News/2007

2007

September

• September 30th - New tool: GUI Editor

We have added a new tool to the scripted RC: the GUI Editor! Open the scripted RC (F6) and click on the new GUI editor icon to open it. In the GUI Editor window you can select a GUI type (e.g. "Window") and click on the "+" button for adding the GUI control. Once you are finished with your GUI click on the "Compile" button to upload the script to your server. The Gui Editor supports the new GUI styles, so you can easily make windows which use the users choosen GUI style.

• September 29th - Aeon is back... and hiring!

Some of you may be familiar with Aeon from a few years ago. We've been making significant progress on the server over the last week, and we would like to invite all talented level, graphics and animation artists to join our team. If you are interested, please feel free to log onto the server and read the server PM for more information.

• September 25th - Graal Legacy is Now Hosted!

Yes way! After some years of work, many server inspections, and some "staff problems", Graal Legacy has FINALLY made hosted! This doesn't mean we're done with production. We have much more to make. Mostly scripts. We have changed some staff positions for people and are now good to go with what they are for the most part. But come on and take a look. If you like the server maybe you can apply. But please do NOT ask for a non develoment position UNLESS WE ANNOUNCE WE ARE HIRING THEM. Those that we ARE hiring are

• NAT
• GAT
• LAT
• Gani
• Development (must be good in atleast 3 areas)

We hope to see you on Graal Legacy!

• September 17th - Graal v5.1

A new Graal version has been released!

• Video capture with picture and sounds
• Works much better on Vista
• Many bug fixes

This version also prepares the Graal3D release, more about that in a few days... For more information about the new version check out the change log.

• September 15th - Footstep particle effects on Kingdoms and Zone

Zone and Kingdoms have been graphically improved - we have added footstep effects when walking on snow, grass and sand. You can see the footsteps of other peoples and even see bubbles when swimming!

• September 10th - Zenkou - Closing down on Release

Hey, we all know that Zenkou has been around for ages... "When are they finally going to release?" Well, we have a lot of content as it is but we are in need of more. Zenkou is in need of some new development staff who are willing to help us in our final push for classic. The positions that we are looking for are:

2 Graphics Makers

2 Level Makers

1 Scripter

Log on and contact the staff if you wish to join our dish.

• September 10th - Years have passed, but Faded Nation is still going forward!!!

Thats right! Faded Nation is still alive!

Many things have been finished this year, for example: The beautiful outside levels are finished (272 levels).

• Faded Nation is now 90% complete for the hosted tab.

You may think that: "Does this server really need staff?" Yes we do! Right now, we only have 3 active staff (including me) and none of them are scripters!

Faded Nation is hiring:

• (2) GATs
• (2) NATs

Contact us, if you are ready for working on a server thats made for everyone! Faded Nation, made by players for players!

• September 9th - Esteria - Bringing It Back With Some Hiring

As many are aware, Esteria is coming back on Graal. Well, we were never gone, but we are heavily working on our project again.

We are currently working on many things such as:

• Scripts
• Custom Body Ganis
• GUIs
• Items

We hope to get these done as soon as possible, but we will need some GFXers, Scripters, and the whole lot. Ask either Crow or Switch to be hired, and you must have knowledge in the specific area you're asking for.

• September 9th - Rudora Development Progress

Some of you are probably quite familiar with the world Rudora, back from the older days of Graal. It's currently a development server, and recently has been under redevelopment in hope to bring a new Classic world. Quite a lot of progress has been made so far.

• Quite a lot of the systems have been rescripted and updated, including the Q menu and weapons
• The events have been redone, and some new ones created
• New quests are on the way

• September 9th - Zone Heavy Laser

A new weapon is available in the shop: the Heavy Laser which is similar to the Laser Force, is slightly slower but also more powerful.

