18 May, 2012, Lyanic wrote in the 1st comment:
Votes: 0
The 7th Plane has been in active development for over a decade, and is unlike any other MUD you have ever played. It is a dark fantasy, hack-and-slash style game with a major emphasis on crafting and an almost Lovecraftian element of horror, set in an entirely original world. We recently launched a major new version of the code, Planar 2.7, and have seen a small uptick in player activity. There is always room for more, though. So, if you enjoy a challenging game, played with friendly people, then we would love to have you join us. If that is not enough to convince you, then here are some of the game's more prominent features:

- 4 unique classes, each with drastically different styles of progression and game play
- Highly walkable world, with spatially realistic layout and maps that can be drawn or purchased
- Complex NPCs with interesting and devious behavioral routines
- Intricate ecosystems with population changes based on varied propagation methods
- Skills and spells that improve through usage, where nearly every action improves your character
- In-depth crafting system with over 100 different raw materials
- Ability to sadistically torture living victims or dissect the dead
- Scores of gruesome ways to kill and die with minimal to no penalty
- Options to gain experience points for activities other than killing NPCs
- Wild game and rare treasure that can be hunted and fished
- Physics based game mechanics, dynamic weather and light/darkness systems
- Steep learning curve that weeds out griefers (I assure you this is a feature)
- Customizable user interface that is ideal for screen reader support
- Advanced protocol support, including MSDP, MXP and Xterm-256 (modern client recommended)
- 99.999% up-time and no characters ever deleted, as dictated by policy


Still not enough convincing? Below are a few examples of some of the game play.

Macabre: http://www.7thplane.net/resources/logs/d...

Symbolic: http://www.7thplane.net/resources/logs/d...

Deadly: http://www.7thplane.net/resources/logs/d...


Now it is time for a few disclaimers:
1) The game is originally derived from Godwars, but it is not God Wars. The code is largely custom, written in C++. It is still bound to the original Diku, Merc and Godwars licenses, and follows them, though. If you login expecting Godwars, you will be disappointed. If you normally avoid Godwars and the type of players it attracts, have no fear.

2) The numbers are small and you will die - a lot. Do not be surprised if you initially receive 1-3xp at a time. This is normal, and everything is adjusted accordingly. If you die, there is no need to worry over it. Death is almost meaningless. Many of the players have a meta-game of trying to find the most unique ways of dying. There are quite a few.

3) The world is colorized (ANSI, or Xterm-256 if your client supports it). It is colored in a consistent and logical fashion. Water is blue, grass is green and blood is red. This can be seen best in the maps of the world. Every attempt is made to keep clashing colors away from each other. Still, some people vehemently dislike color in their text based games. To those people, you have the option of turning it off. In the future, we would like to support a finer resolution of color settings, but it is all or nothing for now.

4) The world has a unique aesthetic when it comes to describing things. Descriptions are typically limited to 1-3 lines, and only important aspects are described. If you do not read them, you will probably be lost or dead. This is a conscious design choice that is followed consistently throughout the world. We understand that some people do like to read more, so we try to incorporate keyword based, hidden extra descriptions. There is a wealth of backstory and nuance contained in the hidden descriptions and interactions with NPCs. However, if you are in the small, vocal minority that expects a wall of text attached to every room, object and character in a MUD, you will not find that here.


If you are worried about the game being too difficult, you need not be. The help entries are excellent and someone is usually around to answer any and all questions. If the rest of the post sounds good to you, consider this an invitation to try out a unique game, and maybe become a part of our community. Hopefully, there will be some new names populating the 'who' list soon!


Host : 7thplane.net
Port : 8888
Website: http://www.7thplane.net/
13 Jul, 2012, Lyanic wrote in the 2nd comment:
Votes: 0
Quick update: The code is now at version 2.7.6 - lots of tweaks and refinements, along with new content. The biggest recent changes are an upgrade to the Monk class, featuring 4 new unarmed fighting skills, and an NPC run trivia mini-game with question categories from both the game and real worlds.

