The Mels Live Moves to themels.online
The game has a new address: https://themels.online. Your Sims, lots and Simoleons come with you.
NEW Address
- Play at themels.online. The player guide is at
themels.online/guide/ and these notes are at themels.online/changelogs/.
- The old addresses,
mels.johnathonwheeler.com and melanie.johnathonwheeler.com, send you to the new one automatically, so old bookmarks and links keep working.
- You'll need to log in once on the new address, because your browser keeps saved logins and settings separately for each site. Password reset emails now link to themels.online.
Real Songs on the Radio
Every SimRadio station now plays real songs instead of a short beeping loop: two original tracks per station, about two minutes each.
NEW Stations
- Melwood Smooth Jazz: "Velvet Avenue" (bossa nova with nylon guitar, vibes and flute) and "Rhodes After Dark" (Rhodes and alto sax).
- Retro Starlight Disco: "Starlight Boulevard" (strings, brass and octave bass) and "Mirrorball Funk" (slap bass and clavinet).
- Valley Lo-Fi Chill: "Rainy Window" and "Late Bus Home", with swung beats, tape wobble and vinyl crackle.
- 8-Bit Arcade Rock: "Coin-Op Hero" and "Pixel Highway", with chiptune leads over a rock band.
IMPROVED Radio
- Tuning in joins the station partway through its rotation, and it keeps playing song after song.
- The tuner shows the song that is playing. Mute silences the radio as before.
Real Walls & Floors
Every wall and floor style gets a detailed texture with real depth, and nothing stretches any more.
IMPROVED Walls
- Classic Red Brick has proper courses and mortar, Rustic Timber Shiplap real boards, Suburban Sage Siding lapped clapboards, and Industrial Concrete form panels with tie holes.
- Modern Drywall now has a baseboard and crown moulding.
- New Wallpaper tool: paper one side of a wall at a time, so a wall can be papered inside and brick outside. It papers just the room you click: a long wall shared by several rooms gets each room papered separately. Choose from Rose Garden Floral, Regency Stripe, Royal Teal Damask, Atomic Age Starburst, Tropical Palm Leaf, Cottage Gingham and Beadboard Wainscot, or scrape it off for free.
- Build Mode shows each wall and floor as a real texture swatch.
- Patterns keep their real size however long the wall is, and line up across doorways.
IMPROVED Floors
- Basketweave oak parquet, checkerboard marble with veining, terracotta tiles, plush cream carpet, teal velvet carpet with a diamond pattern, and irregular flagstones.
- Floors join seamlessly from tile to tile.
Old School Adventurers
Everyone in MelsScape gets a new low-poly, flat-shaded body in classic Old School style.
NEW Characters
- Players and townsfolk have faceted faces with eyes, brows, a nose and ears, chunky hands and proper boots.
- Three hairstyles (short with a fringe, long, cropped) and a full beard, still picked from your name, so everyone sees the same you.
- Armour, helmets, weapons, shields and capes sit on the new body as before; goblins, guards, barbarians, dark wizards, skeletons and hill giants all use it too.
New Detailed Furniture Models
Every piece of furniture in Buy Mode now has a detailed 3D model, and Sims sit and sleep right on them.
NEW Models
- The Velvet Royal Sectional Sofa is now a plush navy velvet three-seater with cushions and wooden legs.
- The Palatial Canopy Double Bed has carved dark wood posts, sheer drapes, and a burgundy and gold duvet.
- Also new: the Rustic Starter Cot, Modena Lounge Armchair, Solid Oak Dining Table & Chairs, Retro Cooler Mini-Fridge, Culinary Master Gas Range Stove, Pro-Chef Stainless Kitchen Sink, Modern Flow Porcelain Toilet and the Imperial Ebony Grand Piano, which comes with its bench.
- The SimVision 65" 4K Smart TV now stands on a walnut media console with a soundbar and streaming box, and its screen glows.
- The MicroWave-O-Matic has a keypad, a glowing clock and a kitchen cart with a butcher-block top, and the Modern Oak Armoire & Dresser has panelled doors, drawers and brushed metal handles.
- And the rest of the catalog: the FrostMaster fridge, butcher-block counter, glass shower and redwood hot tub; the boombox, gaming station, arcade cabinet, chess table, easel, workbench, weight bench and bookcase; the palm, fountain, mirror, wedding arch, loveseat and candlelit table; pet beds, bowls and the cat tree; all three aquariums with fish you can see through the glass; the shop counter, showcase, vending machine and OPEN sign; and the garden plot, planter and cowplant pot.
- Every lamp, the chandelier, the streetlamp and the plumbob lamp light up on their new shades and bulbs, and still switch off and change colour from the pie menu.
- They take the same space as before, so your rooms don't need rearranging.
IMPROVED Sitting & Sleeping
- Sims sit on the actual cushion of each chair, sofa, toilet and piano bench, and lie on the actual mattress, with their head up on the pillow.
- A sofa nap now lies along the sofa with the head on the armrest, instead of across it.
- Other players' Sims sit and sleep at the right height too. Before, they sat at floor height and slept under the bed.
Starter Pilot Skills
Every pilot starts ready to fly a frigate.
IMPROVED Pilot skills
- All pilots, new and existing, start with Spaceship Command I, Frigate I, Missile Launcher Operation I and Mining II, books included.
- That's enough to fly the Rook, Gnat, Lantern and Pickaxe and fit what they need from day one.
Star Map, New Systems and Exploration
The cluster grows to ten systems. Chart a course, let the autopilot fly it, and scan down hidden sites, including a boss in the Abyss.
NEW Star map and autopilot
- Press N for the star map. Plan the shortest or a safer route and turn on the autopilot.
- Four new systems: Lumen (0.9), Vesper (0.5), Cinder Reach (0.3) and Hollow (0.0, home of the Hollow Choir), with three new stations and agents.
NEW Exploration
- Core Probe Launcher and the Astrometrics skill: scan down cosmic signatures in the new 🔭 Scanner.
- Pirate hideouts, relic sites and data sites with guarded caches of loot and rig blueprints.
- The Overseer's Lair: a hidden boss in the Abyss with a 5M ISK bounty and a unique drop.
Station Hangars and Courier Contracts
Your things now live at a station, so where you trade and build matters. Haul it yourself, or pay a courier.
NEW Station hangars
- Each station has its own hangar of ships and items. Your existing hangar and ships moved to the station you were docked at.
- Pilot sell orders are collected where they were listed; industry jobs are delivered where they were built.
- The Inventory shows what you own at other stations.
NEW Courier contracts
- Post a sealed crate with a reward and collateral; other pilots haul it for you.
- Deliver on time for the reward; lose the ship or run out of time and the collateral goes to the owner.
Factions, Agents and the Warzone
Pick a side, run missions for station agents, and fight over the warzone.
NEW Player factions
- Enlist in the Aurora Compact or the Crimson Ascendancy. Enemy militia can fight each other in the warzone (Calder, Brine, Dusk) and both home regions.
- Faction kills and missions earn Loyalty Points and shift control of warzone systems. Holding a system halves your market tax and cuts repair costs there.
- LP stores sell navy modules and two navy frigates: the Aurora Lancer and the Crimson Reaver.
NEW NPC factions
- The Hollow Choir: a missile-and-web pirate cult in low and null security.
- Faction navies guard Aurora and Crimson stargates and hunt the enemy faction's pilots.
- Standings with every faction: they rise with missions and fall when you shoot their ships.
NEW Mission agents
- Every station has an agent with kill, courier and mining missions in three levels. Kill missions open a private site for you and your fleet.
- Better standing unlocks higher-level missions with bigger rewards.
Fleets and Chat
Fly together: form fleets of up to five, share bounties and loot, warp as one, and talk in Local and Fleet chat.
MULTIPLAYER Fleets
- Invite pilots by name from the new 👥 Fleet window. Fleet members show blue and can't shoot each other.
- Pirate bounties are split between fleet members in the same system, and the whole fleet can loot the wrecks.
- The fleet boss can warp everyone on grid together; the new Leadership skill boosts the fleet's speed and capacitor.
- Broadcasts: target, align to, need help.
NEW Chat
- Press Enter for chat: Local (your solar system) and Fleet.
Wrecks, Salvage, Rigs and Insurance
Every kill now leaves something behind, and every loss pays something back.
NEW Wrecks and loot
- Destroyed pirates and ships leave wrecks you can loot. Pirates drop modules, drones and salvage; pilot wrecks hold about half of the lost ship's cargo and fit.
- The killer has two minutes to loot before it's anyone's. Wrecks fade after 20 minutes.
NEW Salvage and rigs
- The Salvager pulls salvage out of wrecks (new Salvaging skill). Stations buy it.
- Rigs: four permanent ship upgrades built from salvage, three slots per hull (new Jury Rigging skill).
NEW Insurance and the Killboard
- Lost hulls pay back 40% of their price; Platinum insurance pays 100% for a week.
- The 💀 Killboard shows your kills and losses and the latest fights between pilots.
Tackle, Resists and Drones
Fights in MelsVoid get deeper: pin ships down, pick your damage, tank what's coming at you, and bring drones.
