Hello Everyone,

After a long time, RP Unlimited has started its changes, greatly working towards a dream I had with this system. With the team of coders growing, in conjunction with a number of dedicated volunteers and helpers, I thought it is about time I talk about the future. Being we are building RP Unlimited 2.0 and looking to the future, It is about time everyone was brought up to speed. This is more so you know to cheer for the future, or jump ship.

Now the following is only the ideal or plan I am working for, hoping to get as close as possible, if we can get the help and funding. Being the recent code-banning of problem members, people have been left to question what to do. As it is set, we have no further plans to use this method of discipline, unless of dire need. Moving past this, I look towards using RP Unlimited to making it easier. Not just for Role-Play, but also to make it open to make your own tabletops, possibly even maybe in the far future Role-playing games.

Here shortly, our plans are to expand upon RP Unlimited greatly, to allow you to play in a world I could only dream of for many years. This means moving on, to open the doors to many role-players to see what is out there. Hopefully, this will pull them into other worlds, far greater then they have seen or imagined before. Seeing the long stagnation of various servers, it is about time to offer an expanded change. So I would like to open the floor to talk about the future. Please, feel free to post in this forum section any feelings and ideas you may have. The following sections will cover not only the up and coming, but also what was imagined when I started to code this system.

RP Unlimited Lite:

Being the number of players wishing to go back to the old way, wanting to run only free-form servers and finding things like tools, weather, and all the other bells and whistles useless to their desires. After talking about it a few times in development, it is planned to release a version called RP Unlimited Lite. This version will be stripped down to minimal drain on the system, getting rid of the bells and whistles, going back to the versions like 1.3. This minimalistic setup is designed to give less drain on the system, hopefully letting people host without worry of updates or changes to the system. Being some people fear change, this simple to use setup should give people the limited tools to run a free-form server.

RP Unlimited 2.0:

Now, there has been a running rumor that RP Unlimited 2.0 is really Eternal Saga. That it will replace RP Unlimited as we know it. Simply put, this is not true. To dispel this, I will tell you what Eternal Saga is. Eternal Saga is my working hub, for the games using testing systems and using upgrades that may or may not work for RP Unlimited, at the time. Currently, you have seen the weather and time systems. Future planning is looking to custom maps, for designing worlds and other features. This may include better player characters, battle systems, rooms, custom status systems and a whole lot more. In the development room, we talk a lot of making RP Unlimited more then what you see today. In my completion, I would like to make RP Unlimited feel more to something like RPG maker for tabletops, letting a host engage a custom system to lead players into worlds of deeper design then a world info page and some posts on the forum.

In ideas, I would like RP Unlimited to give option of Icon based Role-playing, Text Based Role-playing, or Tabletop. Opening up a world of design to all hosts, so they can present their dreams without the need to code, draw, or icon everything to make their dream come to life. I know this is a tall order, and will take a long time to realize. In the end, I think many could agree, this would be awesome.

Draconus Veritas:

A working name for a future system. Though my questions on a public release have been one I played with, this will most definitely see the light of day at some point. At some point, I plan to slip away from the completely free world of RP Unlimited to open the doors for a more stable world for player creation. A story based on survival that plays out in events and twists, dictated by the players actions. Thought more restricted, this opens the door for less problems with God-modding, needing the host to run plot and otherwise more of a free range sandbox for the player completion. Though the finalization of this is a distance light, it is something I am working on. This has been a sister project to RP Unlimited and mostly the feared boogeyman that people fear will overtake RP Unlimited. In sense. both project work side by side, leaving the possibility for functions that might be liked in Draconus Veritas to be used in your own Role-play setting. If this is opened to public doors, this will allow hosts to be part of a world they develop and discover along side players.

This sandbox style RP I dream of is a long way away. I will try to get a functional tabletop version done long before a free-roaming version is completed. This should open new ideas up in hopes towards my goals with this project, permitting players to be in a world of their own design, dealing with the rewards and consequences of their actions, given limited time to save themselves and the world they are trapped on, becoming a building experience hopefully never the same twice. I hope you enjoy this idea, as it is one of many to come.

Eternal Saga:

Long ago, there was work done on a tabletop game when I was in high school. This system gave rise to a universe that created many stories. The stories grew to create a multi-verse, with countless events twisting and turning to make an omni-verse. Unlimited potential and infinite growth gave rise to endless possibilities throughout time and space. After so many reversions and testing, I finally planned to bring this to the light of day. Those in my past had only a small taste of this universe, being free-form was never able to do this story, system or universe full justice. Now working with the team, this is my ultimate plan, to try and create this great project.

Eternal Saga, in truth, is still in planning for an online system, being I am still working out bugs. The basics should let you not only design functional characters, characters that seem to break the limits of normal table top games, giving the players a sort of controlled freedom. This lets you being a world to life, using a massive number of skills, equipment and knowledge that you to have control of. This would represent the of the coin of what RP Unlimited has been. This will be tabletop based using maps, mazes and a range of other tools to bring your worlds to like.

First would be a private release that would be tested, letting the player base build on as, well as developers, into a full fledged universe. Once ready. it would show the boundless expanses only dreamed of before it's completion. This being a grand dream, it is a hope to bring this to the world. Using a completely customizable character system, open to thousand of skills, billions of species, a massive range of items and equipment, customizable spells, a system for building your own equipment and doing things you never though possible.

