WorldBuilder is a tool created for Empires which allows the user
to create common objects of the game. Within Empires, there is a
class system of sorts. There are the players, and there are the
developers. A player, after achieving certain goals in the game,
can be approved to gain developer powers. He or she no longer
plays the game, but works to extend the game, creating new areas
which are added to Empires as they are completed. This trait of
constantly evolving means that there are always new areas for
players to explore, meaning the game never loses its
freshness.

Player extendability has been common in the MUD genre which
Empires was inspired by, but is completely unique to a graphical
online game of this type. Empires also goes one step beyond MUDs,
opening up the creative process to a wider range of people. In
MUDs it was necessary to be a programmer, and to learn the
particular language and syntax of each MUD. Long files of C-like
code had to be created for each simple object in the game. There
was a steep learning curve, and even experienced developers found
the tedium and repetitive nature of the process inhibited
productivity and the creative spark.

WorldBuilder circumvents the slow development time, repetitive
code and test loops, and the programming prerequisite by providing
a suite of graphical tools to allow developers of Empires, no
matter what their skill level, the ability to quickly and easily
create their own areas of the game. The necessary data is
collected via a familiar interface of radio buttons, pop-up menus
and text boxes. The code is then generated and sent to Empires via
ftp without ever requiring any programming by the end user.

Experienced developers will find that this painless way of
creating the core code doesn't pose any limitations however.
WorldBuilder also provides a visual code editor with built-in
error checking, color-coding, and online help files. Any special
programming task may be added to the basic code after it's
generated, in a more feature-rich and flexible environment than
that offered in traditional MUDs.

Currently WorldBuilder is in beta testing, and is available only
for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. You must be a developer of
Empires to make use of the program, but others may download it to
see what it's like.

See a screenshot of WorldBuilder

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