NEW Tackle
- Warp Disruptor, Warp Scrambler and Stasis Webifier: stop a ship from warping or slow it down. Warp Core Stabilizers fight back.
- The Gnat finally earns its title: +50% tackle range.
- Drifter Raiders now scramble their target, and Marauders web it.
NEW Damage types and resists
- Weapons deal EM, thermal, kinetic and explosive damage; shields and armor resist each differently.
- New Adaptive Invulnerability Field, Energized Adaptive Membrane and Damage Control. Your resists show on the fitting screen.
NEW Drones
- Light and medium combat drones and mining drones, with a drone bay on every frigate and up.
- Launch from the HUD, engage with F, recall with R. New Drones and Drone Interfacing skills.
IMPROVED Fair fights
- Firing on a pilot starts a 60-second weapons timer: no docking or jumping away mid-fight.
- Logging off during a fight with a pilot leaves your ship in space until it cools down.
Pilot Skills and the Gaming Skill
MelsVoid pilots now train EVE-style skills, paid for with your Sim's Simoleons. Your Sim's new Gaming skill makes them cheaper.
NEW Pilot Skills (MelsVoid)
- 25 pilot skills across navigation, ship classes, gunnery, missiles, engineering, targeting, mining, industry and trade, each with five levels.
- Buy a skill book, then train it level by level. Books and levels cost Simoleons from your Sim's wallet; each level trains on a real-time timer, even while you're offline.
- Queue up to 10 levels. Removing a level before it starts refunds it in full; cancelling the one in training refunds the time it had left.
- Frigates, destroyers, cruisers and bigger modules now need skills. Pilots who already owned them were given those skills free.
- New Skills window: press K in MelsVoid, or use the 🎓 button.
NEW Gaming Skill (Sims)
- Your Sim has an eighth skill, Gaming. Practice at arcade cabinets, the Arcade Brawler terminal and gaming PCs, or just play VR games.
- Every Gaming level above 1 takes 5% off MelsVoid skill books and training (45% off at level 10).
- The Arcade Brawler terminal now teaches Gaming instead of Logic.
Smoother, Lighter Flying
MelsVoid runs lighter over long sessions, and other ships glide instead of hopping.
FIX Performance
- Ships, asteroids and planets that leave your view free their graphics memory, so long sessions no longer slow down.
- Name labels in space are updated in place instead of being rebuilt every frame.
- Other ships ease between server updates and turn smoothly instead of snapping.
FIX Messages
- Unplugging now tells you the truth: a ship left in space can still be attacked in low-sec for a few seconds.
Station Shop Fix
Closed a loophole in the MelsVoid station shop that could corrupt a pilot's ISK balance.
FIX Economy
- The station shop only accepts real ships, modules and ores.
- A wallet that was left in a broken state is reset when you next jack in.
Straight Warps at Any Height
Warping from above or below the system plane now looks right: your ship and the warp streaks point straight along your course.
FIX Warp
- The warp streaks follow your real course, climbing or diving with it, instead of staying flat.
- Your ship snaps its nose onto the warp line when the warp starts, even if you were still climbing or turning.
- Warps land on your side of the destination in 3D.
Up Next Gets Out of the Way
The Up Next card no longer covers the World Map or other windows, and you can fold it away.
FIX Up Next
- The card hides while the World Map, a window, Build or Buy mode, or a VR game is open. It covered the Cyber Arcade on the map.
- Click the Up Next title to fold the card to one line; click again to open it. Your choice is remembered on this device.
MelsVoid: New Ships, Stations, Gates and Asteroids
Every ship in MelsVoid has a new low-poly, high-tech model, and so do stations, stargates and asteroids.
NEW Models
- All ten player hulls, from the Mote to the Excavator, have new textured models in their own colours, at their real sizes.
- Pirates fly new black, spiked raiders, destroyers and trident cruisers with red running lights.
- New space stations (lawless ones glow red), stargates, and two kinds of asteroid tinted by their ore.
- Engine glows still flare with speed and afterburners, and all weapon, beam, warp and explosion effects are unchanged.
MelsBrawl: New Fighter Models
All six fighters have new, fully animated 3D models.
NEW Fighters
- Mel, Byte, Brick, Volt, Blaze and Shade each have a new detailed, textured model in their own colours. Mel, Blaze and Shade still carry their weapons.
- New animations for every move: a fighting stance, running, jumping, slashes, punches and kicks, a charged smash, spell casts for specials, blocking, hit reactions, getting launched, and rolls.
- Attacks follow the real timing of each move, so the wind-up, the hit and the recovery line up with what the game is doing.
Your First Days in Melwood
The starter directives now walk you through a whole day: sleep, a job, your first shift, a skill and your first bill.
NEW Five New Directives
- After visiting a venue: A Good Night's Sleep (§ 200), Get a Job (§ 300), Your First Shift (§ 500), Learn a Skill (§ 400) and Pay the Bills (§ 300).
- The directive card shows live progress: your next shift, your best skill, when your first bill arrives.
- A new Player Guide chapter, A Day in Melwood, explains how needs, work, skills, bills and goals fit together.
Always Something to Do: Wants, Milestones and Aspirations
Goals for today, this week and your Sim's whole life, all tied to the daily loop, with an Up Next card that shows what to do next.
NEW Up Next & Wants
- The Up Next card shows the three most pressing things: bills, the carpool, a need running out, your next shift, your next promotion, your aspiration goal. Click one to go there.
- New wants from the daily loop: go to work on time, get a job, pay the bills, gain a skill level, get promoted, wake up well rested, make a friend.
- Shifts, promotions, skill levels, bills paid on time and new friends all earn Satisfaction Points.
FIX Aspirations That Work
- All seven aspirations were rebuilt from goals you can actually reach (several pointed at careers, skills or levels that don't exist).
- Aspirations, Satisfaction Points, traits and perks are saved to your account instead of the browser, so they follow you between devices and aren't shared with other accounts on the same computer. Your old progress points and perks were brought across once.
- Traits matter again: Genius learns Logic faster, Ambitious does better at work, the Entrepreneurial perk adds 10% to your pay.
- Need perks (Steel Bladder and friends) now work exactly as described; before, they were applied twice.
Bills Are Due (and the Repo-Man Is Watching)
Your home now costs money to run. Pay your bills on time, or the Repo-Man will come for your furniture.
NEW Household Bills
- A bill arrives every 3 days you play. It's based on your home: 0.5% of the lot's price plus 1.5% of everything built and furnished on it (at least § 75).
- The new 📬 chip on your HUD shows what's due. Click it to pay.
- Bills are due in 3 days. After that you get a final notice, and 2 days later the Repo-Man takes furniture worth the bill.
- Only days you're online count, so you'll never come back from a break to an empty house.
Practice Makes Perfect: Skills That Take Time
Skills now grow with the time you spend practising at skill objects, like in The Sims, and they're what unlocks your next promotion.
NEW Skilling
- Skill points build up while you use a skill object: about one per game minute, faster at better objects and in a good mood. Level 2 takes about an hour and a half of practice.
- New Oakwood Study Bookcase (§ 450): study Cooking, Mechanical, Charisma or Logic.
- Buy Mode shows which skills an object builds.
- Paintings and garden gnomes sell when they're finished, for more as your skill grows (up to 3 of each a day).
CHANGED Fair Play
- Skills are kept on the server, so promotions can trust them. Hungry, exhausted or bored Sims can't concentrate and learn nothing.
- Socials, gardening and small activities still give a few points, up to a daily limit. The Day 4 Skill Master Tonic still boosts every skill.
Real Jobs: Carpools, Shifts and Promotions
Careers work like The Sims now: fixed hours, a carpool, a paycheck for the hours you work, and promotions you earn with skills and friends.
NEW The Work Day
- Five careers with six levels each. Every level has its own hours and workdays (Culinary works evenings Wednesday to Sunday, the cafe opens at 6 AM...).
- The carpool comes an hour before your shift. Click the pulsing job chip to go, and your Sim walks off the lot for the whole shift.
- Choose how to work: Work Hard, Normal, Take It Easy or Socialize with Coworkers.
- A work report at the end shows your pay (hourly wage × hours worked), your performance and what you need for the next promotion. Shifts carry on if you log off.
CHANGED Getting Ahead
- Performance depends on your mood when you leave for work, your stance and being on time.
- Promotions need the next level's skills and friends, then raise your pay, change your hours and pay a day's wages as a bonus.
- Skipping a workday while you're online costs performance; three in a row and you're fired. Offline days are just unpaid.
- Pay and promotions are worked out by the server. The old 10-second "Clock In" shifts that could be repeated all day are gone, and the computer's "Work from Home" now opens the job listings.
Longer Days, Real Sleep and Needs That Matter
The first part of the new daily loop: the day is longer, needs run on game time, you sleep until rested, and better furniture really is better.
NEW Time
- Days are twice as long: a game minute now lasts 2 real seconds, so a waking day (6 AM to 10 PM) is about half an hour.
