Freeverse

We've updated our massively multiplayer online RPG, Arcane Arena, to version 1.1. This major update provides many new game features and performance enhancements, refines the user interface, fixes a slew of bugs, and more.

If you've never played Arcane Arena before, the game features a unique turn-based battle engine, a seemingly endless dungeon, a customizable user interface, and a dedicated community of players. A registered account costs only a one time fee of $29.95, making it an affordable way to get your MMORPG on!

1.1 Downloads
Full 1.1 Distribution (42 MB)
Update for Classic Users
Update for OS X Users

A version history is available in the full article.

Changelog
New features:
Chat text and battle messages are color coded for faster parsing.
Arrow keys allow movement while chatting, like when you end up in battle or have to run away in the middle of a conversation.
Keyboard Help key brings up often used command info.
PageUp and PageDown scroll text in the chat area, even while in battle, so you can quickly scroll up and see that message that came through right before the 6 Demon Princes simultaneously cast Energy Storms.
Manual and Tutorials revised with addition info on Spell Macros, and new features.
Sell All button that sells all unequipped, non-potion items for those in a hurry to get their money.
New Viewplugins with Anti-Lag and Show-Me-Everything features for slow modem players and high level characters in gigantic battles - control graphics shadowing and spell effects based on the number of characters on screen.
The ability to change your Icon, flag and color settings if you have grown tired of the same old look, just hit cmd-i.
Better output of magic item descriptions.
Lower level initial monster battles in the Town Arena for newbies, higher level monster in the Deep Arena for high level players - after level 1000 you can fight monsters 70 times your level.
Easier level 101 for newer high level players.
Access to levels below 101 in the dungeon, with super high level boss monsters, for high level (or crazy) 1.1 client users.
Better host side logging for solving connection problems.
See more stats when you click on a player, like whether they are busy in battle or standing in town, their type of weapon, Allies, Followers, and Followed.
Moderators can see even more into.
Powerful new moderator commands to help locate, rescue, assist, punish and destroy players in need or those unwisely making trouble.
New weapon and armor items some with lower strength requirements for newbies, some just for fun - you may need to browse around quite a bit to find the rarer selections.
Magic events that can help or harm you if you choose to look for and pursue them.
Are you sure? dialog if you click No to the resurrect question informing you of the permanent deletion of your character, should you go through with it.
Friendly death messages that won't leave you wondering about the lack of chest if the monster had no money.
Some faster routines in the view plugin, client and host to help prevent lagging.
Removal of a bunch of now unneeded routines.
Faster Auto Saves on the Host.
Boss monsters are smarter, can dig though walls, change targets, use spells more wisely - all more challenge for you higher ups.
Skeletons are smarter and wont all move the same way or just shoot the nearest target.
Clerics do more types of healing that before - you might find them quite useful.
All monsters can use more of their spell repertoire and are better at picking spells.
All monsters will move in more directions as needed.
Monsters can pick up chests - don't leave chests sitting around while you stand there slaughtering.
Monsters don't just stand around in the dungeon waiting for you to find them. They can now move and when angry, like after you have killed off most of their friends, will actively seek out battles.
Escape can get you out of more problems.
Some stores only offer items you can afford so you don't have to browse forever just to get a battle to get some cash.
When you choose 'yes' to ally with a player, both players get the message Alliance formed with the name of the player so you aren't wondering after being AFK who allied with you.
Arena battles give more even handed returns and loses based on the fight cost - no more guaranteed loses when fighting some monsters.
If you pick up a chest with more gold you can carry, the chest remains with the left over gold so your cronies can descend on it like vultures.

Bug Fixes:
The dreaded and annoying targeting problem when using macros is fixed.
Random commands/characters do not end up in your command buffer any more.
Stats and gold now won't roll over if you happen to reach the maximums.
Many host side fixes dealing with spells, command buffering, random corruption, and crashes.
Self-fixing empty battles.
No more Poofing monsters that leave no chests or experience.
Over-healing, free damage bug fixed.
Truncated powerful item description bug fixed.
Fixed display of large stat numbers.
No more empty battle and resultant crash when running through the Teleporter and going to a level.
Teleporting of monsters off the map corruption no longer occurs.
Less potential for database corruption when periodic saves occur.
MonsterAI no longer casts spells off the map.
MonsterAI doesn't just stand there curing while being poisoned by several players.
Fixed several potential pointer corruption issues.
Fixed chat group/private list corruption issue.
Fixed some holes that could be exploited in person to person chat.
Switching Viewplugins now works correctly and doesn't corrupt preferences.

