Mimesis Online from Polish Developer Tannhauser Gate, is a role-playing game which transports you to a world where the borders between reality and illusion do not exist. An unimaginable catastrophe on a cosmic scale transformed this world, playing havoc with the natural order of things, twisting everything, even time itself, wiping out civilisation as we know it. For the Universe itself, everything changed and nothing changed - a new order was established, one where entropy rules, without intelligent beings working to hold it back. The beings who survived the catastrophe have tried to rebuild their world, each in their own way. They once again want to enforce on the natural chaos their order, their ways - authority, money, prejudice, cruelty and conviction of their own superiority. Once again, they are showing the unlimited ability of intelligent races to adapt and survive. The forgotten civilisation is waking up and slowly but surely emerging as the "new" civilisation - and how similar it is to the old one.

On a regular basis we will feature a developer's diary made by the Mimesis Online development team. In this diary Derek Handley, one of the staff writers tells us about moving, the delayed beta, PvP, which playable races are in the beta and how a cat interferes with you working at home.

Part 3. "No titles this time"
A cat can be a very relaxing animal to have around the house, and there have even been studies done on how petting a cat is good for your health. If you have some thinking to do, they are supposed to be good to have around.
But they're a darn-nuisance-pain-in-the-neck when you're trying to get some work done and they decide that the computer mouse is an even better toy than the rubber mouse you bought them, and that the keyboard is much more comfortable than their pillow...
I wouldn't mind, but he's my neighbour's cat.

Anyway, in case you couldn't guess, I'm writing to you from home this time. It's strange to write the diary from here - the posters of the animals of the game world aren't up on the walls, Artur isn't making sure I'm working, the whole atmosphere is lacking - but the alternative would be a lot less conducive to my concentration. I really cannot imagine working at the studio right now, because we're bang in the middle of a move. Basically, in the last two months, the team has grown enough to outgrow our old premises, and the graphics and programming groups are being moved to a bigger premises. While all this packing and carrying and unpacking is going on, work on the game is also going on, and the guys are still hard at it - the timing of the move stinks, because with the beta version of the game due out this month, there's a heck of a lot to be done. I must confess that I just chickened out, and said I'd work from home. I'm allergic to moves.
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

I must admit that I'm looking forward to seeing the new studio, and especially to having a bit more elbow room. Many hands may make light work, but we had a case of not enough handholds. In a small company where space is at a premium, more people can slow down things you'd never expect them to - take the decision process, for example. We'd gotten used to the fact that there were some things which were decided or created during a form of verbal tennis - batting ideas back and forth, bouncing things off each other, seeing how they sound - obviously I'm talking about the kind of decisions like what a certain city should include, or how a certain mission could begin, not things connected with the running of the firm. It may sound chaotic, but there's a pile of stuff that's come out of that kind of process which might otherwise not have been created. But when you've got too many voices, the whole thing just falls flat on its face.
Now, I mentioned the beta version of the game, which was originally to come out at the end of May. It's been delayed by the move and a couple of changes that we settled on but haven't yet implemented, but that doesn't make it any the less a major topic of conversation at the studio. There's such a buzz around it, and everyone has got something to say about it. You'd sometimes be forgiven for thinking that there's a bunch of expectant parents working at the studio - well, I can understand it really, especially coming from Artur and Marcin, the two guys who started it all off. There are a few ways of approaching a beta version of a game, and there are those who treat it as a first draft, a sounding board. The guys would prefer it to be a test of a version that is as close to the final version as possible. So, logically enough, the tension in the studio is just like what I expect to see in late autumn when the final version is released.
All that said, there are things that are not going to be in the first beta version, things that will be beta'd later this summer. Choosing exactly which elements should go in and which few still need work is a tough job, and certainly not one for an open forum discussion. I could compare it to picking the players for the team in the new season, or deciding which X-men should be in the new movie (Mr. Singer, you have my sympathies!). In the words of a certain British lyricist, you've got to get the balance right.

One of the most controversial decisions was whether or not to include the PvP system (player vs. player, in case anyone didn't know - I wouldn't have, two years ago), and if so, in what form. One opinion was that it has to be tested, because a lot actually hinges on how this aspect of the game is resolved - you wouldn't believe how many questions we get about it. Then on the other hand, it's not the gameplay that you want testers to focus on. But back on the first hand, since it's so controversial, maybe we should test it ASAP, so we still have the time to change something. The final decision was to test it. So it's in.

Next up - player character races. This may seem like a no-brainer - they should all be tested - sounds obvious, right? Well...the problem here is that they all do need to be tested, and that means really well tested. So it would make more sense to test the races in batches, in certain combinations. That should give more accurate results, and better comparisons. But which races should go in first? Not the Riven, because they've caused so many headaches that we already know what needs to be done with them. Humanity is an obvious choice - they should probably be tested in each stage. That's one. Then who else?
Now, the names won't mean anything to you right now, but they soon will. The final choices were the Humans, the Skirros and the Hirudon. If you're reading this around at the beginning of June, then you're one of the first people to learn that.
Similar debates about creatures followed, and about the beta missions. But that's how it should be - if you care about what you're doing, you should think about it carefully, and make sure it's the best.
That's all for this time. The cat is doing that baleful stare thing again, so I'd better go and see what he wants.

Take care!
Derek.