Gaia Worlds Project

[HelloKittyGithub]

Demo Link: https://www.gaiaonline.com/rallytest

Hello friends! HelloKittyGithub here, AKA HK or Kithub.

I’ve been developing a reusable social web-compatible game client very recently with the goal for it to be used to recreate existing worlds in both 2D and 3D. It is in the early stages but since the April 1st 2024 event went well I’ve decided to publish a demo for all of you to check out and welcome any feedback you have on it. If you want to hop right into the demo check out the link and instructions on the second post.

Rally 3D Client Sneak Peek:



I’ve read through the 50+ pages of feedback on previous 3D projects and it informed the development in the following way:

- 2D and 3D: I felt it important to support "Classic 2D" as a concept for the client, for nostalgia, smoother play and for those who just prefer 2D. For now there is a 2.5D toggle.

- World Chat: A global chat where all Gaians across all game apps that use this tech/client can chat.

- Mobile: Supporting mobile longterm is important for the client and to me. (Mobile support is currently barley functional for now)

So please check out the demo and provide more feedback to help steer this new project’s direction.

[HelloKittyGithub]

WARNING: This is a tech demo that does not represent a complete game/client/Rally/Towns experience. It lacks many of the features you would expect in a final release. It is being provided to elicit feedback and for testing. Additionally, this build of the client is an uncompressed development build so it’s rather large and will take longer to download.

FAQ

What platforms can run this demo?

Currently only Desktop computers are supported. Unity3D WebGL is not officially supported on mobile. I do have some plans to support Android mobile soon and if there is demand I could create standalone desktop clients.

How do I move?

The controls in the 3D Rally Test demo are WASD and right and left mouse click to turn the camera. Holding right-click will allow you to change your avatar’s orientation with the camera. Holding left-click will allow you to move the camera without changing your avatar’s orientation.

How do I chat?

Just hit enter and start typing. Hit enter again to send your message or if you change your mind hit the Escape key.

How do I report someone?

You can type “/report” and simply click their name in the chat box and it will auto-fill their name in and hit enter. You should get a simple notification of your report being forwarded to moderators.

Commands?

/me orange emote text like "HK looks around.

/outfit # automatically updates your avatar ingame to the outfit at the slot number #. Ex. /outfit 5

/outfit name automatically updates your avatar ingame to the outfit with the name (must be unique).

/sit sits down

/stand stands up

/yell Yell with red text (eventually will be longer range)

/say Enable the say/default chat

/addfriend Sends a player a friend request on the site

/ignore /unignore Ignore/unignore a player. You will no longer see their chat ingame.

/fps Enables an ingame Framerate and performance menu.

/profile Check out the profile of another player.

/trade Start a trade on the website with another player

/userstore Visit the marketplace store of another player.

/1 Talk in zone chat channel

/2 Talk in global chat channel

/fish Open the Gaia Aquarium page of another player

/pm Start a private message to another player on the Gaia site

/status Update your Gaia status on the website within the game

Features?

* Linking Gaia Marketplace Links such as https://www.gaiaonline.com/marketplace/itemdetail/1587 and it will turn into a hyperlinked (clickable) link to the page. This is intended to be the [Item Name] but is, for complex reasons, only represented currently by a [I#ItemNumber]

[HelloKittyGithub]

The Project TODO List:

This is a list of things I already plan on doing. There are lots of things I plan on doing too that aren't on the list but if it's here you won't need to suggest it.

- Adding an AFK Timer and Tag

- Adding an Options UI with many kinds of toggles

- Easier emojis in the chat itself

- Better copy paste support

- Better mobile support

- Better intel integrated graphics avatar rendering support

- Expanded player GUI

- More popup emotes

[HelloKittyGithub]

Known Issues sweatdrop

The project is still in development so it is not perfect.

- Using the /outfit command to swap between Humans and Paw avatar outfits has an issue that will temporarily reset your avatar customizations like Hair color and eyes and etc. This can be fixed by swapping into an outfit on the site. Recommend not swapping outfits between the base avatars.

- Intel integrated graphics chips don’t currently render the avatars properly

- Mobile across various devices behaves differently or is non-functional

- Sometimes players with dedicated GPUs will experience poor performance because an integrated chip like intel integrated graphcis are selected. This is outside the control of the game client. Users can manually configure their computers to force the usage of a specific GPU but I cannot provide guidance on that.

[HelloKittyGithub]

Change Log

Hello friends, I bring some good news. For the past few weeks I undertook a project to majorly overhaul the current client that powers the Rally3D world. This work is now finished and the world is live running on new tech! With that comes afew new features as well.

Version 2.0.128

* Fixed a bug that caused avatar outfits not to update with the /outfit command.

* Introduced an “Unstuck” button on the escape menu which will return you to the spawn location of the map. Players can use this if they get stuck somehow due to the new jumping.

* Added an ignore button the right-click context-menus for players.

* Added an unignore button the right-click context-menus for players.

