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Triumphs, Tribulations, and Resolutions
By The Composer
Happy New Year Metanthropes! It has been a long time since we posted any news about the current state of development for our game. We are very excited to share with you the current state of Metanthropes development, the trials we went through to get here, and our upcoming goals; the Triumphs, Tribulations, and Resolutions for 2023. We are about to finalize the 6th version of our game, code-named Crimson Version. This version includes updates to the already existing conten- 0 comments
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First Major Update
By The Composer
Greetings Metanthropes, Continuing our Early Access – Initial Release development blog, we have exciting updates to share about our game! We’ve released a new build for Metanthropes - Early Access. This includes new releases for the Metanthropes System, and Introductory & Core Premium Modules. You can read the full Change Log if you want all the details. The major feature of this new build is the inclusion of our amazing new Tokens, created by 2DStorytelle- 0 comments
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What is Metanthropes? Start here!
By The Composer
Metanthropes is a tabletop roleplaying game about ordinary individuals, gifted with extraordinary abilities, finding their place in a Multiverse of entwining Timelines and mind-bending Dimensions. With Metanthropes you can bring to life any tale, of any era, setting, and genre through collaborative storytelling. A Metanthrope Character can be any individual imaginable. Similarly, the Player who created that Metanthrope can be anyone, from any walk of life. Metanthropes is an inclusive game that- 0 comments
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Early Access - Initial Release
By The Orchestrator
Greetings Metanthropes, We have some very exciting news to share! We are very close to releasing the very first Early Access build for our Premium Modules for Foundry VTT! This means that all our KickStarter Backers will very soon start receiving their activation keys - please make sure you have submitted your Survey on Kickstarter if you haven't already, this way we know where to send the key to. In addition to our KickStarter Backers, all our ne- 0 comments
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Greetings Metanthropes,
In this dev Blog we want to shed some light into our development process, and share with you our plan for releasing version 1.0 of Metanthropes - Early Access for Foundry VTT.
We still have quite a long road ahead of us to meet all our Early Access Milestones, and version 1.0 is the first step in this direction. With the upcoming v1.0 release, we want to embrace Narrators that wish to run Sagas (campaigns) and also bring the game up to the most modern standards of FVTT development, namely support for Foundry VTT's v12 and an upgrade to the underlying tech. More on this later, however, the main feature of v1.0 will be that we will introduce Player Progression, allowing for Protagonists to spend their EXP in a more structured and guided process, than what is currently available.
In order to accomplish this, v1.0 will bring about a heap of changes under the hood. While we have been evolving the underlying codebase as development ramped up, especially between versions 0.6 and 0.10, we did so without caring much about potential impacts to existing Worlds. With the upcoming change to v1.0 and onwards, we will be supporting and ensuring that whatever World/Actor/Item you create with the system, you will be able to keep, when upgrading to future versions.
When development of Metanthropes VTT begun, almost a year and a half ago, we were mostly focused on enabling the desired features of the system, and we were not too worried about how we did what we wanted, as long as it sort-of worked. However, since then, we learned a lot about how to properly do things within FVTT and with v1.0 we'll be refactoring a lot of the underlying code in adherence to FVTT development best practices. This will give us the ability to provide Multi-language support in future builds, optimize our build process with more automations & less manual guesswork, and provide tools and guidance for potential contributors to the project. We will elaborate more about these topics in a future blog post.
In this Blog, we want to present some of the features that will be part of v1.0 release cycle. By release cycle, we mean that with the initial release v1.0, it won't have every new feature included, and that we will be releasing later builds, to fully enable the new content. So let's dive into some details and take a look at some of the upcoming features!
Support for FVTT v12
As part of v1.0, we will be adopting Foundry VTT version 12 as the supported version for the game. Soon after, we will be dropping support for v11, as the feature list of v12 provides us with functionality that we need to unleash the vision we have in store for Metanthropes.
The first major benefit and most obvious change for Metanthropes v1.0, will be a new look for the majority of the user interface. All the Actor & Item sheets will be re-done with the new Application V2, giving us a more clean look and massive improvements in performance and overall feel. You can take a look at this section of the Development Update from the FVTT team, recorded back in March 2024, where they talk about some of the features of AppV2. We aim to introduce these UI changes with the initial release of v1.0 and iterate to expand the new UI in later releases.
The second major benefit of v12 adoption is that we can take advantage of the Scene Regions that v12 introduces. You can watch this FVTT Dev stream for more information. These Scene Regions go hand in hand with many Metapowers that have an Area of Effect in their Activation - for example the Cosmonaut Metapower of Dark Energy Projection, gives you the Distance Manipulation ability, where you can indicate a hexagon on the Grid, and whoever passes through that hex, gains additional Movement. This, and many more similar activations could now be fully automated with the application of Scene Regions.
