91
Gallery / Playing around with wireframe
« on: March 04, 2008, 04:41:17 PM »
Subway by TheGeek
Mote's Moon loaded inside someone's town.
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Subway by TheGeek
Mote's Moon loaded inside someone's town.
92
Modification Help / RTB FAQ
« on: February 23, 2008, 10:15:58 AM »
I posted this on the RTB forums some time ago, and left the thread open for questions. People submitted 4 or 5 questions, then ran out of things to ask. I'm counting on you guys to come up with interesting questions.
The article is written in the editorial we.
A tag looks like this: [3n2g]. Select it, press ctrl+F, and search for it to skip directly to the question.
Contents
[17jj] Why will there be no editor wand?
[83j3] Will there be any movers in RTB2?
[8nnn] Have you even been working on RTB2?
[lkn7] So what have you actually made?
[mm30] So when is it coming out?
[njlp] Can I beta test?
[m001] Where can I buy Blockland?
[33n2] Why should I pay money for something that I previously had for free?
[1jhh] How much will RTB cost?
[11hh] What are you guys going to do with all the stuff you've made for RTB1.5?
[HK47] What are some of the new features that Blockland has that the old version does not?
[p2b9] How does the Mod Downloader work and how is the content stored/installed?
[99kk] Can you download and install mods while hosting a server?
[ttf4] Could you not resend the datablocks if it contains any new ones?
[17jj] Why will there be no editor wand?
Retail uses a new brick rendering system.
First of all, it renders in quads instead of tris. Traditionally, bricks were rendered as a series of triangles arranged in a cube shape. Now, the bricks have each of their faces rendered as a cube. This effectively doubled performance. Instead of lagging at 900 bricks, the game began to have performance issues at 1800 bricks.
The editor wand was originally an old work around for this problem in Vanilla. With the release of Retail, it is being dropped from the game.
There is another side to this story though. If you have seen some of the videos or images from Retail, you will notice that it can handle a lot more bricks. This leads into the second reason why the editor wand is being dropped.
To further increase performance, Badspot created a new rendering method. Bricks were no longer models. Instead, a series of angles and textures were fed into the engine, and boom, a brick appeared. No more model. This resulted in a huge change to the game.
Bricks could now effectively have parts of them completely hidden from view.
Previously, if you viewed 2 bricks next to each other, you would be looking at both the visible and invisible portions of the brick. In Retail Blockland, the invisible parts of the bricks, that is, the parts of the bricks touching each other that you will never see from any angle, are gone.
The effect of this on performance was huge.
This had one draw back though. If the bricks were taken off of a grid, rotated, or resized in any way, they would break.
However, all hope wasn't lost. The new brick system allowed for custom brick sizes to be defined easily. You can create rectangular bricks of almost any size by punching about 2 lines into notepad. See Badspot's tutorial for more information.
Modifying bricks, at least through scale and rotation, was over.
Eventually, some guy named Kompressor joined Badspot's project and coded an even more efficient rendering and optimization system which allows you to get decent performance with about 30,000 bricks on average or below average computers.
I've seen better quality systems run around 50,000 or even 100,000 bricks. Just recently, Wallet's server has a 100k brick build up, and most people were able to run it fine, after loading.
Finally, this system allowed for the undulation, glow, blink, and other effects you see.
[83j3] Will there be any movers in RTB2?
Well, the purpose of RTB has greatly changed now. Rather then focusing on new content, we are focusing on new features. We plan on having RTB2 be the debut of our new content, communication client, and server manager, RTBConnect.
That being said, movers with bricks are impossible, due the the modifications stated in the previous question. However, they aren't entirely impossible. Trader has made moving doors and elevators. Other people have made animated bricks serving similar functions, pending announcement or release.
[8nnn] Have you even been working on RTB2?
Yes.
[lkn7] So what have you actually made?
We recoded the IRC client for a start, it actually supports tabbed messages now. You can receive and send messages to people out of the channel, although you can't actually go to other channels yet. We've got a new mod manager, which lets you download and install mods while you play the game, and without even bothering to extract them. If you look at the Who's Online section on the website, you can also see that we have integrated RTB connectivity with the website- you can now see who is online from the website.
[mm30] So when is it coming out?
