Xsyon Updates Archive

[Xsyon]

August 11 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

I've caught up with the weekly FAQ section and updated the In Development section. We have a small patch ready for the next backup a few hours from now. I'll post a longer update with the patch.

[Xsyon]

August 12 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

The server and client have been updated with a patch. This is just a minor patch and was necessary to fix an issue with tribe radius growth and to try out a revised scavenging table. The scheme changes are in preparation for the next update.

In this update:

- Scheme gain limits set (but temporarily disabled until we add more schemes).
- Scheme count display. You can currently have more than the listed 'maximum' schemes for each craft.
- Unlearn scheme from the craft and construction menus. This will be useful later when we add more schemes.
- Combat switching between swing and parry by holding and releasing the parry key in mid swing.
- Buildings (only 'roof' and 'room' parts) can be labelled.
- Creature AI adjustments to increase growth and power.

I'm back in the US now and we'll be cranking out another update soon.

Enjoy!

[Xsyon]

August 17 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

I've answered the weekly FAQ section.

We are working very hard on our next update which we are aiming to release next week. The coming update will include most of what is listed as In Development, including basic functionality for rooms (weather protection and home location), improved creature pathfinding and AI, skill decay, scheme revisions and some interface improvements including a 'buff' display (displays effects of weather and tribe bonuses), name colors and a better display of creature / other player health bars.

We are also continuing work on combat and other features based on feedback. This next update will have a lot of little changes and will require a lot of testing before we patch to the main server.

We have been updating the test server with builds a few times per day (though today the test server is available for in house testing only). Feel free to stop by the test server to see some of these changes in progress.

That's all for today!

[Xsyon]

August 19 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

I've updated the In Development list to reflect what can be expected for the next update. The next update will be sometime next week. We are shooting for Wednesday, but we'll see how things go this weekend. I will post regarding our progress Monday morning.

The test server will be available on and off throughout the weekend. We are primarily testing creature pathfinding right now, but other interface and scheme improvements should be on the test server by Sunday.

That's all for now. We're very concentrated on this patch and I think it will provide a lot of much needed balance!

[Xsyon]

August 22 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

I've answered the Questions of the Week for those interested.

We're making good progress on the coming update. The test server will be up and down today as we are testing some changes to the database. These changes will require a lot of testing restarts before we patch this update to the main server. So while we run these tests today, there is not much reason to check out the test server. I will post again when we're done and when we've patched our weekend changes to the test server.

That's all for now!

[Xsyon]

August 24 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

A quick update tonight just to keep everyone informed.

The past two days we've been running a test implementation of general object decay. Currently this is very cumbersome as a lot of data is changing often which requires very long database saves. We're a bit stuck on this but are working on the best method to properly implement this type of general decay over time.

Other improvements are going well, but require testing which we haven't yet been able to do. We will be working through the night so I'll post regarding our progress tomorrow morning. As soon as we're done with the database tests, we will open the test server to the public with most of the changes listed for the Next Update in the In Development section ready for testing.

[Xsyon]

August 27 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens

I'm sorry I haven't posted an update in a few days. I've been consumed with our progress on the next update. The test server is currently and will be available for those who want to see what's in progress. We've been moving full steam ahead making many changes that require a lot of testing. Thanks to assistance from public test team we are catching bugs and getting a lot of feedback on balance issues. We still have a few things to fix and finish before patching this update out, but it's getting close.

[Xsyon]

August 31 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

A quick update: First of all, I've answered the questions of the week for those interested. A few questions weren't 100% clear to me, so if you want more details, please post in the same section.

As we're taking out time extensively testing changes to combat, creatures and the database we've added a few things to the game including tabbed chat, ambient sounds and 10 row action bar. We have a few other surprises in the works as well. Tabbed chat currently has 3 tabs, one for all chat, one for combat messages and one for local and tribe chat only. We will allow these to be customizable in the future.

At the moment we need to spend tonight further reviewing combat changes. Once those are ready this update will be patched out!

[Xsyon]

September 3 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

We are running what I hope will be some final tests on the test server for the current update. If you wish to check out what's being worked on, the test server is currently available to the public. We are primarily testing a new revision of movement and combat action synchronization.

Other things you can see that are not on the main server are:
Revised combat (more damage done, greater effect of armor, swing and parry improvements, synchronization improvements).
Buff system (town, tribe and weather buffs).
Master tools.
Revised scavenging distribution and chances.
Visible and functional stat increases for items.
Action bar with multiple rows.
Tabbed chat.
Holding both mouse buttons will move your character forwards.
MiniMap and Info panel (displays temperature, season, time, date and location information). This is almost done, but still in progress.

We're currently working out a few bugs and focusing on combat tests. Please provide feedback if you wish. Thanks!

[Xsyon]

September 8 2011

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

We've patched out a big server and client update! There are many changes in this patch so I will be as brief as possible.

Combat System Revisions:
Damage, armor values, swing power and rear attack values adjusted.
Synchronization of movement and attacks completely revised and improved.
Ranges adjusted but still in progress.
Combat messages revised.

Character Improvements:
Buff system display. Displays weather effects and bonuses.
Bonuses for tribal leaders and for members in tribal territory.
Effects of stat bonuses revised.
Stat bonuses display in character stat panel.
Holding down both mouse buttons moves character forward.

Resource, Crafting and Trade Improvements:
Revised schemes for a more consistent system.
Revised distribution and scavenging difficulty.
Improved scheme limits and progression.
Artisan and Master tool schemes for advanced level crafters.
Artisan and Master tools give bonuses to crafted items.

Environment Improvements:
Minimap! Includes temperature, date, time, season and location displays.
Ambient sounds system.

Creature Improvements:
Increase base stats of all creatures.
Adjust creature aggression and wildness to stress differences between creatures.
Increase creature power growth over time.
Improve creature combat AI to use new combat revisions.
Fix problems with creature movement over terrain.

Town Improvements:
Currency selection. This will have several uses soon.

Architecture Improvements:
Buildings as a home location.
Buildings protect from weather effects.

Interface Improvements:
Stat bonus displays.
Weather effects diplayed as 'buff' icons.
Tribe buffs displayed.
Tabbed chat, with separate combat and local (includes tribe and announcements) chat.
10 Row action bar.
More opaque chat panel.


Bug Fixes:
Problems with the green mist map corrected. This was causing crashes.
Problems when setting your windowed resolution to match your screen resolution fixed.
Several potential crash causes fixed.
Several exploits with trade and construction panels fixed.
Bugs with fires fixed.
Minor collision bugs fixed.

Notes:

Your options and interface settings will reset with this patch.

This update paves the way for a lot of other improvements that we have already in the works. Expect another big update in two weeks. At that point we should be ready for totem decay and we will provide all players with some free game time.

Enjoy!