Gnostaria

So the first Alpha was launched on Saturday. Some unexpected last-minute bug fixes had to be done, related to the way the release was prepared. However the initial test has gone fairly well so far.

Those who have kept up with the community probably do not know who I am. I've been working with Zeruel on the server-side simulation and event processing logic, and on testing the client. The system has been built to take advantage of the latest multi-core processors and large memory capacity offered by 64-bit operating systems. The actual simulation logic should be very fast -- the amount of processing required will certainly increase by orders of magnitude as players join and features are added, but the system should be able to handle this with ease.

Once in the game world, users will have access to a few features and actions. Many more are on the way soon and will likely surface in the coming days. Some of the in-game features currently available include:

Differentiating between run and walk.
Jump and swim.
"Cruising" (press Q once to go forward without holding down a button)
Chat with shout / talk / whisper (which change distance) and tone of voice
Player persistence (saves position and direction)

Players will also notice a "Pulse" system announcement in the chat window. This currently saves player positioning and orientation information, but later will also perform periodic time-based functions such as health regeneration once implemented.

We look forward to adding more features for players to play around with in the near future. Registered testers should watch on the forums for announcements of new updates!