Furcadia

Furcadia
Developer(s) Dragon's Eye Productions, Inc.
Catnip Studios
Publisher(s) Dragon's Eye Productions, Inc.
Designer(s) Dr. Cat
'Manda
Emerald Kaiten Catz
Ben Jans
Platform(s) Windows, Mac 10.4 or later, iOS 3.0 or later
Release date(s) December 16, 1996 (1996-12-16)
Genre(s) Massively multiplayer online game
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Furcadia is a free to play MMOSG/MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Social Game/ Roleplaying Game) or graphical MUD,[1][2] set in a fantasy world inhabited by anthropomorphic creatures. The game is based on user-created content, socializing and free-form roleplaying, and has a large volunteer program called the Beekin Helpers[3] which allows players to help with community moderation, welcoming new players, in-game technical support, running in game events, creating art for the game itself, accessing and updating the game's website, and bug hunting.[4] Furcadia holds the Guinness World Records title for the longest continuously running social MMORPG.[5][6][7] In 2008, Furcadia was reported as having over 60,000 players.[8]

Gameplay

Characters

The character, or avatar on Furcadia is called a "furre" and can be set to one of several species of anthropomorphic animal that Furcadia offers.[3] A furre can be one of three genders: male, female, and unspecified. These genders modify the default portrait, as well as specitags, icons seen to the left of players' names in chat.

Customization

Players can customize their avatars by choosing colors from a palette. These colors are shown on both the walkabout and portrait. The walkabout has a walking animation with the ability to stand, sit, or lie down. There are default portraits for each avatar, however, players may upload a 95x95 custom portrait for a small fee.[9] Custom avatars and portraits may be added and used inside private dreams.[10]

Each character can also have a brief description, which can include character details, external links to websites, or internal links to private dreams. Some players choose to link to third-party websites to extend their descriptions beyond the character-limit the standard Furcadia description allows.

Furcadia and the furry fandom

Although Furcadia uses anthropomorphic animal characters, and the game was inspired in part by FurryMUCK, Furcadia has never been intended as an exclusively 'furry' game. A significant portion of Furcadia's player-base do not identify as 'furries' nor have any interest in the furry aspect of the game. Furthermore, players can use hyooman (human) avatars if purchased.[11]

Dreams

The primary focus of Furcadia is user-generated content. To this end, the Furcadia game download includes an art editor, a map creating program, a skin editor, and a script editor. Users are encouraged to create their own virtual worlds, called Dreams, using these free tools.[12] These worlds can be uploaded to the Furcadia server for free and used for a variety of purposes, examples being text based role playing, a place to hang out with friends, or playing multiplayer games and quests with other users, etc.. Dreams remain open to the public area in which they are uploaded, so long as it is inhabited, and, if unoccupied, it is eventually unloaded automatically.

While there are several types of dreams that are popular, users continue to create new things with the tools they are given. Furcadia hosts a variety of roleplaying dreams, ranging from strict-continuity roleplay (in which the dream is its own independent world) to persona play.[13] Roleplaying dreams also come in a number of different forms, ranging from feral (wild animal) to furre (anthropomorphic animal) to human. Many dreams revolve around fantasy plots and themes, based on popular books, television programs, ancient mythology, or original creations of Furcadia players.

Furcadia itself is basically made up of several dreams, the ones made by its users and the main maps.

Patches

Almost all of the default art files shown in Furcadia can be patched over and displayed in a Dream, including the skin, buttons, avatars, items, walls, effects, and floors.[14] Additional art may be added to a Dream in file types ending with 'e', such as iteme, floore, etc., which does not overwrite the default art. Much user created patch art is available for download via third party websites.[15][16] Dreams can also include the use of audio files in the WMA, Ogg, MOD, S3M, WAV and MIDI (.mid) formats.

Scripting

Players may add interactivity to dreams chiefly through a custom scripting language known as DragonSpeak, or "DS". DragonSpeak commands may be triggered by in-game actions or by custom buttons displayed over the game interface.[17] Other custom scripting tools include PhoenixSpeak, which is used to store information to a permanent database,[18] and an animation scripting language called KitterSpeak.[19]

These scripting languages enable players to script actions ranging from the simple, like opening a door, to the more complex, such as a complete game of chess or laser-tag.

Dream owners are allowed to make and use bots to accomplish things that DragonSpeak cannot, but these are not officially supported by Furcadia.