- Time skips ahead when everyone online is asleep (or at work), like The Sims when the whole household goes to bed. The clock shows ⏩ while it does.
- The world clock now keeps counting days and no longer resets to Monday morning when the server restarts.
NEW Needs & Furniture
- Needs fill up minute by minute while your Sim uses an object. Stop early and you keep what you've gained. A shower takes about 20 game minutes, a meal around half an hour.
- Sleep until rested: "Sleep" lasts until energy is full (naps are 90 minutes). A full bladder or an empty stomach wakes your Sim up.
- Better beds rest you faster: a § 300 cot takes about 10 hours, the Palatial Canopy Bed under 6. Buy Mode shows every object's need ratings out of 10.
- Your needs are saved to your account. Log out in bed and your Sim sleeps while you're away; anywhere else, needs fall slowly while you're offline but never below about a third.
MelsBrawl: An Arcade Platform Fighter
A Smash-style fighter in every arcade cabinet: rack up damage, then launch your friends (or bots) off the stage.
NEW Fighters & Moves
- Six fighters: Mel (all-rounder swordfighter), Byte (light speedster with three jumps), Brick (hard-hitting heavyweight), Volt (lightning zoner), Blaze (fire rushdown) and Shade (shuriken trickster). Each has its own weight, speed, jumps and four specials.
- A full moveset: jab, tilts and smash attacks in every direction, five aerials (including a spiking down air), and specials: projectiles, dashes, recovery moves, counters and ground pounds.
- Shield (hold), roll (shield + left/right), air dodge, fast-fall, and drop through platforms.
- Damage percent and weight-based knockback: the more damage you have, the farther you fly. Big hits freeze for a moment on impact.
- Rooms for up to 4, character select, and AI opponents on Easy, Normal or Hard.
NEW Feel
- Your fighter reacts instantly: your game predicts your moves and the server keeps everyone in sync.
- Animated fighters for every move, hit sparks, launch trails, KO blasts, a shield bubble, projectiles, and a camera that frames the whole fight.
- Gamepads work: left stick to move, A attack, B special, X/Y jump, bumpers shield, right stick for smash attacks.
MelsScape: New Adventurers, Camera Control and a World Map
Everyone in MelsScape got a new body, your gear finally shows up properly, and you can turn the camera and see the whole world.
NEW Characters
- New jointed characters with real elbows and knees, faces and hair. Every player has their own look (skin, hair, clothes), the same for everyone who sees them.
- Swords are held properly: gripped in the right hand, blade forward. Daggers, scimitars, longswords, axes and pickaxes all have their own shapes, in their metal's colour (bronze to rune).
- Kiteshields sit on the left forearm, facing out.
- Helmets, chain and plate armour, wizard hats and capes appear on your character.
- New animations: walking and running with bent knees, sword slashes, chopping, mining, fishing, smithing, and kneeling to cook or light fires.
- Guards, goblins, barbarians, skeletons, dark wizards and hill giants carry their own gear.
NEW Camera & World Map
- Right-drag to turn and tilt the camera (a plain right-click still opens the menu). Middle-drag, arrow keys and WASD work too; scroll to zoom. Click the compass to face north.
- World map (M or the map button by the minimap): every town and area, banks, furnaces, anvils, ranges, altars and fishing spots, and where you are. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, click somewhere to head there.
- Town hotkeys no longer fire behind MelsScape.
MelsVoid: Fly in Three Dimensions
Space isn't flat anymore. Climb, dive, and orbit at any angle.
NEW 3D Flight
- Double-click anywhere in space to fly that way, up and down included: you fly along the line from your camera through the point you clicked, like EVE.
- Ships pitch their nose up and down as they climb and dive.
- Asteroids and pirates float above and below the belt plane; approach, keep range, weapons, missiles, locking and collisions all use real 3D distances.
- Orbits stay in the plane you were flying in when you started them, so you can orbit over the top of a target.
- Warps from high above or below land you back on the destination.
MelsVoid: New Ships and Stations
Every ship now has its own design, built to scale, and stations got a full makeover.
NEW Models
- All 10 hulls have their own look: the Mote pod, the Gnat needle interceptor, the armored Rook, the Lantern with its missile pods and glowing prow, the Pickaxe mining barge, the Halberd and Cinder destroyers, the Bastion's turret towers, the Corsair's shield collar and the Excavator's ore scoop.
- Ships are to scale: a corvette is about 40 m, frigates 50-70 m, destroyers about 125 m and cruisers 280-320 m. The camera frames whatever you're flying, and collisions match the new sizes.
- Pirates fly red-lit, spiked hulls; their cruiser is a three-pronged trident.
- Stations have a tiered spire with lit windows, a rotating habitat ring, docking bays, solar arrays and blinking beacons. Low-security stations look rougher.
- Better lighting: the side of a ship away from the sun is no longer pitch black.
MelsVoid: Fly Like a Capsuleer
Speed control, double-click to fly, warps that feel like warps, and ships that bump instead of passing through things.
NEW Flight
- Speedometer: click or drag the speed bar in the HUD to set your speed (the gold marker); Max for full speed, Ctrl+Space to stop. Setting a speed while stopped flies straight ahead. Aligning for warp always goes full speed.
- Double-click in space to fly in that direction.
- Warps now accelerate away like EVE: the grid falls behind over a couple of seconds, you cruise, then slow into the destination.
- Collisions: ships bounce off asteroids, stations, gates, planets and each other. Bigger ships shove smaller ones. No damage, just like EVE.
FIX Bug Fixes
- The right-click menu could open underneath the Overview.
- Undocking and warping to a station or gate now put you outside the structure, still within docking range.
MelsVoid: Overview, Inventory, Market & Industry
The EVE-style windows MelsVoid was missing: a customizable Overview, an inventory, a real market where pilots trade with each other, and industry to turn ore into ships and modules.
NEW Windows
- Overview: make your own tabs (up to 8), choose what each tab shows (pirates, pilots, asteroids, stations, gates, belts, planets, suns) and which columns, in what order (distance, name, type, velocity, shield/armor/hull, status). Click a column header to sort; click again to reverse. Drag to move it, drag the corner to resize. Optionally make the labels in space follow the active tab.
- Inventory [I]: your item hangar and your ship's cargo hold side by side. Drag items between them while docked.
- Market [M]: browse ships, modules, ore, minerals and blueprints. Buy from stations, sell raw materials to them, or place your own buy and sell orders for other pilots. Buy orders hold your ISK and sell orders hold your items until they fill; orders that cross a price fill right away. 2% tax on trades between pilots.
- Industry [J]: reprocess ore into six minerals (low-security stations refine better), then build modules and ships from blueprints. Blueprints are never used up; jobs take time, and you collect them at any station.
- Windows open from the new bar on the left, move and resize, and remember where you put them. Esc closes the top one.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Warping to a station or stargate now lands you inside docking/jump range, like EVE's warp to 0.
- Town hotkeys (like M for the map) no longer fire behind MelsVoid.
- Inviting a friend over by phone, or sending them home, no longer throws an error (and guests now actually leave).
Player Relationships, Sims Online Style
Click another player's Sim to introduce yourself, chat, joke, compliment and dance. Friendships and romances with other players (and townies) are now kept on the server.
NEW Player Relationships
- Click another player to open their social menu. Start with Introduce Yourself, then chat, tell jokes, compliment and dance together.
- Ask to Be Friends unlocks at 30 friendship. The other player gets an Accept / Decline prompt, and you only become friends if both of you agree. Townies agree once they like you enough.
- Flirting, holding hands, kissing and proposing to another player always needs their yes. If they don't answer within 30 seconds, nothing changes.
- Each side has its own feelings: how they see you depends on how you've treated them.
- Your phone only lists people you've agreed to be friends with. Call or text a player friend from anywhere while they're online.
- The Relationships panel shows your real friends, townies and players, instead of sample contacts.
- Weddings work: once engaged, place a Wisteria Rose Wedding Arch, bring your fiancé(e) over and exchange vows. Another player has to say "I do". One spouse per Sim, and guests bring §5,000 in gifts.
- All relationships, with players and townies alike, are now saved on the server, so they follow you to any computer and can't be edited in the browser. Your existing townie relationships carried over.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Clicking another player didn't open any menu, so tipping, gifts and profiles were unreachable.
- An invisible part of the bottom-left HUD blocked clicks on Sims and furniture in the lower-left quarter of the screen.
- Messages you sent in chat showed up twice for you.
Sims Can Say No
Relationships now grow the way they do in The Sims: romance unlocks step by step, Sims can turn you down, and your relationships are saved to your account.
NEW Relationships
- Hold Hands unlocks once they're a Romantic Interest, Kiss once you're Sweethearts, and Propose once you're a Romantic Partner who's also a good friend. Before, you could kiss or propose to a total stranger.
- Sims can turn you down. Greeting and chatting always work, jokes and compliments usually do, and romance depends on how well they know and like you. A rejection costs some friendship (and romance), and an awkward one leaves your Sim Embarrassed.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Relationships were stored once per browser, so everyone who played on the same computer shared them. They're now saved per account. On each computer, the first account to log in keeps the existing relationships.