Player activity seems to have finally hit midsummer's lull, so seeing some new names logging in would be a welcome sight. If you've played before, come pick up where you left off. If you've never tried the game, come check it out.
12 Apr, 2013, Lyanic wrote in the 3rd comment:
Votes: 0
The 7th Plane had a major release recently (current version 2.8.1), which drastically altered the game world. A
vast ocean system with island chains is now randomly generated surrounding the Aladrian continent, ships can be
built and sailed, waypoints can be set and automatically moved to via pathfinding algorithms, and so much more!


Come slay some possessed plant-life, cunning arachnoids and helpless woodland critters. Chop down half the
forest and burn the capital city of Alexandria to the ground. Then, just as the beleaguered citizens have begun
to recover from the earlier carnage, wait for nightfall and lead a horde of zombies through the gate with the
conveniently pickable lock. The sound of their screams and cries for help is like music. While taking in all the
chaos and destruction, it couldn't hurt to drag some of that lumber to the port and build a nice, sturdy ship.

Board the finished vessel and set sail in search of glory and riches, but take care to watch for monstrous creatures of
the deep. On a quick run back from a bountiful island, loaded down with valuable woods, stones, metals and gems ready
to be stored or sold on the mainland, a Kraken latches onto the ship. A desperate fight ensues to detach the overgrown
squid before it pulls the ship under. That's when the behemoth Leviathan surfaces, swallowing the ship, millions of
gallons of seawater, and everything else in sight. Shipwrecked inside the Leviathan's belly, the giant calamari
slowly digesting, there appears to be no way out…or is there?



If you think the above prose is RP fluff, you are mistaken. Everything described, and more, is possible in the
game. Interested? Check it out:

Host : 7thplane.net
Port : 8888
Website: http://www.7thplane.net/


Also, to view the latest randomly generated world:
http://www.7thplane.net/map.php
02 May, 2013, Ubutu wrote in the 4th comment:
Votes: 0
I've had a read through and your posts and website, it sounds very good and I look forward to connecting in a few hours :).

I don't think your website does your efforts justice, for example the bestiary has many broken pages and your recent changes are hidden away in Help's 'New and Different' link - it's very encouraging to see so much work being done, you should show it off.
02 May, 2013, Lyanic wrote in the 5th comment:
Votes: 0
I don't maintain the website (someone else does). I agree that sections of it are a bit outdated/incomplete. I saw your other post and contemplated responding to it - send me a tell if/when you login. Hopefully I won't be too tied up with work to reply.
02 May, 2013, plamzi wrote in the 6th comment:
Votes: 0
Lyanic said:
I don't maintain the website (someone else does). I agree that sections of it are a bit outdated/incomplete. I saw your other post and contemplated responding to it - send me a tell if/when you login. Hopefully I won't be too tied up with work to reply.


Man, you really should take charge of the website and bootstrap it. Should take less than an hour for the content you have up atm.

Good work on the server though.

Curious, are you randomizing the whole world or just the islands around that mainland?
03 May, 2013, Lyanic wrote in the 7th comment:
Votes: 0
plamzi said:
Man, you really should take charge of the website and bootstrap it. Should take less than an hour for the content you have up atm.

I've never been much of a web developer. I can muddle through some of it, but it makes me fairly miserable. Thus, I don't bother.

plamzi said:
Curious, are you randomizing the whole world or just the islands around that mainland?

Only the ocean/islands around that mainland near the center of the map are randomized. However, that's not the entire world. The world is four dimensional (x, y, z, p), having both depth (z) and additional planes (p) of existence. Currently, only one plane has the vast procedurally generated landscape, though (others are on the order of size as the mainland from the map). I plan on reusing the code in the future to generate appropriately themed landscapes for the other planes. I'm going to have to work out some method of slightly longer term persistence, so I can select which of the landscapes re-generate when. The process is very computationally expensive, taking nearly 6 seconds of CPU time (albeit on a single core of an older 1.8ghz CPU) each time the ocean/islands are generated.
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