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[ITS_Mike]

Volund will be a 2D top-down medieval fantasy MMORPG. We want the game to be like playing a multiplayer version of classic RPGs such as Lufia, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, etc. Movement will be tiled based, but everything will be real-time rather than turn based. This includes battles, so there won't be a separate battle screen.

That's about as much as we know at the moment We are currently at the start of pre-production, so there are infinite possibilities at the moment; a lot of different ideas are being prototyped.

We occasionally livestream as we work on the game. When we're live, drop on in and say "hi"
Watch live video from InvisibleMan6 on www.twitch.tv

Contact Us
Please feel free to leave your comments in this thread!

You can also contact us in other ways though.  We have official forums over here: http://www.ifthensoftware.net/?post_type=forum

I have a Twitter account which I keep updated as I work through the day: http://twitter.com/ITS_Invisible

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(Volund has just been rebooted, so this first post has been updated: May 9th, 2014)
(Areum has been renamed "Volund", so this first post has been updated: November 29th, 2014)

[ITS_Mike]

After 6 hours of work, I present the next version of Areum! Pre-alpha v0.0.0.233

First off, here's a screenshot of this new version:

Those are NPCs.  Not players.  Really.

The basics for NPCs have been added, although as you can probably see there is more work left to be done before the NPCs feature can be checked off.  The map editor supports placing NPCs on the map, and they appear in the game where they are supposed to (including disappearing when you switch maps).  You can walk through them though, and they don't move yet.

[ITS_Mike]

First off, here's the download link:  Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.235

NPCs can no longer be walked through.  Also, some of you may have noticed that the NPCs were slightly offset from where PCs were drawn; that has now been corrected.  This version doesn't look any different (if you don't count the slightly offset sprites) from the previous version, so I have refrained from taking another screenshot for this update.

Internally, this update is a lot more interesting, at least for me.  I have changed the code around so that NPCs and PCs are all handled the same: as general "characters".  In other words, there is only one list of characters, not one list for PCs and another NPCs.  As far as the code is concerned, all characters are the same (until one needs to be controlled; then there is a difference obviously).  This is a huge improvement over how my previous projects have handled it.

[Quarry]

SAO sucked up like at least 200 hours of my life, also what's that tree in indiedb images is about

[ITS_Mike]

Our artist plans on making real-life models of things that will be in the game, taking photos of them, and using those photos in the game.  It should, hopefully, give the game a gritty, realistic look.

[ITS_Mike]

I've added goblins to the map, and NPCs now have AI (although it is quite dumb: they just move around randomly).  Not much else to say about this update, other than I think it's pretty cool to see the NPCs walking around on their own

Here's the download link: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.236

[ITS_Mike]

Here's the link to the new version: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.237

And here is a screenshot:


The goblins will now chase you around if you get too close to them.  Once they start chasing you, it will be very difficult to avoid them since they move fast!  I think I will have to add in a speed attribute...

You can also left-click on a character to get a description of them.  This works for NPCs and PCs. 

[ITS_Mike]

The NPC feature is finished!  Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.238



The bug where you were sometimes stuck at the login screen should now be fixed, as well as the bug where the map name would sometimes be replaced with "Static".  Both of these were because of a race condition, and I'm happy to have them gone!

The movement bug where your hitbox would sometimes get offset should be fixed as well.  Due to how difficult that bug is to recreate, I can't be certain it is gone, but I went through and overhauled the relevant code to be more reliable so hopefully that did the trick.  I suspect that this bug was caused by an unusually high delta-time in the physics/game logic update.  For simplicity, the game is using a variable time step; while this makes things easier, it can also cause some annoying bugs.

This update is mostly for fixing bugs, but the code structure has also been improved.  Notably, the server's packet handling system is now thread-safe, and both the client and server use a simpler packet system.

All maps now have a border around them, to prevent characters from wandering off the map.  The server crashed last night (sorry folks!), and I suspect it was because a character did just that.

As I mentioned at the start of this post, the NPC feature for phase 1 is now complete!  This means we will be moving right into combat, which should make the game a lot more interesting to play (you will finally be able to kill those pesky goblins that have been blocking your path).

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.248



I've added in very basic combat: You can press the A key while standing next to and facing a character, and that character will die (including PCs).  Because there is no respawning though, you might run out of targets quickly; if this happens, please let me know and I'll reboot the server.

Because of limitations with the previous UI (Windows controls are difficult to use for a game after a certain point), I've converted the in-game UI to use a custom OpenGL-based UI system.  It doesn't have all of the features that the previous UI had, but it works better for the moment.