New York -- April 20, 2004 -- Freeverse Software today announced that BumperCar has begun shipping to retail outlets in North America. Designed to be both fun for kids and reassuring for parents and teachers, BumperCar filters objectionable web content, limits the sharing of personal information, (such as a child's address or phone number), and offers unprecedented parental controls.

Recipient of a coveted MacWorld "Best of Show" award, BumperCar is the single best tool to help manage your child's web experience. BumperCar offers simple "Low", "Medium" and "High" safety settings, as well as the ability to customize all of its features in detail. BumperCar filters profanity, forces Google to use a "Safe Search" mode, allows you to specify the hours your child can spend online and offers special School, Home and PreSchool modes.

Ian Lynch Smith, president of Freeverse has said, "BumperCar isn't just about keeping kids away from the bad stuff, its also about giving them a colorful, fun environment in which to play and explore. We believe BumperCar will be a tremendous benefit for parents, schools and kids alike."

BumperCar is built specifically for Mac OS X and makes use of the latest OmniWeb technology, providing the stable foundation necessary for any modern Mac Web browser.

BumperCar has a Suggested Retail Price of $49.95 and is available at the Apple Stores and other fine Mac retailers. It is also available directly from Freeverse at http://freeverse.com/

Education and volume pricing is also available upon request.

For more information visit:
http://www.freeverse.com/bumpercar/
or contact: business@freeverse.com

About Freeverse
Headquartered in New York City, Freeverse Software has been a developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products for Mac OS since 1994.

New York -- April 19, 2004 -- Freeverse today announced that its online game matching service, GameSmith, has logged the creation of over 50,000 user accounts. With its concentration on the casual Mac game market, GameSmith provides a friendly meeting place for gamers from around the globe.

Ian Lynch Smith, President of Freeverse has said, "Of all the kinds of stones that one can pass, this milestone feels pretty good! We're thrilled with the quality of the community we've been able to build. It is playful but not childish, and the level of conversation on GameSmith is unlike any other online gaming experience. Our users, from teachers to students, from grandmothers to teenagers, are simply some of the greatest people on the net."

Predominantly serving Freeverse's own highly acclaimed card and board games such as Spades, Chess, Bridge and Hearts, GameSmith has been the Mac's destination of choice for classic games since 1999.

GameSmith is a free service, accessed from within any of the games that support it. Demos of these games may be downloaded from http://gamesmith.biz/

Wingnuts 2, the sequel to the critically acclaimed arcade game Wingnuts, is currently in development for a scheduled Summer 2004 release. Luckily, that doesn't mean you have to wait that long to see it!

Here's two screenshots from the latest alpha. Please note that gameplay details are not yet finalized.

The carrier is no longer limited to just being where you start and end the levels. Now it will provide cover fire, allow you to land and change planes mid-level, and travel across land and water. But the increased functionality also means you have to defend it from your opponents. If it takes too much damage, it will be destroyed - which means no more second chances for you!

Ground units in Wingnuts 2 are harder, better, faster, and stronger - you'd have to be daft to get stuck in the middle of a cluster of them like we see here! These particular ground units have three laser turrets each, and while they may not be too much trouble to deal with individually, a group of them can bring even the strongest pilots to their knees. Careful bombing runs are required to bring down these machines of destruction.

We're hoping to keep posting more Wingnuts 2 shots as we continue the march towards release, so stay tuned!

We have two pieces of good news for fans of our two hit board games, X-Words Deluxe and CrossCards.

First, both games have been updated to 3.0.6. Changes for both games are:

• Fixed a sound playing bug that could cause occasional crashes on OS X. The crashes typically occurred when starting a new game while a bot voice was playing, or when the app quit.
  
• Get confirmation if user quits app while a network game is in progress.
  
• Increased the maximum number of computer opponents to 100.
  
• Included latest GS release (3.4.3).

Also, we are happy to today announce the release of a free add-on pack for both games. The bonus pack contains 27 opponents (many being released for the first time), 2 extra scenarios (one for each game), 10 word lists for X-Words, and 3 additional backgrounds. Clocking in at 13.4 MB, it's a great way to make your X-Words or CrossCards game even better. (Note that while 3.0.6 is not required for the bonus pack, we recommend upgrading for maximum compatibility.)

The bonus pack and the update are both available via the appropriate download page:
X-Words Deluxe
CrossCards

We've released a very small update for Enigma, our devilishly tricky code breaking game, to version 2.2. The new version fixes some issues with the registration system.

Enigma 2.2 is available via our downloads page.