We are aiming on releasing it along with Badspot's Blockland update 9. Chances are that the update will break something though, so it will likely be a few days or so afterward. That's what we are aiming for, but before you hold us to it, consider our record on releasing stuff on time in the past.
[njlp] Can I beta test?
Don't call us, we'll call you.
[m001] Where can I buy Blockland?
You can buy it here.. It is priced at $19.95 USD.
[33n2] Why should I pay money for something that I previously had for free?
Well there are several reasons. You've been playing his game for free for a while, and if you liked it, you really should support him. It cost a lot of money to make the game and run the website. It's also a great improvement over the previous version.
[1jhh] How much will RTB cost?
Nothing, it's free, just like it's always been.
[11hh] What are you guys going to do with all the stuff you've made for RTB1.5?
We don't know yet. We don't need suggestions either, we can make the desiscion ourselves, thank you.
[HK47] What are some of the new features that Blockland has that the old version does not?
Brick effects, mini-game system, custom brick palletes, easy brick customization (anyone can make bricks now), water specularity, more stable vehicles, add-on based mod system, Mac support, and much more effecient brick rendering. We've also upgraded from Torque Engine 1.1 to Torque Engine 1.2, so the full changelog between those versions also applies here.
[p2b9] How does the Mod Downloader work and how is the content stored/installed?
When you are in-game, open up RTBConnect, go to the downloads section, and click the mods you want to install. The game will do the rest for you, including installation, since we require all mods to be contained in .zip files now. This makes installation easy, and keeps people from making /add-ons/add-ons/base/blockland/client/models/stuntbuggy folders. Since we haven't released yet, this stuff may be somewhat different by release, but this is what we are planning on having at the moment.
Content is stored on our server.
[99kk] Can you download and install mods while hosting a server?
No.
[ttf4] Could you not resend the datablocks if it contains any new ones?
We won't be supporting it, it makes things less stable.
The article is written in the editorial we.
A tag looks like this: [3n2g]. Select it, press ctrl+F, and search for it to skip directly to the question.
Contents
[17jj] Why will there be no editor wand?
[83j3] Will there be any movers in RTB2?
[8nnn] Have you even been working on RTB2?
[lkn7] So what have you actually made?
[mm30] So when is it coming out?
[njlp] Can I beta test?
[m001] Where can I buy Blockland?
[33n2] Why should I pay money for something that I previously had for free?
[1jhh] How much will RTB cost?
[11hh] What are you guys going to do with all the stuff you've made for RTB1.5?
[HK47] What are some of the new features that Blockland has that the old version does not?
[p2b9] How does the Mod Downloader work and how is the content stored/installed?
[99kk] Can you download and install mods while hosting a server?
[ttf4] Could you not resend the datablocks if it contains any new ones?
[17jj] Why will there be no editor wand?
Retail uses a new brick rendering system.
First of all, it renders in quads instead of tris. Traditionally, bricks were rendered as a series of triangles arranged in a cube shape. Now, the bricks have each of their faces rendered as a cube. This effectively doubled performance. Instead of lagging at 900 bricks, the game began to have performance issues at 1800 bricks.
The editor wand was originally an old work around for this problem in Vanilla. With the release of Retail, it is being dropped from the game.
There is another side to this story though. If you have seen some of the videos or images from Retail, you will notice that it can handle a lot more bricks. This leads into the second reason why the editor wand is being dropped.
To further increase performance, Badspot created a new rendering method. Bricks were no longer models. Instead, a series of angles and textures were fed into the engine, and boom, a brick appeared. No more model. This resulted in a huge change to the game.
Bricks could now effectively have parts of them completely hidden from view.
Previously, if you viewed 2 bricks next to each other, you would be looking at both the visible and invisible portions of the brick. In Retail Blockland, the invisible parts of the bricks, that is, the parts of the bricks touching each other that you will never see from any angle, are gone.
The effect of this on performance was huge.
This had one draw back though. If the bricks were taken off of a grid, rotated, or resized in any way, they would break.
However, all hope wasn't lost. The new brick system allowed for custom brick sizes to be defined easily. You can create rectangular bricks of almost any size by punching about 2 lines into notepad. See Badspot's tutorial for more information.
Modifying bricks, at least through scale and rotation, was over.
Eventually, some guy named Kompressor joined Badspot's project and coded an even more efficient rendering and optimization system which allows you to get decent performance with about 30,000 bricks on average or below average computers.