• September 8th - Zone Comets

We have added flying comets on Koth and Alpha, they are not killing yet though:

• September 7th - Skill Games Improvements

We have improved several skill games:

• BomberMad can be be played with joystick and gamepad now
• We have fixed a bug in the chess computer logic (not moving when being in check)
• When training a game then you have a new "Demo" button next to the "Restart" button which lets you watch a match computer vs computer
• In Invaders X the fire slots are not decreasing anymore

• September 6th - Developer Gold

We have switched all graal.net playerworlds to the new Developer Gold system:

• Renting a server is as easy as upgrading an account - just go on the website and buy a Developer Gold subscription: http://www.graalonline.com/playerworlds/stores/upgrade
• Instead of just using PayPal, you can now also use PayByCash which offers more payment methods.
• Same price as before
• The servers are bound to the owners account. You don't have a separate admin-account, but the owner account gets full access.
• You see the remaining subscription time on the serverlist.
• You see your server on the serverlist

We also want to remind you that there is now the Developer Pack available on the website - it lets you share the costs of a server between several developers. The price is basicly 1/3 of Developer Gold, and you need 3 people to create the server.

• September 3rd - Era Releases New Quest

Era has just released a new quest! Located west of Tachi and north of the Hospital is an old military storage compound that is rumored to still have weapons inside. Find a way in, avoid the guards, and buy the guns to beat the quest.

August

• August 28th - Computer Account Locking

Graal has added a new feature that allows you to lock your account to a specific computer. If someone wants to connect to your account using a different computer then you will receive an e-mail where you need to click on a link to approve the new computer; This should make it harder to hack or steal accounts. To enable this protection, click on the "Protect" button in the serverlist screen.

• August 26th - Atlantis Relaunched

A new Atlantis has been released - with a story, quests and guides, a new interface and a completely new world with several islands which you can discover on your travel. The staff is also working on making the server available in English (default language is German).

• August 19th - Graal Skills Weekend Tournaments

We were again holding several tournaments, and started the first tournaments for Gelats! The winners for the tournaments at this weekend are:

• Poker Gelat tournaments: Viper Vanduergan (ViperZakuto), Stefan
• Poker big tournament: 1. Silver_Metal, 2. Storm Leonhart (StormYs), 3. MajinDragon
• BomberMad: Marius (MegakuribohEXE), Zero (zokemon), Compulsar FairyNightmare (knightmare1)
• Pool 8-Ball: Stefan
• Pool Straight: Wolfey Xanadu (Wolfey)

Players were also hunting for highscores, here the scores of the best players:

• Mahjongg: 86035 by Burn (dNeonb)
• Marble Flip: 33795 by Burn (dNeonb)
• Marble Maze: 2200 by Zero (zokemon)
• Asteroids: 50560 by Burn (dNeonb)
• Invaders X: 6220 by Burn (dNeonb)

• August 19th - Zone Metallic Rifle

The traders sell a new weapon: the metallic rifle, which is shooting either a powerful 4-bullet shot (S-key), or a combo of 4 independent bullets which split on impact (D-key). It's not a rapid-fire rifle, but can be effective against groups of enemies or enemies hiding behind thin walls.

• August 18th - Zone Flame Bombs and Scifi Pistol

New weapons have been added: the flame bomb which is a bottle that is thrown, explodes on impact and places some fire on the ground. The flame bombs are available from the traders. In the Shop window you can purchase a new pistol: the Scifi Pistol which is similar to the AP Ripper, but can also shoot sidewards when pressing the D-key, and has a higher fire rate in single pistol mode. We hope you enjoy the new weapons!

• August 18th - Zone Reapers Event

This weekend on Saturday at 11 PM GMT + 1 (5 PM United States eastern time) a reaper will be given away on Zone by the events staff Crono (Gerami) . We hope that many players will show up and participate!