Upgrade of underlying technologies
Besides FVTT v12 support, the upcoming Metanthropes v1.0 will also make a major transition to the way data is stored, taking advantage of the newer Data Model system that was first introduced in FVTT v10. This new feature, will enable us to take advantage of a more robust way of storing & validating persistent data. This change is quite huge in terms of effort, as it requires us to re-define everything for Actors and Items of the system, which in turn requires us to re-write the HMTL that creates the Actor and Item sheets.
Given that v12 also introduces the Application V2 as we mentioned above, with the new type of Actor and Item sheets, it's the perfect storm to update both at the same time. While the effort is underway, it gave us the opportunity to also make many improvements in other adjacent areas of our codebase, so we have decided to spend the extra time to refactor and improve the overall codebase quite dramatically with v1.0 and although these changes won't be 'visible' by Players or Narrators, they will make development of future content much easier for us in the future. So it's matter of doing a lot of major changes now, so we can have a smoother ride down the road, later.
Early into the release cycle for v1.0 will also come the official support for some of the amazing 3rd party Modules. We will talk about this in more detail on its own Blog soon™ but suffice to say, that our plan includes supporting some really great modules that exist out there. If you have a favorite Module that you simply can't live without, please let us know in the comments below, so we can make sure we look into supporting it for Metanthropes.
As part of the v1.0 release cycle, we will also be implementing Actor Active Effects for the majority of Buffs, Conditions and Metapowers of the game. This means that Combat will automatically track Durations for temporary effects and greatly improve the overall flow and speed of the game by taking away quite a lot of the manual things a Narrator has to keep track of during Action Scenes. We will also be automating the Damage / Healing and Resistances calculations. Coupled together with the Scene Regions, once complete, this set of features will greatly impact the pace of Action Scenes.
Last but not least, as part of v1.0 we will be introducing a 'Compendium browser' feature that will allow Narrators and Players to quickly import content from the Compendiums into their Actors, so there won't be a need to have all the content imported into your World. This will greatly improve the loading speeds and overall feel of your Worlds, reducing clutter and overhead.
Now there are many more features and improvements scheduled for v1.0, so stay tuned for our next Blog where we'll take another look at the progress so far. If you would like us to elaborate more on a specific technology or upcoming feature, let us know in the comments. We do want to make such development Blogs more often, so let us know in the comments what topics you would like us to cover, how often you'd like to read a Dev Blog such as this, and how much technical depth you'd like us to present.
…and as always,
Stay Legit,
Stay Meta.
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Metanthropes: Introductory Zine
Greetings Metanthropes,
We proudly present to you our very first project, that will be launching on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter on the 13th of February – Metanthropes: Introductory Zine. Metanthropes is a new Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG) and this campaign will be the best way for everyone to be introduced to our game. Zines are small, indie TTRPGs and each February, Kickstarter is supporting their rise.
Metanthropes is more than just a project for us, it is the heart of our passion, a journey five years in the making and truly a culmination of over two decades of storytelling. This is our love letter to TTRPGs – the game we've always yearned to see on the bookshelf, the stories we've longed to tell.
Embody your role as a Metanthrope (Meta-human) – a being of limitless potential, gifted with extraordinary abilities, tethered to the vibrancy of human passions. Embark on a journey of self-discovery, navigating through new worlds, mind-bending Dimensions, and a Multiverse woven with intertwining Timelines.
This campaign will include everything required to enjoy the Metanthropes Introductory experience: a Zine with all the information for new players, a prelude to the setting, the rules, 10 pre-made characters to choose from, as well as a one-shot session to enter a new cosmos. Besides the Zine (in both digital & physical form), the campaign will also offer Early Access to our upcoming Premium Modules for the Foundry Virtual Tabletop platform, as well as other exclusive limited rewards.
As we unveil our vision over the course of this campaign, we kindly ask you to share this with any friends that might be interested and click the ‘Notify on Launch’ button on our pre-launch page. Support the work of a new indie company making their first steps and help turn our dreams into reality!
We will gladly answer any questions that you might have.
Thank you for your consideration.
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Greetings Metanthropes,
When we started developing Metanthropes RPG, we were initially aiming to release the game in a printed book format. As we are no strangers to Tabletop RPG games, we were fully aware that having all the rules and Metapowers in a printed-only format would not be enough, and we were always planning to have an online-companion that would help players find the content they were looking for in an intuitive and easy way.
