Notorious Games is proud to announce the launch of a Kickstarter fund raiser to bring Xsyon out of the Prelude and into the future with a full featured release of Xsyon: Apocalypse!
When Xsyon's development began, nearly five years ago, I knew it would be a monumental endeavor. With a small team and a very limited budget everything needed to fall into place perfectly to launch the Prelude to Xsyon, our current installment, with a full set of planned features but in a limited, simplified state.
The Prelude was intended as a simplified pre release version of the game which would evolve with its community as we add features and improve the game based on player feedback.
Xsyon's development began in 2008. In 2010, Xsyon was opened to the public as a pre-release. In March 2011 The Prelude was launched. Since then we've added many features and improvements, but have not yet launched the full 'gold' release of Xsyon. While reaching our current stage in less than 5 years is no small feat for a tiny development team often with just 1 or 2 full time programmers including myself, our goals are ambitious and development has been slower than desired.
A multitude of unanticipated obstacles came our way - programmers moving on to other jobs at inopportune times, losing funds due to the stock market crash, team members experiencing disabling health problems, server instability and dealing with hackers and contentious players. The biggest issue has been a lack of funding to deal with setbacks efficiently.
We found out early that players desired existing features to be fleshed out more than they longed for new features. Some Prelude game features, such as terraforming, architecture and tribal systems were developed much further than originally planned at this stage. Unplanned features such as carts, permissions system, creature migration and undead haunting were added. Other features, such as pets and mounts, had to be put aside for the future.
Development took on a different and slower path.
We are now taking Xsyon in a new direction.
Today we launched a Kickstarter crowd sourcing project to raise funds so that we can develop Xsyon at a much faster pace and without distractions. We are planning on a year of further development to take Xsyon out of the Prelude phase and launch the first full feature release Xsyon: Apocalypse.
So join us on Kickstarter! Together we can make it happen!
1) We are converting the Main Server to allow for limited Free Play!
Our goal is to better welcome new and returning players by introducing them to the current Xsyon community.
Free Play will include the following limits:
- Players cannot start new Tribes
- Players cannot join new Tribe charters
- Players can join tribes but they do not add to the tribe size
- Skills are effectively limited to 30
- Players cannot use gained experience to level up
We will be testing these adjustments on the Trial Server this weekend as we've tested these internally and are ready to go!
2) Xsyon is listed in several categories for MMOSite's Reader's Choice Awards. Voting will begin on Monday and we will have direct links and more information available Sunday night.
3) We have a round of bug fixes ready that will be patched to the Main Server on Monday. The next feature update will be the introduction of Trade functions to allow players to buy and sell items through their Totem. This is almost ready and will be tested on the Trial Server early this coming week.
4) The Xsyon Game Manual has been updated. Much thanks to Guide Isda! We are looking for volunteers to assist in translating the manual to any foreign languages. If you are willing to assist us, please contact Notorious Games.
5) I've answered the latest Questions for the Developers and opened a new question session.
6) There have been some questions and concerns regarding our Kickstarter campaign that I will answer here.
- Our goal is too high:
The Prelude was originally planned to have more game features but in a simple form. We quickly found out that players demanded more polish to current systems or the addition of unplanned features so that became the focus while the release of other features that were already partially developed was delayed or put on hold.
Architecture, terraforming, tribal ranks and permissions were enhanced. Combat and creature AI was completely redone. The user interface was routinely improved. Carts, skill locks, chat tabs, a map panel and many other unplanned elements were added. Because of all these originally unplanned additions we have yet been unable to add features such as cooking, pets and mounts that were developed but never brought to a polished enough state for release.
I've learned from this experience to not release features in the simple states initially intended and instead develop them to a more satisfactory level before adding them into the game.
With Xsyon:Apocalypse we want to complete the listed features with the right amount of function and detail. For example, mounts: Simple version - mounts can be summoned and released into thin air and ridden for faster travel speed. Desired version - mounts must be kept and fed, can be ridden in combat, can attack and can pull carts.
I've also learned of the many hurdles that can come our way and how to prepare for them.
