At last, its time to comfortably move into a beta testing stage. While there is a lot lacking in the department of thrilling game-play and meaningful interaction, the groundwork is set. One of the greatest foreseen obstacles has be tackled; the spiraling universe.

The Spiraling Universe

Ever since the initial conception for the game, I knew there was a complication. One of the main goals of the game was to have all players on the same playing field. No traditional realm based approach.  Now, for the sake of this section I am going to set aside the countless variables that must be considered when balancing a multiplayer game and focus in on balancing a world of players that can't do anything but exist.

For vocabulary purposes: a 100x100 matrix will be known as a world, a universe will be known as all world(s).

When any player logs in for the first time it should be placed in a new world. The original idea was to place the new world directly next to the last world in the universe.  This works well on a single axis, but I needed to surround each world with the other worlds to create an immersive experience for the player. So, onto the next idea; Wrap the worlds. Sure after 10 worlds have been added to the universe begin adding them 1 below on the other axis. Another fail. This system will leave a great number of worlds on the exterior of the universe forever. This is fine for the world, but another huge strain on immersion for the player.

Then it hit me. After some doodling in a notebook I realized I need a spiraling system to manage the game universe. This solution not only solves both the problem of multiple axis and world submersion, but it also creates *what I believe to be* a revolutionary mechanic unseen in other online video games. More about balance and reward in the next post, I promise.