The Shining Source

With Pipe-o-Justice in hand (yes its really in my hand..)
I declare that i both miss and desire the return of Shining Online!

Like other great people of our time i shall commit to starving myself until work on it is undertaken once again!

Perhaps we could discuss about it a while

This is a topic long overdue, mate. I've been browsing through my SOnline folder - as I do from time to time - and there are so many good memories in there.

Remember the SOcast from the live launch chat? I have that.

Remember the old blue template, and when everyone had postcounts in the thousands? I have an FAQ from those days.

TALK ABOUT SO, DAMMIT.

More to come later.

Ahh...i remember when SO was only but a concept...an idea...

I was branded a die-hard fan then and ive never looked back...

quite fun to see it evolve infront of my eyes

I remember emailing you about it in... 2000, was it? I do believe it was. Back when the SFIII HQ was up

Man, it's hard to believe it's been five years since we started SOnline. It made all the difference to know you were onboard supporting us all those years mate

I found this buried in the SOnline archives:

Shining Online - Plot


Introduction

   For years, the nomads of Vagabond have travelled all over the continents of the world, earning a living by selling and trading all kinds of items. Some years ago Tensai, the leader of the camp, came across a young boy hidden inside a crate of fine silks. Naming the boy Cody, Tensai brought him back to the village, where he lives until this very day...

Chapter I - The Life of a Vagabond

   After successfully fending off a monster attack in the south, Cody and the villagers of Vagabond move North to safety, stopping to make repairs and take stock of the situation. Tensai and the other village elders agree to award Cody for his bravery against the monster attack, and announce a special presentation to be held in his honour. The villagers begin to make preparations, and Cody is sent out into the forest to collect wood for the fire.

   Taking an axe, he ventures into the nearby forest of Evergreen, but is ambushed by a group of monsters! Despite his best efforts, Cody is overpowered and knocked unconscious, but he awakes several hours later in the treetops of Evergreen, surrounded by wood elves. Two of the elves introduce themselves as Ken and Harmony, and explain how they rescued Cody and brought him back to their village. Although grateful for their help, Cody wants to leave as soon as possible to avoid being late for his presentation, so Ken and Harmony agree to escort him back home.

Ken the Wood Elf and Harmony the Mage join the Force!

   After fending off another enemy attack in the forest, the group arrive at Vagabond to find it burnt to the ground! Rushing to the help of the villagers, Cody and the others realise that Tensai is nowhere to be seen, so they ask his daughter, Faye, what happened to the village and its leader. She tells them how a group of powerful mercenaries came and looted the village before leaving with Tensai, so the Force decide to pursue the group and rescue him. Reluctant to leave the villagers behind, Faye has the idea of moving them into the village of Evergreen, an idea happily arranged by Ken, who calls a village elder down with a flute and gets the ball rolling. Accommodation sorted, the Force leave to rescue Tensai!

Faye the Healer joins the Force!

   On their way out of the village, the Force hears a shout from Vagabond and a stranger chases after them, handing Cody his reward - an Escape Book!

Cody learnt the spell Escape!
You join the Force!

   Cody is determined to catch the mercenaries, and sure enough his urgency pays off as the group soon catches up with the slower mercs. Engaging them in battle, the Force manages to dispatch them, and Cody angrily confronts their leader, demanding answers. He draws a blank, however, as it seems nobody was told exactly what they were looking for in Vagabond, and that only the highest-ranking of the mercenaries knew. Even the second-in-command knew nothing about it, but he surrenders himself to Cody and asks to be given a chance to find out the truth.

Sean the Mercenary joins the Force!

