This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)

Wurm Online is a community-centric fantasy MMORPG developed in Java and OpenGL that strives to emulate real life in a medieval fantasy setting. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video games. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... In computing, a platform describes some sort of framework, either in hardware or software, which allows software to run. ... The Java platform is the name for a bundle of related programs, or platform, from Sun Microsystems which allow for developing and running programs written in the Java programming language. ... is the 157th day of the year (158th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Further information: Game classification Video games are categorized into genres based on their gameplay interaction. ... Players interacting in Ultima Online, a classic MMORPG. Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online computer role-playing games (CRPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world. ... A multiplayer game is a video game in which more than one person can play the same game at the same time. ... Java refers to a number of computer software products and specifications from Sun Microsystems that together provide a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform environment. ... Java Web Start, introduced in Java 2, allows provisioning applications over the Web by clicking a desktop icon or a link on a website. ... This article is about a unit of data. ... RAM redirects here. ... This article is about the SI unit of frequency. ... CPU redirects here. ... A video card, also referred to as a graphics accelerator card, display adapter, graphics card, and numerous other terms, is an item of personal computer hardware whose function is to generate and output images to a display. ... Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a type of random access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. ... OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... Players interacting in Ultima Online, a classic MMORPG. Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online computer role-playing games (CRPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world. ... Java language redirects here. ... OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. ...

Gameplay

All players start out on a continent covered with forests, lakes and mountains. The players can create buildings, towns and items of the world. Wurm Online features a fully deformable landscape, meaning that trees can be cut and planted, dirt can be moved to create pits and hills, and rock faces can be mined to create underground caverns or tunnels.

A player created village in a small harbor

Image File history File links Wurm_Online_Town. ... Image File history File links Wurm_Online_Town. ...

Characters

In the game there are two types of characters: player characters and non-player characters (NPCs). A player's character is created before starting the game on the Wurm Online website and can either be male or female. There are no classes or levels, just a list of skills that define that character. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... An NPC from the video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. ... This article is about a concept in role-playing games. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

There are only a few non-player characters in Wurm Online; these include:

• Traders - Purchase and sell items to or from players.
• Merchants - Owned by one player and used to sell items that that player wishes.
• Guides - Located at the start points on the servers, these give you your basic tools and teach you the basics of the game.

A female and male character in Wurm Online

Account Types

There are two different account types on Wurm Online. A basic account is a free account; however a basic account cannot increase its skills above 20 nor initiate attacks on other players (although it can defend itself if attacked by another player). A premium account costs approximately 5€ a month from the Wurm Online shop, featuring among other bonuses no skill cap and full participation in all aspects of the game.

Skills and Professions

When a character starts the game it has very few skills, but as soon as the player starts performing actions and creating new items he or she will receive new skills and become more adept in existing skills. Every task has a set difficulty and if the player succeeds at complete a task, then he or she gains skill. As skill increases the difficulty decreases, with the result that as skill rises higher and higher it becomes more difficult to gain skill.

In many of the skills on Wurm, it is possible to get titles, small labels of text next to a character when highlighted in the game. Titles are achieved normally when you reach 50, 70 and 90 in a certain skill; once a title is an achieved it can be displayed next to your player's name, viewable by anyone. Only one title may be displayed at a time, but players may earn as many titles as they like.

Items

Wurm has very advanced item management. Almost all items are player made from raw materials gathered or extracted from the surrounding nature or creatures. Every item has a number of different factors including weight, damage, quality level, size, temperature, and possible enchantments.

While it is quite easy to create a low quality version of most items, it takes more time, resources, and high quality tools to improve the quality of the item to make it truly powerful. Skills improve more quickly by improving items than by initially creating them, to discourage the mass production of items for skill.

World

Geography

The current world of Wurm consists of two mountainous landmasses with lots of inland lakes and few islands. The wild server is located west of the Home server map and Home is located east of Wild server. A huge sea divides the two maps and in the middle of this sea is the server boundary. Swimming to map boundaries that don't lead to other servers results in death.

Kingdoms

In the world of Wurm there are currently three kingdoms a player may join, These are:

• Jenn-Kellon
• Mol-Rehan (implemented 29th January 2008)^[1]
• Horde of the Summoned

On the Home server, the entire map is just one kingdom (Jenn-Kellon). This is the non-PvP server and is accordingly more focused on the sandbox elements of the game. On the Wild server, however, PvP is permitted; there are multiple kingdoms which one may join, all in conflict with each other for various reasons. The Jenn-Kellon vs. Mol-Rehan war is about the rival kingdoms fighting for land and power (this is the main conflict), whereas the Horde of the Summoned conflict is about religion.

