Alter Aeon
From Mudpedia
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Alter Aeon is MUD launched in the summer of 1995 and has been recommended by Audyssey magazine as a game particularly suitable for visually impaired gamers.[1][2]
Over the years, the MUD was hosted primarily by it's developer, Dentin, on several different machines and switched locations several times. The code base for the game is named 'DentinMud', after the creator.
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[edit] Gameplay
Alter Aeon is a medieval fantasy role-playing game, with occasional sci-fi and other fantasy references.
The character system is multi-class level-based. The classes are the standard magic user, cleric, thief, and warrior, and may be leveled at any time assuming fame and experience requirements are met. At and above level 30, fame points are required to gain levels in addition to experience. Fame points are only given by killing various difficult creatures in the game; the rationale given by Dentin is that this tends to increase exploration at high levels.
The skill and spell system is broken up loosely into groups with dependencies, with a large number of isolated standalone spells and skills.
There is in-game support for clans and clan property. Players in most cases can create clans and modify clan areas without administrative support. Clans also time out and self-destruct if not maintained. Clan dues must be paid in gold, the in-game currency, though purchase of dues with US currency is an option.
Player killing is only allowed on an 'opt-in' basis, and opposing players must both opt-in to the desired PK type to fight. Permanent PK is regulated by a karma based system that is widely considered by the players to be only marginally functional. To prevent unwanted karma effects from building up, permanent PK players will often fight in arenas or while flagged as temporary PK.
The game has several features to improve the text-based user interface. The server-side spam filters are extensive and often used by blind players to reduce the load on screen readers. The communication system allows for player-created channels which support access lists, password protection, and player ownership. Unused channels tend to self-delete due to inactivity, but there are several channels owned by administrators which have been granted permanence. The channel system also provides communication to the builders port and the sister mud, Banished Lands.
The game is partially supported by donations from the players. A number of things are available for purchase, most commonly name changes, clan dues, and weightless containers for carrying equipment. Weaponry or other useful items that would confer an in-game advantage are not available for sale.
[edit] Administration
All game world building is done in-game by the immortal staff. Building may be done either on the main version of the game, or on the builders port. The builders port is a separate copy with limited areas that serves as a sandbox for new builders. New areas must pass a series of automated checks prior to being officially opened, which helps maintain game balance and reduces the effort required to verify that an area is acceptable. The original item checking code caused the first major political schism which served to break up the original Alaska building team near the beginning of 1996; while now mostly accepted as a useful tool, some builders still consider it an unacceptable constraint on their creativity or declare that it produces obviously bad results.
There is a strong policy of separation between gods and players. Building staff are in generally heavily discouraged from getting involved in any player dispute, and are not given administrative commands that are common on other muds. In general, only administrative staff are allowed to get involved in or resolve player disputes.
[edit] History
Alter Aeon was first developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where it was hosted on dec1.uafcs.Alaska.edu for several months during initial development. It was moved to polaris.uafadm.Alaska.edu for a short time during the summer of 1995, then moved again at the beginning of the school year to sl9vg.dorms.usu.edu.[3]
In late 1995 the code base forked due to creative differences and the mud Banished Lands was created by then Alter Aeon god Wyvren. Banished Lands is still in operation, and is hosted on the same server as Alter Aeon.
By the middle of 1996, conflict had arisen between several of the original builders and Dentin, resulting in the deletion of several gods.[4] By 1997 the only original gods remaining active were Dentin, Wyvren and Heart. Heart was deleted in 2007 due to conflict with Dentin concerning the future direction of the game.
In 1997 the game moved to dentin.ccb.usu.edu, and in 1998 it began being hosted commercially. As of 2009, it is hosted at xirr.com, also aliased as alteraeon.com.
[edit] External links
- Alter Aeon - official Alter Aeon homepage.
- Banished Lands - forked in 1995 from Alter Aeon's code base.
[edit] References
- ↑ Elizabeth Cox (1995). "New Multiclass Mud". "Alter Aeon is still in testing phase, but we expect the playerfile to remain intact when we are officially open."
- ↑ Sean Randall (2003). "Alter Aeon: A Mud for Everyone". Audyssey; Games Accessible to the Blind.
- ↑ "Alter Aeon Hardware Specs" (2008).
- ↑ "Interview With Dentin". The Ralnoth Times, Issue 2 (October 17, 2008). Archived from the original on 2009-10-25.
