by dragging the mouse over the title bar:



Here is a sample animated gif put together from screenshots taken a few seconds apart - jerky (the actual game animation is EXTREMELY smooth and the graphics are a lot more crisp), but it should give you an idea as to the extent of the model animation and moving clouds.



A couple of shots of Terra (currently under development):

    

And here is a bonus shot of the 3D Kaos World Editor:



New Abilities
There are a host of new abilities in the works, as well as a skills system. I'll go into more detail about the skills system later, but for now I'll give you some spoilers for what's ahead for some of the classes:

• Paladins: Magical protection spells and higher level healing spells
  
  
• Sorcerors: A host of new spells - disenchantment, higher damage, and the ability to gate to other planes of existence
  
  
• Rangers: The ability to hunt and fill waterskins, and familiars (companion "pets" that can be summoned and leveled along with your character)
  
  
• Barbarians: Long overdue abilities including hunting and a "berserk" ability
  
  
• Necromancers: Lots of new spells, including "Cloud of Darkness" and "Paralysis"
  
  
• Bards: New songs for healing and strength (Party based)
  
  
• Thieves: Ability to pick locks/scale walls

Level 25+
Now this has been in the works for a VERY long time, and this year we will finally see the leveling system expanded to include levels 26-50. Leveling to 50 is going to be quite a different experience from the 1-25 leveling system. Leveling beyond 25 becomes more "quest" based rather than "hack and slash". Most experience will be gained by accomplishing quests. The autoquests for the new leveling system are being worked on, our builders are just waiting for a new build server to test their areas (which should be completed soon).

The Help System
There was a post recently concerning certain inaccuracies in the online help and overview sections of the web site. I just wanted to take a moment to point out that these documents were written fairly close to the initial release of Realms of Kaos and were used as a guideline for the direction of the game. Those of you that have been around for 5 years or so have probably noticed that in the beginning hardly any of the features described in these documents were available in the game. They've been added in gradually over several years, and most of the features described now work. So as you see, rather than updating the documents I have preferred to update the game. In time these documents will be completely accurate (hint hint).

Charter Issues
The first concern I'd like to address is for the players that have been asking about what happens when your lease expires. First off, not to worry - your lease will NOT disappear on you. You'll have a few weeks after your lease expires to renew your Charter Membership before your benefits expire. And if your lease DOES happen to expire after this period you will be unable to access your CM house, however all your items will still be there and your home will remain intact and untouched until your membership is renewed.

One of the biggest headaches so far has been with Custom Home submissions. Since these require the most amount of time to do I will be "opening and closing" the Custom Home submissions to reflect periods when I have available time to take care of them. This means that Custom Home submissions will only be allowed when I am available to work on them. It also means that your custom will be online within the 7-10 business day period or sooner when the submissions are open.

This is the first year of the Charter process and it has been less than smooth. I've been taking a lot of steps towards further automating the process which should result in less errors (memberships being assigned to the wrong machine, etc) and allow the CMs to be processed more quickly.

Speaking of CMs I'm going to be devoting the next couple of weeks towards getting them straight. If you have been waiting for more than two weeks and your CM has not been activated by Monday, Feb 3rd then send an email to charter@realmsofkaos.com and I'll get you taken care of. Also, any unfulfilled Charter Memberships that have been waiting for over a month will have an equivilant time added to their membership. So if you've been waiting for your CM for two months your CM will be extended by two months once it has been fulfilled.

We also appear to be having some problems with our PO box, and some CM submissions were returned. I'm going to be discontinuing the PO box and obtaining a new one from a different branch of the Post Office. I should have this taken care of this week and I will post once I know the new PO box number. Until then you may still purchase your CM online.

Note: CMs purchased this weekend by February 2nd will be fulfilled by next Wednesday February 5th.

2003
This is going to be an EXCELLENT year for Realms of Kaos! As you can see we have a LOT of new updates in the works and this promises to be one of the best years yet for the game. Thanks again to all of you, without your support we wouldn't be here!

HAPPY ADVENTURING!!!

-DM