Underlight
Encyclopedia
Underlight is a fantasy
massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG
). Underlight was Lyra Studio's first product, launched on Mplayer
in 1998.
's setting is a shared dreamstate or consciousness, reached by people who have attained a heightened state of mind through advancement of mental skill and ability rather than physical technology. These people hail from earth-like sections of a world, each surrounded by an impenetrable boundary mist. Gameplay commonly revolves around the interactions of numerous Houses (guilds), each with a different take on the dream they inhabit and their beliefs on many different aspects of the game. There are no non-player characters (NPC
s) aside from monsters (or "nightmares".), which provide an outlet for combat when aggressive interaction with players is not feasible.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG
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....
). Underlight was Lyra Studio's first product, launched on Mplayer
MPlayer.com
Mplayer, referred to as Mplayer.com by 1998, was a free online PC gaming service and community that operated from late 1996 until early 2001. The service at its peak was host to a community of more than 20 million visitors each month and offered more than 100 games...
in 1998.
Gameplay
Underlight focuses on character development and interaction primarily through in-character roleplaying, rather than combat or items (although both exist and have their place). The game gives players the opportunity to shape the world through roleplaying, both in a figurative sense by influencing and manipulating events and in a literal sense, where new arts (the game's version of spells) are introduced and modified, new planes (levels) form, and new rooms appear through the actions of the players. Advancement in the game revolves primarily through interaction with others, where strength (experience) is gained via interaction with others, and arts and orbits (levels) are earned by requesting and completing a variety of tasks from teachers, players who possess the ability to train others in obtaining and strengthening arts. UnderlightNon-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) aside from monsters (or "nightmares".), which provide an outlet for combat when aggressive interaction with players is not feasible.