Underlight: Shades of Truth FAQ

What was Underlight?

Little more than a decade ago, Underlight debuted on mplayer.com. Its selling point was that the entire game was driven by the players, creating a complex political and social environment. There were NPC monsters (called nightmares) that you could fight to gain experience points, but the primary venue of advancement was through the socialization and roleplaying with other people. Staying in character was strictly enforced. Even today, with the original graphics engine, it is unique as a true roleplaying MMORPG.

If it was so great, what happened to it?

Underlight lived a long, productive life. Lyra, the company that brainstormed it, simply had to let it go as they looked to new projects. Underlight had, and still has, a very loyal playerbase that you typically find roleplaying in the evening hours.

So what's different?

To start off with, we've finished recoding the server from the ground up. The original server was developed on a VERY specific operating system with VERY specific needs. We've found that, ten years after its introduction, the old server setup was a nightmare in itself (no pun intended). While some of the features that were available in the original Lyra version of Underlight are not all available yet, they will be soon. However, there have been a number of new and interesting features added, both on the player side and enhancing support of the players on the gamemasters side. If you are a former Underlight player, we think you'll like the new content and features.

 

From a roleplay standpoint, former Underlight players need to realize that the storylines in Shades of Truth have no connection to the old Lyra histories and they are considered off-limits. Shades of Truth has been running in some form or another since 2007 and has developed some wonderful histories of its own. Additionally, old Lyra character names are not allowed to be used. Please read the naming rules closely when creating your characters.

I'm in the game. where is everyone?

Peak playing times are typically between 5:00PM to 12:00PM PST. Pacific time has long been the standard for "Dream Standard Time" (DST), which is actually Pacific Standard Time (PST). You certainly may still find some players outside of peak hours, just not as many.

How much will it cost?

At this time, we have no plans on charging any sort of initial setup, nor a monthly fee. However, the costs of maintaining hardware, bandwidth, and hosting are coming out of our pockets; we do appreciate any help you can afford. See the Paypal donation button in the navigation menus.

How do I create a character and start playing?

Follow the instructions on getting started.