PlaneShift 3d mmorpg 0.4.00 released!

The new client for the free 3d fantasy mmorpg PlaneShift is now available for Windows, Linux and MacOSX. Download it from the project home page http://www.planeshift.it

New Features:

* Added introducing. By default your character doesn't know anyone else except NPCs. You can introduce your character to others by right-clicking and clicking introduce or by using /introduce.
* A new updater! Right now it does not have a GUI yet, but works via a console.
* Public Books. Books that are editable by anyone and thus can have multiple authors.
* You can now load books from local files or save them to local files. Now get started on those newspapers!
* Collision Detection on items. Enabled by default for guildhouses.
* Support for custom item names.
* Guildhouses will now have signposts.
* You can now precisely place items in the world. The item will appear where you release the item with your cursor.
* You can now sort the Spell Book.

Art:

* A new monster has been discovered, the horrible Velnishi!
* Prepare to get lost in two underground networks of caves! The entrances may be found at unlikely places.
* Silent worshippers of the Unspoken One, a temple has been founded. Hallowed is the Flame!
* Discover Gugrontid, the rock-solid home of the Kran.
* Grass effects were removed from various maps. They will return when they can be rendered more effectively.
* More maps now use the new "Lighter2" lightmap system for creating light and shadows.
* More maps now use genmeshes instead of thingmeshes.
* Finally, a pile of dust!
* Two new staves.
* A full plate armour set for the Female Enkidukai and Male Stonebreaker.
* A full leather set for the Dermorian Female.

GUI:

* A new Group Window, it's more minimalistic and displays race icons.
* An enormously huge number of changes and fixes has been done to the GUI. It looks way better now!
* Improved font scaling.
* You can now select how many PP you want to spend on a training session. Prevents RSI Wink
* Redesigned the Entity Labels system, it also uses a new font!
* The sell window now displays item names and quality, this to prevent accidental sales of crafted items.

Quests & Events:

* The /quest command has been extended to give GMs much more control.
* Many changes to the quest code to solve many issues like NPCs forgetting about the player.
* When giving items to NPCs you can now give them all at once and in any order.
* You can now discard events.
* Many new books, quests and NPCs!

Movement and Combat:

* NPCs that become stuck, naturally or unnaturally, will be disabled.
* Faster strafing speed.
* Many changes to mouselook to make it work better.
* When "falling off the map", players will be returned to the map they fell off.
* After using /unstick autorun will be disabled, so you don't run into that hole yet again Wink
* Guild Wars are now persistent during server restarts/crashes.
* When you are affected by Dakkru's Curse, you will not be able to use heavy swords and armour anymore. They remain equipped, but disabled.
* All weapons now have a range. To attack with a dagger you need to be closer to your target than with a claymore.
* AutoRun(R) was changed to AutoMove(R), by using ToggleRun(Left-Alt) you can switch movement in AutoMove from walking to running and vice versa. Run(Left-Shift) works like before.

Engine:

* Many code cleanups.
* Various optimizations to map loading and unloading.
* Added a threaded "delayed" sql query executor for better performance.
* Many changes to the code to prevent unnecessary database queries, will increase performance.
* Added an experimental threaded DR (Dead Reckoning) manager to improve network traffic efficiency.
* Fixed many server and client crashes.
* Fixed many server and client memory leaks.
* Now using latest Crystal Space 1.2, which includes many bug fixes.

Various:

* Now you can only give another character guild permissions you have yourself too, not higher.
* The pet's summoned duration is now based on your stats.
* Better anti-chatflooding measures.
* Instead of right-click you can also use ctrl-leftclick. Handy if you're on a Mac or when your right-click is broken.
* You can now only read a book if it is in your possession. You can view a description of the book instead during trading.
* If someone is on your ignore list, his chatbubbles will not be shown either.