* Fixed a bug that could prevent unignore from functioning in the client fully if your ignore list ended up empty after unignoring the player

* Fixed a bug that prevented the unused Spell Linking feature from functioning in the client

* Fixed a bug that prevented the unused Item Linking (ingame items, not MP items) feature from functioning in the client.

* Partially implemented support for external Gaia Online username changes. This is reflected serverside now but more work is still needed for it to be updated for online players who already have it cached.

* Fixed some CORS issues retrieving game data for the unused quest feature.

Version 2.0.127:

* Fixed an issue preventing easily escaping non-say chat types by entering an empty message

* Fixed an issue where ignore lists weren’t being loaded on login.

* Re-implemented the @name underlining and prepared to reimplement the browser title notification from @s when alt-tabbed. Further work is needed to reimplement the browser title notifications from @s unfortunately.

* Fixed an issue where chat formatting was missing from chat bubbles

* Fixed an issue where GM enabled meant some context-menu options were not visible.

* Fixed a bug that causes chat scrolling to feel strange

* Fixed a bug which would sometimes cause chat bubbles to stay visible forever

* Fixed a bug that caused errors from whispering and preventing whispering from properly being
reportable

* Party/Group leader text will now reflect their role and be colored differently

* Fixed a bug that caused players to sometimes appear sitting when they no longer were

Version 2.0.126:

* Players can now Jump!

* Players can now form partys/groups to chat between eachother

* Players can now perform many actions/commands by right-click other player's frames (see below)

* Introduced an experimental guild system supporting inviting and guild chat and guild tags

* Reduced the initial client download size by 80%

* Built the client in release which should provide performance improvements over the old client

* Player's locations are saved so you resume where you left off in the client the next time you login

* Added a builtin /emote system which lets players emote in many ways such as /love and /hug. These aren't yet finished to support the Gaia gender settings.

* A significant number of underlying unused RPG features now lay dormant underneath the surface to allow for the creation of awesome Rally3D events

* A small amount of features are missing but are planned to be ported and implemented in the new client too.

* And more!


Version 0.0.125:

* Implemented Avatar Favoriting in the form of a "Heart" button on the player frames in the top left and in the form of a command /favorite

Version 0.0.121:

* Added support for loading flair/pledge icons underneath the player and target frame UI in the upper-left corner.

* Added a command to access the Gaia forums /forum or /forums

* Added a command to quickly access Chatterbox with /chatterbox or /cb

Version 0.0.119:

* Added a new Game Menu that is accessible using the cogwheel button in the bottom right corner or hitting Escape.

* Added a button in the new Game Menu to reload the game (can be used instead of refreshing if you get stuck)

* Selecting some new icons for buttons in the bottom right corner

* Fixed an issue where the R reply keybind would open up a chat even if there was no whisper available

* Fixed an issue where the R keybind and /reply command would reply to the oldest whisper instead of the latest whisper

* Redesigned the parkinglot parking space art to use decals instead of an ugly floating mesh.

Version 0.0.117:

* When targeting an object you will not have a target marker/ring below the target

* When mousing over or targeting an interactable object, such as a player, the object will highlight.

* Added a /runway command to open up the Gaia runway webpage

* Added a /mp or /marketplace command to open up the Gaia marketplace webpage

* Added a /modinfo command to open up the Gaia thread about moderator information

* Added a /shop command to open up the Gaia shop directory webpage

* Pending next server restart subscript and superscript letters and numbers will be stripped out of messages

Version 0.0.116:

* Added a /fish command to access a target player's Aquarium in a new window

* Added some underlying UI systems as well as the new popup/dialog UI system which can now be seen when logging in showcasing an example of the feature linking to a mention of this very project in the announcements!

* Added some initial ground work for updating your Gaia status from within the game which is likely to be complete next update.

Version 0.0.115:

* Players can now link in the ingame chat anywhere on the GaiaOnline domain and subdomains

* Added notifications to the browser window title/tab when a player whispers or @'s you while the window does not have focus fully

* Added new command /pm that allows players to start a private message on the website for their current target or a player's name they type

* Added a new command /userstore which opens the target player's marketplace store/ship

* Added underlying networking support for the player level and HP (although still not used for any mechanic in Rally at this time)

Version 0.0.113:

* Players can now /trade someone they've targeted or by name to start a trade with the player on the site.

* Players can now type /profile to open the profile of the player they have targeted or by name

* Fixed an issue where a white circle would fill the player frame portrait before the player's avatar image loaded.

Version 0.0.112:

* Player frames at the top left corner of the screen will now show avatar portraits for the local player and the target.

* Added support for using player commands that required names like "/addfriend" and using the current target if no name is provided allowing players to run commands without typing the name and instead targeting people by clicking on them.

Version 0.0.111:

* Fixed an issue where the new unitframe UI for the local player sometimes would say "Unknown" for several seconds after logging in

* Trim whitespace from the front and back of names before displaying them in the floating name text above players

* Fixed an issue where a player would despawn but the new targeting feature would not clear the target

Version 0.0.109:

* Introduced a new UI element to display player and target information. Players can now see who they are targeting. Many future features will utilize the targeting so it is important that players can see it. Many gameplay features or games that may use this client will benefit from the flexibility this RPG-esque UI/HUD provides.