I've seen better quality systems run around 50,000 or even 100,000 bricks. Just recently, Wallet's server has a 100k brick build up, and most people were able to run it fine, after loading.
Finally, this system allowed for the undulation, glow, blink, and other effects you see.
[83j3] Will there be any movers in RTB2?
Well, the purpose of RTB has greatly changed now. Rather then focusing on new content, we are focusing on new features. We plan on having RTB2 be the debut of our new content, communication client, and server manager, RTBConnect.
That being said, movers with bricks are impossible, due the the modifications stated in the previous question. However, they aren't entirely impossible. Trader has made moving doors and elevators. Other people have made animated bricks serving similar functions, pending announcement or release.
[8nnn] Have you even been working on RTB2?
Yes.
[lkn7] So what have you actually made?
We recoded the IRC client for a start, it actually supports tabbed messages now. You can receive and send messages to people out of the channel, although you can't actually go to other channels yet. We've got a new mod manager, which lets you download and install mods while you play the game, and without even bothering to extract them. If you look at the Who's Online section on the website, you can also see that we have integrated RTB connectivity with the website- you can now see who is online from the website.
[mm30] So when is it coming out?
We are aiming on releasing it along with Badspot's Blockland update 9. Chances are that the update will break something though, so it will likely be a few days or so afterward. That's what we are aiming for, but before you hold us to it, consider our record on releasing stuff on time in the past.
[njlp] Can I beta test?
Don't call us, we'll call you.
[m001] Where can I buy Blockland?
You can buy it here.. It is priced at $19.95 USD.
[33n2] Why should I pay money for something that I previously had for free?
Well there are several reasons. You've been playing his game for free for a while, and if you liked it, you really should support him. It cost a lot of money to make the game and run the website. It's also a great improvement over the previous version.
[1jhh] How much will RTB cost?
Nothing, it's free, just like it's always been.
[11hh] What are you guys going to do with all the stuff you've made for RTB1.5?
We don't know yet. We don't need suggestions either, we can make the desiscion ourselves, thank you.
[HK47] What are some of the new features that Blockland has that the old version does not?
Brick effects, mini-game system, custom brick palletes, easy brick customization (anyone can make bricks now), water specularity, more stable vehicles, add-on based mod system, Mac support, and much more effecient brick rendering. We've also upgraded from Torque Engine 1.1 to Torque Engine 1.2, so the full changelog between those versions also applies here.
[p2b9] How does the Mod Downloader work and how is the content stored/installed?
When you are in-game, open up RTBConnect, go to the downloads section, and click the mods you want to install. The game will do the rest for you, including installation, since we require all mods to be contained in .zip files now. This makes installation easy, and keeps people from making /add-ons/add-ons/base/blockland/client/models/stuntbuggy folders. Since we haven't released yet, this stuff may be somewhat different by release, but this is what we are planning on having at the moment.
Content is stored on our server.
[99kk] Can you download and install mods while hosting a server?
No.
[ttf4] Could you not resend the datablocks if it contains any new ones?
We won't be supporting it, it makes things less stable.
93
Music / Italian Gardens
« on: February 18, 2008, 05:06:25 PM »
Peaceful music, and surprisingly small for 29 seconds. It loops decently, but it isn't something that really needs to loop to be effective.
The name is a bit of a misnomer, the birds are from the Shrine of Bab in Israel, the song is a short clip of a Russian traditional dance called Kamarinskaya.
The name is a bit of a misnomer, the birds are from the Shrine of Bab in Israel, the song is a short clip of a Russian traditional dance called Kamarinskaya.
94
Forum Games / Help! My face has fallen off! Draw me a new one!
« on: February 16, 2008, 03:49:27 PM »
95
Forum Games / Design: Ask al Qaeda Web Column Logo
« on: January 21, 2008, 04:56:36 PM »
The authors of the Ask al Qaeda have got a interesting idea, but their publishers won't let them go online without a "modern and intuitive logo that represents the content of the column". Help them out and make a logo! In the spirit of the thread, I'll start off:
96
Modification Help / Mission Editor Icon
« on: January 06, 2008, 07:30:50 PM »
Using the Blockland icon and this free icon, I chopped together a separate mission editor icon. It looks like this:
Download here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qb2oos
To use it, put it wherever you want, preferably somewhere it won't move, and you can find it. Right click your Blockland shortcut, click change icon, and find the icon.