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.250


Combat is finished!  This version has quite a few changes:

• Attacks are now limited by an attack speed.
• Characters now have health, which decreases as they are attacked; when a character's health reaches zero, it dies.
• I've added combat messages so that you can tell what's going on a bit easier.
• I've made it so that certain characters (such as the knights) cannot be attacked; this will be useful for preventing mass killings of shopkeepers.
• As cool as it was, I've removed NPC's ability to use warp tiles, since it would just complicate map design at the moment.
• Characters will also respawn when they die, which should make things easier.  NPCs have a respawn delay, but PCs don't.
• Attack damage is randomly calculated based on a damage range (minimum damage - maximum damage).
• Attacks now require stamina, and they will drain your stamina even if you don't hit anything.
• Stamina and health regenerate slowly over time.

[Quarry]

Does the connection use UDP or TCP and what library

[ITS_Mike]

Areum uses TCP and SFML's networking module.  I really like it  The library is quick and easy to use; I just had to learn how to use blocking sockets (I normally use non-blocking sockets).  You can use non-blocking sockets in SFML, but I do not believe their packet class supports them.  The packet class is too handy to do without, so it was worth learning a new technique.

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.277


Sorry for the long wait for a new demo; I had to take care of some tool-related features.  Since you guys wouldn't see any difference, I decided not to release new demos.

You will now gain experience from killing NPCs (specifically the goblins).  I don't have leveling implemented yet though, so when your experience bar fills up it will just continue to fill up.

[horssse]

the only even slightly interesting thing about this project is the suggestion of using photos as textures. you aren't going to build up any hype by showing people your generic tech demos.

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.286


The leveling system is finished!  At least for phase 1.

When you gain enough experience, your character levels up.  Leveling up will increase your stats, so killing the goblins should be a bit easier after a level or two.  I also added in an armor stat, which completely blocks damage point for point.  Your stats are now displayed in the user interface so that you can track them easier.

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.317


To prepare for the artwork that our artist GreyKnight will be creating, the game's resolution has been increased.  The graphics have all been stretched to match the resolution, this is only temporary however; the graphics GreyKnight is working on won't be stretched.

Items have also been added to the game.  You can pickup items by standing over them and pressing the return key.  Once you've picked up an item, it will be placed in your inventory and displayed in a list at the top-right of your game window.  To drop an item back onto the ground, simply right-click on the item in your inventory.  If you want to use an item (consume a health potion or equip/unequip a weapon or piece of armor) double-left click on it in your inventory.

Goblins will randomly drop health potions (yay, a way to heal without dieing).  However, you can only get the weapon and armor items from picking them up off the map.  There is only one set, and once someone has picked them up the server needs to be rebooted for them to appear again.  Because of this, there is a good chance you won't be able to try them out in this version.  Sorry about that!  Goblins might drop armor and weapon items in the next version.

When you die, one of your inventory slots is randomly selected.  If there is an item in the slot that is chosen, that item is dropped at the location where you were killed.  This is the first part of the game's death penalty; we will likely add an XP penalty later.

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.321

I worked straight through the night to bring you guys this update   Music and sound effects are now in the game.  I have also added swords and armor to the Goblin's inventory, so they will have a chance of dropping one of them.

Next up is the chat system...  I'm personally not looking forward to this feature; I'll need to create a textbox control which requires implementing word-wrap, clipping, and a scrollbar control.  Oh well, better get to it...

[Quarry]

I'm sure everyone is craving for the HD grafix, more pictures please

[ITS_Mike]

Recently we have been working on internal features of the engine, so there hasn't been anything new to look at.  Because of this, we haven't released any new demos since there would be little point in showing what is effectively the same version of the game.

We are very close to being feature complete for the first phase (the first version of the game).  This means that we will be going into content development soon.  We don't want to give out spoilers, so we have decided that we won't release demos for the game's content as it is being developed.  Instead, we will be making development log entries discussing how progress is going, and we might even show some concept art, screenshots, or videos from time to time.

To start things off, here is a prototype our artist created for the wall of a house.  We are currently planning on a future version of the game to use art assets that are photos of real models.

[ITS_Mike]

Download: Areum Pre-alpha v0.0.0.327

Account passwords are now encrypted, and we've changed the storage system for account data.  Because of this, all current accounts had to be wiped; this is just a pre-alpha, so hopefully you guys didn't lose too much progress.