Archive for the ‘ Sandbox ’ Category

Our Magical Sandbox

Posted on: December 8th, 2012 by T'nara the Wise
Coming Out of Stealth Mode

For five years now, our little two-person team has been quietly, but intensely, designing, writing code, busting bugs, inventing spells, rituals, and incantations, and in general, making our vision of Mage Faire a reality. We’ve told friends and family about our project, but for the most part we’ve kept pretty quiet, because with two people creating an MMO, it can get kind of embarrassing telling people, “We’re making great progress,” over and over again, for five years.

In July of this year, we hired two Principal Artists, and it feels like our progress has accelerated far more than just the factor of two in team size. Val and John are using the spells Gordon and I developed for creating the world around you, and lo and behold, they are creating the world around us! They’re inventing special effects–the visual whooshes and schwooms that happen when you cast different spells. They’re creating avatars that look beautiful and powerful, and are fun and easy to customize. Every day, we can see our goal of alpha testing this winter draw closer. So, we figured we’d better start getting the word out, lest no alpha testers materialize.

The Experience

Imagine you lived in a Harry Potter-like world, where everyone has magical powers.

Part of the time, you do magic in the privacy of your own home. You try out and perfect the use of new spells. You create magical inventions and even custom spells where no one can look over your shoulder. You make your home a more beautiful (or more fun, or more surreal) place to live, by magically shaping it and conjuring your favorite magical doodads wherever you like.

At other times, you venture out into the world. You learn new spells. You explore and hunt for hidden goodies. You head for the Magic Jam, to offer help to mages less experienced than yourself, or to seek help on a tricky bit of magic you’re trying to puzzle out. You take in a Merriment or two, then pop into your guild hall to see what your friends are up to. Everyone is abuzz: Will our guild win the Skyship contest?

You deck yourself out, of course, in all your latest finery and magical accessories. Your whole guild intends to arrive at the Festivale in style: in the customized Skyship you submitted to the contest….

Much of what there is to enjoy at Mage Faire is created or performed by regular people, not unlike yourself, who are just enthusiasts for their particular magical interest. You can learn some fascinating magic by watching a demo, or you can demonstrate a nifty bit of magic you invented. You can be entertained by a busker, or you can put on your own magical show. You can have your cool magical steampunk contraption displayed in an exhibition, and meet and chat with your contraption co-exhibitors.

Our Philosophy

Mage Faire is a sandbox. We build tools (spells). Players (mages) will build most of the content. The Mage Faire experience will largely be driven by the collective creativity of the mage community. I can’t wait to see what emerges!