Download here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qb2oos
To use it, put it wherever you want, preferably somewhere it won't move, and you can find it. Right click your Blockland shortcut, click change icon, and find the icon.
97
Gallery / Happy New Years
« on: December 31, 2007, 10:19:19 PM »
It wouldn't be complete without noisemakers, fireworks, hats, and a party.
98
General Discussion / Blockland Statistics
« on: December 11, 2007, 07:03:31 PM »
I have assembled a few graphs of the player and server numbers using a script, courtesy of Randy. Besides being interesting, these should help you figure out why no one is ever on, if you happen to be one of those people who live in strange timezone.
Average number of players: 46.4905660377358
Average number of servers: 16.2264150943396
Number of entries: 53
Logging time: Over a 26 hour period, starting December 10, with two entries taken per hour.
Here is the data I used, if you want to use it for something. The first number is the time, in GMT. The second number is the number of players. The third number is the number of servers.
17:38:45 78 24
17:45:21 75 24
18:15:59 86 26
18:46:06 101 24
19:16:13 126 41
19:46:33 115 37
20:16:46 115 35
20:46:57 105 34
21:17:24 87 27
21:47:48 81 26
22:18:11 66 22
22:47:09 61 20
23:17:16 45 17
23:47:23 31 14
0:17:30 25 13
0:47:37 26 14
1:17:44 20 10
1:47:50 22 9
2:17:57 17 9
2:48:04 17 8
3:18:11 8 7
3:47:10 9 7
4:17:17 6 5
4:47:24 5 6
5:17:31 4 6
5:47:38 5 5
6:17:45 9 7
6:47:52 6 5
7:18:00 8 6
7:48:06 16 8
8:18:13 9 6
8:47:12 8 7
9:17:19 17 7
9:47:25 18 7
10:17:32 14 7
10:47:39 15 7
11:17:46 27 9
11:47:52 32 9
12:18:03 29 8
12:48:06 45 10
13:18:13 35 10
13:47:12 28 8
14:17:19 31 11
14:47:26 38 15
15:17:52 44 17
15:48:05 72 22
16:18:21 84 25
16:48:43 71 23
17:18:53 74 25
17:47:56 91 35
18:18:05 99 30
18:48:11 101 33
19:18:18 107 33
Average number of players: 46.4905660377358
Average number of servers: 16.2264150943396
Number of entries: 53
Logging time: Over a 26 hour period, starting December 10, with two entries taken per hour.
Here is the data I used, if you want to use it for something. The first number is the time, in GMT. The second number is the number of players. The third number is the number of servers.
17:38:45 78 24
17:45:21 75 24
18:15:59 86 26
18:46:06 101 24
19:16:13 126 41
19:46:33 115 37
20:16:46 115 35
20:46:57 105 34
21:17:24 87 27
21:47:48 81 26
22:18:11 66 22
22:47:09 61 20
23:17:16 45 17
23:47:23 31 14
0:17:30 25 13
0:47:37 26 14
1:17:44 20 10
1:47:50 22 9
2:17:57 17 9
2:48:04 17 8
3:18:11 8 7
3:47:10 9 7
4:17:17 6 5
4:47:24 5 6
5:17:31 4 6
5:47:38 5 5
6:17:45 9 7
6:47:52 6 5
7:18:00 8 6
7:48:06 16 8
8:18:13 9 6
8:47:12 8 7
9:17:19 17 7
9:47:25 18 7
10:17:32 14 7
10:47:39 15 7
11:17:46 27 9
11:47:52 32 9
12:18:03 29 8
12:48:06 45 10
13:18:13 35 10
13:47:12 28 8
14:17:19 31 11
14:47:26 38 15
15:17:52 44 17
15:48:05 72 22
16:18:21 84 25
16:48:43 71 23
17:18:53 74 25
17:47:56 91 35
18:18:05 99 30
18:48:11 101 33
19:18:18 107 33
99
Suggestions & Requests / number of users, servers, and time
« on: December 10, 2007, 07:27:00 AM »
Would someone please make a script that refreshed the servers every 30 minutes and gathered the time, the number of users online, and the number of servers online?
The data should appear in a text file, formatted into three columns, with entries for a period of time separated by tabs, and different times separated by a new line.