• August 17th - Graal Skills Highscores

We have added a highscore system on Graal Skill games, currently it is tracking the high scores for Mahjongg, Asteroids, Marble Flip and Marble Maze. You can watch the high scores by clicking on "All Games" or by clicking on the game, and scrolling down in the description window. This highscore is not displayed inside the game (Mahjongg sometimes says "new highscore" which is your personal score in the current game but not the online high score).

• August 14th - First Graal Kingdoms Poker Tournament

Today we had the first Graal Kingdoms Poker Tournament. Everyone was invited to join the tournament with 1000 platinum coins. After 18 rounds we had a winner, sage_scooby won in a heads up against Ravenblade1979. Besides the money he also one an unique trophy with an engraving.

We are preparing more tournaments for Graal Kingdom prizes so stay tuned.

• August 12th - Graal Skills More Tournaments

More tournaments were hold on the Graal Skills server, the winners are this time:

• BomberMad: Stefan (of course!)
• 8-Ball: Burn (Björn)
• Poker: Ziro (xXZiroXx)

Next week we will do more events, we also plan tournaments for Graal Kingdoms items, so check out and prepare for more fun events!

• August 12th - Zone New Inventory

We have added a new inventory using GUI controls. It can easier be navigated with mouse (left click for S weapon, right click for D weapon), but still works the same like the old inventory when controlled with keyboard. It offers more space for new weapons and its look can easily be customized using the new v5 GUI styles.

In the next few days we will release cool new weapons!

• August 11th - Graal Skills Tournament Winners

Many players participated in the Graal Skills Tournaments, here the winners for Staturday:

• BomberMad: Storm Leonhart (StormYs)
• 8-Ball Pool Billiard: Storm Leonhart (StormYs)
• Poker: Galapogos (Twinny)

More tournaments will come tomorrow!

• August 11th - Zone Event Weapon Match

This Saturday, Anubis (Anubis_Wing) zone events team member hosted a prize event for blue pistoles. After a heated battle with the crossbow bolts flying every direction and gravitron bullets penetrating through barrels the winner was finally decided. The winner was Shadow (IXIs_Last_Stand) who won using the gravitron. Over 15 players participated in the event! Congrats to those who particpated! Next months event date will be announced shortly!

• August 9th - Graal Skills Tournaments

This weekend we will hold several free tournaments and tournaments where you can win Gelats - play Poker, Pool Billiard, BomberMad and more against other players! We have also improved the skill games to make the playing more fun:

• The game window is bigger, we removed the clouds-header
• The tournament announcement PM leads you directly to the tournament list
• When a tournament is added then a blinking link will appear in the Log window for easily joining the tournament
• When inviting a player to a game then it is automatically selecting the best rule for the selected game (Bombermad: 3 Rounds) to make things easier
• You can bet up to 50 gelats in Poker (might be increased later)
• Nicknames are filtered (some special characters being removed) to avoid problems in multiplayer flash games
• Easier navigation with keyboard: 'Space' starts a game, card games automatically select the first button in the start screen, when closing a game then it is automatically focussing the game list

July

• July 24th - First step for economy fix on Era

Yesterday was the first of many changes. Flower shop bouquet making was removed for economical purposes. Although players might not be able to make money as fast with bouquets gone, but now it requires less physical labor to make money off of flower picking. Simply drop your flowers in groups of 10 in front of Marygold to receive your payment.

With the removal of bouquets, the staff team decided to raise the price in which the store will buy your flowers for. The following changes are listed below. (Note: this is per 10 flowers)

• 10 mums - $2
• 10 tulips - $5
• 10 carnations - $6
• 10 asters - $7
• 10 sunflowers - $7
• 10 roses - $8

Prices were chosen by the rarity of each type of flower throughout the gmap. Further job updates will be given to mining and shell digging.

• July 20th - Visible amulets and shipyardrights on Kingdoms

On Graal Kingdoms it's now possible to show off the amulet your wear. You can show/hide it like the cape by right-clicking it in the inventory and selecting the option. Show what you got, it'll look nice.

While doing that we also added support for masks to be hidden after a couple of players suggested that.

