DEV DIARY #2

We are now entering the second quarter of 2023 already, and we'd like to share a little about the current progress of AEGIS Kingdoms with you. If you don't like reading long paragraphs - TL;DR is at the bottom of this post!

CURRENT STATE OF THE GAME

We're closing down the days until we are ready to start organising Community Clash V. One of our most recent Network Tests (small tests that we announce on our Discord for users to get involved with) has shown us that we've finalised a solid foundation in which to build content on. It's been a long time coming to reach this point and it really feels like a corner has been turned. Game development can be very difficult and lots of things can go wrong during the process, which many of our players know when it comes to these network tests. So being able to say that we've finally got a solid foundation feels like win, because it means now focus can be shifted onto the Clash content without worrying if what we are doing will hurt the long term health of the project, or throw a curve ball at us. So all of this feels great, is rewarding after a lot of hard work and overall provides more motivation to keep going! There are two larger hurdles to overcome before we can host the Clash, however: 1. We have a bug where players will fall through the world, seemingly at random. At the moment we're not sure what is causing this, but it's been a bug that has existed for a while now (since at least Clash IV). It's been the cause of many headaches and annoyance. Once this is fixed it will, however, make our Relic builds the most stable they have been ever. So as you can imagine, a lot of focus is on this. 2. Camera issues have arisen from a new system we are now using. Specifically for those familiar with Unity, this is the Cinemachine package. In the long term it will provide the ability to have cutscenes and close ups during conversations - however for now it's having collision issues which are currently being ironed out. Whilst a minor inconvenience - it can cause some horrible camera stuttering and unwanted zooming. See a short GIF on Imgur: https://i.imgur.com/LOzBRRC.mp4

FUTURE FOCUS

We're currently also testing content for permanent alpha access. At present we are only hosting network tests and Community Clashes, but we are getting ready for a time when AEGIS Kingdoms Alpha will be available to play all the time. Additionally progress earned in this time will be honoured and carried over into full release (provided it's acquired through gameplay and not through exploits & bugs). We will be calling this "Alpha Island", and have a lot planned for it. Once Alpha Island access is open, we will then be releasing content periodically to continue to update the game. This will continue from Relic content, to Mercenary, Adventure, Engineer and finally Settler content. We are currently testing travel forms & mounts, pets and potentially also player housing. (We will share a LOT more on this when the time comes.) At an appropriate time, Alpha Island will close and AEGIS Kingdoms will transition into Early Access (Beta) which will open up a lot more of the map and game. We're a while away from this latter part, but Alpha Island is on the horizon.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The team is excited for the future, we're proud of the work that's already been done and ready to face what lies ahead on this journey. I absolutely LOVE travel forms. I can't get enough of them. Can you be addicted to your own game? Is that allowed? Final, final thought? If you're reading this I want to tell you a secret. Are you ready? ...There's a travel form that you can ONLY unlock after maxing out your character. It involves a very difficult quest, max faction reputation & skills and a very high player level... But if you persevere & succeed you will unlock one of the coolest mounts / travel forms in the entire game... The Draconic Lord Form, which comes combat enabled with it's own abilities & buffs - only possible by forging a Draconic Lord Mimic Stone. BUT it gets better... that is only the beginning to the ultimate end-game content. There is another hidden, evil option to transform yourself into an antagonist and play against other players, enabling PvP permanently. You will transform yourself into the very thing that all the races of Tillaris and Sor'res united to fight against... But only after you've unlocked the Draconic Lord Form, and progressed in another hidden faction, which at their maximum reputation, will provide you with the ultimate, rarest, most sought after ability, travel form & race in the game. Only THE most powerful player in AEGIS Kingdoms will get this far. But anyway, if you enjoyed this type of post, let us know!

IMPORTANT LINKS

DISCORD: https://discord.gg/smvhW9t WEBSITE: https://aegisgamestudios.co.uk

TL;DR

- We are still on Relic content. - The game is more stable, but we need to fix a few more things before Clash V can happen. - Alpha Island is permanent access, solid gameplay coming soon to an AEGIS Kingdoms near you. - There's some cool stuff that only the most powerful player in all of AEGIS Kingdoms will unlock. Will that be you?

[ 2023-03-27 20:31:43 CET ] [ Original post ]