Setting the rigging
Two milestones down since the last entry. Blacktide went from a single room you could connect to, to a small stretch of harbor you can walk, with other people in it.
Exits with names, not compass points
No north, no south. Every way out of a room is something you can picture: the boardwalk, the tavern door, a trapdoor in the floor of the Drowned Rat, a rope ladder up out of a hidden cove. You leave a room by naming the way you're going, and short aliases save typing, so walk is as good as boardwalk.
A harbor to wander
The Dock, Salt Row, the Gutter Market, the Drowned Rat and its cellar, a smugglers' tunnel, a cove with only one way out, and a cliff path up to an old lighthouse. It's a first sketch and it will change, but it's already enough to get lost in.
You're not alone
You pick a name when you arrive, and anyone standing in the same room shows up when you look around. Walk away and they lose sight of you.
One heartbeat
Most of this milestone happened under the hood. Everything in Blacktide now runs through a single game loop that ticks ten times a second. Every command from every player lines up and is handled in order, one at a time. That heartbeat is what will let the world move on its own later: tides, festivals, and townsfolk going about their day will all run on it. It also means one player on a bad connection can't slow everyone else down, and when the server shuts down, it tells you instead of just vanishing.
Next
Phase one is nearly done. Next up: objects you can pick up and drop, and events, so when someone walks into the tavern, everyone inside sees them arrive.
The rigging's up. Next entry when milestone three is done.