WorldsAway - Revision history

Stu: Tweaked the WorldsAway history page somewhat. Not perfect, needs to be fleshed out more. Just putting pen to virtual paper.

2025-04-01T20:36:45Z

Tweaked the WorldsAway history page somewhat. Not perfect, needs to be fleshed out more. Just putting pen to virtual paper.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:36, 1 April 2025
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	=Origins=		=Origins=
	In 1993, Fujitsu had shown interest in bringing [https://wiki.renoproject.org/index.php/Fujitsu_Habitat Fujitsu Habitat] to the west. The initial codename for the project was "Habitat/USA". The plan was to backport the Fujitsu Habitat software to Windows computers. However, the source code for Fujitsu Habitat revealed major architectural problems ~~and so minimal progress was made on bringing this to fruition~~<ref>Habitat Chronicles article "You can't tell people anything" - April 2004, http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-anything/</ref>. It was instead decided that development efforts would be better focused on writing something new from the ground up. ~~The original creators~~ of [[Habitat]], Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer were already involved at this time because Fujitsu had requested their aid in negotiating with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasfilm_Games Lucasfilm Games] (then LucasArts) to purchase the ~~Habitat IP outright~~.		In early 1993, Fujitsu had shown interest in bringing [https://wiki.renoproject.org/index.php/Fujitsu_Habitat Fujitsu Habitat] to the west. The initial codename for the project was "Habitat/USA". In order to happen, LucasArts (formerly [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasfilm_Games Lucasfilm Games]) had to be bought out of their ownership of the [[Habitat]] intellectual property.

			The plan was to backport the Fujitsu Habitat PC-9801 software to Windows computers, create 256 color artwork and replace the original 16 color artwork and leverage the existing architecture. The theory behind this was that it would be cheaper to port and extend what was already there rather than create something brand new. However, the server source code for Fujitsu Habitat revealed major architectural problems<ref>Habitat Chronicles article "You can't tell people anything" - April 2004, http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-anything/</ref>.

			At some point early on during the initial development stage, John Onusko who wrote the majority of the WorldsAway server code had been analyzing the Fujitsu Habitat server sources that the Japanese team had sent over. John made a comment to Randy Farmer along the lines of "you know the game runs in the server, right?". This was in reference to the fact that the Fujitsu Habitat client acted more like a terminal viewing program and all of the actual processing occurred on the server. Randy later said that he knew the entire project had to be started from scratch that very same day<ref>E-mail conversations with Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer - 4/01/2025</ref>.

			It was instead decided that development efforts would be better focused on writing something new from the ground up. This was when the codename of the project became Reno.

	The Fujitsu Habitat source code that was sent to Electric Communities by Fujitsu shows dates of August 1993 being the time the project had started to backport the software.		The Fujitsu Habitat source code that was sent to Electric Communities by Fujitsu shows dates of August 1993 being the time the project had started to backport the software.

Stu: /* Origins */ Added a mention of "Habitat/USA"

2025-04-01T18:12:51Z

Origins: Added a mention of "Habitat/USA"

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:12, 1 April 2025
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	=Origins=		=Origins=
	In 1993, Fujitsu had shown interest in bringing [https://wiki.renoproject.org/index.php/Fujitsu_Habitat Fujitsu Habitat] to the west. The plan was to backport the Fujitsu Habitat software to Windows computers. However, the source code for Fujitsu Habitat revealed major architectural problems and so minimal progress was made on bringing this to fruition<ref>Habitat Chronicles article "You can't tell people anything" - April 2004, http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-anything/</ref>. It was instead decided that development efforts would be better focused on writing something new from the ground up. The original creators of [[Habitat]], Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer were already involved at this time because Fujitsu had requested their aid in negotiating with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasfilm_Games Lucasfilm Games] (then LucasArts) to purchase the Habitat IP outright.		In 1993, Fujitsu had shown interest in bringing [https://wiki.renoproject.org/index.php/Fujitsu_Habitat Fujitsu Habitat] to the west. The initial codename for the project was "Habitat/USA". The plan was to backport the Fujitsu Habitat software to Windows computers. However, the source code for Fujitsu Habitat revealed major architectural problems and so minimal progress was made on bringing this to fruition<ref>Habitat Chronicles article "You can't tell people anything" - April 2004, http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-anything/</ref>. It was instead decided that development efforts would be better focused on writing something new from the ground up. The original creators of [[Habitat]], Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer were already involved at this time because Fujitsu had requested their aid in negotiating with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucasfilm_Games Lucasfilm Games] (then LucasArts) to purchase the Habitat IP outright.

	The Fujitsu Habitat source code that was sent to Electric Communities by Fujitsu shows dates of August 1993 being the time the project had started to backport the software.		The Fujitsu Habitat source code that was sent to Electric Communities by Fujitsu shows dates of August 1993 being the time the project had started to backport the software.