Now it is possible to protect the kingdom's shipyard even better. We added a new kingdomright called "S" - Shipyard. You will need this right now if you want to open or close the gate of the shipyard. So the leadership of the kingdom has a well knowledge about who can access the kingdom's ships.

• July 17th - Blackjack tournement on Kingdoms

Today we had a big blackjack tournement on Graal Kingdoms which took almost 2 hours. After the pre-match Leon Xanadu won the grand final and gained a Ring of the Card Champions. He was followed by Lale Cruxis and Javalin.

• July 14th - Graal v5 released!

As you may have noticed, the new Graal version 5 has been released. Many changes and new features are included in this version. If you are experiencing any bugs or wish to submit features that you would like to see, please log-in to the Graal forums and post in the v5 section here. Both Stephane and Stefan are working very hard to fix the handful of bugs that users are experiencing. Hope you enjoy!

• July 10th - Graal v5 is near!

An announcement has been made for the new Graal version 5 that includes many updates for both the Graal client and the website! A thread has been posted by Stephane detailing many of the features coming in this update. This thread may be found here. For more details on the features to come, check the Newsletter.

June

• June 24th - Ol' West 100$ Contest

In an effort to promote Ol' West, the server has set up a contest worth 100$ (USD). For more information click on the following link. 100$ Ol West Challenge

• June 9th - Kingdoms Fist Events

It is possible now to do fist-only battle events on Kingdoms. We have also fixed a problem with the escort quests.

• June 8th - Classic Monthly Spar

The Classic monthly spar for June will take place this Saturday, June 9th at 7pm EST. Good luck to all those that enter. :D

• June 7th - New Management

Valikorlia held a vote for the new manager. The results showed that Omake, an experienced staff member, won. He chose Setzer, another experienced staff member, as his co-manager. This update comes after, what players call, the failure of the previous manager.

May

• May 26th - Zone Vehicle Events

‎

On Zone the Events Team can now spawn hover bikes, mechs and speeders on any planet and so allow interesting battles and deathmatches.

• May 22th - Era Updates

A new quest developed by our very own YenroY (with help from TSAdmin, Daz, Malicious, Armanno, Amsel, Chandler) has been released today! This ninja quest not only tests your physical endurance but your mental as well.

Tricks, traps, and baddies lurk behind each turn so be ready for the puzzle of your gaming career.

• May 13th - Era Updates

Era has released Core Electronics which sells the

• BulldogCX (Ammo based pistol with dual wield)
• CrizenLXR (Energy based rifle)
• Core Handgun{Energy based pistol)
• Artillery Cannon (Energy based cannon)

You will be able to buy these soon at Core Electronics.

Also Osiris Industries has been released which sells the

• Deagle (Pistol with dual wield)
• P90 (Submachine gun)
• Famas (Rifle)
• M4 (Rifle)

These guns are ready for buying whenever the shop is open.

The "Morano Family" has been deleted and changed into "Lethal Securities".

New Staff! Please welcome Spikekid(PR), Hatred(PR), Armanno(GAT), and Malicious(Dev)

• May 12th - Zodiac Updates

The Zodiac staff are currently working on balancing the classes to make battles fair since there is now a level gap at 60.

• May 6th - Zodiac Reset

Zodiac was taken down for two days to clear the server from abusable scripts and to update some systems. It is back now, everyone is starting from scratch and has a new chance to become a nation leader!

• May 5th - Unholy Nation GS2

Unholy Nation finally switched to the new scripting engine, so being able to provide better content in the future. Most problems that occured because of that have already been fixed.

April

• April 10th - Classic Egg Hunt Winner

Thor won the Classic Egg Hunt 2007 with an impressive 6666 eggs! As the winner he gained a Level 4 Bunny card for the new card game, 4 GC tickets, and his name down in the Hunting Hall Of Fame.

Congratulations to him, and thanks for everyone who took part.

