GemStone IV Launch
Simutronics launched GemStone IV, which replaced GemStone III, in November 2003.
Gifts
Each account was granted one character-attuned item, based on their profession within the giftbox. The item appearance was somewhat randomized within each profession. Below is an incomplete list of such items:
Bard: + 5 to Aura Base, 5 to Influence Base, 5 to Max Health, 2 to Max Mana
- a sword and musical note brooch
- a happy sad mask brooch
- a comedy tragedy mask brooch
Cleric: +5 Wisdom Base, +5 Intuition Base, +2 Max Health, +4 Max Mana
- an elaborate [deity name] symbol.
- an elaborate knotwork symbol
Empath: +5 Wisdom Base, +5 Influence Base, +5 Max Heath, +4 Max Mana
- an acantha leaf talisman
- a aloeas stem talisman
- a sovyn clove talisman
- a woth flower talisman
Ranger: +5 Dexterity Base, +5 Intuition Base, +5 Max Health, +2 Max Mana.
- an embossed leather bracer
- a cracked leather bracer
- a faded leather bracer
- a tooled leather bracer
Rogue: +5 Dexterity Base, +5 Agility Base, +10 Max Health
- some shadowy black leather boots
- some supple black leather boots
- some padded grey leather boots
- some polished black leather boots
Sorcerer: +5 Aura Base, +5 Logic Base, +2 Max Heath, +4 Max Mana
- a decaying eyeball fetish
- rotting kobold ear fetish
- a gruesome squirrel skull fetish
Warrior: +5 Strength Base, +5 Constitution Base, +10 Max Health
- a cracked leather belt
- a scorched leather belt
- a simple leather belt
- a weathered leather belt
Wizard: +5 Aura Base, +5 Logic Base, + 2 Max Health, +4 Max Mana
- an enruned water elemental talisman
- an enruned air elemental talisman
- an enruned fire elemental talisman
- an enruned earth elemental talisman
Updates
Core Game Systems
- The Most Massive Upgrade of GemStone So Far
The development of GemStone IV involved upgrading many fundamental systems in the game (the engine itself, the addition of Point & Click, and more), as well as improving a number of game systems (experience, level progression, combat, creatures, etc.) As a result, since development of GemStone IV began, over 10,000 scripts in the game have been modified (that's over 2/3rds of the game's code.) Over half of those were modified three or four times, for various conversions, upgrades and improvements.
- New Features
In addition to the modifications to existing systems, many new features and system expansions required the creation of an additional 1,700 scripts.
| Person | Contributions |
|---|---|
| SGM Warden | GemStone IV Game Systems Design; Combat; Weapons/Armor/Shields changes; Staves; Experience Changes |
| FGM Uska | Creature Conversions and Modifications |
| FGM Uliq | New Spells: Bone Shatter, Holy Receptacle, Spirit Dispel; Revised Spells: Spirit Protection I, Spirit Protection II, Wall of Force, Living Rune, Spell Shield, Blind, Resurrection, Elemental Dispel, Empathic Focus, Herb Production, Strength of Will, Intensity; Lore skill adjustments to: 110, 111, 120, 125, 203, 210, 211, 215, 219, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 311, 1101-1105, 1110-1115, and 1108; Commands: BLESS, CONVERT, MEDITATE |
| AGM Stealth | Combat Maneuvers development |
| AGM Dimigor | New Spell: Wall of Thorns; Combat Maneuvers development |
| FGM Cyr | Wall of Thorns; Resist Nature; Foraging Changes; Swimming Changes; general Ranger changes |
| AGM Thanthyl | Friend or Foe Design |
| FGM Nilven | Cloak of Shadows Retribution, Eye Spy Updates, Limb Disruption Bug Fixes, Spirit Servants, Minor Summoning, Empathic Link, Assorted Lore Updates |
| AGM Solli | Damage and Repair Development; Lore Skill Adjustments to: Vibration Chant, Song of Purification, Kai's Song, Sonic Shield, Sonic Weapon, Sonic Armor, Song of Depression, Song of Rage, Song of Disruption; New Spell: Song of Tonis |
| AGM Elnath | Combat Maneuvers Development; Teleportation Upgrade |
| AGM Coase | Combat Maneuver List, Combat Maneuver System, and Stamina; P&C script conversions. |
| AGM Remnick | Combat Maneuvers Development |
