Introduction
Greetings Lunarians!
It’s hard to believe Trials of Luna has surpassed three years of development. We have made so much progress since this journey began it’s sometimes hard to believe!
For this update, I’d like to highlight some of the many accomplishments we have had over the last three years. This blog will be a little longer than our normal development blog because there is a lot to cover and it’s been awhile since I have posted an update!
Application Framework
Our application suite currently consists of five main applications.
- Game Client – The game client is the main game application that will allow our players to access Trials of Luna.
- Game Server – Our game server is run on one of many servers that will help Trials of Luna grow in scale.
- Login Server – Our login server keeps track of player counts and facilitates the transfer between game servers.
- Launcher – Our launcher application will be used to distribute up to date clients so that updating their game is as seamless as possible.
- Editor – Our editor application that is used internally by our team to shape the Trials of Luna game world.
Server Infrastructure
We are now renting two servers to help bring Trials of Luna to fruition. The first server we rented is being utilized as our development game server for our upcoming alpha test. We also have an additional server that stores our database. Our server infrastructure is set up with its own private VPN we utilize to keep everything as secure as possible.
Account Creation
Account creation was one of the first developmental milestones we hit. Our account creation is all handled within the Trials of Luna application. We started out simple and only ask for some base information for your account.
All information is encrypted in transit as well as in our database so you can rest assured that your private information is secure and stored with best practices in mind. You can only have one account per e-mail but we do not have any restriction on how many accounts you may create if you have more than one e-mail address.
Character Creation
One of the next big things our team focused on was Character Creation. We wanted to have a lot of options for players to choose from when creating their characters. We also wanted each of our three species to feel somewhat unique.
The Lunarians, Gillamoorians, and Astralites all utilize the same character base but have subtle differences that define each of the species.
Inventory System
Our next area of focus for the inventory system will be the ingredients tab where the wide array of ingredients that you acquire through your travels will be stored. These ingredients do not take up space in your main inventory and have no caps on how many you can carry. They are items that have a purpose related to crafting other items.
Shop System
Kanba, our newest team member, has been hard at work implementing a shop system that will allow you to buy and sell items. This will be a nice way for you get some extra currency and get rid of the extra items you don’t need that you have acquired on your travels.
The current shop allows for both buy and sell functionality as well as an option for buying or selling multiple quantities at once.
We still have a few ideas that we can expand this system further such as shops that utilize different currencies or shops where you can trade certain items for other items.
Skills System
Our skills system has also made some progress since our last update. We continue work on skill point allocation as well as the user interface where skills are located.
There is still some work to be done planning out the main skills for each of our four classes. We want the skills that each class has to allow for different styles of play. You can see some of the skills previewed for each of the classes in the screenshots below.
Dialogue System
We have made a lot of progress on our dialogue system. This was one of the first big systems that we implemented. Our current system allows for branched dialogue as well as triggers for quests or opening a shop.
We also have the ability to cycle through random dialogue chains. This allows us to have NPC’s that can say many different things.
Quest System
The questing system is about 75% finished. The base structure is there but I still have some work to do in implementation of each of the triggers for the various quest step types as well as allowing the completion of each quest and giving the rewards. More to come on this in our next blog!
Worldbuilding
We feel there are many items that help us accomplish the goal above. We want the world to have unique NPC’s for you to engage with that have interesting dialogue. Deep story full of lore that twists and turns and leaves you wanting to know more. As well as exciting quests for you to conquer that offer exciting rewards for player progression.
Coming Soon
As a team over the last year, we have been hard at work toward the much anticipated closed alpha. I must admit, it’s been challenging for me to estimate when things will finally be ready. For a project of this scope, it always seems like there is more work to do and we really do want first impressions to be positive.
All of that being said, we really have made a lot of progress toward where we can start bringing players online. We have not solidified an exact date when we will be able to have testers login, but internally we are aiming toward the end of Q1 of 2026. I would consider this timeline ambitious, but at some point I do believe we need to take the next step as community feedback will be valuable.
When we are ready, we are hoping to start inviting members of our discord community to start providing early alpha feedback. We plan on doing a staged approach where we will ask for feedback that targets specific game systems. Our first phase will target general server stability as well as account and character creation. There obviously will be much more available when players start logging in but we want to be sure we set expectations appropriately.
-Bane