That way we can stick it in excel and see how the number of users changes over 24 hours.
I have a computer that I can devote to running it (for a day anyway, I can't really run it for a week), if we need one.
I can't imagine that it would be difficult to script at all.
The data should appear in a text file, formatted into three columns, with entries for a period of time separated by tabs, and different times separated by a new line.
That way we can stick it in excel and see how the number of users changes over 24 hours.
I have a computer that I can devote to running it (for a day anyway, I can't really run it for a week), if we need one.
I can't imagine that it would be difficult to script at all.
100
Modification Help / I'm working on this paint pack, and I messed up a few colors.
« on: November 25, 2007, 10:16:50 AM »
I've almost converted the entire paint set into sepia tones. The only problem is, I wasn't paying attention and skipped 3 colors. They weren't common colors fortunately, being bold red, bold orange, and soft cyan.
Should I convert them too, or just leave it the way it is?
If anyone is interested in using the base pallet I used to get the shifted RGB values from (if you want to load your build as greyscale or monochrome) I've attached it below. Just apply whatever filter you want and use a the dropper tool to get the shifted RGB values.
Should I convert them too, or just leave it the way it is?
If anyone is interested in using the base pallet I used to get the shifted RGB values from (if you want to load your build as greyscale or monochrome) I've attached it below. Just apply whatever filter you want and use a the dropper tool to get the shifted RGB values.
101
Modification Help / Use Anti-Aliasing in your decals. Also, notes on google.
« on: November 10, 2007, 02:54:38 PM »
Manually archived by Wedge. If you have a question or think the topic should be unlocked, PM me, and I'll probably unlock it.
Please, take the effort to make your decals less painful to look at.
Not anti-aliased:
Anti-aliased:
See the difference? One looks less crappy then the other?
One more thing I'd like to mention. Google Images was made so that you can make a poster for a class half an hour before its due. It was not made to make nice decals. Feel free to referance them, etc, but please don't take an image off of google and turn it into a decal to save us the effort of doing it ourselves. You aren't doing us any favors. AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER INCREASE THE SCALE OF A GOOGLE IMAGE. A giant pixelated dinosaur face that took you five seconds to cut out the background with the magic wand tool and then added transparency to is annoying.
Please, take the effort to make your decals less painful to look at.
Not anti-aliased:
Anti-aliased:
See the difference? One looks less crappy then the other?
One more thing I'd like to mention. Google Images was made so that you can make a poster for a class half an hour before its due. It was not made to make nice decals. Feel free to referance them, etc, but please don't take an image off of google and turn it into a decal to save us the effort of doing it ourselves. You aren't doing us any favors. AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER INCREASE THE SCALE OF A GOOGLE IMAGE. A giant pixelated dinosaur face that took you five seconds to cut out the background with the magic wand tool and then added transparency to is annoying.
102
Mapping Help / Problem with fxLight
« on: October 23, 2007, 06:03:29 AM »
I can spawn these fight, and use them to light up an area. But when I save and reload the map, the lights are gone. The actual fxLight object is still there, just light and the corona effect aren't visible.
Has anyone gotten these to work?
Has anyone gotten these to work?
103
Mapping Help / Resource: Brush to help scale buildings
« on: October 09, 2007, 11:04:45 AM »
Manually archived by Wedge. If you have a question or think the topic should be unlocked, PM me, and I'll probably unlock it.
I made this to help people scale their interiors. The brush has about the dimensions of the player. It should work in Quark. You shouldn't really need this in Constructor.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dbhux7
I made this to help people scale their interiors. The brush has about the dimensions of the player. It should work in Quark. You shouldn't really need this in Constructor.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/dbhux7
104
Forum Games / Global Thermonuclear Warfare Discussion
« on: September 23, 2007, 12:18:19 PM »
Sign-up are closed. Here are the final players:
AAT- fattysnacks
AM- bUMBELLS
AIU- (none)
CIS- Snackbar
EA- |Shadow
AI- (none)
MEF- Helena
NAFTA- Shocklink
OASU- (none)
AAT- fattysnacks
AM- bUMBELLS
AIU- (none)
CIS- Snackbar
EA- |Shadow
AI- (none)
MEF- Helena
NAFTA- Shocklink
OASU- (none)
105
Forum Games / Global Thermonuclear Warfare
« on: September 23, 2007, 12:15:54 PM »The Story
It is February 2048, a new year has just rolled in with resolutions and promises of global peace from world leaders. But something has gone horribly wrong.
