First of all, I want to thank everyone for testing the game and for all the usable feedback!
But I also want to clarify that Therais Book is not yet fully released as some seem to think.
This game is still in early development and only playable because of early access. If you're not ok with your character being reset sooner or later and experiencing bugs and maybe even crashes, early access is not for you! Please wait for the full release or at least beta. :)
With that out of the way, here is the news:
The patcher is done!
Details about the patching system and the upcoming update below.
!!! THIS UPDATE WILL REMOVE ALL CHARACTERS - MORE ON THAT AT THE END OF THIS POST!!!
The next build will have the patcher and an in-game update check, which checks for updates and starts the patcher only if it finds any.
This system has the advantage that you don't have to run the patcher every time when you start the game. (I hate that)
The patcher will only be opened when I upload an update and download only the changed and new files, instead of the whole game.
You will probably feel like there is not very much new in regards to gameplay, and that's somewhat true. Let me explain.
Besides the patching system, I changed a lot of the core systems.
I updated the engine and the MMO framework, which comes with a lot of improvements, but was a major setback as well.
I had to redo and change a lot of things that were not compatible with the updated core components. This was ~75% of what I did since the last update.
After that was "done" I worked on the Terrain system and then started creating the new world.
Since I got the terrain culling system to work, it is now possible to run the game with the
massive open-world I wanted to have for Therais Book from the beginning.
This new map should stay even for the release if nothing major changes, breaks or you want something completely different. I can add and change parts of the map tho, so adding some mountains or something similar is no problem.
I can also add more islands or parts to the map in the future as well, but for now, it will be more than enough work for me to fill the map with interesting and fun environments to play in. I already have a rough plan for most of the map, but you're more than welcome to suggest changes, villages, or whatever you'd like to see in the world.
You can also send me questlines, characters, or anything you think would fit into the game like some of you already have. You can use the discord, e-mail, the forum, or the steam community for this.
I still want this to be a project anyone can be part of and add their ideas to the game.
Here is a list of most of the changes for this update. Please be aware that it's not ready yet and some things will probably be removed or added until the release of the update.
>You can now play three classes: Warrior, Warlock, and Archer (The archer still has some bugs and might not be available instantly)
>You can now choose between male and female for every class
>There is a new character creation screen for that, too.
>As mentioned above there is a new map
>New Trees, grass, and textures with higher quality and better performance
>All mobs are available again (had to redo all of them) and some new mobs have been added.
>New bosses
>The new crafting system; It's rather complex, so please read the in-game tutorials.
>New recipes and professions
>Some swords have been removed
>New staffs and bows have been added
>Lots of balancing changes (still far from perfect tho)
>A few new quests have been added
>New crystals
>New armor for all classes (won't be shown on the characters yet)
>Some of the character skills have been removed for now. This system will be properly extended soon.
>New UI elements and cleanup
>A new help window with useful information and tips (F1)
>New emotes (LeftShift + 1 through 5)
>A new global chat channel (/a)
>MANY new items
>New PVP system with PVP areas (still not balanced tho, be careful)
>New mounts and pets
>And probably some stuff I forgot....
Some new stuff that's not ready yet:
>I implemented a new Mesh-changer system by Trugord, but it won't be ready for this update. This will enable armor and character details like different hair and clothes to be changed and visualized _on the character model_ in the future.
>The new registration system with email-verification and password reset option (lots of PHP...........)
>Another new class
>And some more things that are secret for now :P
Please let me know what you think about the changes and what you think I should focus on for future updates. My main focus at the moment is still on the core components.
Once they are done I will focus more on content. I want to finish the player components as soon as possible so we won't have too many character resets with new updates.
This Update will reset all characters. That's because of major changes to these systems that won't be compatible with the old characters. There will be a few resets when I extend/change the character components like the skills, attributes, and similar parts of the game. Adding new stuff won't be a problem when the core components are finished.
This update also has the new gender setting which the old classes didn't have. That's another reason.
I won't give any gold or items back to anyone in this update since there have been sooo many changes to the items themselves, the prices, crafting, etc.
In future updates, when a character reset happens, you will be able to sell your items before an update and get the gold back after the update, if you want that. You won't have to.
That's all for now. If you have any questions feel free to ask all of them!
I will post the whole changelog when I upload the new update.
Thank you for reading all of this, thanks for being part of this project, thanks for all the support so far, you are awesome!
Thank you :)