- Negative moodlets showed as "(+-2)" in chat.
Sims That Take Care of Themselves (Sensibly)
With Free Will on, your Sim now picks what actually helps most, not just the nearest object. TV is watched from the sofa, and snacks are eaten at the table.
IMPROVED Free Will
- Free Will weighs how much each option helps, then how far away it is. A tired Sim goes to bed instead of taking a shower, and a bored Sim watches TV or plays on the computer instead of cooking a feast.
- A lonely Sim talks to someone on the lot, or chats online at a computer when nobody's around (before, they did nothing).
- Hungry Sims eat food from the backpack or leftovers before cooking something new. They no longer try to eat at the table with an empty backpack, or reheat leftovers they don't have.
- Sims only go to sleep on their own when they're tired. Low Comfort means sitting down on the sofa, not going to bed at noon.
NEW Sims-Style Living
- Watch TV sends your Sim to a sofa or armchair facing the screen. They only stand when there's no seat nearby.
- The fridge's Grab Soda & Snack grabs a sandwich, and your Sim eats it sitting at the table like any other meal.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Drinking a glass of water at the sink no longer gives the "Ate Standing Up" penalty.
- A ham sandwich no longer earns the "Culinary Masterpiece" moodlet. That's for cooked meals.
Café Computers Get Chairs, Workbench Fixed
Sims no longer end up inside furniture: they sit on an office chair at the café computers and stand at the crafting workbench.
FIX Bug Fixes
- The café workstations are now proper desks (a top on legs) with an office chair. Your Sim sits on the chair with their legs under the desk to browse, write, play or work.
- The Tinkerer's Crafting Workbench was being treated as a park bench, so Sims sat down on the middle of the work top. They now stand at the front of the bench to carve gnomes and tinker.
Cook, Sit Down, Eat: Meals Work Like The Sims
Cooking now gives you food, and your Sim takes the plate to the table instead of eating standing at the stove.
NEW Meals
- When a meal is ready, your Sim carries the plate to the nearest free dining table (or a chair or sofa) and eats sitting down. They only eat standing when there's nowhere to sit.
- Bigger recipes make several servings: pizza serves 4, pancakes and feasts serve 3. The extras go in your backpack as leftovers, and each recipe card shows how many it serves.
- The microwave's Reheat Leftovers heats your most filling leftover and serves it at the table.
- Kitchen quick-cook options (Prepare Quick Meal, Cook Grand Feast, Cook Grilled Cheese, cookies and more) now cook a dish you eat at the table, instead of feeding your Sim at the stove.
- Choosing Eat on a meal in your backpack also walks your Sim to a table.
- If your Sim is already full when cooking finishes, the food goes in the backpack for later.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Cooking a recipe (like Cup Ramen at the microwave) gave no food: nothing in the backpack and no Hunger.
- Dining table and sofa seats stayed "taken" after your Sim got up, so after a few meals the table said it was full.
Buy Seeds at Home & Moved Furniture Stays Put
You can shop for seeds from any planter you own, and furniture you move on older lots no longer jumps back to its old spot.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Click any planter or dirt plot you own and choose Shop for Seeds to open the Farmer's Market from home. The seed picker also has a Shop for Seeds button. Seeds used to be sold only at the park kiosk.
- On some older lots, moved furniture (including planters) jumped back to its old spot after you left and came back, and garden progress wasn't saved. Ownership of those lots has been repaired, so moves and gardens now save.
- If the server can't save a move, the item goes back right away and you're told why, instead of looking moved until your next visit.
Livelier Pets, Real Fishing, Smarter Careers
Pets play, fetch and nap on their own; fishing has a real reel minigame, baits and aquariums; and careers now
reward your skills and let you choose how you work. The broken Player Trading Post has been removed.
NEW Pets
- Pets have a new Fun need next to Hunger, Energy and Affection, and follow, wander, nap, eat and fetch on their own.
- Pet beds, feeders and scratching trees send your pet to use them; toss a ball and your pet chases it down and brings it back.
- Every trick (Sit, Give Paw, Speak, Play Dead, Backflip) has its own animation. Use Whistle to call your pet over.
- Switch between pets you've adopted without paying again, name them, and style them with collar ribbons and charms.
NEW Fishing & Aquariums
- Reel in with a tension meter: strike while the needle is in the green to land the fish without snapping the line.
- Four baits in the Tackle tab, and each Angler rank now gives a real perk (longer strike window, rarer fish, a wider sweet spot, legendary catches).
- Caught fish go to your backpack. Sell them one at a time or with Sell All Fish (that's when you get paid), or stock them in your aquariums.
- Your fishing records and aquariums are saved to your account.
NEW Careers
- Pick a work stance on shift: Normal, Crunch (faster, bigger performance boost, more tiring), Easy or Social.
- Each career uses a skill (Tech: Logic, Culinary: Cooking, Music: Creativity, Business: Charisma). Higher skill boosts performance; Tier 2 needs skill level 3 and Tier 3 needs level 5.
- Work from Home on computers and cyber workstations, and a § 250 executive bonus for top performers at Tier 3.
- Your career is saved to your account.
POLISH Player Trading Post Removed
- The Trading Post (T) only showed sample listings, and buying took your Simoleons without giving you the item. It's gone until it can be rebuilt as a real player market.
Daily Pass Rewards Now Actually Arrive
Several Daily Pass and Season rewards never reached your backpack. They do now, and your Daily Pass progress
belongs to your account instead of the computer you play on.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Fertilizer, Dragon Fruit seeds and reward furniture now land in your backpack. Reward furniture is free to place.
- Claiming Day 4 (the Skill Master Tonic) no longer fails halfway.
- Daily Pass progress is saved per account, so someone else logging in on your computer no longer sees your rewards as "already claimed".
- Season Tier 5 is called Melwood Legend again and now includes its fountain; Tier 3 gives the Retro Blast Boombox.
NEW Super Fertilizer
- Use Super Fertilizer from your backpack on a growing plant to raise its quality by two tiers, at any Botany level.
Your Garden Is Saved With Your Lot, and Keeps Growing
Gardens are now saved on the server with your lot instead of only in your browser, plants keep growing while
you're away, and the stubborn starter plot that kept coming back is gone.
NEW Gardening
- Saved with your lot: your planters and what's growing in them follow you to any device, and visitors see the same garden.
- Grows while you're away: come back to crops that kept growing (dry soil and weeds still slow them down), with a note in chat about what's ready to harvest.
FIX Bug Fixes
- The free starter garden plot on some lots kept reappearing after you moved or removed it. It's gone for good; buy planters from the catalog instead.
- Moved planters snapped back to their old spot after a reload.
- Buying seeds at the Farmer's Market didn't work.
- Planters could show up twice after reconnecting.
Roommates Have Moved Out
We've removed the roommate system (move-in invites, chores and rent) to keep the Family panel focused on
friendships, romance and marriage.
POLISH What Changed
- The Move In invite, the Roommate Household tab, chores and daily rent are gone.
- Friendship, romance, proposals and weddings work exactly as before, and your existing relationships are kept.
No More Surprise Logouts, and No More Endless Naps
Server restarts now come with a 10-second heads-up and reconnect you automatically, and we fixed a bug that
could leave your Sim asleep in bed forever.
NETWORK Friendly Server Restarts
- 10-second warning: when we update the game, everyone online sees a countdown banner first. Your progress is saved before the restart.
- Automatic reconnect: instead of being sent back to the log-in screen, you reconnect on your own lot as soon as the server is back. If the update changed the game, the page reloads into the new version and keeps you logged in.
FIX Bug Fixes
- A Sim who slept until fully rested could stay in bed forever, with Energy and Comfort maxed while every other need dropped to zero and Free Will did nothing. Sleep (and every other action) now always finishes.
- Selling items in your shop, giving pet treats and some pet-care actions could fail silently. Fixed.
Welcome to 2026: Every Household Now Starts With § 100,000
Melwood Valley's relocation grant has caught up with the times. New households start with § 100,000 instead of § 40,000,
and every existing household has received a one-time § 60,000 top-up so nobody misses out.
NEW Bigger Relocation Grant
- New players: start with § 100,000, enough for a starter lot in The Outskirts or a home in Pleasant Suburbs, with plenty left for building and furniture.
- Existing players: received +§ 60,000 once, the difference from the old § 40,000 start.
The Coliseum Auto-Battler and World Boss Raid Are Taking a Break
We've removed the Melwood Battle Coliseum and the World Boss Raid while we design better versions of them.
They'll return in a future update, rebuilt properly.
POLISH What Changed
- The Battler [X] and Raid [Y] buttons and hotkeys are gone, along with the Coliseum duel option for townies and players.
- The "Sim-Brawler VR" Arena Terminal stays in your home as an arcade cabinet: Play Arcade Brawler still works.
- The Master of Everything aspiration now asks you to dance with 3 Sims instead of winning Coliseum battles, and any Coliseum whim is cleared.
- Battler-only items left the VIP Market and Trading Post, and the "Coliseum Champion" title is now Valley Champion.