Our plans changed when the Pandemic of Covid-19 shook the world. For the first time, we were forced to playtest with our Closed Alpha members remotely. Initially we started developing our own platform, but soon realized just how prevalent are digital platforms to play tabletop RPGs today. So instead, we set out to find the perfect virtual tabletop (VTT) platform for our game.
What does a ‘perfect’ VTT platform for Metanthropes RPG looks like?
- Free to play. We envision being able to offer introductory sessions of our game for free, to new players, so the VTT platform needs to be free-to-play as well. That means, that all the required functionality for the Metanthropes RPG needs to be available with a free account on the VTT platform, not behind any paywalls in order to see the effects or to access the character sheet.
- No installation required. Firstly, it is a matter of time for new players. We would love to not have to deal with installation issues, complicated procedures and delays that would hinder new players from accessing the game for the first time. Additionally, we would like our game to be accessible to all players, regardless of what kind of device they choose to access the platform with.
- Support our new D100 system. As Metanthropes RPG is not using an established RPG system, the platform needs to be able to support building a character sheet from scratch, with all the rules set by us, and not having limitations trying to fit our system to an existing template. As our game gets closer to release, we aim to have a variety of options to create new characters with, and the VTT platform needs to be able to scale up to meet our needs.
- Assets that support multiple genres. Metanthropes RPG can be played in any setting, so the platform needs to support various assets in both map types and tokens. From Sci-Fi to Mythology, from Cyberpunk to Modern, from Galactic scale all the way down to Quantum, Metanthropes RPG needs a platform that provides all these assets and a scope that fits our vision.
- A plethora of effects during gameplay. One of the benefits of playing an RPG on a VTT platform, is the ability to use special effects and animations to help with storytelling and player immersion. Our Narrators should be able to easily implement effects during gameplay that enhance player experience and help bring their Sagas to life.
- Integration with our website. An online companion sometimes is not enough. Although we aim to have a browser & mobile friendly website available to our players to explore the vast content of Metanthropes RPG, the ideal VTT platform would be able to integrate with our website one step further. From Single-Sign-On to being able to create and edit character sheets, we have a lot of ideas on what we could accomplish, and we will be talking more about our goals during the Beta phase of our project.
During the first few months of the pandemic, we set out to evaluate the available VTT platforms and we fell in love with Astral Virtual Tabletop almost instantly. As it stands today, Astral VTT checks all the above boxes besides the integration part.
For the past year, we have been using Astral VTT and gained more than 1000 hours of experience with the platform. It took us by surprise, to say the least, when we figured out just how easy it is, to write code and implement the Character-Sheet that we have now. We are planning to use more features as our game matures, this is only the beginning!
As we progressed through the milestones of Closed Alpha, we decided that we feel confident to use Astral VTT for our Open Alpha phase – exclusively. This means that you will not be able to play Metanthropes RPG in any other VTT platform, at least during the Alpha phase of development. If you have a favorite VTT platform that you would like to see Metanthropes RPG on, please leave us a message in the comments below.
The past year has been quite a ride, and we cannot wait to show you all that we have been working on. Make sure you book your seat in the upcoming Sessions to see all that we have in store for you. See you in the Metaverse!
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Culmination
Metanthropes of distant lands, alternate Timelines, and other-worldly Dimensions,
I bid you welcome to the last Blog post of the Closed Alpha version of Metanthropes RPG. We are LIVE! Metanthropes.com is open to the public and the first Open Alpha members started joining in. The game’s content, and the website's features will be updated every week, as well as improving the user experience. Join us in this endeavor by providing us with your precious feedback, and by this way helping us manifest our vision.
Newest updates include the first three Chapters of the game (Enter Meta, Rules, and My Character) being edited (courtesy of @marouliz), a new digital Character’s Sheet, and the addition of a plethora of Possessions from all eras (from a Viking ship, to cellphones, and spaceships). Chapter 4: Metapowered will be accessible to all Audience members and above. You can increase your Community Reputation by being active in the community and participating in events.
More updates on Community Reputation, Metapowers, Combos and more will be elaborated in future Blogs posts for all our Open Alpha Members. All aboard the Hype Dimension! This feels like the culmination of a prolonged effort, but in truth – this is just the beginning.
Visit here for more about how to create a new Metanthrope:
https://www.metanthropes.com/mycharacter/
Visit here for more about the new Character Sheet:
https://www.metanthropes.com/cs/
Visit here for more about Reputation & Rewards:
https://www.metanthropes.com/reputation/
Stay Legit,
Stay Meta.
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Blogs
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Closed Alpha Development Archive
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Open Alpha Development News
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Open Beta Development News
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Early Access Development News
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