Game Play

Game play

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Dawn's (Dusk) Graphical User Interface (GUI) is designed to deliver maximum functionality with minimal interference. Unlike the bulky GUI's of the MMORPG pioneers, it takes up only a small portion of the screen and even has auto-hide capabilities for those of us who seek total immersion.

For those of you interested in the specifics of the GUI: The three meters on the left are your status meters, Health, Mental Constitution, and Physical Constitution respectively.

The dials on the meter are adjustable by the user and are used to trigger actions. Say for instance you wanted your player to automatically cast a healing spell when he reached a low level of health, you would set the dial to the desired level of health and then bind it to a heal spell.

The center meter is your power meter which shows the "charge" or damage potential of the attack or spell you are preparing to do. This meter will also have a dial that will allow you to pre-set your charge amount.

The icons on the right are as follows: Inventory (gives you access to all your items), Self (gives you access to personal modifiers), Group (gives you access to group modifiers), Action (gives you access to every possible action, don't worry they'll be well categorized), UI (allows you to easily customize your controls, ie mouse, joystick, keyboard functions), and Net Status (shows the status of your connection to the Dawn Servers).

The window with writing in it will be your mini-chat window; you will be able to open a larger one if you choose.

Dawn will be in first-person view. Although, this has been a very heated discussion, Glitchless has shown many positive reasons for choosing exclusively first person. Gamers agree it is at first a difficult view to grow accustomed to. I, however, have found it to be much more enjoyable and realistic than 3rd person views. The game will allow for total customization of controls. Action/ command/ inventor slot/ item/ etc. all will bind to any input devices you choose. Players may choose to assign buttons to custom commands or choose from several default control setups. As well, you will be able to choose from several different resolutions and Dawn's world will be the largest MMORPG to date with "65,000 square miles" and taking several days to circle.

At first the world is barren of buildings and homes; even the NPCs will start from scratch. "Players will be able to construct structures from houses to castles to prisons to boats to ballistae - all fully functional and destructible." Lumbering, mining, etc. will be skills that will allow you to collect raw materials used for the creation of such structures and items. Resources will be limited and with time could diminish all together. The majority of the world will most likely be covered in water. Your character will most definitely be able to swim and explore a complete underwater existence. Similarly, simple terrain manipulations will allow you to dig moats and channels in the ground. Moreover, Glitchless has implemented impressive water physics, which enable the oceans to have real waves, and by "dropping pebbles into the water you will cause rippling and possibly a splash."

With water and land being so vast, the need for transportation becomes indispensable. Mountable horses, wagons, boats, and magical spells will help players in their quest to discover Dawn. Developers state, "If teleportation exists in the game it will be limited to areas you have already explored for example a bind/gate combination or a line of sight teleportation."

Dawn will be a realistic star system in which you can determine your position on its spherical planet. With the world being computer generated and use of "recursive [changing] genetics," developers have the ability to make the world as large and diverse as fathomable. With this degree of exploration, there is a likely chance that many areas could go unexplored for a very long time.

Time will actually be a great deal longer than we are commonly used to experiencing. One Dawn day will span two earth days. Hence for every 24 hours in Dawn, you will have spent 48 hours of real-life.

When you start the game after creating your character, your be born unto parents. It is said that you will be dependent on them for nurturing and other necessities. Your Parent will probably teach you the basic of life which you will gain experience for to help you on your way into the vast world. This being born process take approximately 30-60 minutes

Well here's what I think of this being born into a game......... "this is the most interesting way of starting a MMORPG. I've never would have ever imagined something to that effect. There is no other game like that and it give a whole new meaning to the word "Newbie".

Players will be allowed the option of choosing their parents. If you have friends that are expecting a child, you can ask them to agree to be your parents. Therefore, enabling you to start the game near your friends or some kind of family network. Pregnancy should last one week and you can go through the process at any point during this timeframe. Hopefully your parents will be supportive and assist with items and guidance you need to help you get started; otherwise, maturing and gaining experience at first may prove "rough."

Also, when deciding on your character's destiny, you will have a choice from many diverse and unique races. Another distinctive facet of Dawn; No classes exist. You are free to develop in the areas you choose. If you wish to be a loner-human Bard that travels the world reciting poems, so be it -- or perhaps take your chance at running an entire Dwarven Kingdom.

Many folks have questioned whether or not a race can become extinct. Naturally, the answer is yes. NPC species "attempt to breed when their population is low." Given the vastness of Dawn, this may prove to be difficult at times. Glitchless will make exceptions if there "remains no one to bear you as child." Otherwise, the game is built-around realism and therefore "survival of the fittest" will apply.

Likewise, there will be certain race variations and distinct differences. For example, 4 types of vision are planned. Races will be more adept with different skills based on their base stats. Without doubt, stats play an enormously fundamental role in Dawn.

Experience will be gained from all completed tasks, which means kills will not be necessary in order to gain level. Stats, Skills, and Items will improve your character. Each time you level stats are raised proportionally dependent upon your base stats. You will need to practice to raise Skills. Items can be weapons, rings, wands, etc.; things which might add or subtract to your stats. Furthermore, all actions occurring to your character while in Dawn, you will have agreed to. Except death, that is.

Death in Dawn is permanent, (for your character that is). This feature alone makes Dawn the most unique MMORPG expected for release. Upon death, you will lose your character and all items he/she may have been carrying will remain on his/her loot-able corpse. In the instances of homes, spare keys may be used by additional characters you might have or people learning of your death may try and destroy your house. Also, friends are capable of protecting your belongings until you are able to retrieve them with your new character.

Many folks have been intrigued by the thought of permanent death. I myself find this permanent death, a new and refreshing idea. Even though, death will not be near as recurrent as you may predict. To lose a fight with a creature or player will not necessarily result in death. I perceive this approach as very realistic. Glitchless will allow its players the ability to create a society that punishes criminals. "With the ability to knockout and drag fellow players into player constructed prisons and torture devices, punishment will definitely be a viable option." There are no restrictions on PvP.