welcome to winter

When you first log into Furcadia as a new or returning player, it may seem as though most people are inactive/afk. This is the general consensus for most, and not wrong by any means.

While there are dead zones, there are considerable pockets of active players who have been automatically set to 'away' while they do something else on their computer. For example, SSP will often play games together, thus leaving our online characters to 'auto-idle' and appear away.

A helpful tool to find those pockets is DreamNova - a player-made platform created to record information on all available dreams (so long as they have not opted out).

We find many new players tend to use Furcadia as a 'log-in and play' game. Most veterans keep multiple windows open at a time, 24/7, and use it more like a visual chatroom. This isn't a necessity; but to find the greatest success, we recommend to refer to Furcadia not as a game, but a visual chat.

No matter what Discord wants to call it.

First, keep in mind we are trying to bring communities back.
Read the section 'why is everyone afk?'

When it comes to gameplay tutorials, Furcadia is not necessarily the most intuitive. It is quite an old game, and most of the playerbase are veterans who already know how to play. There is a tutorial world you can go through when you first start playing, but quickly sends you into the wild to fend for yourself.

It's highly recommended you join with a friend or utilize the Welcome Beekin (authorized volunteer to help new players) system. If there isn't a Beekin online, feel free to whisper myself or one of our Snowside Peak veterans by typing this in the chat:

• /SnowsidePeak <message>

• /Peep <message>

• /Aussie <message>

<message> refers to your message of course (no need for <>).

Most of us work full-time, so you may receive an automated response. We'll get back to you as soon as we can (if you're still online)!

so.. what do I do??

To understand the basis of Furcadia, you have to understand two different concepts: main maps and dreams.

Main maps are hubs for people to explore, interact, and ultimately upload their own content on—more on dreams below.

As these are the official maps of the game, they allow the use of default avatars/sprites, purchased items or abilities, and of course use the basic Terms of Service rules. Each map also has an audience rating, from E and T+ to 18+ and Adult Only.

• Snowside Peak is uploaded in Allegria Island, making it T+

Dreams are player-made maps that contain as much or as little as the dream owner would like, within the boundaries of the game. Snowside Peak for example, has a custom 'skin'/HUD/UI, patches, sprites, and scripted functions and games.

All dreams are obviously subject to the Furcadia Terms of Service, however many dreams will impose additional rules to help them run as intended.

Upon entering a dream you will usually receive entry-text; this is all player-scripted, so these will vary from dream to dream. Generally entry-text will give you a general idea of what the dream is about, and provide you with available spoken commands—usually you will find any rules exclusive to that dream here.

Note that any items or avatars you gain in dreams are only valid for that dream, meaning you won't be able to take them elsewhere.

finding dreams

To find player-made dreams, you must to go a main map that allows players to upload their dreams—if the main map you're on has what are called dream pads scattered around, you're probably in the right place.

You may also navigate main maps by clicking the second (B) tab; this will bring up your teleport buttons. We recommend Allegria Island(T+) to start, but you can also go to Imaginarium(T+), Wylde(T+) or Furrabian Nights(A18+).

Once you've landed on a main map that has dream pads around, you can start exploring! Keep in mind that ctrl+b will bring you back to the last dream you were in—this can be helpful for returning to the main map and finding a new player-made dream.

There aren't as many dreams uploaded as there used to be, so at times it may be easier to use DreamNova; a player-made tool that records and shares information on available dreams. This is also a great way to find active players! By default, the list will be filtered by population—keep in mind that high population dreams don't necessarily mean they're currently active. Time of day matters a lot in some circles, as many veteran players work during the day. That said, give it a minute! Just because they've been set to "afk" doesn't always mean they are! 

Weekends are often busier than weekdays.

Besides population, some dreams have more to do in them than others.. so it's up to you to find and support the ones you enjoy :)

any player tips?

It may not be overly intuitive, but there are some helpful tools and keybinds to know:

• many commands are spoken/typed; some commands and their variants can be found here (player-made, but easy to navigate!), or on the official site (though it's more difficult to navigate).

• we recommend using your arrow keys or your mouse to move instead of the buttons in the menu.

• hover over buttons on your HUD and they will tell you what the keybind for that button is, if it has one!

  • • ctrl+a for instance, sends you to Allegria Island

    • ctrl+b sends you to the map or dream you were last in

• again, most people are going to appear AFK. Unless you change it, Furcadia has a default auto-idle setting for 20 minutes; meaning you will be set AFK if you don't do anything for 20min. You can change this from FurEd—click on the tiny AFK button in the bottom-right and customize away!

  • Personally, I prefer to include my [afkhours]:[afkminutes] in my away message, so other players can see how long I've been away for.

  • Refer to the section "why is everyone afk?" as many veterans leave the game open while they're playing a game, working on artwork, etc.

• add your favourite dreams to your Pounce—the online/offline is broken for them, but it's an easy way of getting to your favourite locations (and helps if you don't know where the dream pad is located)!

Hopefully this helps, and happy dreaming!