- The VIP daily bonus calendar now shows what it actually pays each day: § 1,500 + 25 💎.
A Cleaner HUD, a Wallet That Remembers, and Fixes Across the Valley
A big quality pass on the life sim. The screen is far less crowded, building and buying are easier to follow,
and your Simoleons are now saved properly between sessions. Before this update, money you earned or spent
during a visit could quietly reset the next time you logged in.
NEW Live / Build / Buy Dock & Tidier Screen
- Mode dock: the 30-odd buttons in the top-right are now a dock with ▶️ Live (F1), 🔨 Build, 🛋️ Buy and ✨ More. Every other system lives under More, and all hotkeys still work.
- No more overlaps: the directive card, chat, whims, profile card and needs panel no longer cover each other, and the bottom HUD steps aside in Build Mode.
- Small screens: a proper phone and narrow-window layout, with chat starting collapsed.
- 3D polish: name tags stay a sensible size up close, park tree tops fade when they hide your Sim, and the lot preview shows its district.
IMPROVED Building & Buying
- Drag to build walls: press, drag and release, or click start and end as before.
- Lot outline in Buy Mode: a glowing outline and 1m grid show exactly where your lot ends while placing furniture.
- Your lot only: building, placing, moving, storing and selling furniture, and locking doors, now only work on a lot you own.
- Backpack furniture: pieces you put in your backpack can be placed again for free.
SYSTEM Your Wallet Lives on the Server
- Money is saved: Simoleons and Diamonds are stored on the game server and follow you across sessions and devices.
- Fair prices: furniture and build pieces cost their catalog price; selling returns 80% and demolishing 70%.
- Rewards paid once: the daily login streak, VIP daily bonus, sponsor broadcasts (5 a day), weekly challenges, Season tiers and starter directives each pay exactly once.
- Tips & upvotes: a tip sends another player § 100; an upvote costs § 50 and goes to that lot's owner, who is the only one who can collect it.
- Shared weather: the weather changes on its own for everyone. Clicking the weather badge now shows the forecast instead of changing the sky for the whole valley.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Selling crops at the Farmer's Market or items from your backpack removed the item without paying you.
- Diamonds from daily rewards, challenges and Season tiers never reached your balance.
- Travelling to another lot kept your Sim doing actions from the previous lot (like napping on a cot that wasn't there).
- Starter directives were shared by every account on the same computer. Each account now has its own progress. Step 2's instructions match what completes it, and step 4 completes when the action finishes.
- Sim names with symbols were silently changed (e.g. <i>Bo</i> became "iBoi"); you now get a clear message instead. Names with apostrophes, like O'Brien, work everywhere, including gifting.
- The title screen's Create Account button opened the log-in form.
- The game's save file is now written safely, so a server restart mid-save can't damage it.
MelsVoid Right-Click Menus & Visible Target Health
Right-click anything in MelsVoid for EVE-style actions, and target health bars now actually show.
NEW Right-Click Menus
- Right-click ships, asteroids, overview rows, target cards and space labels: Approach, Orbit (1–20 km), Keep at Range, Lock / Unlock, Make Active Target and Stop Ship.
- Stations and gates add Warp To (when far enough away), Dock and Jump. Press Esc or click anywhere to close the menu.
FIX Bug Fixes
- Shield, armor and hull bars on locked targets were invisible.
- The browser's own right-click menu no longer pops up over the in-game menus in MelsVoid and MelsScape.
MelsScape Rebuilt: A 256×256 World That Plays Fair
MelsScape now runs on the server, with real collision and a world about ten times bigger, modelled on the classic free-to-play mainland.
NEW A Bigger World
- Visit Melbridge castle, Draynor and its manor, Port Sarim, Rimmington, Falador, Barbarian Village, Edgemoor, Varrock, Al Kharid and the Wilderness.
- Woodcutting, Mining, Fishing, Cooking, Firemaking, Smelting and Smithing, with banks, shops, equipment and melee combat on a classic 600 ms tick.
IMPROVED Movement & Fair Play
- You walk around walls and fences instead of through them, and stand next to trees and rocks (not inside them) when you use them.
- XP, items, coins and combat are calculated by the server, so progress is the same for everyone and can't be edited in the browser.
- Loot belongs to whoever dealt the most damage for 60 seconds; on death you keep your 3 most valuable items.
- Old progress saved in the browser is not carried over.
MelsVoid: Fly, Mine and Fight in an EVE-Style Universe
Jack in from the VR Immersion Pod ("🚀 Jack Into MelsVoid") for a space game with frigates, destroyers and cruisers, all running on the server.
NEW MelsVoid
- Six star systems from safe 1.0 space down to lawless 0.0, linked by gates, with stations and asteroid belts.
- Ten hulls from the free Mote corvette to cruisers; fit lasers, autocannons, missiles, miners, shield and armor modules.
- Mine ore and sell it at stations (prices drift, and low-security stations pay more), or hunt pirates for bounties. PvP is only allowed below 0.5 security.
- Lose your ship and cargo if you are destroyed; you wake up docked at your home station in a free Mote.
- EVE hotkeys: Q approach, W orbit, E keep range, S warp, D dock/jump, L lock, F1–F8 weapons.
Password Reset by Email & Stronger Account Security
You can now add a recovery email and reset a forgotten password, and accounts are much better protected.
NEW Recovery Email & Password Reset
- Add a recovery email when you register or later from the Account panel (title screen). It is never shown to other players.
- Forgot your password? Use the link on the log-in form; the reset link is valid for 60 minutes and logs out your other sessions.
IMPROVED Security
- Passwords are stored with much stronger hashing; existing accounts upgrade automatically on their next log-in.
- New passwords need at least 8 characters, and new usernames use letters, numbers, _ or -.
- Other players can no longer post chat under your name, and names and chat can no longer contain hidden page code.
Lot Kitchen Appliance Auto-Detection & Posture-Enforced Dining Comfort
Fixed a lot appliance detection bug where recipes failed to identify deployed kitchen stations on player properties. Also introduced posture-enforced dining comfort: eating while standing, walking, or raiding the fridge now drains 20 Comfort and inflicts an "Ate Standing Up" uncomfortable moodlet, rewarding Sims who take a seat at a chair, dining table, or sofa.
FIXED Lot Kitchen Appliance Auto-Detection
- Multi-Source Station Audit: Added getAllFurniture() to FurnitureManager and re-engineered getLotCookingTools() to audit active 3D lot meshes, persistent lot furniture arrays, and catalog item definitions simultaneously.
- Robust Appliance Keyword Heuristics: Deep scans detect all appliances by ID, definition, and item name (including FrostMaster fridges, mini coolers, commercial stoves, prep counters, digital microwaves, and porcelain sinks).
- Retro Mini-Fridge Cook Action: Added the 🍳 Cook Recipe... option directly to the Retro Cooler Mini-Fridge pie menu alongside existing quick snacks.
NEW Posture-Enforced Dining Comfort & Standing Penalties
- Standing Eat Comfort Penalty: Wolfing down food, meals, or backpack snacks while standing up, walking, or at the fridge/vending machine now immediately drains -20 Comfort and awards the "Ate Standing Up" (🧍) uncomfortable moodlet for 10 minutes.
- Seated Dining Rewards: Sims who take the time to sit at a dining table, chair, or sofa enjoy their meal in comfort, gaining +15 Comfort (Seated Dining) with a serene blue overhead badge.
- Upright Chewing Animation: Updated the avatar's eating state to maintain natural upright standing posture when eating on the run, eliminating mid-air floating crouches.
Sims 1 Multi-Appliance Kitchen Cooking System & Inventory-Driven Table Dining
Re-engineered culinary mechanics with classic Sims 1 style appliance requirements and realistic backpack-driven dining. Preparing meals now checks for required kitchen stations—including prep counters, digital microwaves, kitchen sinks, gas stovetops, ovens, and refrigerators. Sims can now only dine at dining tables if they carry prepared food or snacks in their inventory, consuming a portion while reaping table comfort and social bonuses.
NEW Sims 1 Kitchen Appliances & Cooking Tool Requirements
- 3 New Catalog Appliances (49 Items Total): Added the Artisanal Butcher-Block Kitchen Counter (§180, prep_counter), MicroWave-O-Matic Digital Microwave (§260, countertop_microwave), and Pro-Chef Stainless Kitchen Sink (§320, kitchen_sink) with full 3D procedural textures and interaction anchors.
- Station Dependency Engine: Recipes require specific tools across your lot. For instance, instant ramen requires a microwave; TV dinners require a fridge and microwave; grilled cheese requires a fridge, counter, and stovetop; and wood-fired pizza requires a fridge, counter, and oven.
- Real-Time Station HUD in Cooking Menu: The recipe modal displays live status indicators for all 6 stations (Fridge, Counter, Stovetop, Oven, Microwave, Sink) on your lot and marks recipe cards with clear 🔨 Need [Tool Name] badges if missing required stations.
- Kitchen Sink & Fridge Pie Menus: Sinks feature "Wash Hands", "Drink Water", and "Wash Dirty Dishes". Fridges offer "Pack Snack for Backpack" alongside classic cooking options.
