blarp

Alpha v3

bring literally anything roleplaying platform

Windows only for now. The download is password-protected — the password is posted in the Discord.

Patch notes

Alpha v2 Alpha v1 builds cannot connect to servers running this version.

Choosing a character

There is a proper character picker now. It opens when you join a server, and from Server → Load Character any time after.
Characters are grouped under the pack or folder they came from, so you can tell whose version you are about to load.
Every character shows its icon, its name, and a preview of it walking in all four directions. No icon falls back to the portrait.
Switch between list and grid, and search by character name, character ID or pack name.
Packs credit their author in the header; a Discord signature is shown in Discord's purple.

Content packs

Content travels as a single .bcp file. Install from the Content Packs menu, or drag one onto the client.
Installs are reversible, and removing a pack never deletes files you edited yourself — they are moved somewhere safe and you are told where.
Every file is checksummed, so a truncated or tampered download is refused rather than half-installed.
Content profiles keep separate folder sets for separate servers, and blarp remembers which profile a server uses.
Build your own packs in the client and export a .bcp.

Themes

There is a theme editor. Change blarp's colours and fonts from inside the client and watch it change as you edit.
Themes are content packs like anything else, so you can export one and hand it to somebody.
A theme can carry a window layout. Applying it asks first, so switching for the colours never rearranges your screen behind your back.
The menu bar and its dropdowns follow the theme instead of staying grey.

Windows and docking

Panels come back open — blarp remembers which you had open, not just where they were.
Windows stay on the screen they open on, and can always be dragged smaller again.
Docking is steadier: panels no longer creep while you resize them.
The VN sprite picker is legible, and reflows as you widen the window.

Running a scene

Narration reads at a steady pace, is attributed to the Narrator, and finally has its blip sound.
Arrivals, departures, line-of-sight and fog notices moved to the IC log, so bookkeeping no longer queues ahead of speech.
Director Mode. Logging in as GM takes you out of the room; the character you were playing stays put as an ordinary NPC.
GM → Log Out hands back the tools without disconnecting and returns you to a spawn point as the character you were playing.
Directors see the room's exits as labelled boxes and can click one to move there. Players never see them.
The Map Editor can author what blocks sight separately from what blocks movement.

Fixes

Leaving combat could seal a player inside a wall, freezing the room for everyone.
Sprites no longer show a sliver of the neighbouring animation frame.
Some confirmation windows drew their message invisibly, leaving buttons under a blank space.
Narration and characters with no portrait no longer sit beside a blank square.
The character picker could be widened but never narrowed back.
Footsteps only play when you are actually moving, and weather stays put when you resize.

Worth knowing

GMs hear everything said in a room, including whispers. Moderating a room you cannot hear is not moderating, so this is deliberate — know it before you rely on a whisper for privacy.
A Discord credit in a pack is a signature, not a verified identity. Anyone can type the same string, and once shared it travels with every copy of the pack.
Almost every image and sound in blarp is supplied by players. If you use someone else's work, credit them.