The Palace is a software program used to access two-dimensional virtual communities, also called palaces. A typical palace is represented as a series of flat backgrounds with one or more clickable areas, or doors, and players represented by either the default spherical avatar or a user created avatar up to 132x132 pixels large, with an 8-bit color palette. As in many other Virtual Worlds, prestige is shown through the intricacy of the user's avatar. Some users sign on with two or more clients in order to blanket their avatar across a higher area to give themselves more area to express themselves.

The Palace's source code, along with that of its associated server software, was the subject of a number of sales between companies until 2001, when it was purchased by Open Text Corporation as part of a bankruptcy settlement. The software is currently unsupported by Open Text or any of its previous owners, and many members of the community now consider the software abandonware and provide support for existing versions on various unofficial web sites.

More recently, a group by the name of Brainhouse Laboratories has taken on updating The Palace, and continue it's development by creating an alternative Palace Client, known as Phalanx. Phalanx allows larger color depths than The Palace to be used in it's avatars. Phalanx also contains additional functionality than The Palace and offers a customizable, or 'skinnable' graphical user interface.

Another alternative Palace Client, similar to Phalanx, more focused on Mac users, is PalaceChat, a program created by Jameson Heesen, the founder of Pawnsoft.

External links

• The Palace Legacy Project
• The Palace Directory (unofficial)
• Brainhouse Laboratories
• Phalanx Directory
• Pawnsoft