Post by Azalea Nelthrope on May 9, 2005 11:02:45 GMT -5
For the past two weeks or so, I have been working on creating a new Castle of Dragons. Unlike the several past RP sites where the most interactive we can be together would be fast forum replies, or the occassional chat links, this new roleplay is based within a chat with functional, moveable, walkable, interactive avatars that you control on-screen. Some of you might have already heard of Furcadia, and even if you have, this is still going to be a little different. I've compiled several different patches for making all of this work, and yes, the avatars and portraits will actually be human, instead of animal.
For those who do not know what Furcadia is, its an interactive roleplay/chat place, but all the characters are equine, canine, feline, lapine, musteline, rodent, and squirrel. It not only has massive areas of social function, but anyone and everyone can build their own area for roleplay/home, or "dream" as they call it.
Even if you dont play in the Castle of Dragons' roleplay that much, or not at all, I still would like for you guys to check it out. If ya'll really like it, and think ya'll could possibly commit a little better to roleplay, I'd consider making a "dream" for each of the roleplay areas we have here. It would take just as long, if not longer to create the places, though, so I'd like to relax some and just let ya'll tinker with what's already built. This will also be a good way to gain new members for the roleplay, for Furcadia during the day has over 1200 players online, most of which are roaming around looking for some decent RPers, which could be us.
Now, first things first, anyone willing to give this a shot will have to download furcadia. I know a lot of you hate downloading, but if you can download about 10 songs from a band you heard on the radio without even knowing if the songs are any good, then you can surely download a little something like this. I assure you, it'll be a lot more fun. The link for the download site is, furcadia.com/download. For those of you with 56k modems, it should only take about 15 minutes.
Once you have it downloaded, you can go ahead and begin to access. First, you will have to create a character. Somewhat unfortunately, in the creating a character process, you will still have to view the avatar as an animal. Your character will remain an animal until you enter the Castle of Dragons, or any other dream that I create. Dont be too quick in choosing which animal you want, each one is a different type of human once you are in the game. Below I have shown the different animals and what type of person they turn into. The colors you choose do have an effect, so be careful. Sometimes, the person's skin color will change when you change the animal's fur and marking's colors. For most of you, I reccomend the colors "cream" or "tawny" for the fur/markings. If something doesnt quite come out right, dont worry- you can edit the character later if need be.
You are able to give a brief description of your character while you build him/her. I recommend that you also paste a link of your forum profile in case a stranger is more interested in who you are. Any OOC information or chit chat should be held within the [ ] symbols, which is popular for Furcadia. When going into another country, it is best to try to speak at least a little of their lingo.
Dont worry about the "Special" tab at the end when creating your character. Unless you donate money to Furcadia and help sponsor them somehow, you cannot use any of the offered wings or forms.
Once you've finished creating your character, save it and you can finish logging on to Furcadia. New characters almost always start in a place called Naia Green. You will, at some point during your first few sessions, be whispered by a helper from Furcadia that can answer any questions you have about Furcadia, itself. You dont have to answer him/her at all, but you do have to be nice, in some areas its possible to be banned for foul language. Just read the entry text to everywhere you go.
There are 5 tabs now on your screen, "Move" "Go To" "Edit" "Digo" "Text". You wont use the last three that often, unless you need to edit your character. Each time you edit, you must save your character as the correct file, log out, and log on again. The Move tab is fairly simple to understand once you get the hang of it. You are shown your possible positions (stand, sit, lay), directions you can walk if you choose to use your mouse, as well as a button to pick up/put down things and a button to use the item you're holding. Shortcuts are also shown for each of these. For walking, you can use the number pad keys 7, 9, 1, and 3, or you can use your arrow keys. The view is always tilted, so it might take a little getting used to the arrow keys. Whether your standing, sitting, or laying, you can always change which direction you're facing. Simply press the insert or delete keys, and your avatar will twist in a circle.
The Go To tab shows the shortcuts for moving to different areas all around Furcadia. If you hold your mouse over the buttons, it will tell you the names of the areas. The Join and Summon buttons are very handy if you're ever lost. If you would like to be where someone else is, you can click the Join button and add their name right after. It will look like: `join AzaleaNelthrope The Summon button helps you to bring someone else to where you are. It will look like: `summon AzaleaNelthrope You can also type the command out. The symbol in front of the word is the ` above the tab key on your keyboard. The Back button does just what you think it does- it will send you back to the last area/dream you were in.