Our goal is a miniscule amount for a game development budget. However, it is a realistic amount to reach a full featured released with the desired amount of functionality at the same time anticipating any hurdles that have come our way in the past.
Many Kickstarter projects, even greatly overfunded, are now meeting with delayed releases. We already know what it's like to be underfunded. Worse than missing our current goal would be to reach a lesser goal that is not enough to fund expectations.
We are open to investors outside of Kickstarter. If we meet a portion of our goals without Kickstarter we have the potential of releasing Kickstarter again with a lower goal. For now though we are forging foward with our current campaign!
- Kickstarter is off to a slow start:
Yes, it is, but we have a full month to reach our goal. Kickstarter projects are not usually funded on an even timeline. We will be reaching out to a lot of potential players this month. The more momentum we gain now, the more attention we will garner and the more likely we are to meet our goal.
So if you are ready to support us in this endeavor, please do! Join us in building the momentum we need!
01-06-2013, 11:17 PM
Xsyon
December 3
Hello Xsyon Citizens!
We are transitioning to allow for Free Play on the Main Server today. The update should be complete by 4:00 AM PST!
Details will be posted when the Main Server is up.
01-06-2013, 11:17 PM
Xsyon
December 3
The Main Server and Client were updated with a bug fix patch. Full patch notes are here:
Xsyon:Prelude has been nominated for several awards in MMOSite's annual Reader's Choice contest!
To vote for Xsyon, click on the link at the top of this page.
Xsyon is listed in the categories:
Best P2P MMO
Favorite MMORPG
Best MusicB
Best Gameplay
Best Community
You can visit the Xsyon award page on MMOSite here.
The contest will run until January 6, 2013.
Every IP can officially vote 3 times daily, so keep the votes coming our way!
01-06-2013, 11:17 PM
Xsyon
December 3
Xsyon is now open to Free Play on the Main Server!
All new and returning players are welcome to join the world of Xsyon for Free!
Free Play includes the following limits:
Players without paid Citizen Game Account access:
Players cannot start new Tribes
Players cannot join new Tribe charters
Players can join tribes but they do not add to the tribe size
Skills are effectively limited to 30
Players cannot use gained experience to level up
Players with Citizen Game Account access without a paid Monthly subscription:
Skills are effectively limited to 30
Players cannot use gained experience to level up
Xsyon Citizen accounts without limits remain as follows:
The Main Server and Client were updated with a minor patch yesterday. Full patch notes are here:
December 7 Patch Notes
We are seeing a lot of new players coming to Xsyon this week. If you are a veteran player, please welcome these new players and help them get started.
Thanks!
01-06-2013, 11:17 PM
Xsyon
December 10
The Main Server and Client have been updated with a minor patch. This patch adds a few commands for guides to assist new players. In addition, unimplemented skills have been removed from the skill list. Detailed patch notes will not be posted.
01-06-2013, 11:18 PM
Xsyon
December 19
We have less than two weeks until the close of our Kickstarter fund raiser. We are far from our desired goal, however, please do back us if you would like to bring Xsyon to the next level! Your support will at least help us gauge if it's worthwhile to set up similar reward options on this site or another Kickstarter project with a lower goal in the next few months.
Please continue to Vote Daily for us on MMOSite. You can click the link on the top of each page or the visit the link on the launcher.
We've launched an Event Calendar today that can be accessed via the Home Page and the Calendar link above the Forums (between the FAQ and Community links).
The latest Questions For The Developers have been answered here.
I've been very busy with the recent changes to our strategy to gain more players lately. Our next content patch will be in January and will feature trade functions using local currency at totems. This will precede crafting and resource revisions which are also slowly in progress.
We are continuing to see many new faces in Xsyon. Please give them a warm welcome and help them out in game!
01-06-2013, 11:18 PM
Xsyon
December 30
We've made some minor revisions to the Xsyon launcher. Please download the most recent installer HERE
There is only one download / patch option with this launcher. If you are using the older launcher you will see a link to install the updated version.
I will post more news after tomorrow. See you all in the New Year!