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2018-3-7 GameWinners.com (1995 - 2017) It is with a deep sense of sadness that we announce that GameWinners.com has ceased operations as of October 17th, 2017.
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We've almost completed all the necessary server changes so that the Flash version of Sherwood can connect. Once this is done, I expect to incrementally add all of the multiplayer and PVP aspects.As many of you are already aware, the hardware requirements for the flash version of Sherwood are higher than for the Shockwave version. Some of the more advanced graphics features will need a relatively new PC with a dedicated GPU for graphics. So players with older computers will experience a lower frame rate and in some cases be unable to play at all, particularly if your graphics card drivers are more than three years old or if you don't regularly patch your system with the Microsoft OS updates. As this version of the game is still in the middle of development and Adobe is working on updated versions of Flash, this situation will hopefully improve over time. The Shadowfey are split into two factions, the Fallen and the True.
The 'True' Shadowfey are grey skinned with blue armor and, assuming they don't die in combat, through magic have been able to achive eternal life. This came at the cost of having children. Many of the True Shadowfey have became aloof uncaring and cruel. The 'Fallen' with red armor and normal skin tone abandoned their power and returned the normal cycle of birth and death. The Fallen tend to be more friendly with the Kingdom of Man, who they refer to as 'Brightlanders'. The two Shadowfey factions are mortal enemies.I'll be exploring this conflict in the game in much greater detail in the future, time permitting, but I wanted to get the new color options out to you earlier. I hope you like the update.
After repeated requests and a few comments by reviewers, I've been experimenting with a keyboard layout for Sherwood that follows traditional MMO layout standards. All of the normal keys for combat work the same as before and the number keys are included as alternates. In addition to the arrow keys, can be used for movement. The big change is that you press to start a chat message - this is a standard way to do chat in MMOs. '/' commands can just be typed in, no is required.There is also a set of hot keys to access a variety of screens in the game including. Character Panel, or Inventory and Equipment Rune Bag and Quest Items Map in the Dungeon Pet Menu Friends List Player List or Current Quest Movement Help Menu To chat Console Command.So it's really only one extra key to start chat.
Other than that we get a many new key options without changing the existing keys. You can use all of the existing combat keys while typing a chat message, just like before, but you can also press to cancel chat while typing a message to regain access to the new hot keys.Update: You can toggle through number key layout, classic layout or the new alternate layout with the key or by going to the Keys menu and pressing. You can try it in our usual testing location at.
Let me know what you think. Now that the last update has gone live, I've put up a test of another pet feature. If you own multiple pets, this feature allows you to ride one pet as a mount (or transform yourself into a pet) and have one additional pet summoned to run beside you at the same time. As you can see from the picture, you can be tranformed into a Huntress, riding a. Unicorn with a Wolf summoned to run beside you all at the same time. Most combinations that make sense should be possible.
This feature is only half written so far. Other players will not be able to see your mount and summoned pet at the same time but I though I would put up what I've done so far as a sneak peek.
It will probably take a few more days to finish. It is in our usual test URL at.I launched another test release ( Version 2.2a ) that should be of interest to those with pets. This is at our usual testing URL at. If you own a Shadowfey, Lycan or Huntress and also own a second pet this should be of interest to you. You'll notice in the image that my character is transfomed into a Lycan while riding a horse. In addition to riding a mount, you can also summon another pet you own to follow along beside you while transformed into a Lycan, Shadowfey or Huntress.
This was a very popular request recently and required some big changes to the pet system. There are also some changes to the way the pet UI works. If you are interacting with players running the non-test version of Sherwood, there will be a few non-critical bugs that I'm well aware of. However any bugs that come up with other players also running the test version I'd like to know about, particularly crash bugs.
As with any bug, reporting them only works if you provide the steps to reproduce. Our Sherwood Facebook fan page has largely taken the place of the developer diary in the last three years because the player feedback is much more immediate. My last DD entry here was back in 2008 and obviously a great deal has happened since then in terms of updates to the game and news of our success.
Recently a player on our Facebook page made the assertion that all fantasy MMOs, including Sherwood Dungeon, are basically clones of World of Warcraft. 'Them’s fightin’ words!' It seemed like great topic for a developer diary entry.Let’s start with the obvious. Although we’ve both had numerous updates, Sherwood was launched in August 2004, three months prior to World of Warcraft. It’s pretty hard to be a clone of a game that launches AFTER yours.
