Here's the article in full:
"Hello and welcome to the very first post in the Wootanga Developer Diary Blog. The Wootanga Developer Team have been extremely busy and we've got a lot of very exciting developments to tell you about.
Avatar Development
We're currently working on avatar conception, creating semi-final drafts on their appearance and available visual features. To keep track of these processes, we're developing a number of technical demos and inhouse tools to manage the various avatar combinations.
You will most probably get a look at some of these developments when we take our Infosite to the next phase. One possible sneak preview feature will be the ability to create an avatar and send it as a greeting card to your friends.
NPC Framework
Our generic Non-Player Character (NPC) framework is evolving. It's intended to be the foundation of both our interactive story tellers at the Infosite as well as in the full version of Wootanga as quest-giving bots.
The development versions have already passed the scientific category of so-called "reflex agents". These just react to input the same way regardless of situation. We have now completed the next formal step which gives them various states, such as mood or work level, which will in turn affect their reactions to the players. This is roughly equivalent to the basic concept of "Factions", which are common in many online games. Thus we're moving our NPCs into the computer science arena using agent technology and assorted elements of artificial intelligence.
Future Developments
The next stages of development include the basic design of our Quest System as well as the first technology demos for sorting out the best working concepts. We'll also integrate the avatar creation/management and application-specific profiles into our generic framework.
Along with this there will be further progress on our avatar graphics and items, particularly those showing you Wootangians reacting to certain real-world events.
Keep checking back for the latest developments. You can also use the RSS feeds in your favourite reader.
Thomas Heinen
Lead Developer"
You can head over to http://www.wootanga.com/diary.php to read the blog and look around the site. You will also find the RSS feeds there.
Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year,
Anthony
Wootanga - Play Life, Live The Game(TM)