• April 8th - Kingdoms Easter Events

The egg hunt on Graal Kingdoms started! You can either digg for regular eggs and then catch the jumping egg using a net, and then go into Hotaru gift shop to get one of the rare easter items. Or you can try to find one of the special eggs which contain items like the demon shield or house renovation scrolls for expanding your house.

From time to time you will also see pink bunny lords invading the islands. The events team can now also hold special events where only certain weapons or magic are allowed.

Thanks to Stephen and Sayian for making the graphics for the new items!

• April 8th - Zone Easter

Go the bunny in the dropship and get easter eggs (gives quite a lot of hitpoints) or buy a carrot dagger for stabbing your enemy! You will also see that some graphics have been slightly altered to match the easter look.

March

• March 31th - Progress on Mythic Legends

The progress on Mythic is going forward, we have completed several major systems:

• Movement
• MUDlib
• Shop
• Inventory
• Weather/Time

We're working on tiles, and at this point we have enough to be able to create a simple overworld as well as inside levels. We will soon have ganis for out custom bodies ready as well.

Expect more news in a near future!

• March 30th - Classic Egg Hunt

It's that time of the year again, Easter is just around the corner, so it's Egg Hunting Season on Classic!

All of the bushes each have a chance to drop an Easter Egg. If an egg appears, (once you've touched it) it belongs to you. The one with the most Easter Eggs on Easter Sunday will receive a prize, ranging from a statue in the GC Studios, a hefty amount of tickets, or a starter for the new card game.

2005 was dominated by Stryker, 2006 was Wazza, who will be the champion this year? Lets wait and find out!

• March 29th - New N-Pulse Sparring Systems

The N-Pulse Automatic Spar Ranking System has been implemented! Go to the statue room above NP Spar to view the top ten sparrers on N-Pulse based on how well they performed in the MAIN ARENA OF NP SPAR. This system does NOT apply for anywhere EXCEPT THE MAIN ARENA OF NP SPAR. Come on over and spar your best to make it to the top of the list!

• March 28th - New N-Pulse Sparring Systems

N-Pulse Spar has been updated with some new systems by Gambet. With it comes an accuracy checking system, that is completely original and new to classic sparring, along with a queue waiting system, and a consecutive spar winning counter. Soon to come will be a spar ranking system that should make everyone step it up a notch to make it to the top. N-Pulse welcomes all sparrers to come on by to spar and enjoy themselves.

• March 25th - Zone New Clothes and Hair Styles

New clothes and hair styles were uploaded: 14 new hairs (not just recolors), 21 new bodies, and many new arms and legs graphics. Sayian made most of the graphics, although other people also helped with ideas and we plan to upload more graphics soon which include more hair styles and recolorations.

• March 11th - Zone New Events

New Events have been added: Iricia can now host events which are restricted to certain weapons and guilds. There are also new possiblities for the other planets now. On the spar dropship the Events Team can now lock spar rooms and launch spars which will make it easier to host spar events and tournaments.

• March 5th - Era Relased Taurus and M3!

Today 2 Guns where added to the Gunshop in unstick me! A Handgun "The Taurus" and a Shotgun "12 gauge Pump-Action(M3)"! Each day one of those will be stocked daily at the Gunshop.

• March 3rd - Graal Kingdoms Spars & Kingdom Wars

The new fighting modifications have been enabled - the main improvements:

• You are pushed back when being hit
• Kingdom leaders (with 'K' right) can turn their kingdom island into battle ground where you don't lose items (see the kingdoms diplomacy tab)
• Completely different fighting on battle grounds:
  • More classic-like hp damage: weapon damage, ac and wc still have influence, but much less than before, and it is much easier to hit other players
  • shields block attacks from the front
  • limited speed
  • shooting arrows is freezing longer but is also taking more hitpoints if being successful

The new hp system is only used for battle grounds - when fighting against monsters everything is the same like before.