   As the night draws in, Cody's Force follow Sean's directions to Twilight village, where he believes the mercenaries will stay the night. Although Ken is worried about spending the night in the same town as bloodthirsty warriors, Harmony persuades him it's a better option than spending the night out in the middle of nowhere. Exhausted, the group arrive at Twilight village to find it empty, save for the distant sound of revelry, eminating from the inn. Charging in, Cody discovers the mercenaries drinking, singing and looting the bar, and Sean recognises their chief at the back. The Force battle the slightly merry group in the confines of the pub, but obviously they didn't drink their glass of Armour Milk before all that Power Beer, and they are swiftly defeated. In his dying throes, the lead mercenary manages to utter "Gal... Gal... Spir..." before departing to the big Twilight Inn in the sky. Faye, in the mean time, has managed to find her father in the cellar, bruised but otherwise fine. Inside their temporary shelter, Tensai tells the Force he knows the reason Vagabond was attacked, and suggests they visit the nearby town of Astronima, where all will be explained.


   After seeing his home town of Vagabond burnt down and his foster father Tensai kidnapped, Cody assembled a group of friends to help him catch those responsible.

   Along the way, they managed to recruit one of the mercenaries, who led them to the head of the soldiers in Twilight village and helped them defeat his former employer.

   Although the chief's last words made no sense, Tensai has promised to tell the Force the truth about what happened, and that a trip to Astronima will answer all their questions.

~ End Chapter I - The Life of a Vagabond ~

Also:

http://www.prosody.co.uk/SOcast.mp3 - check that shit out, mofos.

 Cant beleive you told the story on air..to the millions of listeners out there

AND im in the story..hmm i like this indeed  

Seems to have a stable first chapter mate, perhaps once ive suffered a few days of starvation people will take me seriously and resume work!

:lol:

I liked the first chapter, although I wasn't keen on some of the RPG clich?s. Somewhere there's the beginnings of a script, but it's not much without the action to back it up. Maybe a few well-placed words in the right ears would help..?

Look what I found!



Some very nice art of Ken enjoying nature.



They're back! I demand they be added to the emoticons list again so I don't have to keep doing image tags



If it ever comes back, the pipe story will be immortalised, possibly in some form of book or something. Or maybe you could go up to everyone in the game, ask them about the pipe, and they could tell you about it

I readded the smilies for you .

Awesome work, Dev

Now say something nice about Shining Online, or else

Well, does the fact that this thing is stickified mean that SO will return?

Not necessarily - it just means I'm vain and wanted people to talk about SOnline. It would be nice if it did return, but that's not my decision to make.

I recorded some live SOnline music earlier, which I'll upload for your aural pleasure later.

DOOM EDIT:

I found these excellent quotes in the FAQ, and wanted to share them with you all.

Seanikins

Ive been with SOnline since the beggining, and i know in my heart that this will truly bring people together in a way that they've only imagined. Things that are this good dont come into existence very often...it requires a vision, emotional pain, depression, inspiration, determination, blood, sweat, and tears to create something even remotely close to SOnline. I promise that i will devote much of my time to (in some miniscual way) repay the Entire Staff of Smash Software, and other participants in this project. I am proud to be a part of such a beautiful gaming creation...and as i was there at the beggining, i shall undoubtibly be there at the very end.

Ty

Q: If it came down to a large workload, low player turnout (just me i guess hehe) low morale and even lower spirits...would you still further the SOnline Project untill the very end?
A: Yep It will get finished, and we will support it even when things are bad.

I might steal the old phpBB template/colours for my forum - it looks awesome.

Poor Poor Poor Ken...

Certainly Sterile by the time the game is over...i always put him up against the Trees first...just for prosterity's sake :lol:

That 'Thud' sound was truly brilliant i rather enjoyed it muchly

How strange we've just been talking about that, mate. Why did the Trents always go for him..? What did he ever do to them? He was Wood Elf, you'd think they'd treat him like a brother. Lousy Trents.

Live tunes coming later.

Perhaps it was some sick Hazing Ritual from good olde Mother Nature, He had to take quite a few before he was considered a Man

:lol:

She sure had it in for him mate, however you want to put it :lol:

*Reminder to self - make a :newtslaughing: emoticon*

First up - the Church theme LIVE! As played by me on my keyboard.

http://www.prosody.co.uk/Church.mp3

More to come each time Sean replies. Keep replying, dammit!

Ahhhh...mate that's good stuff.

And you could loop it perfectly too! Genius!