BYOND

BYOND (Build Your Own Net Dream) is a free software suite for creating and playing online games, launched in 1996 by Dantom, a company formed by Dan Bradley and Tom Hehre. The suite was initially called DUNG (Dantom's Universal Network Game), before being rebranded as BYOND.

BYOND is a tool for creating online games, providing a pre-built network structure, a GUI, and an IDE allowing the creation of icons, maps, and "DM" source code. Although geared towards RPG style gameplay, it is extensible and includes action games, RTS games, card games, board games, and non-game computer utilities on its "Hub" (see "Playing games" below).

Users may register a unique key on the BYOND website for access to user forums and other services. Keys are stored canonically to prevent two users from having names that are only different by non-alphabetical symbols or spaces. Those who do not wish to register a key must use the universal "Guest" key while playing games.

While the BYOND software suite is free, users may subscribe for an annual fee. A subscription includes file storage space, a customizable personal blog, a forum avatar, access to special features on the Pager, and other various perks.

Games
Most games currently available are only playable with the Dream Seeker client software, although some can be played via a Web browser or a Telnet client.

BYOND 4.0 was released as a public beta on August 2nd, 2007. Features of the highly anticipated release include DirectX and OpenGL graphic rendering, the ability to use MySQL on Windows operating systems (previously it was only possible to use MySQL functionality on UNIX-based operating systems), the ability to call functions on external DLL files to allow developers to provide additional functionality and create extensions as well as the ability for developers to create their own custom skins for their creations. The current version of BYOND is 429.999.

The Hub
BYOND.com hosts a "Live! Hub" which lists BYOND games currently being hosted. The hub provides links to files that can be used to download and host games, as well as links to games that are already online.

Community
BYOND offers many ways for users to interact with each other. The pager can be used for private conversations and the forums offer a place to ask for help. Some users have also used BYOND to create chatroom applications, such as Chatters. The developer forum is used by developers to ask questions, request features, and advertise their own games.

BYOND also has a guild system. A guild typically has a listing of games in a specific category. The official guilds are Action, Anime, Casual, RPG, and Strategy, though subscribers may create their own.

Software
Four main programs comprise the BYOND suite for Windows.

Dream Seeker
Dream Seeker is the BYOND client software used for playing games. It is also possible to host games on the internet using this program, provided that any firewalls or routers on the host's side are properly configured. As of BYOND version 4.0, Dream Seeker is restricted to Microsoft Windows.

Dream Maker
Dream Maker is BYOND's native IDE and compiler for the DM language. The current version includes a code editor with syntax highlighting, an indexed and searchable reference, a tile-based map editor, an artwork manager, and a skin editor. The tight integration between these applications speed up development time and allow developers to work without switching between applications and windows often. Dream Maker can only be used to compile in a command line environment on non-Windows systems.

Dream Daemon
Dream Daemon is the tool for hosting games. It can be configured to host on any open port. Three security options are available for hosts: Trusted, Safe, and Ultra-Safe. These place restrictions on how the executable can interact with the server. There are also three visibility choices: Public, Private, and Invisible, which limit the people that can see the game listed on the BYOND Hub. Dream Daemon is used to host the games via the command line on non-Windows systems.

Pager
The Pager is the central program which allows users to view live games, launch games, change their preferences, and communicate amongst each other. Using the pager as an instant messenger, users are able to send messages to other BYOND Keys which are stored as a contact list. Users are also able to store a list of bookmarked, downloaded, and recently played games.

Development
DM

BYOND games are created using the proprietary DM programming language. It is unknown what DM stands for, but users speculate it means either "Dream Maker" or DanTom. DM has roots in C, but is also syntactically similar to Python in its use of white space. BYOND programs written in DM are compiled to bytecode as an interpreted language; BYOND cannot produce standalone executable programs, although it is possible to create a program which automatically downloads and installs BYOND (with the user's permission) and then runs a specific game.

The "Hello World" example in DM:


 mob
    Login()
        world << "Hello world!"

DMCGI
While BYOND is used primarily for games that run using its Dream Seeker client, a webserver with BYOND installed can also make use of its integrated CGI capabilities. DMCGI can be used for a variety of things from browser based games to dynamic web content.

DMCGI is able to interact with live BYOND worlds through the use of features in the DM language. DMCGI can also make use of the BYOND Key system with its built-in authentication system, which uses the BYOND central servers to uniquely identify users. A developer can choose whether to use the BYOND key system or to program a standard online user registration scheme of their own.

One of the major disadvantages of DMCGI is that it can not be run in DreamDaemon on Windows operating systems. While users can create and test DMCGI applications on Windows in DreamSeeker, they cannot actively host the application without a Linux server.

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