Furcadia (software)

Furcadia in action

The following covers the details and release history of Furcadia's official end-user client, release history and third-party clones for non-supported platforms.

Details

The Furcadia Client runs on Windows 95 through Vista. It is organized into four main areas:

• The upper left section displays the portrait and name of a furre when they are clicked on.
• The lower left section contains five tabs that allow the furre to move about and interact with the world around them.
• The upper right section shows the dream that the furre is currently in, including other furres that are nearby.
• The lower right section contains a text window, used to talk with other furres visible above, and to whisper (private message) other furres that are currently logged in.

Non-Windows Platforms

An officially supported Macintosh client has often been requested, but in the past has been considered a "lower development priority" when compared to other features and capabilities. Ghost Tiger has developed and maintains mFurc, a native client for the Macintosh users that provides most of the capabilities of the Windows version. It also includes several enhanced capabilities, including a buddy list, integration with Growl for notifications and whisper chat windows, much like those provided by iChats plus a contact list, and a selective notification feature called Totem. mFurc is Leopard (10.5) compatible and available as a Universal binary.

GNU/Linux users should find that The Furcadia Client installs and runs perfectly under wine versions greater than 0.9.17. and with CrossOver. New Macintosh systems that use Intel chips can run Furcadia via CrossOver, Parallels Desktop and/or Boot Camp (which allows Windows 95 to Vista OS to run natively.)

Third-party applications

Many third-party applications have been written to complement and enhance the Furcadia Client. These applications include:

• Proxies, which sit between the Furcadia Client and the Server and provide additional capabilities. Examples include Furnarchy, DogProxy and Mreow! Proxy.
• Bots, which allow characters to be controlled by a computer program. Examples include FurBot.
• Editors, which allow the editing of patches, DragonSpeak and dream maps. Examples include Dreamer.
• Alternate clients, which allow characters to visit Furcadia. Examples include mFurc.

Release history

Version 24

"Lions & Tigers & Bears, OMG!", Released 2007-10-26

• Added: Additional DragonSpeak
• Added: New Species: Ursines, Bats, Ferian Leonen, Ferian Tygard, Penguins, Werewolves
• Added: DragonSpeak Button improvements, including Dsbtns.fsh to hold DragonSpeak Buttons #11 - #99
• Added: Performance improvements and reduced memory use
• Added: Ability to run Furcadia off a flash drive
• Added: PhoenixSpeak (alpha)
• Added: Window resizing refinements
• Added: 'Show Hidden Buttons' option in Furcadia Skinner
• Added: Wine compatibility

Version 25

"Fox Update", Released 2008-01-31

• Added: Additional DragonSpeak
• Added: New Species: Unicorn, Foxen Ferian, Furling, Chinchilla, Flox
• Added: Client-side animations usign KitterSpeak
• Added: New patch file format (.fox)
• Added: New "Golden Age" skin
• Added: DS button improvements, including remappable buttons and portraits and butlers are now buttons.
• Added: Item4.fox and Floor2.fox to allow user-created patches and aminations
• Added: New "F" tab with extra room and some new buttons like "who", "forums" and "map".
• Added: Test Mode for weavers to test out dreams made with SS and GP features.
• Added: The Wylde Updated!
• Added: Live and shared dream editing