Now I could be cheeky and say that makes them a clone of us, but that’s not really true either. Even at the most basic level we are very different.First a little game design history lesson. WOW is the most successful of an entire genre of traditional fantasy MMOs that can trace it’s roots back to early text based MUDs and then arguably back further to pen and paper role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. When WOW was launched it was accused of being a clone of Everquest. One of the keys to their success was to follow the same basic formula as Everquest, but to improve on it by using quests more effectively to guide the player though the game and tune the experience so that solo players could still succeed.
Everquest itself was largely based on the text based MUD (Multi-user Dungeon) Diku. It was so similar, in fact, that three of the Everquest programmers signed a sworn statement denying any source code was shared between the two games. Raph Koster, former Chief Creative Officer for Sony Online Entertainment and makers of EQ said, “.the line of inheritance from Diku to EQ and thence to WoW is completely undeniable. In the end, the central elements of phase-based combat, combat states, cool-down based special attacks, tank-healer-nuker triad, and basic aggro management are what you play today in WoW.” Long time players probably know already that I’m big fan of Raph and his musings. Most current MMOs follow this same basic formula.
Sherwood Dungeon, however, does not. Really, we don’t!The vast majority of traditional fantasy MMO's use a psedo-turn based approach to combat. In those games, most attacks have cool-down periods that give players time to make a strategic choice for the next attack. As players level, their “skill” tree expands and those choices become increasingly complex.
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They are rewarded largely based on the hours dedicated to the game and their ability to crunch numbers. This makes the traditional MMO more of a cerebral strategy based game than a truly action oriented one.“Skill” in Sherwood means something entirely different. It’s not a reward your character earns in the game based on stats, it’s what happens to YOU when you practice and develop your muscle memory and reflexes. We break from convention and focus more on an action RPG style of melee combat based on a set of moves that every player in the game has. My intention was to make PVP combat similar to Street Fighter, where timing and practice count but XP Level does not.
In this way any player is a potential opponent for any other player and you're never running around looking for opponents of the same XP Level. We don’t have character classes so there is no tank, DPS, healer trinity. This makes Sherwood’s combat easy to learn, but because timing is so important a player with skill always has the advantage.Rogue-type games like Net-Hack are a big influence on the procedurally generated dungeon and world building in Sherwood. Thus our DNA is really the shotgun marriage of Net-Hack and Street Fighter.
In practice, however, the pace and flow of PVP combat in Sherwood feels more like a boxing match than Street Fighter. It is absolutely possible for a talented low level player to defeat a high level player.
If you’re trying to play Sherwood as if it’s based on World of Warcraft then you’re going to have your ass handed to you by the first player you meet who understands this is not a psudo-turn based or phase-based based game and that XP levels alone do not make you a hero. You have to time your blocks, look for openings based on what your opponent is doing and develop your own style. Talent, skill and timing counts here.
What's been added:1. New Teleport - The Fortress of FuryThis island has battlements that encircle the entire island. Unlike other buildings in Sherwood, MOBs can navigate the walls of the Fortress2. Some new quests and MOBs3. Three new items (a new axe, shield and sword variant)4. Another group of merchants (including a new scroll merchant)5.
Two new pets (The Lycan and The Huntress)6. An expanded Friends ListThe friends list can now have up to 26 entries. Also friends that are online are highlighted on the list. There are both log on and log out messages. This required a major rewrite of the friends code to keep from creating bandwidth issues.7. One additional hair choice for female avatars8. Hair choices for the Shadowfey PriestessThere's likely going to be bugs and glitches that will take a few days to sort out as this is a pretty big update, so don't freak out if there's a few issues.
I hope you enjoy the update. Well, Christmas is over and it's time to say goodbye to our yearly Yuletide release. As you've probably noticed, I've put in a few updates in recent days. There are skin color options on four of the avatars. I just added skin color options to the Dark Knight today. Choice of skin color has been something I've wanted for a very long time, but technical challenges held it up for quite a while.
I've been reading the recent posts with interest and although I understand that there is a risk of having racist comments in the chat console, the game is better, more inclusive and more representative of the playerbase for having choice.In other news, the Dragon pet can now be ridden as a mount. This isn't the full flight feature some were hoping for where you can go as high as you want, but I think you'll still enjoy it. The dragon hovers about twelve feet off the ground and the camera is raised to give a sense of height. I hope you like it.
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