| AGM Nitid | New Spells: Hurl Boulder, Ice Patch, Immolation, Sandstorm, Stone Skin, Scroll Infusion; Lore Skill Adjustments to: Limb Disruption, Pain Infliction, Torment, Elemental Blade, Elemental Strike, Major Elemental Wave, Slow, Haste, Strength, Weapon Fire, Boil Earth; Updated: Corrupt Essence, Enchant; Added Messaging For: Thurfel's Ward, Prismatic Guard; New Commands: RUNE, ATTUNE; New System: Runestones |
| AGM Dirkay | Trainee; Climbing/Swimming Obstacle upgrades |
| AGM Imjee | Trainee; Climbing/Swimming Obstacle upgrades |
| AGM Kitrina | This GM was the one who decided we needed a BELCH command; Releases Liaison |
| FGM Despil | Updated the demeanor & befriend systems; updated a dozen commands to use demeanor: AGREE, CLUTCH, HOLD, HUM, KICK, KNOCK, MOCK, PROD, PUNCH, REST, SLAP, POKE; created new commands: MOCK, PRAISE, CLUTCH, REST, BELCH; implemented the five new races; enhanced the spell system to be more robust; consolidated all banks into one master system, including moving River's Rest to it's own bank system. |
| FGM Taelrand | Rewrote movement; created new movement verbs; revamped dragging system; rewrote core game verbs; guild redesign; enhancive item system; creature conversions and modifications; spell modifications; PROFILE system; new weapon types and enhancements; new stealing system; lock mastery, Red Rot disease design and implementation; skill checks for level compression; Assisted with: combat system redesign, combat maneuvers, room conversions, BNPC, and more. |
P&C Quality Control and Histories:
- Converting Elanthia to Point and Click
The process to convert all rooms in GemStone to the new Point & Click system was begun with a program which ran through each room in the game and performed an "auto-conversion" on any room it deemed suitable. When it was done, however, it reported over 10,000 rooms which would need to be manually converted by the GameMaster staff.
Once these adjustments were made, Alpha testers reported over 4,500 problems with Point & Click in room text. 1,656 of these reports were determined to be duplicates, leaving over 1,650 rooms that had to be adjusted.
- Typos
In addition to the modifications to Point & Click, the QC team was reponsible for a couple thousand general typos. The tie for most reported typo: "sideburnshq" and incorrectly reported spell lists in the Character Manager.
| Person | Contributions |
|---|---|
| SGM Lyredaen | Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes; Aelotoi Guru: History, Bonuses, Features, Cultural Groups; Elven Documentation; Timeline Updates |
| FGM Ozias | Icemule Trace Guru; Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes; Gnome Guru: History, Bonuses, Features, Cultural Groups; Clovertooth Hall, Phase I Expansion; Input on: Citizenship, Justice, Demon Summoning; World Expansion QC (Jails, Citizenship Offices, etc.), Staff Training (QC, P&C) |
| AGM Pandoreh | Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes; Half-Krolvin Guru: History, Bonuses, Features, Cultural Groups |
| AGM Jacien | Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes; Erithian Guru: History, Bonuses, Features, Cultural Groups |
| AGM Aiza | Trainee; Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes |
| AGM Tolli | Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes; Half-Krolvin Guru: History, Bonuses, Features, Cultural Groups |
| FGM Aelsidhe | Room Conversions, Typo Corrections, Bug Fixes; Erithian Guru: History, Bonuses, Features, Cultural Groups |
Roleplaying and Town Systems
- How Big Is a GemStone System?
The community service system (part of the Justice system) includes over 15,000 lines of code (before P&C additions were added.) Of those, the basic system mechanics are 1,700 lines of code, while the task-specific mechanics are 13,300 lines. The longest tasks (Icemule Penguin Cleaning and Solhaven Public Laundry) are 1,200 lines each. While the shortest tasks (Landing Garden Weeding and Kharam Dzu Statue Cleaning) are 350 lines each.
- Shop and NPC Conversions
NPC and shop conversions, some of which are still ongoing, included nearly 200 shops, and nearly 500 NPCs.