Stu at 22:08, 10 May 2022

2022-05-10T22:08:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:08, 10 May 2022
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	\|released = (Beta): August 1995, (Launched): November 1995		\|released = (Beta): August 1995, (Launched): November 1995
	}}		}}

			=Preface=
			This article is a work in progress. Some more information is available on the [[Talk:WorldsAway\|Talk]] page, but bear in mind it's unorganized and possibly missing citations.

	=Origins=		=Origins=

Stu: /* Development */

2022-05-06T17:32:56Z

Development

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:32, 6 May 2022
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	The original WorldsAway development team as taken from the Reno Team "First Look" image in May of 1994 is as follows:		The original WorldsAway development team as taken from the Reno Team "First Look" image in May of 1994 is as follows:
	<pre>Tony Christopher, Motoo Chiya, Jeanette Rosado, Dana Timbrook, Kevin Oltendorf, Bob Schumaker, Ed Hodapp ,		<pre>Tony Christopher, Motoo Chiya, Jeanette Rosado, Dana Timbrook, Kevin Oltendorf, Bob Schumaker, Ed Hodapp ,
	Perry Tucker, John Onusko, Norman Morse, Alex Griffiths, Maria Douglas, Eric Miller, Paul Willis, Joyce Harada,		Perry Tucker, John Onusko, Norman Morse, Alex Griffiths, Maria Douglas, Eric Miller, Paul Willis, Joyce Harada ,
	Paul Taylor, Mary Seabrook, Sophie Kim, Randy Farmer, Chip Morningstar, Yoshi Matsumoto and Alicia McCurdy</pre>		Paul Taylor, Mary Seabrook, Sophie Kim, Randy Farmer, Chip Morningstar, Yoshi Matsumoto and Alicia McCurdy</pre>

Stu: /* Development */

2022-05-06T17:32:41Z

Development

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 =Development=
 Placeholder.
 =Localized Versions=

Stu at 17:23, 6 May 2022

2022-05-06T17:23:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:23, 6 May 2022
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	\|title = WorldsAway		\|title = WorldsAway
	\|image = WorldsAway cover.png		\|image = WorldsAway cover.png
	\|developer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, ~~inc /~~ Fujitsu ~~Cultural Technologies~~]		\|developer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Cultural Technologies Division of Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc. (FOSSI) and Fujitsu Limited]
	\|publisher = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Cultural Technologies]		\|publisher = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Cultural Technologies]
	\|director = TBA		\|director = TBA

Stu at 17:22, 5 May 2022

2022-05-05T17:22:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:22, 5 May 2022
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	\|released = (Beta): August 1995, (Launched): November 1995		\|released = (Beta): August 1995, (Launched): November 1995
	}}		}}

	~~This is a work in progress, come back soon! Check out the rest of the wiki too.~~

	=Origins=		=Origins=
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	In 1994, Electric Communities was contracted by Fujitsu to build WorldsAway<ref>Electric Communities WorldsAway info page - May 1998, https://web.archive.org/web/19980520232826/http://www.communities.com/company/background/projects/worlds/index.html</ref>.		In 1994, Electric Communities was contracted by Fujitsu to build WorldsAway<ref>Electric Communities WorldsAway info page - May 1998, https://web.archive.org/web/19980520232826/http://www.communities.com/company/background/projects/worlds/index.html</ref>.

			=Development=
			Placeholder.

			=Localized Versions=
			Placeholder for [[Habitat II]] and [[Glass City]].

	= References =		= References =
	{{Reflist}}		{{Reflist}}

Stu at 17:21, 5 May 2022

2022-05-05T17:21:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:21, 5 May 2022
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	\|producer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer], Jeffery Douglas		\|producer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer], Jeffery Douglas
	\|designer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer]		\|designer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer]
	\|programmers = ~~Test~~		\|programmers =
	\|artist = TBA		\|artist = TBA
	\|platform = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh Mac]		\|platform = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh Mac]

Stu at 17:19, 5 May 2022

2022-05-05T17:19:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:19, 5 May 2022
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	\|producer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer], Jeffery Douglas		\|producer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer], Jeffery Douglas
	\|designer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer]		\|designer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer]
	\|~~programmer~~ = Test		\|programmers = Test
	\|artist = TBA		\|artist = TBA
	\|platform = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh Mac]		\|platform = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh Mac]

Stu at 17:18, 5 May 2022

2022-05-05T17:18:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:18, 5 May 2022
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	\|title = WorldsAway		\|title = WorldsAway
	\|image = WorldsAway cover.png		\|image = WorldsAway cover.png
	\|developer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, inc/Fujitsu Cultural Technologies]		\|developer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, inc / Fujitsu Cultural Technologies]
	\|publisher = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Cultural Technologies]		\|publisher = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujitsu Fujitsu Cultural Technologies]
	\|director = TBA		\|director = TBA
	\|producer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer], Jeffery Douglas		\|producer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer], Jeffery Douglas
	\|designer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer]		\|designer = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Farmer Randy Farmer]
	\|programmer = ~~TBA~~		\|programmer = Test
	\|artist = TBA		\|artist = TBA
	\|platform = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh Mac]		\|platform = [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows Windows], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh Mac]