Daimonin

Daimonin

platform	Linux , Windows , Mac OS
genre	MMORPG
Game mode	Multiplayer
control	Keyboard & mouse
language	English

Daimonin is an English-language open source - MMORPG that as a client-server is played application on the Internet or LAN. Daimonin was developed on the basis of Crossfire and, unlike Crossfire, has isometric graphics . It continues the tradition of hack-and-slay role-playing games from games like Rogue , Moria or NetHack , but like Crossfire mostly emphasizes the classic role-playing character of freely selectable quests and interacting NPCs more than they do.

Community

Daimonin has a very active player and developer community . In May 2007 over 130,000 members were registered on the website, and over 32,000 player characters were registered on the main server at times. At the moment (April 2013) the activity is on the decline again.

Another interesting thing about Daimonin is that the forum on the website probably gives players more opportunities to actively participate in the discussion about the game, both in terms of content and in terms of its further development, than is the case with most other MMORPGs. Seen in this way, the players themselves have the opportunity to design the game and its technology by discussing possible improvements and expansions with the developers in the forum or by participating in the development themselves.

Classification, history and development

Emerged is Daimonin from Crossfire and is de facto the advancement of ISO Crossfire is the story of. Daimonin began in 1992 with the development of Crossfire as X11 - client-server application. In 1997 the network protocol was changed from X11 to its own, which led to the development of non-X11 clients, e.g. B. for Windows, made possible. In 2000, the DirectX client was developed and published for Crossfire , after which the first steps on ISO Crossfire began . In May 2002 ISO-Crossfire and the DirectX client became Daimonin and thus an independent project. The DirectX client was converted to SDL, which means that Linux and Mac OS X are also possible as client operating systems. In October 2003 the first public beta version of Daimonin was released . Many of the graphics in the game world come from the game Dink Smallwood . Meanwhile there are also some MMORPGs, which in turn represent further developments of Daimonin .

Daimonin uses different technologies for the different components :

server: The server of Daimonin 's C written to the highest possible processing power to achieve. Since the server practically does not use operating system-specific libraries itself, the platform independence is still retained. The server runs on Unix , Linux and Windows .
Client: The classic client of Daimonin is also written in C. He achieves portability by using the SDL library.
3D client: Daimonin's 3D client, which is currently under development, is written in C ++ and uses OGRE as a library.
editor: The map editor is written in Java . It runs on practically every operating system for which there is a current Java virtual machine .

Game system

Like Crossfire, Daimonin has a sophisticated system of skills. The level classification of the monsters linked to the map and, above all, the fact that no experience points are awarded for victories over weak opponents, encourages the players to prefer to fight opponents of the same strength, which ensures a balanced combat system and prevents players from constantly Look for the same cards, so it practically forces the players to change. Overall, Daimonin can also be described as much more balanced than Crossfire .

Skills and points system

Currently under Daimonin include the following capabilities ( skills ) are available:

Agility (maneuverability)

throwing (projectiles)

find traps (discover traps)

Shoot; you can currently only learn one of the following three equivalent weapon types:

Slingshots (weak but fast)

Archery (balanced)

Crossbow shooting (strong but slow)

remove traps ( disarm traps)

Mental (mental faculties)

common literacy (reading the "standard language", for example in books, on signposts; all characters can do this from the start of the game.)

Magic (Magic)

magic devices (use of magic tools such as magic wands)

wizardry spells (magic spells)

Subgroup: Spirit (Spirit)
test (recognize skills and properties of other characters and opponents)

Subgroup: Chaos (disorder)
magic bullet (magic projectile)

Heat, cold, electricity

lightning (throwing lightning bolts)

firebolt (a kind of "magical flamethrower")

frostbolt (a kind of "cold beam")

firestorm (fire storm, has a surface effect)

icestorm (snowstorm, has an area effect )

Physique (physical skills)

punching (boxing)

Close combat; You can currently only learn one of the following four equivalent weapon types, which you have to choose when starting the game:

impact ( striking weapons)

slash (cutting weapons)

cleave (split weapons)

pierce (stabbing weapons)

2h-weapons (two-handed weapons )

polearms (polearms)

Wisdom (wisdom, divine abilities)
divine prayers (prayers)

Subgroup: Life (life)

minor healing (healing)

cure poison ( poison cure )

restoration (restore withdrawn experience levels)

remove depletion (restore withdrawn strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, magic power, charisma; skill points lost through death can only be restored by priests against payment.)

Subgroup: Death (death)
cause light wounds (causing light wounds)

The magic abilities (spells and prayers) are divided into subgroups (“life”, “death”, “chaos”, “spirit” and many more), most of which are still unused in the game.

The player has some skills right from the start, others have to be learned or are only available through items, and some spells can only be cast by non-player characters or monsters. Many skills can only be used to a limited extent, for example after joining a guild. Guilds influence the strengths and weaknesses of the character and which skills can be used at all, membership can be changed, but must first be acquired through an examination. Magical equipment also affects skills.

The original combat ability of Crossfire has been split up for different types of weapons ( pierce, slash , cleave , impact ). The code for many other skills such as lockpicking , stealing , singing , oratory and many more. as well as approx. 150 other magic spells and prayers is already available due to the branching off from Crossfire , only suitable graphics, characters and tasks to be solved by the player for the implementation are missing.

The following basic characteristics influence the application of the skills:

Strength - affects melee strength and the ability to carry weight.
Dexterity - affects the accuracy of shooting and throwing and the likelihood of being hit.
Constitution - affects the maximum possible life points.
Intelligence - affects the likelihood of success of spells.
Wisdom prayers require certain minimum values; influences the probability of success of prayers and the maximum number of divine grace points.
Power - affects the maximum possible magic points.
Charisma (charisma) - influences prices in shops.

Unlike in similar role-playing games, the basic characteristics do not increase with experience, but depend on the following circumstances:

The initial distribution depends only on the chosen race (human, dwarf, elf, half-elf) of the character. The total number is the same for all races except the elves, those get one point less.
Membership in a guild changes values and makes certain skills unusable for the duration of the membership.
Enchanted equipment affects the values.
You cannot finally die in the game, but are reborn with a loss of trait points. These can be restored in a church for a fee.
Monsters can drain points; these can be regained through a spell.

There are three types of points consumed in combat, spellcasting and praying, and restored by resting, eating or drinking:

Hitpoints : life force; if this is used up, one dies and is reborn weaker.
Mana : magic power; if this is used up, you can no longer cast spells.
Grace : God's grace; if this is used up, prayers remain unanswered.

The maximum values increase permanently only by gaining experience levels or by certain magic potions. The basic properties described above set upper limits for such gains. For the duration of wearing some enchanted equipment, individual values are affected.

MMORPGs based on Daimonin

Some developers have developed their own MMORPGs based on Daimonin :

Angelion offers unlike Daimonin players the opportunity to actively participate in the development card by card can be changed during the game and expanded. In addition, Angelion offers so-called "map stacking", whereby different levels (Z-axis), z. B. Floors of a building for which the player appears in the same map.
The Realms MMORPG takes technically interesting approaches because it stores the game information not in text files but in an SQL database.