Developer Update 2019.12.19
Hello Xsyon Citizens!
It’s been a while but Xsyon is finally ready for public tests of upcoming features!
Important note: At the moment creatures are set to always follow players but not attack. This is done on purpose for specific tests that I am running. Once I switch the full AI system on I will post here and in the Developer Zone forums (on the Xsyon website).
Several features are ready for casual testing:
- Completely revised creature AI and movement
- Pet system
- Mount system (bear and deer mounts)
- Stables (for pets and mounts)
Currently I am still wrapping up the details for these systems so I am not asking for any specific feedback yet. However, players are more than welcome to check out the Test Server and get a glimpse of what’s up and coming.
Once I am ready for specific feedback I will post requests for specific tests on in Developer Zone forums on the Xsyon website and in the Discussion on the Xsyon Steam forums.
First we will be testing a completely revised creature AI and movement system. Revising these systems has been a lot of work and this is my third and final revision.
The original creature systems were coded by several hired programmers and, as most players are aware of, have many problems. These systems are currently still running on the main servers.
During my first attempt to improve the systems I took the original code and cleaned it up, optimizing many functions and removing entire sections of code but keeping a lot of basic libraries that the code relied up. This was not good enough. For my second attempt, I went further and rewrote and restructured large sections of the AI and movement code while still relying on some of the core path finding and movement interpolation functions. I still wasn’t satisfied with the results.
For my final attempt I completely scrapped the original code and all underlying library functions and rewrote all the systems. This has been a huge task and has taken me most of this year. My timed tests have shown vast improvements! The core path finding function for example now runs 500 times faster than the original. (Yup, that’s not a typo, 500 times faster). The paths found are also a lot more consistent, rational and accurate.
I’ve been testing recently with assistance from the Guide Team and the overall results are very satisfying. Creatures react a whole lot better and smoother and we’ll finally be able to have better combat, pets and mounts.
In addition I have updated the data arrays and structures used throughout the code. The original code used outdated structures which I’ve replaced with much more efficient structures. (This entailed changing code in hundreds of locations affecting nearly everything in the game). I’ve seen overall speed improvements throughout the code thanks to this much needed update.
So if you’re wondering why I’ve been quiet for the past several months it’s because I’ve been completely focused on rewriting the AI and all creature systems and updating all the data structures. I will be posting more frequently from now on and these new patches will be coming out as soon as they are tested and finalized.
I hope you all will enjoy the upcoming features and improvements!
It’s been a while but Xsyon is finally ready for public tests of upcoming features!
Important note: At the moment creatures are set to always follow players but not attack. This is done on purpose for specific tests that I am running. Once I switch the full AI system on I will post here and in the Developer Zone forums (on the Xsyon website).
Several features are ready for casual testing:
- Completely revised creature AI and movement
- Pet system
- Mount system (bear and deer mounts)
- Stables (for pets and mounts)
Currently I am still wrapping up the details for these systems so I am not asking for any specific feedback yet. However, players are more than welcome to check out the Test Server and get a glimpse of what’s up and coming.
Once I am ready for specific feedback I will post requests for specific tests on in Developer Zone forums on the Xsyon website and in the Discussion on the Xsyon Steam forums.
First we will be testing a completely revised creature AI and movement system. Revising these systems has been a lot of work and this is my third and final revision.
The original creature systems were coded by several hired programmers and, as most players are aware of, have many problems. These systems are currently still running on the main servers.
During my first attempt to improve the systems I took the original code and cleaned it up, optimizing many functions and removing entire sections of code but keeping a lot of basic libraries that the code relied up. This was not good enough. For my second attempt, I went further and rewrote and restructured large sections of the AI and movement code while still relying on some of the core path finding and movement interpolation functions. I still wasn’t satisfied with the results.
For my final attempt I completely scrapped the original code and all underlying library functions and rewrote all the systems. This has been a huge task and has taken me most of this year. My timed tests have shown vast improvements! The core path finding function for example now runs 500 times faster than the original. (Yup, that’s not a typo, 500 times faster). The paths found are also a lot more consistent, rational and accurate.
I’ve been testing recently with assistance from the Guide Team and the overall results are very satisfying. Creatures react a whole lot better and smoother and we’ll finally be able to have better combat, pets and mounts.
In addition I have updated the data arrays and structures used throughout the code. The original code used outdated structures which I’ve replaced with much more efficient structures. (This entailed changing code in hundreds of locations affecting nearly everything in the game). I’ve seen overall speed improvements throughout the code thanks to this much needed update.
So if you’re wondering why I’ve been quiet for the past several months it’s because I’ve been completely focused on rewriting the AI and all creature systems and updating all the data structures. I will be posting more frequently from now on and these new patches will be coming out as soon as they are tested and finalized.
I hope you all will enjoy the upcoming features and improvements!