| Person | Contributions |
|---|---|
| SGM Mitra | Meeting Hall System; Food and Drink; Sprite Quests; Racial Foods for new characters; Racially-appropriate new character clothing items; Ta'Vaalor Locker Annex |
| SGM Brauden | Character Manager, Raging Thrak and New User Tour Exp Modifications, Host Tool Modifications |
| FGM Claw | Converted over 1100 NPCs manually to our new base NPC system. This conversion will allow for future NPC expansion. |
| FGM Sleken | Teras Isle Guru; Citizenship system; Created the new Base NPC system |
| AGM Alyias | New Justice System, assisted with Citizenship, adjustments to the SAY command. |
| AGM Valissan | Raging Thrak Updates, Shop Conversions; "ThunderMage" - the highlight converter from Wizard to StormFront |
| AGM Ildran | Justice - Community Service system; CHE improvements; Registrar Update; Sprite Quests; Inn Table improvements; Various command improvements (GLANCE, SHAKE, SWAP, and POINT), Ventriloquism, Imitation |
| AGM Bernt | Trainee; converted well over a hundred shops to the new shop system |
| AGM Tilmont | Trainee; Shop conversions; Sprite Quest assistance; Ta'Vaalor Locker Annex P&C Conversions |
War of Nations
| Person | Contributions |
|---|---|
| SGM Carraig | Roleplaying Events Manager; Manager "Red Rot" Theme |
| FGM Voraviel | Manager "Griffon Sword Saga" Event; Assistance "Baron Hochstib" Theme |
| FGM Bradach | River's Rest Guru; Manager "Krolvin Incursion" Theme |
| FGM Mikos | Sol Haven Guru; Manager "Baron Hochstib" Theme |
| AGM Lothwyn | Assistance "Troll Pathfinder" Theme; Assisted with Minor Summoning; Assistant: "Griffin Sword Saga" Event |
| AGM Jharra | Manager: "V'Reen Advent" Theme; Assistance "Troll Migration" Theme; War of Nations News Updates; wrote convert-based messaging for Blind (311); "Elven Crests and Heraldry" documents; River's Rest Alchemist updates; River's Rest Zelian Shrine; Assistant: "Griffin Sword Saga" Event |
| AGM Talairi | Assistance "Red Rot" Theme |
| AGM Vogue | Manager "Troll Pathfinder" Theme |
Events and Referals
Since development of GemStone IV began in September, GMs reported running almost 2,000 events: from invasions, to merchant visits, to NPCs. Some were single events. Some were part of a greater event such as the War of Nations storylines. At the same time, GMs answered over 2,600 referals.
Items
During GemStone IV's development, GMs created over 10,000 items in GemStone IV ALONE. (We have not run this report on the items created in GSIV.) Some of these items may have been parts of areas, treasure, costumes, but many of them would have been items placed in ezshops for merchant sales. (Of course, items sold in ezshops would be copied repeatedly as they sold.)
GMs modified items 78,200+ times during this period. Many of these modifications would have been made to the same item, as GMs may modify an item over a dozen times before they are done with it. However, this does not include the 14,500+ times that GMs modified the "SHOW" of items, or the 2,000+ times GMs modified the "READ" of items.
Customer Service
| Person | Contributions |
|---|---|
| SGM Isten | Hiring and Training Supervisor |
| SGM Mindra | Festivals and Events Manager |
| FGM Tigermist | Premium |
| AGM Kabosh | Premium |
| AGM Elowen | Premium, Trainee |
| FGM Khaladon | Platinum |
| AGM Hunterleigh | Platinum, Rewrote the Merchant Document |
| AGM Illusion | Platinum |
| AGM Talisker | Platinum |
| FGM Krash | Assistance "Red Rot" theme of War of Nations. |
| AGM Mahegh | Guild Events |
| FGM Andraste | Weddings |
| AGM Brennwyn | Weddings |
| FGM Modrian | Events and Training |
| AGM Soraya | PRO / CHE |
| FGM Kyalia | Player Run Events |
| AGM Roxia | Mentors, Trainee |
| FGM Kennesaw | Trainer |
| AGM Siani | Host Manager |
| AGM Elbrion | Host Instructor |
| AGM Zyllah | Host Instructor, Rewrote the New Player Document |
| AGM Faradeh | QC, Assisted with Minor Summoning |
| AGM Agro | QC, Assistant "Krolvin Incursion" Storyline |
| AGM Sirina | QC, Trainee |
| FGM Mignon | Forums Manager |
| AGM Ysbail | Contributed to Spirit Servant Messaging |
In-House GemStone Team
| David Whatley: President & CEO, StormFront Lead Design |
| Neil Harris: Executive Vice-President and Marketing |
