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[InvisibleMan]

I'm pleased to announce the latest project my team and I are working on: Areum.  It will be a medieval fantasy MMORPG from a 2D top-down view.  We have some experience with this already (Loradon, Volund, and Stick Adventures Online), and we expect this new game to be at least as fun as our previous projects  Development started a few months back, but progress really picked up a few weeks ago, and we don't plan on losing that momentum!

We will be developing this game in "phases".  The first phase will have a strong focus on engine features rather than content; this is to ensure that we have something in place to build the content on.  I'm planning on using the progress "message icons" to represent our progress on each phase, rather than the entire game, since it will be a lot easier to judge where the progress meter should be placed.  Please let me know if this goes against the intent of the progress meter though!

We will be releasing versions of the game for testing every time we make a change (in "the lingo": we deploy to a staging site after each successful integration, and we practice continuous integration).  This means that you guys get to view the game being developed in very near real-time!  This is our first time developing a game this way, and we are very excited about it.  We hope you will enjoy it  

This will be the "main post" in this thread; I'll keep it up to date with the latest screenshots, downloads, etc.  I will also make development update posts though, so if you want to see how the game has progressed, look down there


Screenshots
The artist for Areum would like me to inform you that all artwork is currently placeholder art (mostly from http://opengameart.org), but we should be seeing his own art in the game sometime soon!



Download
The latest version of the game can be found here:
Download Areum - Pre-alpha v0.0.0.321


Game Engine Features

• Smooth Scrolling and Tiles (Complete)
• Online Multiplayer and Saving (Complete)
• Animated Tiles (Complete)
• 2x Foreground Tile Layers (Complete)
• Large Tile Placement (Complete)
• Non-Player Characters (Complete)
• PvM and PvP Combat (Complete)
• Leveling System (Complete)
• Items (Complete)
• Music and Sound Effects (Complete)
• Chat System (In Progress)
• Moderating Tools (Not Started)

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

You can also contact us in other ways though.  We can usually be found in our online chat room: http://irc.ifthensoftware.net

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

You can also find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ifthensoftware

We also have an IndieDB page:

[InvisibleMan]

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.

[InvisibleMan]

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

[InvisibleMan]

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.

[InvisibleMan]

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

[InvisibleMan]

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. 

[InvisibleMan]

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).

[InvisibleMan]

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.

[InvisibleMan]

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

[InvisibleMan]

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.

[InvisibleMan]

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.

[InvisibleMan]

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.