Shifter (Robotic Uprising)

Shifter, Robotic Uprising is the name of The New MMORPG coming out for Macintosh OS X, Linux and Microsoft Windows. Not much information has been released as it is still in alpha stages with the engine and main game components still under-construction.

Current status of the engine

As of 3rd of June 2007, the Phoenix engine is still only in Alpha stages of creation. It currently has built into it a physics engine which can only simulate geometric physics only and is due to be replaced. It has full support for HDR effects such as depth of field etc and supports smooth transitions.

Current work is on implementing the parallax bump mapping and a new object loading system capable of spawning and controlling over 2000 objects in realtime.

Land mass

The planet of Shifter is split up into 3 continents (with more to be added with further expansion packs). Not much more has been decided at this stage in time.

Storyline

Not much exists AbOUT the storyline except that all choices made in the game will affect how it plays. The game will start with you picking your Alias's appearance and gender but not which team you wish to play as. There are 3 major factions present in the game and each has distinct advantages and disadvantages. Your team will be decided by the choices that you make in the introduction part straight after creating your character.

The War

Human

You will only be able to play as a human but you can decide which of the 3 factions you wish to be.

Robot

The robots are the single worst threat to the humans on the planet Shifter. They start at one side of the world and will gradually push more towards the humans and it is up to them to defend their land.

The Factions

It is not permanent which faction you choose to join but it could be hazardous if try and leave but you know too much that that particular faction does not want any other to know.

Shifter Military

The Shifter Military is the dominant police/militant force in Shifter and upholds the law since martial law was declared on Shifter. It is their job to police the major cities of Shifter but to also be on the front line against the robotic invasion. The Shifter Military has a ranking system whereby players can advance from simply taking orders and fighting through to staging entire missions for other players.

Rogues

Similar to the Shifter Military in that they are organised into a ranking system except is further subdivided into sects. Each sect will consist of about 8 to 10 players and it is their job to maintain a hideout and to perform missions handed down from the sect(s) above them. Rogues will take part mainly in raiding missions where they will scavenge hardware/resources from other factions.

Hackers

The Hackers are the least combat oriented faction and instead rely on advanced technology to get the jobs done. Depending on the level of Hacker, a hacker will be able to perform different hacks and can further specialise in one type of hacking.

Religion

Religion on Shifter has no name - the existence of the Gods is fact upon the planet, not faith bound belief. The gods and goddesses are known to watch over humanity from another, celestial plane, but choose only to interfere with extreme issues (such as war) when there is no alternative.

The people of Shifter vary in degrees of worship to their gods and goddesses, some choosing to pray daily, other choosing only to pray from time to time, and even some dedicating their lives to the priesthood in the name of their god or goddess. The gods do not demand worship at regular intervals, nor any form of sacrifices, but show favor to those who commune with them more frequently.

The gods and goddesses are not immortal beings as would normally be conceived - they draw their life force from the planet, and gain their celestial powers through worship, ergo if the planet is destroyed, they will cease to exist, having had their life force removed. In the same way the people of Shifter depend on the gods to keep the planet going, the gods depend on the people to keep their own powers alive. Due to this cycle, some people believe that the gods and goddesses were once mortal beings, whose soul was empowered by prayer to them after death, and thus arose as gods and goddesses on another plane.

Priesthood

Those who choose to dedicate their lives to the teachings of a specific god or goddess join the Priesthood. The Priesthood are those who live only to serve their god, and it is these people who reside in, and operate, the temples of the gods. The Priesthood itself is organized into 3 ranks;

Monks - Upon joining the Priesthood, you become a monk. Monks are recognizable by the symbols of their deity usually found on a piece of jewelry or clothing, or on the monks body. Monks are a common site around temples, as it is they who make the temples function by performing caretaker tasks around the temple, but also helping those in need to commune with the gods, teaching the ways of their deity, and furthering their studies.

Priests - The priests are the heads of the temple, and spend their time organizing temple affairs, giving tasks to the monks, teaching others the ways of the gods, and of course, furthering their own studies.

High Priests - There is only one Hight Priest for each deity, picked by the deity themselves. These are the ones who run the largest temples to commune with the gods, and speak of the gods will to the other priests.

Avatars

On occasions, the gods choose to take physical forms on the planet, and these are seen through their avatars. Each avatar is distinctly unique to its deity, and is the physical manifestation of the deity. through the avatar, the gods may choose to channel their celestial powers to greater effect, or to fight alongside the armies of Shifter.

Deus

No released information.

Knights of Deus

No released information.

Lecticio Deus

[Holy Book of Deus]

Spoken languages on Shifter

Whilst the only languages that the player will be able to speak is English (or other if/when Shifter, Robotic Uprising is translated) but there will be another language used on the game called Lau Esae and will be tied to the religion, Deus.

Lau Esae

Spoken most famously by the Lord High Priest of the temple of Deus in Kursoh and the priests also, it is also spoken in the more rural areas of Shifter. There are many different dialects of the speech but the written language remains unchanged except for difference in Degree.

Degrees of Lau Esae

Kel Tehn is the current Degree used across Shifter and is seen by some elders as a "slang" version of Kel Zhan (a previously used Degree) when in fact it is completely different. Degrees do not change markedly but instead happen over a large period of time. A Degree is marked each time the language changes to become so different that it is could no longer be understood or interpreted by someone who knew the previous Degree.