feed://www.worldofantra.com/2006/rss/WOA4ss1r1.php Site update information for World of Antra Tue, 7 Oct 2008 18:52:46 -0700 Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:59:59 -0800New build release very soon. Everything that could be gotten in will be, but this is not the 'end build' lol. As of this release, all the FAQs on combat will be obsolete, with updates severely needed. Added are damage by types, defense to resist attacks by type, resistance to damage by type, and a big change to the way damage is calculated. Combat--always a sticking point, as it's one of the most complex pieces of the game, relying on interactions between weapons and armor. To date, combat has been simple, merely selecting a weapon and bashing away. Damage is no longer based on weapon type, but instead upon the formula, ((damage_type_value)*(character_level)). Thus if a weapon does smashing damage, the value for smashing damage is multiplied by the character's level, and the result is the value which is then applied against the defender's damage resistance to smashing damage to calculate the final damage inflicted. Daggers all do stabbing damage, some swords do stabbing damage while others will do slashing damage, ballistae all do piercing damage, and so forth. It is possible for a weapon to inflict more than one type of damage at a blow, and these damage resistances are calculated against appropriate type resistances. With the new mechanism in place, it is possible for some weapons to be far more effectual than others in a given situation, and to plan to mitigate an anticipated type of damage given time to plan for an encounter--say choosing fire-resistant armor when facing a dragon, lol! Important Note: Because of the many changes made in this update it is necessary to wipe the existing character databases, which will cause all the high score counters to reset. This will not affect your website account, only the game characters.http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=150Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:38:55 -0800There will be a new build coming in December. This will be a fairly large update and incorporate a great deal of new functionality and content as well as a large number of bug fixes to the client. Because of the many changes made in this update it is necessary to wipe the existing character databases, which will cause all the high score counters to reset. This will not affect your website account, only the game characters.http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=149Thu, 7 Jun 2007 11:44:30 -0700Substantive progress has been made, after taking some time off. The results are already visible, as the client is much improved from its old shabby self thanks to a makeover on the surface and code cleanup under the hood. A new upgrade to Flash has provided a great deal of stability to backend engineering when working on the client software. It no longer crashes every few moments, which has an undeniable impact on the willingness to spend time in the programming interface. New features have been added which should help to spur user enjoyment of the play experience. Medals and awards can now be obtained by the character. The most notable change is that player death no longer occurs on defeat. Instead, the character will be transported to the area most appropriate for immediate, free resurrection in the zirkot in which they were defeated. Keep an eye on the front page of the site for announcements relating to game builds, they will no longer be squirreled away under 'New Build' in the forum! http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=148Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:04:55 -0700Substantive change made this weekend, in order to promote readability on the site. There's a lot of material here, but it's been hard to read some of the longer pieces because they were stuffed into a small, scrolling box on each page. I broke the frame this weekend and spent several hours going through most of the sections and changing them over to a format where the main article overflows the border--this should make it easier to read, because the main scroll bar now moves the text up and down. It certainly makes it easier for me... I like desktop keyboards, and use the Page Up and Page Down keys a lot when scrolling while reading, along with the arrow keys. Since the site largely exists to keep my notes together in a presentable format (instead of hundreds and hundreds of little yellow Post-Its everywhere on my desk), this helps me a lot when checking up and researching items. No, I can't memorize it all anymore! There is simply too much for me, so writing it down and refreshing myself when it comes time to write or fact-check--or occasionally endure the delightful surprise of discovering something I had already made up and forgotten about!--is a regular practice.http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=147Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:37:44 -0700For the last several weeks, it has been possible to log out of the site. I thought I would make a FAQ which explains what that actually means and what it does for you. Login has been enabled for a long time, but in July, login was made 'sticky', which means that a cookie was dropped which keeps your login on a particular machine 'open' even if you shut the browser window. As soon as the browser was returned to the site, the cookie made sure you didn't have to type your password in again to get to the game and any other member-only content. In order to close access from a public terminal (a computer other people or strangers might use), the logout function was added. If you are logged in and look at the lower left of the window, you'll see a tiny burgundy button labeled 'LOGOUT.' Clicking it will remove the cookie and kill your session on that machine. This is also the solution if two people share a machine and each wants to use their own account. If you want to be thorough, you should also empty the browser's cache, and close the browser window entirely. On a Mac, you should also clear the history list, which is not attached to the window you just closed the way it is in Windows. Your session on one computer is also invalidated if you log in from another computer. Opening multiple windows to the site on the same computer after logging in results in multiple windows all logged in to the same session (so if you want the FAQ in one window and the game in another, you can do that without logging one window out).http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=146Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:31:22 -0700Get the Aquaman pilot from Videos on iTunes. A glorious $1.99. I've been extremely curious about when the skies will open and stuff I actually would buy from TV's catalog would fall from the sky. It only makes it EVER SO much better that Aquaman's been #1 since the release yesterday on Apple's download list. And I don't even have a TV.http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=145Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:52:47 -0700AUUGHHH! My character Keerbisha's dead! He just got killed by a Priest of the Spider Temple! Life sucks! He had 54 EXP! Keebisha gave his life in the pursuit of testing the client experience. What we learned from Keerbisha's noble self-sacrifice was that we are not getting properly logged out at the time of death, instead dying and staying 'in session.' That needs to get fixed, obviously! Joyous weekend!http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=144Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:08:32 -0700Well, this has to be the 'Coolest Game Evar' award-winner, hands-down: Gods of Gaming Reunite Think if you got the original Chainmail gang back together for an assault on the Moathouse of the Temple of Elemental Evil, taking place ten years prior to Module T-1... with pictures. Lovingly detailed pictures.... Oh, and yay Dragonsfoot, home of so much D&D Gaming Goodness. I'm sure I've mentioned them before, but they host a fairly large number of very nicely packaged--and FREE--PDF materials for use with OD&D/AD&D1E/AD&D2E gaming.http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=143Sat, 15 Jul 2006 16:50:35 -0700Well, Wizards of the Coast has released a second series of giant-size figures, 'War of the Dragon Queen.' Their first huge series was two years ago. Now they have returned with an even more huge set of enormous figures, all of which are straight out of the Monster Manuals. And in this set, they have laid off the Eberron. (Please, no more war-forged thisits and thatsits, please!) I bought a box on Friday, and pulled Tiamat. That is a set off to a good start, I must say. All five heads of badness present and accounted for. Enormous wings. The paintjob isn't as good as I would do myself, but the mini isn't available in metal. Besides, it has a crunky charm of a certain kind. Go look here for the gallery of War of the Dragon Queen.http://www.worldofantra.com/2006/index.php?T=1&pullrss=142