The time has come for us to take a huge leap forward

in developing our game world and abandon everything

that has been holding us back. I'm talking, of course,

about the ROM codebase.

When I started Sentience 7 years ago, I had no idea

it would attract any players or staff, or even be

up a year after. We've had many ups and downs, but

have always maintained a small but loyal fan base.

Over the years, we as programmers have struggled to

fit our ideas into the ROM framework and have had

hopes of abandoning it. It wasn't until recently

that we have gathered a team of excellent programmers

who have made, among other things, the following

observations:

• It would be far easier to write our own codebase from

scratch than to try to adapt our ideas to ROM

• The ROM code agreement is legally stringent and demands

tribute through constantly spamming the game's players

with its creators' names and antiquated helpfiles

• Even ROM's designers have abandoned it as a viable

codebase (see http://www.rom.org)

Thus I hereby announce that we are, as of 02/01/2008,

developing our own codebase. It will be completely open

source, available to anyone who wishes to use it. A very

brief list of features we are developing are (summarized

from the MB):

• Classless, skill-based system with diverse trees of skills.

• Level-less. Players' strength will be determined by their

history and skills rather than some number corresponding

to how many NPCs you've slaughtered.

• Free-magic, wherein 'spells' are an arrangement of magical components,

strung together for the desired effect.

• Apprenticeship, players may teach their custom spells and skills to others.

• Crafting - everything from metalwork to glass blowing and sewing.

• Multiple combat styles, players will be able to set their own tendencies

for automatic combat which isn't just 'slash slash slash'.

• Reputation - you will not be known at first, but over time, your reputation

may grow and lead to being recognized by others. This extends to NPC's as well.

• Coordinate-based locations (vs. ROM's rooms) to allow for ranged combat, magic,

and actual flight.

• Player-run kingdoms, towns, and organizations, able to build out in the wilds

and form their own areas of control.

• Player-run armies, so that they may battle for territory and defend themselves

from the horrors of the wilderness.

• Massive wilderness, with multiple planes of reality (living/dream/death, as well

as Eden and the Abyss), with plenty of room for expansion.

• Chemistry, natural laws that control the world, invisible to players that do not

research it.

• NPC companions that can level with you, be hired on or join your adventurer on

a permanent basis.

• Quest system handled by staff, done in pieces which are strung together, allowing

for huge, large-scale quests as well as minor ones.

• Transportation - Ridden creatures and controllable vehicles will allow for

transportation through the vast wilderness.

• Interactive NPC's. NPC's will use the same skill system as players to decide how

they act. Additionally you will actually be able to talk to NPCs.

• Player creation - players may create their own homes/towns/etc, without needing

staff to do it.

• IRC style channel system, where players can make their own channels, as well as

vcommunicate on the public ones.

• More natural language parser, a normal and advanced mode which can prompt for

clarification on ambiguous commands.

I must clarify that we are NOT doing a player wipe or area wipe in developing

this new codebase. Doing so would be insulting to players and builders who

have hung with us through the years. The crappy areas (e.g. Reza) will be

ditched – the good ones will be ported over so that we don't lose the Sentience

feel :).

Throughout the years, Sentience has been graciously supported by its

administrators and hosts. Having our own codebase will allow us to take

player donations so we can buy better equipment and bandwidth. This

MUD was free when it was established and it will be kept that way --

I strictly forbid any solicitation for money, e.g. for reputation,

"donation items", or any sort of favor with the immortals. But

it's great to announce if you enjoy the game and want to throw

a few bucks our way, we can accept them without potential legal

recourse.

Above all else, my goal over the last 7 years is to, above all,

provide a fun game for people to play, which encompasses the classic

features of RPGs we all grew up with, as well as awesome things

that have never been tried in a MUD. I am not alone in this -

we've been lucky enough to attract professional coders (Nibelung,

Vizzini, Soupboy, and Jonastio) to join our cause.

I hope to hear from everyone in the community soon. The players

have done the greatest role in keeping this game going, and we want

to include you in our development. Stay tuned for further updates!

Syn, Administrator, Sentience MUD

<email email="syn@sentiencemud.net">syn@sentiencemud.net</email>