IMPROVED Inventory-Driven Table Dining Guard
- Strict Table Dining Guard: Selecting "Dine at Table" or table eating pie options without food in your backpack triggers a Simlish protest ("No nom nom!"), an audio stinger, a floating 3D badge (⚠️ No Food in Inventory!), and a chat tip.
- Backpack Meal Consumption: When carrying cooked meals, snacks, or garden produce, dining at a table consumes 1 portion from your backpack, satisfies hunger based on that food's stats, and grants table comfort and social boosts.
- Unrestricted "Sit & Relax": Sims can always choose to sit and converse or relax at dining tables without needing food in their backpack.
- Direct Inventory Meal Delivery: Completing a cooking action automatically places a fresh meal into your backpack while spawning a 3D serving platter with options to savor or pack.
Build & Buy Catalog Card Geometry & Height Preservation Fix
Resolved an issue in the Build & Buy Catalog modal where item cards collapsed vertically into narrow ~20px horizontal slivers due to CSS Grid zero-minimum-height behavior under constrained max-height containers. Standardized grid auto-row height metrics, flex-shrink guarantees, and responsive auto-wrap across all 46 furniture and architectural catalog items.
FIXED Catalog Card Geometry & Flexbox Layout
- CSS Grid Minimum Row Height: Configured grid-auto-rows: minmax(290px, auto) and align-content: start on .buy-catalog-grid, ensuring rows never compute to zero height regardless of viewport vertical constraints.
- Card Min-Height & Flex Alignment: Added min-height: 290px to .buy-item-card, flex-shrink: 0 on the icon hero banner, and margin-top: auto on purchase buttons so cards retain complete structural integrity.
- Smooth Vertical Scrolling: Verified overflow-y: auto with custom scrollbar styling, allowing smooth, stutter-free scrolling across all 46 catalog items in windowed and full-screen modes.
- Mobile & Small Screen Responsiveness: Added responsive rules for compact screens to display clean 2-column or 1-column layouts without card squishing or clipped modal boundaries.
Architectural Wall Snapping & AABB Collision Guard, Inward-Facing Dining Chairs, Clean Cutaway Doorways & Subtle Canvas Textures
Delivered high-precision spatial and visual fidelity polish across The Mels Live. Furniture placement now implements 2D Liang-Barsky line clipping to prevent objects from intersecting walls, alongside automatic flush cardinal wall snapping. All tables—including chess tables, dining sets, romantic bistros, and cyber desks—now come with matching inward-facing chairs with outward backrests. Open doorways in cutaway and walls-down modes dynamically hide header transoms for crisp silhouettes, and subtle procedural canvas textures (wood grain, marble veining, woven fabric, inlaid chessboard, and drywall stipple) add realistic material depth without download overhead.
NEW Architectural Wall Snapping & AABB Collision Guard
- Liang-Barsky 2D Line Clipping: Integrated robust segment-vs-box clipping algorithms into the placement engine (js/buyCatalog.js), instantly catching when furniture bounding boxes intersect any interior or exterior lot wall.
- Flush Cardinal Wall Snapping: When placing furniture within $0.85\text{m}$ of a cardinal wall, the placement cursor automatically snaps the object flush against the wall face with a protective $0.04\text{m}$ clearance gap.
- Dynamic Ghost & Audio Feedback: The placement hologram changes dynamically from gentle teal (0x55efc4) to crimson red (0xff3344) when colliding with walls. Placing in an illegal position is blocked with negative audio, floating error toast, and system chat warnings.
IMPROVED Inward-Facing Chairs for Tables & Workstations
- Grandmaster Chess Table Chair Inversion: Fixed local rotational matrix calculations so chair backrests are positioned on the outer perimeter ($Z = \pm 0.95\text{m}$), ensuring players sit facing each other across the board.
- Grand Oak Dining Set with 4 Chairs: Outfitted the dining table with 4 cushioned oak dining chairs and multi-seat meal eating anchors (seat_s1, seat_s2, seat_n1, seat_n2).
- Bistro Table & Cyber Workstation: Added matching wrought iron bistro chairs to the candlelit table and an ergonomic swivel bucket chair facing the cyber desktop workstation.
IMPROVED Clean Cutaway Door Openings & Flush Sills
- Dynamic Transom Hiding: In cutaway mode and walls-down mode, door overhead header transoms are now tagged and hidden dynamically whenever wall height is compressed, eliminating floating wall silhouettes across doorways.
- Flush Threshold Profile: Lowered door bottom sill height to a subtle $8\text{mm}$ ($0.008\text{m}$) at floor level ($Y = 0.004\text{m}$), removing high step barriers and clipping artifacts.
- Tolerant Cutout Geometry: Expanded doorway cutout detection along wall segments to ensure single and double doors cleanly open up walls without remaining mesh artifacts.
NEW Lightweight Procedural Canvas Textures
- Zero-Download Procedural Generation: Built an in-engine HTML5 canvas procedural texture synthesizer generating micro-noise textures on the fly.
- Subtle Surface Detail: Rendered directional organic wood grains for pine, oak, and dark mahogany; subtle organic veining for marble counters and floors; fine textile micro-weave for sofas and armchairs; stippled plaster for drywall; and an authentic 8x8 walnut and ivory checkered inlay for chess tables.
Enhanced 3D Spatial Geometry QA: Zero-Clipping Arcade Cabinets, Handcrafted Chess Chairs & Animated Barbell Bench Press
Elevated our automated QA framework from contract-only assertions to true 3D spatial geometry and bounding box clearance validation. Fixed in-game object interactions across Melwood Valley: classic arcade cabinets now feature natural standing distances and dedicated joystick/button-mashing animations, chess tables now include matching handcrafted walnut chairs with opposing multi-seat allocations, and Olympic weight benches align lengthwise with animated barbell pressing reps.
NEW 3D Spatial Geometry & Bounding Box Automated QA
- Automated Collision Clearance Verification: Enhanced the test suite (test_avatar_interactions.js) with real THREE.Box3().setFromObject() bounding box calculations, enforcing a mandatory clearance margin ($\ge 0.15\text{m}$) in front of all upright arcade cabinets, appliances, and retail stands.
- Apparatus Longitudinal Alignment Checks: Bench presses and beds are now programmatically validated to ensure the avatar's heading is strictly parallel to the apparatus's long axis (depth > width), permanently preventing transverse sideways lying.
- Clean Process Lifecycle: Added explicit process.exit(0) completion handlers across all asynchronous test runners to prevent hanging Node tasks.
IMPROVED Classic Arcade Terminals & Cyber VR Cabinets
- Zero-Clipping Standing Clearance: Arcade cabinets in the Cyber Arcade (lot_21) and the Buy Catalog now position the Sim comfortably outside the chassis (Z = 0.95m, providing $+0.49\text{m}$ clearance from cabinet body and control panel).
- Dedicated ARCADE Procedural Animation: Sims stand tall (pelvis Y = 0.85m), working the 8-way joystick with their left hand and rapidly tapping arcade buttons with their right hand while gazing up at the glowing CRT marquee.
IMPROVED Grandmaster Chess Table & Matching Chairs
- Handcrafted Matching Walnut Chairs: Rebuilt the Grandmaster Chess Table 3D model in the Buy Catalog with two matching cushioned dining-height chairs at Z = ±0.75m complete with padded seats, walnut backrests, and turned legs.
- Opposing Multi-Seat Allocation: Configured dedicated seats for White and Black pieces with opposing 180° facings (Δ = π), ensuring players sit on chairs facing each other across the board without clipping inside the pedestal table.
IMPROVED Olympic Barbell Bench Press
- Lengthwise Pad Orientation: Corrected weight bench facing offset from $90^\circ$ to $0^\circ$, cleanly aligning Sims longitudinally along the $1.7\text{m}$ padded bench beneath the knurled barbell.
- Dedicated BENCH_PRESS Procedural Animation: Replaced the passive sleeping pose with an active rhythmic pressing cycle, smoothly extending arms overhead to lockout and flaring elbows on chest descent.
Comprehensive QA: Natural Locomotion, 37-Category Object Interaction Anchors & Multi-Seat Socialization
Completed a rigorous commercial-grade QA pass across all 46 Buy Catalog objects and public venue furniture in The Mels Live. Engineered a comprehensive 37-category rotation-aware interaction matrix, eliminating all avatar teleportation, misaligned facing, and remote instant popping. Multi-seat sofas and bistro dinner tables now allocate discrete seats with opposing conversational facings, while procedural rigs dynamically adapt between upright standing and 90° seated postures.
NEW 37-Category Rotation-Aware Interaction Anchor Matrix
- Universal Mathematical Approach & Snap Anchors: Every single item in the Buy Catalog and public venues now computes precise approach waypoints and snap coordinates rotated dynamically by the furniture's orientation.
- Contextual Face-In vs Face-Out Heading: Sims approach appliances (stoves, refrigerators, sinks), computers, and mirrors facing inward toward the surface, while chairs, sofas, and toilets naturally face outward away from the backrest.