For those who do not know what Furcadia is, its an interactive roleplay/chat place, but all the characters are equine, canine, feline, lapine, musteline, rodent, and squirrel. It not only has massive areas of social function, but anyone and everyone can build their own area for roleplay/home, or "dream" as they call it.
Even if you dont play in the Castle of Dragons' roleplay that much, or not at all, I still would like for you guys to check it out. If ya'll really like it, and think ya'll could possibly commit a little better to roleplay, I'd consider making a "dream" for each of the roleplay areas we have here. It would take just as long, if not longer to create the places, though, so I'd like to relax some and just let ya'll tinker with what's already built. This will also be a good way to gain new members for the roleplay, for Furcadia during the day has over 1200 players online, most of which are roaming around looking for some decent RPers, which could be us.
Now, first things first, anyone willing to give this a shot will have to download furcadia. I know a lot of you hate downloading, but if you can download about 10 songs from a band you heard on the radio without even knowing if the songs are any good, then you can surely download a little something like this. I assure you, it'll be a lot more fun. The link for the download site is, furcadia.com/download. For those of you with 56k modems, it should only take about 15 minutes.
Once you have it downloaded, you can go ahead and begin to access. First, you will have to create a character. Somewhat unfortunately, in the creating a character process, you will still have to view the avatar as an animal. Your character will remain an animal until you enter the Castle of Dragons, or any other dream that I create. Dont be too quick in choosing which animal you want, each one is a different type of human once you are in the game. Below I have shown the different animals and what type of person they turn into. The colors you choose do have an effect, so be careful. Sometimes, the person's skin color will change when you change the animal's fur and marking's colors. For most of you, I reccomend the colors "cream" or "tawny" for the fur/markings. If something doesnt quite come out right, dont worry- you can edit the character later if need be.
You are able to give a brief description of your character while you build him/her. I recommend that you also paste a link of your forum profile in case a stranger is more interested in who you are. Any OOC information or chit chat should be held within the [ ] symbols, which is popular for Furcadia. When going into another country, it is best to try to speak at least a little of their lingo.
Dont worry about the "Special" tab at the end when creating your character. Unless you donate money to Furcadia and help sponsor them somehow, you cannot use any of the offered wings or forms.
Once you've finished creating your character, save it and you can finish logging on to Furcadia. New characters almost always start in a place called Naia Green. You will, at some point during your first few sessions, be whispered by a helper from Furcadia that can answer any questions you have about Furcadia, itself. You dont have to answer him/her at all, but you do have to be nice, in some areas its possible to be banned for foul language. Just read the entry text to everywhere you go.
There are 5 tabs now on your screen, "Move" "Go To" "Edit" "Digo" "Text". You wont use the last three that often, unless you need to edit your character. Each time you edit, you must save your character as the correct file, log out, and log on again. The Move tab is fairly simple to understand once you get the hang of it. You are shown your possible positions (stand, sit, lay), directions you can walk if you choose to use your mouse, as well as a button to pick up/put down things and a button to use the item you're holding. Shortcuts are also shown for each of these. For walking, you can use the number pad keys 7, 9, 1, and 3, or you can use your arrow keys. The view is always tilted, so it might take a little getting used to the arrow keys. Whether your standing, sitting, or laying, you can always change which direction you're facing. Simply press the insert or delete keys, and your avatar will twist in a circle.
The Go To tab shows the shortcuts for moving to different areas all around Furcadia. If you hold your mouse over the buttons, it will tell you the names of the areas. The Join and Summon buttons are very handy if you're ever lost. If you would like to be where someone else is, you can click the Join button and add their name right after. It will look like: `join AzaleaNelthrope The Summon button helps you to bring someone else to where you are. It will look like: `summon AzaleaNelthrope You can also type the command out. The symbol in front of the word is the ` above the tab key on your keyboard. The Back button does just what you think it does- it will send you back to the last area/dream you were in.
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(To choose this portrait, you must choose "unspecified" for gender.)
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(To choose this portrait, you must choose "unspecified" for gender.)
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(To choose this portrait, you must choose "unspecified" for gender.)