Dream standards

Although Furcadia itself is unrated, individual dreams may specify a standard which details what kind of behavior, language, and content may be allowed. Before March 2007, Furcadia used a rating system akin to the MPAA film rating system. Since March 2007, Furcadia uses its own dream standards system which allows users to define exactly what kind of behavior should be allowed on a per-dream basis. The dream standards are based on age groups, ranging from Everyone8+ to Adult Only, with specific behavior, language, and content restrictions. Some main maps—FurN and Hawthorn (previously Haven/New Haven)—immediately block the user from entering the main map if they are not within the specified age group and parental controls are enabled.[20][21]

Development

First opened to the public on December 16, 1996, Furcadia is developed by Dragon's Eye Productions, Inc (DEP). Its engine was developed in 1994, originally for a preliminary graphical MUD project called DragonSpires, which featured very simplistic real-time combat, and used a DOS-based client limited to the 16 EGA colors. At its public release, Furcadia featured a graphical improvement: art with a 256 color VGA palette.

New support for 24-bit non-remappable portraits (the first art to extend beyond 256 colors), and Windows Vista support were implemented in the April 6, 2007 "Kitterwing Edition." On December 16, 2006, Furcadia became the first-ever MMORPG to celebrate ten years of continual service.[6][7]

Furcadia was originally designed and programmed by Dr. Cat (known as Felorin in-game) and 'Manda (known as Talzhemir in-game). Additional people have since been included as part owners for their work: game executive producer Emerald Kaiten Catz (known as Emerald Flame), who coordinates new development on the game, as well as who developed (and still coordinates) the Beekin volunteers project, Aleksi Asikainen (known as Fox, or sanctimonious), who created the game's editors and was involved in coding the client / server, though he no longer works for Furcadia,[22] Ben Jans (known as Gar), the game's design director, and Michael Vondung (known as Cironir), who manages the community. The other DEP staff are involved with the game's art and programming development, as well as community affairs.[23][24]

The iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch client was released on July 19, 2010, though it is no longer available for download.[25]

In 2012 Furcadia launched a Kickstarter campaign to renovate the entire game in a series of updates called The Second Dreaming. This campaign was successful, and raised more than $100,000.[26]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ Koster, Raph (1999-10-13). "Recent News". Raph Koster's Website. Retrieved 2010-05-01. Also, I have to say that I think Furcadia is probably the most successful non-gaming, socially oriented graphical mud I’ve seen.
  2. ↑ Carson, Bryan M. (2007). "Virtual Copyright: The Applicability and Ownership of Copyright in Second Life", Against the Grain, 19:5, p.80.
  3. 1 2 Dragon's Eye Productions. "Help Beekins". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  4. ↑ Dragon's Eye Productions. "About The Beekins". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  5. ↑ Guinness World Records (2010-11-28). "Longest-running social mmorpg". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2013-08-03.
  6. 1 2 Dragon's Eye Productions (2007-12-15). "Furcadia Celebrates 10th Anniversary". Multiplayer Online Games Directory. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  7. 1 2 "2006 Town Meeting transcript". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  8. ↑ Syam, Kathryn; Scialdone, Michael. (2008). "Where Dreams and Dragons Meet: An Ethnographic Analysis of Two Examples of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs)". Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet 3:1. p64. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  9. ↑ Personal Portraits, Furcadia website. Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Local Species". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  11. ↑ Furcadia 2005 Town Hall meeting notes, quote by Talzhemir regarding FurryMUCK (April 16, 2005, retrieved April 30, 2007)
  12. ↑ Dragon's Eye Productions. "Make Your Dreams Come True". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  13. ↑ "Roleplaying in Furcadia". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  14. ↑ Dragon's Eye Productions. "Add Your Own Art/Sounds/Music". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  15. ↑ Matt Hirschfelt (2013). "FAZ Patch Archive". FurcArtZone.com. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  16. ↑ Paul "Kinsem" Delaney (2004). "Roamheart Patching Database". Archive.Roamheart.com. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  17. ↑ "DragonSpeak Buttons". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "PhoenixSpeak". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "Animating With Kitterspeak". Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Dream Content Standards, Dragon's Eye Productions.
  21. ↑ Bell, Lori; Trueman, Rhonda B. (2008). Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi-User Virtual Environments. Information Today Inc. ISBN 9781573873611. p26.
  22. ↑ Emerald Flame (2009-06-19). "Changes At Dragon's Eye". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  23. ↑ Dragon's Eye Productions. "Dragon's Eye Productions Staff". Dragon's Eye Productions. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  24. ↑ Catnip Studios. "The Team". Catnip Studios. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  25. ↑ "Furcadia", Metacritic. Accessed 2013-01-20.
  26. ↑ "", Kickstarter. Accessed 2015-03-09.
  27. ↑ "The Fifth Annual Independent Games Festival". GameSpy. 2003-01-13. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21.
  28. ↑ Harris, Tricia (2003-01-13). "Furcadia". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  29. ↑ "2006 Indie Game of the Year". WarCry. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  30. ↑ "Furcadia 2.7B". Softpedia. Retrieved 2009-05-12.

Further reading

External links

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