On February 2nd, a computer malfunction in the US's aging guidance computers inadvertently launched a small portion of its nuclear arsenal. The missiles were deactivated before reaching their targets, and the story was quietly covered by the government.
There hadn't been a major war on Earth in 40 years. Due to the reduction in military and defense spending, the funding for missile silos globally tapered off and dwindled. The entire nuclear infrastructure was aging and crumbling.
One week later, detecting a false positive of a launch, a small island which no one remembers the name of (in fact, it was uncharted), detonated a surprisingly large nuclear arsenal at several key locations in the major super powers of the world, the US, the EU, the Russian Federation, and the Indo-Asian Alliance.
Maps were redrawn. The 4 super powers split and feuded, creating new alliances based on geography, the theory being that no country near them was responsible for launching the nuclear attack.
2 years later, US, Russian, European, Asian, and Australian nuclear missiles are fired and detonated in each other It was later discovered that the missiles had all received the authorization codes and coordinates from from a single privately owned computer, but it was too late.
It is now January 2005. You must choose your allegiance and fight in the world's first NUCLEAR WAR...
The Rules
Turns:
A turn is completed once everyone submits their actions. If a country does not post its action in 24 hours, it is assumed that they have taken no action.
Actions:
You may fire two nukes per turn. You don't have to fire all of your nukes. You don't have to fire any of your nukes.
Diplomacy:
This isn't just a popularity contest (think heal/hurt games). You may make secret alliances to take out a single player. You may fire no nukes and try and be on everyone's good side. You can back-stab your allies. You can fake alliances, lie, deceive, share other people's messages to you, fake messages, anything goes. Its your choice, and NOTHING is illegal. I recommend you do this through the PM system or over IM programs, keeping your alignments secret.
Neutral and Nuked Nations:
Neutral nations are controlled by me. Throughout the game, they will offer various opportunities and challenges that should help keep the game interesting. The neutral nations are also responsible for advancing the plot. They will generally favor the nation closest to losing.
Winning: Each alliance can handle 7 nuclear hits before it is out of the game. When an alliance is out of the game, their alliance is divided into neutral nations. However, they now have the ability to help me decide on neutral actions, and can decide the fate of the entire world. When only one alliance is left, they win.
Authorization code "red", see Final Notes for more details on what this means.
The Alliances
Afro-American Triumvirate
(AAT)
Amazonia
(AM)
Australian-Indonesian United
(AIU)
Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS)
Eastasia
(EA)
The Andean International
(AI)
Mediterranean Union
(MU)
Middle Eastern Federation
(MEF)
North American Free Trade Alliance
(NAFTA)
Organization of South African Unity
(OSAU)
Free Nations
(FN)[/b]
[/size](AAT)
Amazonia
(AM)
Australian-Indonesian United
(AIU)
Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS)
Eastasia
(EA)
The Andean International
(AI)
Mediterranean Union
(MU)
Middle Eastern Federation
(MEF)
North American Free Trade Alliance
(NAFTA)
Organization of South African Unity
(OSAU)
Free Nations
(FN)[/b]
Players and Health
AAT- fattysnacks Health- 7
AM- dUMBELLS Health- 7
AIU- (none) Health- 0
CIS- Snackbar Health- 7
EA- |Shadow Health- 7
AI- (none) Health- 0
MU- Spation Health- 7
MEF- Helena Health- 7
NAFTA- Shocklink Health- 7
OASU- (none) Health- 0
FN- Wedge Health- N/A
Final Notes
This game was designed for a level playing field, and features no technologies, research, or dice roles. In effect, the entire game is focused on diplomacy. This is a trial run of what I hope to turn into a fun game. To prevent clutter, sign up in the sign-up thread. Alliances will be given to players on a first come, first serve basis. You must post the authorization code "lemon" and the code found in the rules section in order to be allowed to play. Just post this along with which alliance you want to play as. This is so that I actually know you read the thread, or at least this sentence of it, so you have a basic understanding of what is required. When the game is over, I'll follow up with a debriefing, superlative awards, the closing plot summary, and then we'll have an open discussion of changes that should be made to the game system.