News

New client version 2.1.8

Hello players,

Today there was another update of the client. The update mainly fixed bugs. For example, the bug that instantly crashes the client in case more than two movement keys are pressed is gone now. Also, a major error in the error reporting system (yes, we can see the irony in that) is now fixed. This error caused the network interface of the client to remain active while the rest of the client crashed. For this reason the character did not get logged out until the java process was terminated by hand.

The other changes mainly focus on the quest markers. For now its possible to see the targets of the current quest on the mini map and now also on the game screen.

In case you don't like the quest markers, you can disable them as you see fit. There are two new options to do so.

Have fun with the new client.

Dragons Call No. 26

New Dragons Call

Topics this time:

• Persecuted by all
• Well attended Consultation Day
• Ship over land

Book Content Development

Dear Illarionites!

We are in need of your assistance in order to provide the world of Illarion with a larger supply of books.

There are several possibilities of how you can aid:

• We are in urgent need of translators for German-British English (BE) and BE-German.
• We are in need of proofreaders for German and BE.
• We are looking for creative writers with a lot of imagination, who would be willing to write new books.
• Furthermore, we are looking for ideas for new books.

If there are any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask Skamato!

RatCon

Thanks to everyone who visited us at the RatCon. We hope you will enjoy Illarion in the future.

As a speciail gimmick we have a unique item for you, the "Rats Tail". To get it just write GM Skamato a Board PM.

First Illarion staff interview: project leader Vilarion

When and how did you come to Illarion?
Back in 2004 I was developing and managing a Star-Wars IRC RPG. One of my players told me about Illarion (wow, graphics!) and although he himself never stayed, I eventually lost interest in Star-Wars and started playing Illarion.
I joined the staff prior to the char wipe back then to work on the old C++ client.

What is your vision of Illarion?
My vision is to have 100 players online at the same time some day. To get to this goal Illarion should be a place to enjoy as a casual role player.

What is your role as a member of staff?
I am the current project leader, overseeing development activities and staff additions. Also I am the main server developer, working on the C++ server code. Furthermore I am the server administrator (root) who maintains the software running on our rented hardware and controls access privileges of staff members. The CM team is my responsibility as well.

What is your current project?
My current development project is the introduction of quest markers to have a comfortable means to see where quests are available.

What will be your next big project?
The next thing I will be working on will probably be an in-game mail system. You will be able to use this system to send items and messages to other players' characters, even when they are offline. To further improve trading, it will also be possible to send items using pay on delivery.

What is your duty in the Society?
Currently I am the chairman of the Illarion Society board. My tasks are to represent the society and to check legal issues.
In this role I am currently also pushing to release game content like scripts and maps under an open source license so that everybody can have a look at these if they wish to, or even correct small things like spelling mistakes themselves.

What is your motivation to work for Illarion?
When I started out I simply enjoyed programming. Shaping a game is a very interesting thing to do, I can only recommend to try it. Seeing your ideas taking form and come to life is a great experience.
Also I really enjoy working with our staff which consists of interesting people with all kinds of backgrounds and from many countries. We are always looking for new staff members, by the way!

Any hints what we can look forward to most in game in the near future?
The next interesting projects we will work on include, apart from the aforementioned mail system, the possibility to view other players' inventories more closely, so that you can show off your epic items.
We will also work on a system to create guilds in game with various benefits like a guild depot.
Making renting flats a more automatic process is another project. Maybe it will even be possible to decorate your living space some day.
You can also look forward to getting more involved in your factions' administration, since it will eventually be possible to get into political positions like the watch captain and use server mechanics to exert these positions (e.g. order NPC guards around).
These things will keep us busy for many months.