On the Home server, new players spawn in Newtown, the capital of the Jenn-Kellon kingdom, and on the Wild server, new players spawn in The Landing, which is a Jenn-Kellon city as well. It is not possible to start the game in the Horde of the Summoned kingdom, and a player must be converted either by a player or by visiting the Bone Altar.

Settlements

When a player selects a spot to build on, it is possible to create a settlement there. A player can either buy a Homestead, where only a single person can be a citizen or a village where multiple people can be citizens there. When a village reaches its citizen limit, it is possible to "expand" the size of the village, which allows for more citizens. There are advantages of having a settlement, which include Guards. These protect the settlement from aggressive creatures like mountain lions and enemies of opposing kingdoms or towns. If a player dies anywhere on one of the maps and is a member of a village or homestead, it is possible for them to respawn there, rather than respawning at the start point of the server.. There is also less decay on settlement, this means that a player does not have to spend as much time maintaining their land, there are however disadvantages to having settlements. A player must buy a settlement with in-game money, which can take a while to raise and once the settlements is founded, a player must deposit a certain amount of money in the settlement's upkeep fund each month to prevent it from disbanding.

On the wild server it is possible for enemies of kingdoms to raid another kingdom's villages or homesteads but they must first kill the guards which protect the village from enemies. It is also possible to drain money from the villages upkeep fund, which brings the village closer to being disbanded.

Religion

In the game, there are four Gods a character may follow; the three White-Light gods or the single Black-Light goddess. Both Jenn-Kellon and Mol-Rehan are Whitelight kingdoms, meaning that you must follow the White-Light Gods to join either. The Horde of the Summoned is a Black-Light kingdom and you must follow the Black-Light Goddess accordingly. When altars are created and/or blessed the area surrounding that altar becomes the domain of the God it is dedicated to, and a player will get bonuses for having a certain faith in that God.

When following one of these religions, you can pray at any altar that is dedicated to your God or Goddess, this will increase your faith, once a player reaches a certain faith they can become a priest. Priests can cast spells and enchant items which help you develop your skills or enhance your fighting ability. To become a priest a player must go to one of the main altars in the game, both located on the Wild Server. The Altar of the Three is the White Light main altar and the Bone Altar is the Black light equivalent. This means, for home server players, that they must make a long journey to Wild and cross onto the PvP server. A priest character does have to endure some restrictions; certain tasks cannot be completed.

Whilst a priest, if a player reaches a certain skill level in different characteristics, they may become a champion of their God or Goddess and the restrictions they had as a priest are lifted. Championship does come with its own set of limitations, the main one being limited to three deaths. After the third death, a player will not be able to play as that character anymore, experiencing what is known as "permadeath". Their name is then added to one of main altars (according to which god they chose to follow) and the Hall of Champions, a record of every champion that has fallen.

Graphics

An example of interface for Wurm Online

Wurm Online is developed in OpenGL and can be rendered using either JOGL or LWJGL. The game has some advanced terrain, sky, and weather effects. Some animations have been implemented for player and creatures models. The JOGL renderer for the game does not work very well with some ATI video cards, if this occurs users can then switch to the LWJGL renderer. OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. ... Java OpenGL (JOGL) is a wrapper library that allows OpenGL to be used in the Java programming language. ... The Lightweight Java Game Library (LWJGL) is a solution aimed directly at professional and amateur Java programmers alike to enable commercial quality games to be written in Java. ... ATI Technologies Inc. ...

Development

Wurm Online first started in the Beta stage in 2003 and continued in this stage for many years, changing the maps, on which the game is based, frequently. The game officially went Gold on June 6, 2006 ^[2]. Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 157th day of the year (158th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In spring of 2007, the main client developer quit working on the game, but the main server developer started to work on the game full-time instead of part-time. The client development has since been given out to a group of trusted players.

Server crash

On 25 April 2007 the Wurm Online home server (jenn001.game.wurmonline.com (now Jenn002)) crashed and wouldn't come online. Mojang stated that their host had multiple hardware failures and was unlikely to be able to recover any of the data. It was decided a complete reset would be done (new map, skills/items reset). After a false restart on May 5th, the servers were brought back online on May 10th with no noticeable problems. The new system had been upgraded with a new automated remote back up system and a separate login server. is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

References

External links

• Official homepage
• Official Wiki
• F13 review
• MMORPG review
• New homepage