Introductions
Hello all! It has been a bit since our last update but rest assured that progress is being made nearly every day!
We have been working hard on a variety of different fronts. One of our top priorities has been building out our server infrastructure in preparation of future alpha tests. This included compiling the server application to run on Linux which we were able to complete with only a few minor hiccups. Along with that we also rented a test game server and have successfully deployed the server application to that server!
I have also have been focusing on server-side code optimization in preparation for when we start having a larger number of players logging in. This included tasks such as packet optimization and overall optimization to make the server application as efficient as it can be.
Outside of the server side of the equation, we have made a range of improvements to our editor application. What started out as simple application for editing NPC dialogue has grown into a full on app with authentication and many different modules. Each change brings us closer to allowing our team to build a wide variety of content for a rich play experience.
If you haven’t already, make sure to join our Discord and Wishlist & follow us on Steam! When we do open our next round of closed alpha testing we are going to take in active members from our discord community, so make sure to join and say hello!
Day & Night System
We have recently implemented a Day & Night system in to the game. There is now a game world time that all players will experience the passing of together.
There are currently four stages of each day which are dawn, day, dusk, and evening. Our goal is for each part of the day to have a different feel. Outside of the cosmetic feel, we have plans for certain foraging items, mobs, or even events to only be available at certain parts of the day.
At night, our dynamic lighting system will come into play. Your character will have a default light radius around them, but otherwise it will be dark and harder to see at night. There will be other sources of light such as torches. This same system will be used in dungeons to give them a darker ambience.
Questing System
We have also been working on our implementation of a questing system. We started out by building out the necessary data structures to store our quest related information. Once we had those built, we then built a Quest Editor into our editor application so we can create quests that have a variety of different quests steps that compose them.
Each quest step can have a different task associated with it to make up a larger quest. Our goal is to avoid simple gathering/kill quests, but have those kind of tasks be part of larger quests that each have unique story lines full of lore.
A preview of our new Quest Editor module which will provide our team a good basis for creating a wide variety of quests for you to experience and complete on your adventure!
Keep track of quest progress in your quest journal. Your journal will be a hub for your to keep track of your current quest objectives and view completed quests.
This is just a sneak peak of our first iteration and there is much work still to be done. The Quest Editor and Quest Journal are just first iterations. Since quests are such an important part of gameplay, these systems will surely be refined going forward if we determine there is anything that is needed to build out our vision.
Coming Soon
We are working diligently to get all of the necessary game systems implemented and ready for our next round of alpha testing! We are getting closer and closer to where we would feel comfortable bringing our next group of testers online.
Some of the items currently on our radar include:
- Shop System: A shop system is currently in the works. You will be able to buy and sell items that you find on your adventures for currency that can be exchanged for other goods. Each vendor will have different items available for you to purchase.
- Skills Implementation: We are also starting work on implementing the various skills that will make each class unique. We have the framework for adding these skills, but we need to actually start implementing these so that we can start balance testing.
- Additional Server Optimization: We are always improving our server efficiency and optimizing all of the various implemented systems. We will continue these efforts in between other tasks.
- Lag Interpolation: When we start bringing in additional players, we are excited to start stress testing the server to determine capability and refine our lab interpolation functions.
Final thoughts
A lot of progress truly has been made since our last post. There are certainly development items I have left out this blog, but will try to detail in later blogs.
I have said this before, my goal ultimately is to start posting development blogs and updates on our socials more. With my main focus being primarily development, I sometimes find it difficult to pause progress on that front to keep everyone in the loop but also do feel it is important to keep our audience current with everything happening behind the scenes.
As always, I want to thank you for your patience as we work toward making Trials of Luna the best game it can possibly be. I will post again soon.
Best regards,
Bane