Version 0.0.108:

* Introduced feature for Object Mouseover Tooltips. This will show some relevant information about the object you're moused over at the time. For now this is only for player objects as they are the only type that exist.

* Fixed an issue where players would see "Test Name" before the player's name was loaded.

Version 0.0.105:

* Market place item links should now work properly in whispers.

* Added feature to allow for clicking [Zone] and [Global] and other chat channel brackets to start a chat with that chat type.

* Links are no longer possible in emote chat

* Prevent players from using upside down text and zalgo text

* Implemented engine feature for targeting players (currently invisible sorry hehe)

* Try yet again to hopefully fix the stuck session issue where a player can end up stuck ingame due to disconnection never happening

* Fixed the emote broadcast range to match say range

* Migrate to new Avatar URL API which will load avatars faster and fixed an issue where you could not load the avatars of players who have ignored you

Version 0.0.104:

* Players can now link to items in the market place and ingame it will show up as [Item Name] in the chat box and be a clickable link to the market place item

* Added a new secret chat channel hehe

* /say range has been reduced to 30 yards down from 40.

* /yell range has been reduced to 250 yards down from 300.

* Emojis are not supported in announcements

* Emojis are no longer usable in emote text like /me

* The map has been reverted back to standard Rally3D

* Part of the avatar shader's lighting has been rewritten so that it should be less "glowly" under certain circumstances and should better reflect the light color being applied to the avatar.

* and more!

Version 0.0.103:

* Added full text emoji support, basically all emojis are now usable in chat.

* Made pinned announcement sticky between logins

* Likely fixed an issue where a player session could end up stuck logged in

* Fixed issue with some GM command parsing

Version 0.0.101:

* /outfit command for changing into outfits now supports using outfit names. The name must not be shared/duplicated between multiple outfits. Otherwise, now outfit name swapping works!

* The chat box when scrolling up will now properly not continue to scroll the chat up as new messages come in.

Version 0.0.97:

* Copy Paste will now function with external clipboard data. Essentially, you are now able to copy paste stuff from outside of the game.

* Added several new GM announcement commands

* It's now possible to post links. Right now only GMs can post links but eventually there will be support for linking to things for all players within the GaiaOnline domain

* Many GM commands no longer require quotes around simple one string arg commands

* New Server Message of the Day feature now exists to serve player's info

Version 0.0.95:

* Avatars will now automatically update shortly after being saved on the site. You will no longer have to type /refreshme

* Fixed an issue where alt + up and alt + down chat message copying broke with the new channel chat messages

* Players will now be able to use . in the begining of messages, the GM command system will not get in the way of making cute faces like .-.

* Likely fixed a critical networking bug that caused approximately 8 users on April 1st's backrooms event to have their sessions locked logged in and unable to reconnect again.

* Added new moderator/GM updates (contact if you're a moderator and need/want to know more)

Version 0.0.94:

* /say chat is now limited to 40 meter range

* /yell chat is now limited to 400 meter range

* New /1 and /2 commands to enter Zone and Global chat channel chat state. These chat channels allow messages to be seen by all players ingame. Similar to how the old /say used to work, global. Big plans for the global chat channel one day.

* Fixed an issue that prevented some commands functioning with quotes around names

* Fixed some issues that prevented the new fires from lighting avatars.

* Added a work-in-progress stairs to replace the textureless ramp to the chess board

* The client is now swapped to using port 8080 for any peeps with more locked down PCs/Networks

Version 0.0.89:

* A new section of the map including a chess board recommended by aura and inspired by Towns 1's chess tile.

* Fixed an issue where the reply keybind (r) whould start a chat even if you didn't have a whisper to reply to.

* Player names now have a slight dropshow to help keep them legible when they're on top of eachother or rendered on top of white surfaces.

* /whisper command is now in the game. It was possible to whisper before but now you can /whisper aura and then hit enter to start a whisper with the player. The enter was required to support spaces in Gaia usernames.

* Other minor changes too!

[HelloKittyGithub]

Reserved

You may post now. 3nodding

[zzn0srap]

I loved this! The most fun I’ve honestly had in a while! You did great with this heart

[[Tag]]

Wonderful work.

[OH MYGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODOH MYGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD]

It's so gooooddd 💖💖

[Lunar_Lexie]

heart thanks for your hard work! heart

[FlareQueen]

This was excellent, fed the nostalgia something fierce! Thank you for all the hard work! emotion_kirakira

[Lunar_Lexie]

will we be able to race again? emotion_kirakira

[Suwosa]

It was super cool seeing everyone! I had so much fun zooming around emotion_kirakira Awesome job!

[Demon-wav]

Yesterday was amazing!! Please put us back in the back rooms!! I love that space

[_Gotherine_The_ Foxx_]

if we got this for towns it would be a game changer