February

• February 25th - Zone Chainsaws

New item on zone: the chainsaw! You can win it in events and can use it for one hour to scare other players. We will hold several events for the chainsaw. Thanks to Sayian for drawing the chainsaw graphics!

• February 21st - Graal X Updates

Graal X has been deleted; placeholder We have finished editing 1/3 of the main city, and is now accessible by the players. The gate is opened from 7 AM - 7 PM. When closed, you can go on the right side to pay for entry (5 dollars). This new part of the city includes an entire -full-featured- checkers game (for tournaments), motel's, a garage for cars (which you can reserve a spot in), and several stores, including a bagels store, a restraunt, a gas station, a radio station, and a post office.

• February 21st - Delteria Tournaments

There have been revisions to Delteria's tournament schedule, check out our Tournaments page for more information.

• February 19th - Delteria Updates

Questing has been re-enabled on the public overworld, the overworld has been made smaller, and two new quests have been added. See http://forums.graalonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72293 for more details.

• February 17th - Pixel Art Tournament 2007

Is pixeling your thing? Do you consider yourself a "pixel artist"? How does a free Graal subscription upgrade sound to you? Do you think you have what it takes to be the best of the best? If you answered yes to all these questions, check out the Graal Communication Forums for more information about the competition that is being hosted where you will go up against the best of Graal.

For more information, visit http://forums.graalonline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1278632.

• February 14th - Graal Valentins Day

On several servers Graal players were receiving and giving presents to other players. On Graal Kingdoms events were hold where you could win love wands. On Zone the love rifle have been added which actually adds hitpoints when you shoot someone with it.

• February 4th - Kingdoms Events Display

On Graal Kingdoms the events that are managed by the Events Team are now displayed directly on the game window, you just need to click on a button that is displayed on the top of the window to see the event info and join it.

• February 3rd - Zone Freeze Tag

The Zone Events Team can now host Freeze Tag events where the goal is to shoot other players using the ice cannon. Once a player is frozen he/she will be warped out of the game.

The Events Team also got more commands to better control events, including a command to "soft ban" (prevent disturbing players from leaving dropships).

January

• January 31st - Era relased Tommy Gun!

If you make your way to Era Mafia's capture point, you will find that we have released the Tommy Gun to be bought. You must stock your own and buy your own. It is not cheap (5k), but with the recent upgrades to it, it is worth it. The Tommy Gun takes Uzi ammo, so we have included Uzi Ammo to be buyable and stockable as well. The Tommy gun does 2 damage, and has a decent spread!!! =).

• January 21st - Graal Kingdoms Spring

Many players were participating in building snowmen - Grirahan won the snowmen building contest with 129 of them! The spring returned to Graal Kingdoms now, so the snow melted. Right now it is raining quite often, which is good for plants and farmers but players are hoping for more sun.

This sunday (28th) a Spring Celebration is planned on Dustari island.

• January 14th - Graal Kingdoms Snowmen

You can build snowmen and get rare items when decorating them!
This is how it works:
- Use the shovel to dig a snowball
- Push the snowball a few times
- Medium snowballs can be picked up and put on the big snowballs, making a snowman
- Put items on the snowman to decorate it (carrot, coal, snow sticks, items dropped by elves)
- Once the snowman is fully clothed, you will get a gift box with some nice item in it. You will get up to 3 items, but you can build more snowmen.

• January 12th - Graal v4.208

A new client version has been released for fixing a security problem with gani scripts and to improve the compatibility with Windows Vista by using an updated sound library.

See v4.208 Release notes.

• January 2nd - Bomy Island

Bomy Island (known as Graal Bomy Lands, or Graal2001) is hardly working on the completion of itself. Ofcourse, the staffteam (built of 3 active workers), can't do all the work on their own, and some help is required. If anyone thinks he/she is good enough, please logon: Graal2001 Dev, and feel free to pm an Administrator to talk about a job.