This is a small update, mostly focused on presentation. Riojoyce has come up with a very nice title page to replace the unfitting old one. I found and fixed a couple of very small bugs, and modified the menu screen which is now somewhat more appropriate given the game's theme. A few very small changes were made to the existing game content.

I've been neglecting the site a bit lately, mainly because few people visit it. So this is sort of a double update, as the last update wasn't posted. Version 0.51 uses a platform engine for the battle system, replacing the previous top-down engine. This decision was mainly taken for visual purposes, but I'm hoping it will also make the animat design more accessible to non-programmers. Instructions like "move left" and "jump" couldn't be too hard, I figure. :-)

As far as I know the client-side multiplayer is functional, but I'm still working on getting the server running through my NetScreen router. I really hope to get it done soon, though speculation is difficult with such a complex piece of hardware.

SylentEcho has been out of contact for some time, so David "Massive02" agreed to replace him as our new interface designer. He has professional experience in the industry, so I'm sure he'll be a great help.

Also, Jim Welch has kindly volunteered to help out as our music artist. He is very talented and experienced - some examples of his work are here.

So, the updated roster is as follows:

• Myself: Programmer
• Cloveck: Sprite artist, story writer
• David "Massive02" - Interface designer
• Riojoyce: Portrait artist
• Kt17: Sprite artist
• Jim: Music artist

A great team of six, I think, each with our own very different skills. Better not add a seventh!

Animats is a game in which you program your own intelligent creatures, and battle them against enemies. User-controlled instructions are executed very much like a programming language. In Animats, though, instruction chips must be acquired by battling, buying, or bartering. All of this is mixed with a more traditional RPG-like engine, where players gain levels in order to advance their stats.

Animats is a work in progress. The most recent public release is version 0.42, which can be downloaded here. Although there remains much to be done with regard to content design, engine is essentially complete, featuring team combat as well as 1 vs 1. Best of all, there are no known bugs at this stage, which is every programmer's dream (myself included).

After several months of development, the future of Animats is looking very positive as well. New collaborators Cloveck and SlyentEcho are helping out in the graphics department which, as anyone who has played the demo can probably guess, is not my personal specialty. I am very excited to see how this project will progress.

As the Animats project has been growing rather large, I took SylentEcho's advice and set up a little site for it. Of course, this is a work in progress and will undergo many changes in the near future. In the mean time, let me know what you think.