The 4th Coming

The 4th Coming (often shortened to T4C), also called *La Quatrième Prophétie* in French, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) built for Windows. It was first created by Vircom Interactive and launched on May 11, 1999. Vircom initially ran a test server before offering server licenses to others. No release notes exist for versions earlier than 1.0. Later, Dialsoft bought the game, now sells server licenses, and keeps developing it under the official name T4C Next Chapter. The game is set in the world of Althea, which includes three islands: Arakas, Raven’s Dust, and Stoneheim. The story revolves around a predicted “4th coming,” which drives the plot and the quests players can take on. To start, players create a human character. After picking a name and gender, they answer a series of questions that assign attribute points. Each question offers five possible answers: four boost different attributes, while one gives no benefit. Players can keep “rolling” their attribute scores until they’re happy, though the maximum values depend on earlier answers. Experience points and level-ups come from completing tasks given by non-player characters. The game includes a magic system with enchanted weapons and spells, split into elemental types like air and fire. Vircom Interactive, a part of Vircom, first published *The 4th Coming* in 1998. In May 2000, version 1.10 arrived, adding a new interface, groups, private chat rooms, and other upgrades. By June 2003, a deal between Pole, SARL of France and Vircom gave Pole exclusive rights to host the game in Europe. In 2002, the game had over 500,000 registered players. In September 2003, Vircom’s founder and CEO Sylvain Durocher filed a piracy complaint in Canada. In July 2006, Marc Frega, owner of Dialsoft, bought the game from Vircom, which had shifted to email and messaging services. Dialsoft now sells server licenses and expands the game through the V2 project, available to any server that pays for it. Dialsoft allows other server versions to exist as long as they keep a valid license. The game was built with the DirectDraw engine, producing 2D graphics that were very detailed for their time. The team aimed to create an immersive world with a rich story, and the art drew from both Western and Eastern fantasy styles.