Wind's Nocturne is here, and with a shit-load more developers!
Previously known as Wind's Whisper, this game has been re-invented, re-released and re-awesomeised ever since the first version was made waaay back in 2003. Since then, WN has had many different developers, many different engines and many different releases, but it's always been the same: A small, retro ORPG which has been charming the gamers every single time it's been announced. I've stuck by WN for many years now, and finally it's been re-invented on the quickest and most stable source yet. WN has historically only ever been worked on by myself, with Rory contributing his amazing skills to fulfil my every graphical whim. For the first time, WN is being worked on by a full team of the most talented individuals to ever grace the VB6 ORPG scene! We have plenty of people who're at the top of their chosen field, from programming to writing, all pooling together their skills and experience to create this cooking-pot of amazingness.
WN has been around since 2003, and has obviously been re-created several times. Originally known as Wind's Whisper, it has been re-branded in the latest version as Wind's Nocturne. The earliest recorded copy of Wind's Whisper was created in Elysium/Eclipse back in 2003/2004, and it's the first version which started using the FSM graphics which I've stuck by for the past 6 years:
That version was dropped, and interest in Wind's Whisper was lost for nearly a year afterwards, when Naruto Realm was in development. Then, out of practically no-where, Wind's Whisper was re-introduced to the VB6 ORPG scene, with a fancy new base, some new skills in practise, and some incredible new features:
This version is the longest running yet. It was dropped at least once, picked up again, and kept on kicking, being the first publicly released version. Eventually, the source was shelled out and released as the Essence source code. This version, however, started the quintessentially Wind's Whisper style, and has been re-invented several times. The interface was created by a, then young, Rory and has been laying itself down as a base for the interfaces ever since.
Well, a section about myself. I could just blow my own trumpet here, but instead I'll settle for a brief history about my time around here. I originally joined the VB6 ORPG scene back in 2003. I found Konfuze whilst looking around the internet. I was a naive little 13 year old kid, with terrible grammar skills and only a couple of years of computer experience. After several months at Konfuze, I moved on to Elysium, where the source was finally released to use eager fans. I quickly grew sick of the problems which arose with the source code, and moved on down to Mirage, where I lurked around for another 6 months before finally posting some screenshots of my game, Wind's Whisper, and started releasing terrible tutorials onto the poor masses. Eventually, a kind soul known as 'Dark Echo' taught me how to do packets, which then sent me spinning into the world of programming. Since then, I've obviously improved by a large amount, but the same charm and simplicity which my original game was made up of is still there, never changing. I'm currently in my second year at college doing a Software Development course.
Jake (aka. Dugor) is a relatively new face on the block, but instantly gained respect when he kicked me off my post on Mirage Realms by fixing my targeting code and quickly worked his way into Liam's pants. Since then, in a relatively short space of time, he's become administrator of Mirage Source, owner of one of the best publicly released source, Mirage Realms and his programming has made many of us re-think our own styles and habits. Since the MR game fell through, he's been a good friend to many, and has been working hard at his job to support his wife and his baby son. Works full time as a programmer.
Harold (aka. GIAKEN) has been around since the Konfuze Christmas release, and has been lurking around ever since. When he first found Konfuze, he was playing on a friend's game which got him interested in game development, and he went on to create Geonet Online. This game was converted over to every release of Konfuze/Elysium all the way up to ED2, where he finally learnt how to program. He dropped the game in 2005, and joined Mirage. Soon after, he became the rights holder to Elysium, helped release and maintain OGCore, before dropping everything and became the founder of Asphodel. He's a fantastic friend of mine, and it's about bloody time we did some colab work on something.
Rory (aka. Magdreamer) has been giving us fantastic graphics for many years. After seeing my work on Naruto Realm all those years ago, he's been working on his own Naruto-styled ORPG, Nin Online! NO has had many different versions, each one more fantastic than the last. Rory has been the only standing developer on WW/WN other than myself, joining the project during it's second reincarnation and doing all the interface and logo work every since. All game development work has taken a backseat in his life, as he's currently studying for his upcoming O level exams, but he's still found time to get addicted to GhostX, a new MMO, and has worked on creating his own fansite for it!
Konsty (aka. Punika) is everyone's favourite pixelling panda! I originally discovered this sexy little number lurking around the Essence forums, back in the day. He quickly found his way into my heart with his fantastic attitude and his work developing the Essence Community Tileset, which was a fantastic resource which was developed by the community for free use with the Essence source code. He's released two games, SIN and ToW, both with 100% custom graphics. His pixel skills are very developed, but I've helped him through with advice and tips on interface development, and he's been working hard on creating a base sprite for the paperdolling system in WN. I promised him a copy of the final source code to create a game with, once he helps us out with his talents!
Max (aka. Egon) seems to have been around forever, but hasn't actually done much in his time at Mirage. He's been Liam's bitch for the last 3 years, and has started work on a horse breeding/racing game with Harold. Eer... he's a crippled firefighter who once was in a big storm and took some pictures. He's also going to be working on ripping the items of clothing off some hawt pixelated girls and paper dolling them for our new base!
I've always taken great pride in my programming work, and this latest version is no exception. Here's a small breakdown of the core systems which'll make this such a fantastic gaming experience:
- Byte Array Packets. That's right, all the data sent and received by the server is packed into little byte arrays! Not only does this cut down on latency, it'll cut down on bandwidth for both the clients and the server. As well as this, all the UDT Dump style packets (Such as sending a newly edited item) are done by simply passing Copymemory through the UDT and receiving it in the same way. This means the packet is designed as a one-off, and will do it's job without modification as long as the UDT structures stay consistent between both the server and the client.
- Generic Resources. Ever since the 2005 release of Wind's Whisper, Woodcutting has been one of the large selling points of the game. Well, I've gone one step further this time and I've created a generic resource code, which allows for complicated objects to be created and placed on the map, each one with separate sprites, respawn times, rewards, tool requirements and difficulity. This system will end up being the centre of the game's entire economy.
- Proper Memory Management. Mirage and it's offshoots have never been well known for being streamlined in the DirectX department. In this case however, the graphical engine is top-notch! It properly loads and unloads files when needed. No longer will a game sit on your computer eating up 300mB of memory. Now, it'll sit comfortably in the corner using, at best, 10mB or so of your precious RAM.
- Dynamic is the new buzz-word! Dynamic, dynamic and dynamic. My favourite buzz-word at the moment, and one I can use a lot! Sprites, maps, data arrays... everything is dynamic! This means nothing to the casual gamer, but everything to a development. Maps can be any size I want, sprites can be in excess of 1000 pixels high, data arrays can be any size specified. It all adds up to a very cool development environment, which obviously means a higher quality product will be created!
Section in development.
Website: None yet!
Forums: None yet!