| Melissa Meyer: GemStone IV Producer |
| Mike Paddock: Technical Producer |
| Bryan Files: Senior Client Programmer (StormFront) |
| Mike Anderson: Client Programmer (StormFront) |
| Greg Allen: Senior Game Engine Programmer |
| Johnny Waitt: Game Engine Programmer |
| Jeff Gatlin: Web-based Character Manager |
| Steph Shaver: Web Master |
| Elonka Dunin: General Community Management |
| Josh Bouscher: Developer |
| Chris Larsen: Developer |
| Matt Meyer: Developer |
| Aaron Standridge: Developer |
| Andy Finkenstadt: Oracle Developer and Database Administrator |
| Russ Whiteman: Billing Database Developer and Administrator |
| Jim Miller: Network Administrator |
| Liz Brown: Network Administrator |
| Tamma Speraneo: Office Manager |
| Chris Moore: Production Assistant, Database Programmer |
| Tracy Butler: Artist |
| Candy Palmer: Artist |
| Mike Bishop: Skin Artist |
| Chris Metzener: Customer Service Manager |
| Gary Roff: Billing Representative |
| Beth Paddock: Billing Supervisor |
| Michael Niemeyer: Billing Representative |
| Brian Arbuthnot: Billing Representative |
| Joe Lafata: Billing Representative |
| Moral Support: Thomas & Susan Zelinski, Eric Slick, Eric Latham |
Special Thanks
| Tsoran: ...for the support with his "Trainer," a spreadsheet created (and continually updated) to help users reallocate their GemStone III characters into GemStone IV. |
| Elfarran: Whom Tsoran credits with the original concept and creation of the Trainer. |
| Nilandia: For her helpful website: Nilandia's GemStone IV News Repository. Thanks as well to many other webmasters like her. While we may not know of them specifically, we realize many out there compile information for the use of others. |
| ALAE: For support by developing many new areas for GemStone IV. |
The GemStone Hosts
For their countless hours of work and testing, for providing invaluable creative input, for doing their absolute best to stay up on the latest information so that they can answer dozens of questions a day about the GemStone IV changes ...
- Darqest
- Diogenes
- Eliryan
- Elowen
- Emeradan
- Faru
- Genorah
- Gervis
- Hadlir
- Indri
- Jobsen
- Kaeori
- Kedrik
- Khana
- Orleandra
- Quabu
- Rosalynn
- Roxia
- Sirath
- Strathspey
- Valeir
- Vincenzo
- Xintin
- Zilana
New User Usability Testers
- Sara Bowling
- Rebecca Brown-Gregory
- Denise Orr
- Jason Brown-Gregory
- Ann Larson
Alpha Testers
(Listed by Account)
- aeryus
- aquamarine
- armyjen
- ashby
- asmodea
- athdara
- baileydr1
- barefootng
- batesb
- bbrownell
- beaversr
- belzedar
- bigdog2178
- boyerbk
- brakian
- brandtjrt
- bsorensen
- bulrabye
- bushw1
- butrflynet
- carabele
- castellan
- castelr
- catalyst
- celgar
- celsit
- cepheus
- cheri
- cmcgee
- corruptedmind211
- creukir
- crabtreep
- dalamat
- dangd1
- darkmage
- dibianos
- dodesa1
- doggydaddi
- dracoblood
- dreamrain
- drizzt-12
- duguayk1
- dunaways
- dwgem
- economidesm
- elforiamoon
- encar
- etherin
- fenix825
- fhwsheep
- flooley
- framos
- furrowfoot
- fyre-elph
- gazeroth
- gdshyu1
- gespry
- goldstrohmk1
- grypes
- harman1
- hazyblue
- herpurpleness
- hewward
- hobo1
- insink
- insomnia
- irish16pride
- jaldaren
- jca18
- jezbelle
- jianne
- jodelkaj
- kandor
- karaina
- kerruishr
- khillian
- killz
- kilthal
- kinggem3
- l7xbass
- ladymystra
- lairdgeoff
- ldysowan
- lordroelet
- lordstrike
- lrdllorrin
- macgugank
- magicaljayson1
- magruderc1
- maloneya
- mara
- marshm1
- masterdtwin
- mazeikis
- mcshanem
- mersteel
- miloro
- minque
- mistavelly
- moongirl
- mythion
- narsyl
- neonseraph
- nephrenia
- neuberte
- niccolo
- niesem
- omega10
- opengang
- prestius
- qiuj
- quietpatrick
- qujo
- ranger97
- raxi
- rcetlin
- ren
- rhys
- roxana
- rwnmayfair
- schippj
- shylore
- sidake
- sidnny
- silverphoenix21
- siwas
- skywalker
- spaewife
- stoddardr
- stretch
- sybryna
- tartellb
- tedkpark
- teralioszen
- terrastar
- tigger
- torkosj5
- tr99
- tralkain
- tsoran
- tuckers
- tukka
- vagrant11
- valiria
- voodookitten
- wampas
- wannerr
- warrior3374
- whitec
- whitewolf027
- woodslass
- wyvoren
- yarxt
And to all of our loyal customers for their patience and for providing excellent feedback, with a special thanks to everyone who Beta Tested.