June 10, 2015

Server Rewrite Update: Monster AI

Goal: Allow Monsters to Use Player Class Skills

Alongside the weekly release updates and the other backend projects we're working on, Yorumi is making progress every week on rewriting AQWorlds' game server. The most recent goal has been to add skills to monsters, with is one of the new functionality additions the team and I have been the most excited about.

Why? Because once that ability is in, any monster battle - from random Necromancer #72 in DoomWood to the Big Bad Boss in OMG-Town - will have the potential to use skills they never could before. That means battles will be more interesting, hardcore class enthusiasts will be able to come up with new ways to slay, and if you like to /party, you'll have even more of a reason to do so!

Server Rewrite Progress Chart

So that we all have a clear idea of where the server rewrite progress is at, we'll use server rewrite version numbering (SRV) and phases.

Phase 1: Porting the existing game over to proprietary server software (that we built ourselves. This is what Oversoul currently runs on).

Phase 2: Updating core game functionality on AQW 2.0. 

Phase 2 is where we're planning to make the changes you guys want - the buyback shop, better PVP and guilds functionality, bank item previews, friends list syncing, adding rank 10 passives to new classes, cross-server chat, better anti-bot and reporting functionality and more.

• SRV 0 - research begins
• SRV 0.01 - server architecture meeting with Zhoom
• SRV 0.02 - staff-only test of new combat system
• SRV 0.6 - full working Alpha stage
• SRV 0.8 - player live-test on PTR
• SRV 1.0 - full launch of Server Rewrite, Phase 1

Right now, we are less than a week away from the staff-only test of the new combat system. With the current calculations, we expect SRV 0.8 (the player live-test PTR) to begin in September. 

Keep an eye on the Design Notes for future progress updates! Give us your feedback on the Artix.com Design Notes post!