Xsyon Updates Archive

[Xsyon]

June 26 2011

Hello Everyone,

I had to roll back the terrain data this morning because of a server crash last night. We're not sure at all what happened and are looking into this. The server has been stable without crashes or errors for a long while now and I checked the files during the restart after this crash and everything was fine.

The server is restarting now (5:00 AM PST). If you notice any big problems, or need some help restoring terraforming from this weekend, please contact GuideRaguel.

I apologize for this and we will fix any problems that this has caused.

[Xsyon]

June 27 2011

Hello Everyone!

I know you're all anxiously waiting for this big update. We're getting there. We've locked down all improvements (we added a few more changes: scrolling chat bar and improved the crafting bonus system while waiting for the architecture parts to be corrected) and are working only on final bug testing for this build. We'll see how testing goes tonight. I'd like to get this out Wednesday, but it might take until Thursday. Right now I don't think it will take any longer than that.

I'll keep you posted!

[Xsyon]

June 28 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

Everything is looking good. We're going to test one more night and day and unless any critical issues show up, we will release this big patch Thursday morning 7:00 AM PST!

[Xsyon]

June 29 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

We ran a full conversion and update to the test server today with the current main server data and everything went smoothly. We're all set for this big patch tomorrow. The server will go down at 7:00 AM PST tomorrow morning and the update will take approximately 4 hours. I think it will take me half the day just to write up the patch notes!

[Xsyon]

June 30 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

We've started the update process for this patch today. It will take a while, around 4 hours, as we are backing up the database every step of the way. I will post again when it's ready!

[Xsyon]

June 30 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

A big update is on its way! We are still converting data and then need to back everything up one final time. It may take 1 more hour or so.

Some of these changes are quite major. I will keep the notes as succinct as possible to list the key features that we've added or improved. We are not yet clearing the green mist as we want to see how the rare resource distribution feels in the current zones and we haven't finished our distribution maps for the upcoming expansion zones. Our revised resource system applied to all current zones.

I'm very excited about this update. I hope you all enjoy!

Patch Notes:

Combat revisions:
- New combat system well under way!
- Desynch issues. These have been improved, but are still in progress.
- Swing, parry and dodge are controlled by left and right mouse buttons and the Ctrl and Alt keys (they keys can be reconfigured).
- Swing and parry direction are controlled by the mouse and can be adjusted in mid movement.
- Swing and parry can be held.
- You can switch from swing to parry in mid action to cancel a swing.
- Swing power increases while holding an attack.
- Ability to change angle up and down while holding or swinging an attack. Your final angle of attack is taken into consideration. Your character's spine rotates and we will make this more visual in the future by adjusting the character's arm
- Hit selection and damage working. Hit depends on the direction and counter position of your opponent.

Combat revisions are still in progress. We will continue to improve and perfect this system and look forward to more feedback!

Interface:
- Scroll bars on crafting, construction, social lists and chat.
- Sorting of craft and construction recipes.
- Resource and crafted object bonus properties display.

Crafting and Construction:
- Crafted items acquire properties from materials used (both primary and secondary materials used will affect the final outcome).
- Rare resources impart special bonuses to crafted objects.
- Architecture system revised into 7 architecture groups, with many new parts.
- Limestone walls have been reduced in size and doubled up.
- Buildings can be properly dismantled.

Character:
- Character gains skill through hunting.
- Character gains skill through logging and chopping logs.
- Looting, opening and hunting works while swimming.

World:
- 512 zone size. This improves loading times and reduces memory usage. The visible coordinate system still follows the old 1024 zone size.
- Trees spawn in Spring and grow.
- Scavenged resources are distributed throughout the world.
- The chance of finding rare items is increased with distance from your home territory and from all safe zones.
- New metal materials have been introduced.
- New leather resources can be found through sorting.
- Many metal and plastic components can be found now through scavenging.
- Architecture recipes can be found through scavenging.

Up Next:

I am going to spend the rest of today and tomorrow reviewing recent feedback, suggestions and the 'top 5 features' request lists. We will incorporate this feedback in our plans for July and I will post a full update of what we have in store next. A few things we will definitely be working on are:

- Desynch issues
- Animal AI improvements
- Tree planting
- Skill decay and balancing
- Death penalties

[Xsyon]

June 30 2011

We need to run one step in the data conversion process again, which will take at least an hour, possibly two. This ran faster on the test server yesterday and we just adjusted some windows and database settings on the main server to finish this up properly.

This update is slow because we are backing up all data (which takes 20 minutes) every step of the way.

I hear that some players have questions regarding the expansion zones. We're not clearing the mist because as posted below we need to make sure the rare resource distribution is balanced first. Rare resources are distributed throughout the world, not just expansion zones. The rarity is controlled by relative safety regardless of where you are. I want to run the game for a few days, and if everything is working as planned, the green mist will be cleared to open the new zones.

I'll post as soon as the conversion process is ready or if there are further delays.

[Xsyon]

June 30 2011

Sorry it's taking so long today. We didn't know that the test and main server had different SQL and other settings. This slowed down the process a lot today as we had to restart it. It's coming along but will still take a while longer. I'm restarting the patch servers with new data though so you can start to patch if you like.

[Xsyon]

June 30 2011 3:20 PM PST

Hang in there folks! I wish it was going more smoothly today, but we had to restore to our backup and restart the main conversion step again. This only took 2 hours on the test server yesterday, but it's just not going our way today. It may take another 2 hours while we convert, check and backup again.

[Xsyon]

June 30 2011 6:20 PM PST

It's been a long day! The conversion is done, and everything has been backed up again. We're going to spend about 30 minutes checking various locations to make sure everything was converted correctly. This took a lot longer than it should have, but we're almost there.