PlaneShift (video game)
Encyclopedia
PlaneShift is a cross-platform
3D
Online Multiplayer Role Playing Game
in a fantasy setting. The framework is open source
with the server and client released under the GNU General Public License
, 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. The development team comprises developers from all around the world, located in the Europe, North America, and Oceania
.
PlaneShift takes place inside a colossal stalactite
named Yliakum. Players begin in the main city, Hydlaa, where they will start their journey. PlaneShift has 12 playable races, each of which have their own homelands and characteristics.
s who provide hints and tips on how to proceed and unlock areas, items and powers. Players can trade using the currency Tria, triangle-shaped coins made of alloy
s, metals, or crystals. There are other units of currency, including Hexas, Octas and Circles . The NPC dialog system is a mixed system, made of predefined answers the player can pick from a list and freeform text entry. Another goal is to increase the character skills and knowledge by completing quests and tasks in the game. One of the main goals of the PlaneShift staff is to inspire roleplay between the players.
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".
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.
combat. The latter is implemented as the ability to engage in duel
s 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. 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.
When a character dies they are transported into the Death Realm, a large network that the player must navigate.
3D engine. The internet connection for the game server is donated and has been known to suffer issues with long latency times.
The game uses two different licenses, with the engine being released under the GNU General Public License
, while the content is released under a proprietary license
. The artwork, ruleset, dialog, and other non-engine content of PlaneShift are proprietary 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. PlaneShift has been used in multiple studies regarding development of free software and video games.
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.
Cross-platform
In computing, cross-platform, or multi-platform, is an attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
Online Multiplayer Role Playing Game
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
in a fantasy setting. The framework is open source
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
with the server and client released under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, while the artistic content is covered under a proprietary license. All content, however, is free to play. The game requires client
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
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. The development team comprises developers from all around the world, located in the Europe, North America, and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
.
PlaneShift takes place inside a colossal stalactite
Stalactite
A stalactite , "to drip", and meaning "that which drips") is a type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling of limestone caves. It is a type of dripstone...
named Yliakum. Players begin in the main city, Hydlaa, where they will start their journey. PlaneShift has 12 playable races, each of which have their own homelands and characteristics.
Gameplay
One aim of the game is to explore all the available areas and to learn knowledge about the world by speaking with the NPCNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s who provide hints and tips on how to proceed and unlock areas, items and powers. Players can trade using the currency Tria, triangle-shaped coins made of alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
s, metals, or crystals. There are other units of currency, including Hexas, Octas and Circles . The NPC dialog system is a mixed system, made of predefined answers the player can pick from a list and freeform text entry. Another goal is to increase the character skills and knowledge by completing quests and tasks in the game. One of the main goals of the PlaneShift staff is to inspire roleplay between the players.
Character creation
The PlaneShift character creationCharacter creation
Character creation is the process of defining a game character or other character. Typically, a character's individual strengths and weaknesses are represented by a set of statistics. Games with a largely fictional setting may include traits such as race and class...
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".
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.
Combat
Planeshift features both player versus environment and player versus playerPlayer versus player
Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between two or more live participants. This is in contrast to games where players compete against computer controlled opponents, which is correspondingly referred to as player versus environment...
combat. The latter is implemented as the ability to engage in duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
s on a voluntary basis, which requires both parties to agree to the conditions of the duel. If two players' guilds
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
are at war with each other, they do not need to agree to a duel in order to initiate combat with each other. 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.
When a character dies they are transported into the Death Realm, a large network that the player must navigate.
Development
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". 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. 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 SpaceCrystal Space
Crystal Space is a framework for developing 3D applications written in C++ by Jorrit Tyberghein and others. The first public release was on August 26, 1997. It is typically used as a game engine but the framework is more general and can be used for any kind of 3D visualization. It is very...
3D engine. The internet connection for the game server is donated and has been known to suffer issues with long latency times.
The game uses two different licenses, with the engine being released under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
, while the content is released under a proprietary license
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
. The artwork, ruleset, dialog, and other non-engine content of PlaneShift are proprietary 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
Work for hire
A work made for hire is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally recognized author of that work...
clauses. This license also forbids using the content for profit or for unofficial hosting. PlaneShift has been used in multiple studies regarding development of free software and video games.
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.