In a public version, I am looking to giving the tools to hosts to build their own universe, dictating principles of that universe, opening the floor to their visions. Even in my dreams, I would like transferable characters from server to server, opening the doors for characters to be stronger or weaker mattering where you go. Maybe in this universe Chakra, Ki and Chi exist but not mana, maybe guns and firearms are denied or possible magic overruns everything making mages supreme. Opening the worlds for open travel, letting players take to the heights, this would allow people to not only explore their home, but other universe with their characters, making the Multi-verse come alive.

Future Plans:

So you might ask, why bring all this up together? Well in hopes with 2.0, we will be using RPU to give access to all 3 systems through a built in plug-in system. This means for you, as you build your Role-play setting, you will have access to all these nice things. Combining RP Unlimited, Eternal Saga, and Draconus Veritas all into one Byond game. Hosts would be able to access any of these setting on boot up, allowing them to host what they wanted, how they wanted. I am hoping that all of the systems put into RP Unlimited's new core will be interlinked, making countless game worlds at your fingertips.

Though a plan for the far future, this is the dream I have had since I began coding RP Unlimited. This could be my goal, sought after from the beginning, that I figured was impossible. Every day a light shines making these things possible. So in the end, I can only hope you want to stand beside the development team in the pursuit of this ultimate goal. I thank all the support we got to this point as well. Being there is a whole lot more coming up.

Recent Updates:

Now the grand plan is out, we all know this will be a slow path. I am looking to make a stand alone version of RP Unlimited shortly, being I gave Darth the information and we are working now to get 2.0 to be standalone as well. Hoping that, in turn, this means shorter load times between servers and such. This also means for the RP Unlimited hub there might be more regular updates. We will be looking for better means of handling this, being it is likely for a stand alone user to connect to your hub, you will have to be hosting the most up to date versions. I will be issuing older versions for the custom hub, because of this movement. Though looking at the overall outcome of this, I am hopeful this will be a minor fix.

Otherwise, reworking a lot of old requests into RP Unlimited, thanks to Darth. Being these over took my coding knowledge. Other requests are being worked in as well, but this pushes back the completed version of 2.0 a little more. We do plan to release RP Unlimited Lite before this all takes place to give users wanting to switch an early warning. Though I do have grand plans this will be a ton of work, so don't count on this all tomorrow. Just being the community has had questions I felt fit to give them an idea what is being talked about behind closed doors.

Other News:

Being the vote was tallied so far, I will try to con the development team into doing an open chat with the community. Until I can get a date, I will leave this comment board for suggestions and otherwise discussion of these topics. Otherwise, I would like to cover a bit on helping us out with development. Right now, I am using a Paypal account for donations. This helps keep up with bills for development and other costs. Though I know not everyone has money to spend, being most of RP Unlimited community barely makes ends meat.

So opening the floor, I would like to invite some people to help us. Though I am not willing to give out a source to anyone, I am willing to accept help. This is open in forms of well, music and art. If you stop by Eternal Saga's server I host for testing, I can give better details but the following will give some ideas.

Title Pages:
I know everyone wants a custom title, so why not? If you have some decent skills with art and would like to donate a title page to be put in RP Unlimited, Eternal Saga, or Draconus Veritas, it needs to be the following. The picture must be 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high. The title has to sit above 130 pixels, and 190 pixels to the right. (This is because of the buttons and browser). I would request you put RP Unlimited-tan (Girl you see in the background) in the picture,being she is the mascot for RP Unlimited. The right side, where she should be placed, has a work space of 190 wide and 600 pixels high. Pictures must be saved as PNG or JPG.

Please, if you do use RP Unlimited-tan, note the flame decal hair and blue eyes for the final form. While her clothing and that is up to you, please tastefully put RPU in the design. If it passes the Terms of Service, and I find it acceptable, I will post your art as a background to RP Unlimited. Credit will be given, as well as a contributed tag to all those that donate to this project, on request. By default, you will remain anonymous, as some people prefer.

Music:
I would be up to adding a custom music list in the future, as music to the other version. The files must be saved as .ogg or .wav. (Byond doesn't support MP3 sadly.) Please give title and if you'd like to have your name, or a pseudonym on the file. Like with pictures, I will ask that it is up to quality and Terms of service to be presented in the game. Credit will be given, as well as a contributed tag, to all those that donate to this project, unless you opt out of it, and decide to remain anonymous.

Other Projects:
Being the size of this project, there will be a lot more coming up. I would like to open the floor for any media that would help. Up and coming their will be need for art for species, icons, terrains, equipment, and spells. Past that, we will need iconers, ideas, testers and a range of helpers to complete a project this big. So those looking to help the project, feel free to talk to a developer or better yet, talk to me directly. I don't bite.

I really thank the community for the continued support of RP Unlimited though all this, with a great future ahead of us. I would like to think that RP Unlimited will grow exponentially, with the new additions we are making, potentially expanding our player base far beyond what it is today. And in the end, no matter what we developers do, the people who truly make this game are you, the players. Without your support, this game would really be nothing.

-Anthony Hawkina