MMORPGdot: Independant MMORPG Showcase
Eternal Lands

Ekim, 2004-01-22

As the mmorpg genre evolves, MMORPGdot brings you a series of articles showcasing the independant makers of mmorpg games. These lesser-known games are often more revolutionary than their commercial counterparts, sometimes cheaper, or even free, and they are always and forever will be a sign of the creativity that the people working in this genre are capable of. The goal of this series of features is to allow these games to have their moment in the spotlight, and also to allow gamers to see what is being made outside of the more traditional commercial arena. Today we present you a profile of Eternal Lands, a promising free mmorpg under development.

Eternal Lands is totally 3D, but has a graphic quality superior to many 2D games out there. All the objects have as many polygons as it's needed, and the textures are large and beautiful. Even in very high resolutions, you won't see blured textures. There is a day and night system, the cycle being of 6 hours (2 hours of daylight, 2 hours of night time, 1 hour in the morning, and 1 hour in the evening). Some monsters, such as the Gargoyles sleep at daytime, becomign stone statues, but at night time they start moving, and if you are a low level player, you'd better be carefull where you spend your nights. The shadows also change their lenght and their direction, depending on the time of the day. The objects, animals and players cast reflections in the water, which contributes to the graphic appeal of the game.

The best thing about the game, besides the graphical aspect, and the fact that it is completly free, is that the client is Open Source, and it runs on Windows, Linux, and other Unix OSes, such as FreeBSD. A port for OS X is on the way. As for the gameplay, the players have total control over their character development. They are not constrained by rigid classes, or profesions, and they can increase any skill they want, whenever they want. There are also 8 gods (only 5 of them are implemented, but the rest should come in a few weeks), which, if served properly (quests) will give you various things, and increase your experience in the skill they patron. The economy is relatively player based, but some of the items are also available in the stores, to prevent high level players overcharging low level players.

The skills available in the game include: harvesting (ability to gather resources, such as plants and minerals), summoning (the ability to create animals that will folow you and fight for you), manufacturing (leather and metal items), potions, alchemy (magic reagents and converting ore to metal bars), magic, and fighting (fighting has 3 subskills: attack, defense and combat)

Soon, a player owned and controlled guild system will be implemented, as well as the ability to buy and own a house.

To learn more about Eternal Lands, visit www.eternal-lands.com

To discuss this game, or other independant games that you know of, visit our MMORPGdot General Forums.