- Full Catalog Coverage (46/46 Objects): Dedicated anchors established for Smart HDTV (2.0m viewing clearance), Olympic Weight Benches, Arcade Terminals, Table Fish Bowls, Living Wall Reefs, Tackle Racks, Wedding Arches, Cash Registers, Display Cases, Vending Machines, Pet Beds, Feeders, and Scratching Trees.
IMPROVED Multi-Seat Socialization & Opposing Dining
- Opposing Bistro Dining Chairs: Intimate Candlelit Bistro Table allocates opposing North and South seats with 180° opposite facings (Δ = π), allowing two Sims to dine together directly facing each other across candlelight.
- Discrete Loveseat Cushion Offsets: Velvet Romance Loveseat now features separate Left and Right cushion positions (x = ±0.32m) preventing overlap during cuddles or shared sitting.
IMPROVED Articulated Skeletal Poses & Dynamic Posture
- Adaptive Standing vs Seated Posture: Procedural animations for Typing (TYPE), Eating (EAT), and Reading (READ) dynamically check anchor type. Standing at a cash register, bookcase, or vending machine maintains an upright spine (pelvis Y = 0.85m), whereas sitting at desks or dining tables drops pelvis to 0.48m and articulates knees by 90°.
- True Horizontal Weight Bench Press: Ironclad Weight Bench lies flat (pitch = -90°) resting comfortably on the cushion pad without tilting the overhead plumbob or nameplate.
FIX Elimination of Instant Remote Interaction Popping
- Full In-World Action Execution: Pet care, register ringing, soda vending, aquarium watching, and candlelit toasts now pathfind to the object, face the surface, play the designated skeletal animation, and run completion logic via onFinish callbacks upon timer completion.
- Smooth Anchor Release: Sims smoothly step back out to their approach waypoint when interactions finish or are canceled, ensuring zero clipping into geometry.
Commercial Expansion: Fishing, Marine Ecology & Valley Aquariums and Relationships 2.0: Romance, Marriage & Household Roommates
Expanded The Mels Live with two commercial-grade life simulation systems on parity with premier AAA titles: the Fishing, Marine Ecology & Valley Aquarium Engine featuring 12 aquatic species, tension reel mechanics, weight records, and 3D living home aquariums, alongside Relationships 2.0: Romance, Marriage & Household Roommates featuring an 8-tier social spectrum (-100 to +100), affectionate romantic interactions, formal proposals, floral wedding ceremonies, and autonomous rent-paying roommates (§250/day).
NEW Marine Ecology & Valley Aquarium Engine
- 12 Aquatic Species across 5 Rarity Tiers: Land catches across Shallow Ponds, Creek Brooks, Melwood River, Mountain Rapids, Glacial Caverns, and Starlight Falls—from Golden Sunfish and Rainbow Valley Trout to the mythical Bioluminescent Ghost Koi and Celestial Star-Fin Shark.
- Interactive Tension Reel Minigame: Dynamic bite alerts and line tension gauge. Keep the needle inside the green sweet spot by holding or clicking Spacebar to land your catch without line breakage.
- Catch Weight Records & Valuations: Catch weights calculated down to the hundredth of a pound establishing personal valley records; catches stored in Sim backpack for cooking, retail stocking, or aquarium display.
- 3D Living Procedural Aquariums: Stock live catches into 3 placeable buy-mode aquariums (Aquarium Table Bowl §180, Aquarium Glass Tank §450, Aquarium Mega Reef §1,200) with swimming 3D fish meshes and air bubbles.
- Angler Mastery Curriculum (Ranks 1 to 5): Advance through Novice Bobber, River Scout, Deepwater Angler, Valley Trophy Fisher, and Grand Marine Maestro (+50% catch value, doubled legendary encounter rate).
NEW Relationships 2.0: Romance, Marriage & Roommates
- 8-Tier Relationship Progression Spectrum: Calibrated -100 to +100 dynamic friendship and romance affinities: Arch Nemesis, Disliked, Acquaintance, Friend, Good Friend, Best Friend, Sweetheart, and Soulmate/Spouse.
- Dynamic Social & Romantic Interactions: Joke, Flatter, Flirt, and Passionate Kiss with heart particle visual effects and moodlet buffs.
- Roommate Co-Habitation & Rent Ledger: Invite high-friendship valley residents (65+) to move in. Roommates live on your lot, wander autonomously, and pay §250 daily rent into your household ledger.
- Autonomous Roommate Chores: Assign co-habitants to Cooking, Cleaning, Gardening, or Appliance Repairs with autonomous behavioral routines.
- Matrimonial Proposals & Wedding Arch Ceremonies: Propose with a diamond engagement ring (Romance 75+, Friendship 80+). Host a full wedding ceremony at the Wisteria Rose Wedding Arch (§420) with wedding march fanfare and spousal perks (+100 permanent bliss, double daily paychecks).
SYSTEM Controls, Manual & Catalog Additions
- New Keyboard Shortcuts: Added Shift+F for Fishing Almanac & Marine Log, and Shift+R for Relationships & Family Household.
- 7 New 3D Buy Catalog Items: Aquarium Table Bowl (§180), Aquarium Glass Tank (§450), Aquarium Mega Reef (§1,200), Fishing Rod Display Rack (§120), Wisteria Rose Wedding Arch (§420), Romantic Velvet Loveseat (§290), and Candlelit Bistro Dinner Table (§210).
- Player Manual Expansion: Added Section 21 (Marine Ecology & Aquariums) and Section 22 (Relationships 2.0 & Roommates) to the official guide at
/guide/.
Commercial Expansion: Pet Companions & 3D Creature Sanctuary Engine and Open For Business: Retail Simulator
Expanded The Mels Live with two commercial-grade life simulation systems on parity with AAA titles: the Pet Companions & 3D Creature Sanctuary Engine featuring 4 procedural animated species and 5-tier trick training, alongside the full Open For Business: Player Retail Simulator & Valley Commerce allowing players to license lots, stock shelves from backpack items, set markups, ring up sales, and earn commercial enterprise perks.
NEW Pet Companions & Sanctuary Engine
- 4 Procedural 3D Animated Pet Species: Adopt the energetic Golden Corgi pup, the sleek Midnight Tuxedo kitten, the cybernetic Mecha-Hound X-9 with glowing LED optics, or the mythical Celestial Baby Dragonling with fluttering wings.
- Kinematic 4-Legged Stride & Tail Animations: Continuous procedural walk stride cycles, responsive head rotations, dynamic tail-wagging, and expressive ear flaps during movement.
- Pet Motives & Nurturing Simulation: Autonomous life-sim AI tracking Hunger, Energy, Affection, and Fun. Feed gourmet kibble, pet & cuddle, groom coats, and send pets to nap on soft rugs.
- 5-Tier Trick Training Curriculum: Train pets from Level 1 to 5 to master Sit & Stay, Give Paw, Speak / Bark, Play Dead, and an acrobatic 360° Backflip with Mastery XP.
- Interactive Ball-Toss Fetch Minigame: Toss a tennis ball into the yard for your companion to chase down and fetch back.
- New 3D Pet Furniture in Buy Catalog: Deluxe Plush Pet Donut Bed (§ 240), Chrome Double Feeder Station (§ 140), and Multi-Tier Sisal Scratching Tree (§ 350).
- PawPrint Sanctuary UI: Full adoption management modal with 10 collar ribbon color swatches and companion renaming (N).
NEW Open For Business Retail Simulator
- 4 Storefront Licensing Categories: Transform any owned lot into an Artisan Bakery, Farmers Market, Chic Boutique, or Valley General Store.
- Wholesale Shelf Stocking: Transfer items directly from your Sim Backpack (garden harvests, cooked recipes, crafts) to store shelves.
- Dynamic Markup Pricing Strategy: Choose between Clearance (-20%), Fair Market (100%), Boutique (+40%), and Luxury Brand (+100%) with customer conversion probabilities.
- Shopper Foot Traffic & Purchases: Autonomous townies and neighbors browse your store, make purchases with cha-ching cash register audio, and deposit Simoleons directly into your household funds.
- Yelp-Style Customer Reviews: Shoppers post star ratings and qualitative reviews based on pricing and store variety.
- 4 Placeable Commercial 3D Equipment: Commercial Cash Register Checkout Counter (§ 380), Illuminated Glass Display Case (§ 450), Automated Valley Cold-Drink Vending Machine (§ 620), and Neon Open/Closed Plaque (§ 160).
- Commercial Perks Tree: Unlock Silver-Tongued Sales Pitch (+25% buy chance), Express Restock, Chamber of Commerce Plaque (+35% foot traffic), and Luxury Brand Prestige.
SYSTEM Controls & Manual Updates
- New Keybindings: Added N for Pet Sanctuary & Care and Shift+B for Open For Business Store Management.
- Player Guide Expansion: Added Section 19 (Pet Companions) and Section 20 (Open For Business) to
/guide/.
