Home
OD Classic Info/Classic TPL OD Classic Player Search
Overdrive Top Player List Overdrive Player Search
About History Classes Maps News Mud Clients
Overdrive Classic Overdrive
Charts Contact

History of Overdrive:

March 1991

Sunrise on Farcaern

Rusalka, Imagnos, and Dharma brought forth their new world of Overdrive. At this time OD was a standard LP-Mud utilizing a village based system. Also it was the first mud known to have classes. OD ran from Rusalka's home system until the game closed in December of 1991.

June 1992

Updated World

In June of 1992, Blackhawke took over administration of Overdrive and between December 1991 and June 1992 there was a complete overhaul of the game. When the MUD reopened there was a new skill and combat system in place; along with other features that that OD has today; it has continuously been open to the world, with a few server moves. Talyessin currently is the High God, with Zygo and Lethe serving as Gods.

1992-2000

As the World Turns

During this time, the world of Overdrive and Farcaern expanded greatly. Wizards created new and exciting areas. Quests, and a plethora of mini-quests were brought in giving players a chance to solve some of the most unique puzzles out there. Players and Monsters met their end countless times; as is the case today.

Febuary 1994

Bring on the Colors

ANSI coloring was brought back to Overdrive, while colors might have played a role in earlier days of OD, according to the ancient scrolls, this is when colors came back for good. It allowed for colorized tagging of damage messages among other things.

April 2003

The Death Quest

The death quest was introduced in April of 2003. Prior to the Death Quest, players' deaths mattered, and if you had more quests solved than deaths then your character benefited greatly. After the quest was installed, those benefits went away, and deaths had little effect on player growth.

September 2004

RUSTY!

Thanks to Milkyway, The Steel Beast (originally coded by Jagdoe) made her way back to the Dragon Spire Mountains. She still roams the dark caves to this day, looking for her next meal.

2005 - ???

The Fall

Around 2005, shortly after the death quest was installed, and the rise of MMORPG games such as Everquest and World of Warcraft, OD saw a dramatic decrease of player population. Some players would leave the game behind, others would make their way back. And a select few stayed to continue on the legacy.

March 2009

Death of the Death Quest

The Death Quest was officially removed from the game by Lethe and Zygo. Players would still get negative percent on their skills, stats, talents, spells, gifts but those would still be burned off by gaining experience. The good news was though, no more death quest!

September 2009

Updated Rule Changes

As of September 2009 you are able to have up to four (this was changed after Necromancer install to 5) characters on at the same time. Botting, and sharing quest information has been allowed.

Febuary 2011

9Hells

Shinnasuka (along with some minor help from Neon), updated and reinstalled 9hells. The original map was used for most of the area, along with the same theme, monsters, guards, and items. Some new items were created also. They made the area for (pre uncapped levels) Ultra High Level Players at 130+. Players definitely would need to party up in this area to succeed.

May 2013

Hero Levels

Hero Levels made their way to the lands of Farcaern. At this time a lot of players have maxed out the old level cap of 160, and also the training caps that followed. Hero Levels offered a way for players to continue spending their experience points and progressing through the game. Shortly after Hero Levels were installed, class specific items were installed (such as Hero Class Rings) which their bonuses grew based on a player's hero level.

July 2013

Color Quality Items

Psycho brought in quality color for weapons, armors, and other items. A wizard will set the quality of an item, while the player can choose which color they want to represent that item. There are seven possibly quality items: Trash, Normal, Good, Superior, Epic, Legendary, and Quest.

August 2013

XTerm 256 colors

Xterm 256 colors were installed by Psycho allowing for 256 colors, a drastic increase from the basic eight that we had.

January 2018

Necromancers

Nerezza and her acolytes found their way home in the form of a new class. The Necromancers! Necromancers marked the fifth class that players can choose from. They came with a really well made animate incantation so players could animate up to 5 corpses to do their bidding.

Febuary 2021

Increased Levels and Training

The level cap to the game was significantly raised to a point where it will take years to get to, also the training caps were removed to accommodate the plethora of experience that can be earned.

August 2022

Overdrive Classic

Overdrive Classic is another server created for those players who wish to play the game without the distraction of botters (players who choose to let the computer play the game for them) therefor botting is not allowed, also you can only have one character on at a time. Also the quest to death bonuses are back for those who wish to choose to make the best out of their character.

January 2023 - Continuous

More Quests on Classic!

Overdrive Classic has now up to 21 main quests, with more coming! These quests offer additional benefits to players in regards to the quests to death bonuses.

September 2023

Variable Monsters on Classic!

Packrat has made it so that Wizards can create variable monsters (varmons). The varmons, once attacked will align their level and difficulty with the first player to attack it. This is great for classic and players looking for multiple targets to kill while playing.

January 2024

OD 64!

Lethe and Talyessin switched servers and we now have a 64bit system running for both Overdrive and Classic Overdrive!

Rusalka Info: Rusalka was the founding God of Overdrive. It was just but a glimmering idea that he had in his mind. He called upon Dharma and Imaginos to assist in his creation, and so afterwards the sun began to shine upon the lands of Farcaern.

Imaginos Info: One of the founders of Overdrive, Imaginos answered Rusalka’s call, and with Dharma assisted in the creation of Overdrive. Although he retired in late 1991, Imaginos may still be glimpsed, on occasion, moving through the world he helped create.

Dharma Info: When the realm was three days old, Dharma answered Rusalka’s call for assistance. Along with Imaginos, Dharma and Rusalka developed innovation after innovation, and OD became a popular underground, non-mainstream mud. At the end of 1991, Dharma resigned his position as God due to lack of time in the dim world of reality.


Reigning High God Talyessin: When Talyessin took over administration of Overdrive, he herald in a new era for Farcaern; leading wizards in the creation of new and detailed realms.