2018-07-08 07:10:54

Our sixth annual Summer Solstice Celebration has recently concluded. Having both a group version and solo version of the Puzzlewood Forest seemed to be a crowd-pleaser, so that will probably become standard procedure in the summer events to come. We will work on making each version more distinct from the other.

One fairly hefty change to crafting skills in the works that will affect most crafting skills is the introduction of the concept of profession points. Crafting practice costs will be reduced to one or two, but you will no longer be able to improve them with combat points. Instead, you will gain profession points as you craft. Profession points are linked into the experience code, so you gain them faster by alternating between different crafts.

In addition to classed and unclassed crafting skills, this new code will include druidic carving skills, scribing, enchantments, grenade building, class brewing skills and resource acquisition skills such as fishing and mining.

We will be opening the expanded version of the Apiarch Hive, a level 41 area, in the next week or two. Sometime in the month of July we will be releasing two level 26 areas for Archais. These areas were delayed due to unexpected complications, but they will finally be released in July. There are also several areas that are hoped to be released in August.

Our next game event will be toward the end of August around the Feast of the Sacrifice. For more information, check out our July audio presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr1PSRFOxGU

-Shadowfax
http://www.alteraeon.com

2018-07-09 08:40:26

Hi.
I don't currently play the game, primary because I'm busy with my job and lots of other things. But I'll still say thank you for the update. I'm so impressed by all you are doing. Massive updates, and even making those monthly videos. Just wow... Many bad things has been said about the game lately which I both can't and won't comment on, because I simply haven't played the game enough to know what people are complaining about. Very long time, like 8 years ago, I had a bad experience in the game where people thought I was someone else, and played a trick on me. That result in extremely much drama. I then tried the game again some years ago, liked it, got a new job and didn't got that much time for gaming.
I'm telling all this, because it seems like so much has changed. Your excited updates, videos and other things is so exciting to read and follow. I'm seriously impressed that so much is being done only for a text mud.
We blind gamers have this super awesome big sound pack for the mud, which makes the mud into an audiogame. Do you sighted gamers have something simular, a visual pack which makes it into a more graphical experience?
I know it might feels kind of weird to get all this feedback from someone who don't play the game yet, but keep up the awesome job...

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2018-07-10 00:00:36

Most Muds I look into are super-dead but it is always refreshing to see this thing still so alive and vibrant. When I don't play the game for only a few days and then come back and see that you guys have a ton of new stuff  either on the code changes or the game itself with new content or zones. I'm quite pleased.

It is particularly cool because the game is so good, that even though I've never moved beyond the island of Sloe, except for some brief trips into the first town of Cordan.  I love it. I rage-quit because I was having some serious problems as a druid with my first character but I fixed that and now am very happily playing with my new character, a mage.

2018-07-10 03:56:14

SLJ - There actually is a quasi-graphical client for Alter Aeon called the "dclient". It has a graphical mini-map that indicates terrain, doors and features like roadways and waypoints. There are graphical buttons to execute commands and move as well, and break-out windows for stats, quests, equipment and more that can be tiled or positioned around the screen or even on additional monitors. It has a fairly large soundpack in its own right, not as extensive as Mush-Z's but 90% of the sounds were made in-house by myself. We hope to get music going for it in the near future, as Dentin, Shadowfax and myself all play instruments.

A.K.A. Draak - talk to me about any Alter Aeon questions or concerns!

2018-07-10 08:06:59

Nice. I'm glad to hear about this client. Maybe you could share some sound effects and music with the guys who have made Mush-z? Just a thought.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2018-07-10 17:55:23

Mush-Z is privately maintained and uses a lot of sounds and music from sources that may or may not be subject to copyright. Since its given away for free, Fair Use laws afford it some protection and its unlikely for legal action to be taken against its creators anyway given its scope.

The dclient is the official Alter Aeon client and, since the game takes donations, we have to make sure our sound effects are royalty-free even if it unlikely that we would ever be sued. I have a lot of sound experience and equipment from being a mobile DJ for years, so it was pretty simple for me to take on the task. As far as music, Shadowfax is a percussionist with a knack for composition, Dentin plays bass guitar and vocals (and probably other things he's too humble to brag about) and I play folk woodwinds. The plan is for ambiance with supplementary music. We can handle it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc7goaQrv0Y

A.K.A. Draak - talk to me about any Alter Aeon questions or concerns!

2018-07-11 07:59:17

I see. Sounds great. Maybe you would make a sound pack of those sounds and music in the future for other mud clients as well. That would be amazing.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2018-07-11 14:15:56

I was just wondering something, is there any way you could show the locations of nearby planar portals on the map in some way or in nearby areas. For example, the lower plane of air is easy to get to and should be considered to be near Vemarkend. However, if you look at nearby areas, they don't show you the portal even if you are in the room where it is when you use that feature. I just think being able to find portals and entrances to other planes should be easier.

2018-07-11 17:44:15

bookrage - The nearby command uses coordinate data to calculate how far areas from each other. Portals don't respect distance. In order to get the functionality you want, the nearby command would have to go through each room in an area, check what objects load there, see if any of those are portals, then check the destination room of the portal to see if it is in an extraplanar area. That's a lot of extra processing power to cover maybe a dozen places in the game.

You won't find diamonds in the first shovel full of dirt: Explore! Experience serendipity - the joy of finding things.

A.K.A. Draak - talk to me about any Alter Aeon questions or concerns!

2018-07-11 19:29:51

all right then, I understand. That would be a bit nasty to fix.