Commercial Parity: Daily Login Live-Ops Pass & Create-A-Mel 2.0 Wardrobe Stylist Salon
Elevated The Mels Live to full parity with commercial MMO life simulations with two flagship systems: an authoritative Daily Login Rewards & Live-Ops Season Pass calendar, and the complete Create-A-Mel 2.0: 3D Wardrobe Stylist & CAS Salon studio.
NEW Systems & Features
- 7-Day Daily Login Streak Calendar: Progressive consecutive login rewards ranging from § 1,000 cash, 3x Super Fertilizer, Dragon Fruit Seeds, the exclusive Luminescent Neon Plumbob Lamp, 50 Arena Diamonds, Cowplant Berry, Amulet of Prosperity, up to § 15,000 and the prestigious Melwood VIP vanity title.
- Weekly Season Live-Ops Challenges: Dynamic quest board tracking culinary cooking, botany harvesting, global chat & socializing, wardrobe styling, and energy recovery, awarding Season XP.
- 5-Tier Season Milestone Ladder: Season XP progression bar unlocking vanity furniture, cash pools, and the exclusive Season Legend title.
- Create-A-Mel 2.0 3D Wardrobe & CAS Salon: 6 modular 3D hairstyles (Classic Bun, Chic Bob Cut, Modern Side Crop, Flowing Wavy Locks, Spiky Anime Punk, Clean Buzzcut), 16 curated hair colors, 12 realistic & fantasy skin tones, 5 outfit categories (Everyday, Formal, Athletic, Sleepwear, Party), and vanity titles.
- Interactive 3D Mirror & Dresser Furniture: Added the Full-Length Vanity Floor Mirror (§ 240) and Modern Oak Armoire (§ 480) to the Buy Catalog with in-world styling interactions.
- HUD Navigation & Keybindings: Added 🎁 Daily Pass top HUD chip with animated reward beacons (L) and 👗 Salon bottom mode toolbar button (O).
NETWORK Multiplayer & Polish
- MMO Vanity Titles in 3D Space: Player nametags billboard renders vanity titles with golden borders visible to all neighborhood peers in real-time.
- Synchronized Styling over WebSockets: Appearance, outfit, and hairstyle changes broadcast immediately across multiplayer peers via
AVATAR_UPDATE.
- Title Screen Initialization Hotfix: Resolved an avatar rig parameter scope error in
js/simAvatar.js that blocked DOM event listener binding on page load, restoring complete responsiveness to the Log In, Create Account, and Audio Toggle title screen buttons.
- Updated Player Manual: Added Section 17 (Daily Login Rewards & Pass) and Section 18 (Create-A-Mel 2.0 & Salon) to
/guide/.
Official Player Manual (`/guide/`) & Universal "The Mels Live" Rebranding
Launched the comprehensive standalone Player Manual & System Guide portal at /guide/, featuring documentation for all 21 gameplay systems. Standardized the game's title to The Mels Live across all client interfaces, and completed database hygiene by clearing test player accounts.
NEW Systems & Features
- Official Player Manual Portal: Deployed a dedicated web portal at
https://mels.johnathonwheeler.com/guide/ detailing all 21 game systems, from core Sim motives to endgame boss raids.
- Live Search & Scroll Spy: Integrated real-time keyword filtering across all systems, automatic section tracking, and mobile drawer navigation.
- Master Keybindings Cheatsheet: Interactive reference table for all 19 keyboard shortcuts (B, F, R, I, U, G, K, J, X, T, Y, C, P, O, Z, M, H, V, Esc) with click-to-copy functionality.
- In-Game Guide Shortcuts: Added a direct 📖 Guide button to the top toolbar modes row and a 📖 Player Guide action on the title screen menu.
POLISH Branding & Database
- Universal Title Standardization: Enforced The Mels Live title across main game headers, metadata tags, guide documentation, and HUD displays.
- Server Database Cleanup: Evicted automated test player records (
tso_prod_* and john1) and expired test session tokens, preserving registered player characters.
- Starter Lot Resets: Reset 105 Meadowbrook Acre (Lot 5) and 102 Factory Lane (Lot 2) back to clean, vacant starter parcels available for claim.
Interactive 3D Furniture Lighting, Dimmer Switches & Ambient Colors
Transformed lamps and lighting fixtures from static meshes into real 3D light sources. Introduced 3 new lighting fixtures in the Buy Catalog, multi-level dimmer intensity controls, an RGB ambient color picker modal, self-healing legacy lamps, and multiplayer lighting synchronization.
NEW 3D Lighting Engine
- Real 3D PointLights: Purchased fixtures now inject real
THREE.PointLight emitters accompanied by emissive glass bulbs and translucent fabric shades.
- New Catalog Lighting Fixtures:
- Ceramic Bedside Lamp (§ 85): Compact tabletop lamp for desks and nightstands.
- Royal Gold Chandelier (§ 450): Ornate brass ceiling chandelier casting a wide room glow.
- Wrought Iron Streetlamp (§ 220): Exterior pathway lantern with frosted glass.
- 3-Stage Dimmer Switch: Contextual pie menu dimmer toggles between
🌙 Cozy Mood (0.6x), 🔆 Standard Bright (1.2x), and ✨ Radiant Ambient (2.2x).
- Ambient Light Color Modal: Choose from 8 preset palettes (Warm Amber, Daylight White, Cozy Sunset, Romantic Rose, Cyber Neon Cyan, Emerald Glow, Enchanted Violet, Ruby Magenta) or select any custom tone via the HTML5 color slider with live 3D preview.
NETWORK Persistence & Compatibility
- Self-Healing Older Lamps: Preexisting lamps loaded from older save files automatically detect missing PointLights and retrofit them on the fly upon lot load.
- Multiplayer Synchronization: Added
TOGGLE_FURNITURE_LIGHT server packet and lot database persistence, syncing light toggles, colors, and dimmer levels across all online players in real time.
- Day/Night Engine Integration: Updated
toggleNightIlluminations in threeEngine.js to preserve player lighting preferences across day/night cycles without stomping active states.
Full Plot Boundary Placement & 22x17m Footprint Unlocked
Removed legacy placement restrictions that prevented players from placing objects or building near the outer edges of their lots. Unlocked the full 22m x 17m (374 m²) property footprint for wall construction, floor tiling, and exterior furnishing.
NEW Boundary Freedom
- Unclamped Furniture Placement: Removed outdated hardcoded
[-7.5, 7.5] clamp limits in BuyCatalog, allowing smooth placement all the way to x = ±11.0 and z = -9.0 to 8.0.
- Full 374 m² Floor Tiling: Floor tiles now snap flush to the outer surveyor ribbon from
(-10.5, -8.5) to (10.5, 7.5) across all 374 grid tiles.
- Property Perimeter Walls: Allowed construction of exterior walls and fences directly along the property boundary line.
- Dynamic Plot Grid Overlay: Replaced the old 20x20 square grid with an exact 22x17m boundary-fitted grid featuring a glowing cyan perimeter border.
FIX Lot Cleanup
- Removed Obstructing Desert Boulders: Relocated decorative rocks at coordinates like
(8, -5) and (-9, -6) outside the plot ribbon so 100% of the interior yard is buildable.
- Boundary Click Raycasting: Added ground-plane raycasting fallbacks ensuring clicks directly on the boundary ribbon register reliably in Build Mode.
Planter Inventory Pickup & Placement Reticle Fix
Resolved a critical game freeze where picking up default garden dirt plots or raised cedar planter boxes into the backpack caused the 3D placement reticle to disappear, locking mouse input and preventing further interactions.
FIX Resolved Issues
- Planter Def Resolution: Fixed
pickupFurnitureToInventory to cleanly resolve gardening plots and planter boxes into catalog definitions without throwing missing-id exceptions.
- 3D Ghost Reticle Restoration: Ensured the 3D green placement cursor and ghost mesh remain 100% visible and interactive when placing planters from the inventory [I].
- Input Raycasting Safeguard: Fixed raycasting ray termination so placing or cancelling items from the backpack never locks the scene or disables click listeners.
- Legacy Item Stash Safety: Added fallbacks for legacy IDs like
furn_cedar_planter_box_(empty) to map safely to wooden_planter_box.
MMO Single-Session Login Enforcement & MelsScape VR Crash Fix
Implemented authoritative server-side session eviction to prevent duplicate avatar logins across multiple PCs or tabs, and fixed a JavaScript ReferenceError crash when jacked into the MelsScape VR Castle Dungeon.
NETWORK MMO Integrity
- Single-Session Mutex: Logging into an account on a second device or tab immediately evicts the older active session with a clean notification ("You have logged in from another location"), ensuring no player can clone themselves in the MMO world.
- Auto-Reconnect Suppression: Added eviction flags to client connection state to suppress automated WebSocket reconnect loops after forced multi-login logouts.
FIX VR Holodeck Dungeon
- Castle Dungeon Chest Crash: Fixed
ReferenceError: sandStoneMat is not defined in melsScapeEngine.js by properly initializing procedural chunk material references.
- Smooth Holodeck Transition: Restored seamless 3D teleportation into the retro voxel sandstone dungeon and dungeon loot chest opening.