Mason

Introduction

Mason is the second in our series of games. Its main theme is building things -- houses, machines, economy, and community.

The objective of Mason as stated in the WorldForge Master Plan is to establish sophisticated game server technologies that we can leverage in future games.

These include creating items using a recipe system, building houses and other structures by attaching items together, building complex machines by combining simple machine parts, simulating everything from festering wounds to an adrenaline rush with a detailed body system, editing text and other information objects in-game, and running an economical system controlled by feedback loops.

To demonstrate these techniques we will create a competitive and cooperative game centering about settling the uninhabited lands in the north-western corner of Moraf in our Dural world. The players can play either human settlers attracted by the rumors of gold or promises of free land, or orcs, driven down to the plains from the overpopulated dens of the orc tribes of Sarnak.

Sections

The Mason pages are divided in four sections, dealing with the project itself, the game, the technology, and the world data. Each section has its own main page.

Project

This section contains practical and administrative things related to the Mason Project itself: a general introduction to Mason, planned features, news, progress reports, meetings, tasks, team, communication channels, and so on.

If you are new to Mason and want to know what it is all about, or if you just want to catch up with recent progress, then this is a good place to start.

Game

This section contains things related to the Mason Game, which will be produced to demonstrate the technology. The section presents the background story, the game objectives, and the required features for version 1.0 of the game. It will also contain an installation guide, the players guide, and the game administrators guide. Screenshots and downloads will be linked to from this section too.

If you are a potential future player and would like to know what the game will be like, or a creative writer interested in making the game interesting and fun to play, or if you want to write or translate documentation for end users, then this is the place for you.

Technology

This section contains the design of the various systems that will implement all the central features of Mason. The systems include: the Item System, the Mechanical System, the Information Object System, the Body System, the Mind System, and others.

If you are a developer or game designer, interested in how all the revolutionary features supported by Mason are going to be implemented, then this section is for you.

Content

This section deals with all the general data needed for the Mason Game: item and creature descriptions and stats, maps of the Moraf area in the Dural world, and media for items and terrain. This data can be directly reused in later games.

If you are a world designer, artist, musician, or a MU* wizard who loves creating cool new items, then this section is for you.