[Nel] Greetings! And some questions / comments

Sat, 11 Nov 2000 16:18:21 -0500

Hi,
+
+First a little rant to explain my being here: :-)
+
+    I am also a Worldforge developer, like Bryce.  Though not nearly as
+famous ;-)   I stumbled upon Nevrax the other day and am very interested in
+its development.  My goal a few years back was to help create a free,
+massively multiplayer online RPG system, one that I could enjoy myself and
+that others could build from to make their own persistant online worlds.
+And a commercial effort such as Nevrax could be a powerful force in helping
+to achieve such a goal.
+
+    Most opensource projects that start up have caught my eye, the first
+being the Ultima online emulator scene which  I was a part of for a long
+time, coding admin tools, NPC ai, network code, etc. Whatever seemed the
+most challenging task.   I got soon fed up with having to deal with the idea
+that all the hard work might not even turn out to be legal, and all the
+problems that OSI provided for the emu scene I didnt care for.  So I then
+came across Worldforge, and that is where I am. Finally a totally free
+opensource project that met, if not exceeded my own standards for an online
+gaming system.
+
+    So I took on the responsibility of developer XClient, a 3d client.  The
+root of its homepage is here, if anyone's interested:
+http://www.worldforge.org/website/clients/xclient/
+
+    Some shots of its recent developments (a terrain engine) are here:
+http://www.worldforge.org/images/screenshots/terrain1.jpg
+http://www.worldforge.org/images/screenshots/terrain2.jpg
+    (Its very early in development)
+
+    Some old out of date client shots:
+http://www.worldforge.org/website/clients/xclient/screenshots/
+
+    And lastly, a goals paper that I've recently written to illustrate what
+the goals are in XClient development.  This one I recommend reading above
+the others.
+http://www.worldforge.org/website/clients/xclient/developer/goals
+
+    I've also created a Map editor (XEdit) a UDP networking library based
+off of the GPLd quake code (XUDP) and a simple test server (XServer).  All
+of this and XClient are in Worldforge cvs for those interested.  If there
+are questions about any of these things, please ask!
+
+    Anyhow, yes there is a point to all this.  It seems that a lot of
+Worldforge's goals and development are in tandem with Nevrax's.  So,  I
+thought it would be worth it to see  1) how compatible our projects are and
+2) if we might be able to help each other out in any form, whether it be
+artwork, code, or knowledge.  3) how much interest, if any, there is in
+sharing efforts.
+
+    So if I could ask a few questions.  I tried finding out some information
+through the website, but some questions remain:
+
+1)  I understand that Nel will be a library to create games, but is this
+project also developing a specific game that uses the library?  If so what
+details of it are known?  As far as ruleset... gameplay...
+
+2)  What is the development strategy?  For example Worldforge will be
+developing several smaller diverse games in succession (Acorn, Mason... etc.
+etc.) until we reach the final goal, entitled 'BelchFire'.  Will you guys be
+doing a similar thing?
+
+3)  What features/goals are there for the 3d engine?  What's being targeted
+(high end/low end hardware)?  What rendering APIs?  Software mode?
+
+4)  I get this question a lot :-)  Why develop a 3d engine from scratch? Why
+not use/build from an existing engine, such as Crystal Space?
+
+5)  What are the capabilities of the current codebase?
+
+6)  Is development open to outside influence? Or are you following an
+internal-only plan, and just opensourcing the results?
+
+7)  Was there knowledge of Worldforge when this project was started?  And if
+so,  why was it deemed necessary to start another,  independant effort with
+the same goals?
+
+8)  Would it be possible to get a brief description of what Nevrax will use
+in the following areas:
+                - Protocol (UDP? TCP/IP?)
+                - Mapfile format (Custom? XML? Binary? Database-Driven?)
+                - Mapfile editors (What existing tools will be used, if
+any?)
+                - Model format(s)
+                - Texture format(s)
+
+9)  How the heck do you guys manage to pay a full development team off of
+free software? :-)
+
+
+    Thats about all I have for now.  I'm sure more will come up in the
+future.  You might want to put a few of those in the FAQ, I've noticed its
+in need of some fulfilling... and other people may have similair questions.
+
+    Anyhow, thanks in advance, and Congratulations and Good Luck in your
+efforts.  Its a challenging and rewarding goal that we are working towards.
+I look forward to exchanging thoughts and ideas in the near future!
+
+- Sal
+sferro@wojo.com
+
+
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