AA - New feature descriptions
Based off of the comments I received from the last entry, here are a couple of quick comments on the new game HUD (see the screenshots in the post below for reference).
You'll notice that a green bar now runs along the top of the main HUD. This is pretty simple to explain: like WoW this bar displays your experience and how close you are to reaching the next level. I made this addition to the main HUD based upon input from private testers.
Also new to the HUD is the snake's tail. Aside from displaying your character's level, the circle changes color. When the circle is blue it is safe for your character to logout. The circle turns red when you are in danger (in the dungeon, engaged in PvP etc.). If you logout while the circle is red, you'll drop half of your gold.
This penalty system will prevent players from abusing their ability to logout anytime.
Posted by SilkWizard (Default) on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 02:21PM
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(Edited on Tuesday, December 05, 2006 02:33PM)
Let Acheron sleep [a bit longer]
Answers to the three most common questions that I've been emailed lately:
Q: Are you still working on Acheron's Awakening?
A: Yes.
Q: When will the game be released?
A: When it's ready.
Q: Will you post some new screenshots?
A:
Posted by SilkWizard (Default) on Sunday, December 03, 2006 03:53AM
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The advantages of private testing Acheron's Awakening
Private testing has been going extremely well. Based upon the excellent bug reports that I've been receiving from the testers, I've managed to release a new testing compile of the game almost every single day for the past week.
Aside from hunting for bugs and balance issues, the private testers have also been giving their input on the game itself and features that they'd like to see implemented. From something as simple as adding signs to the front of buildings for identification (a Blacksmith sign, Inn sign etc.) to making the HUD more user-friendly, their suggestions often really improve certain aspects of the game that I've overlooked.
For example, check out this older screenshot:
Screenshot from a much older version...
And compare it with this one:
An image from the latest compile (v.28)
Notice anything different? Stackable items such as potions now have an overlay that displays the number of items in the stack. Additionally, shopkeepers now sell potions in greater quanities so that you don't have to buy one at a time.
You'll also notice the bow with the blue underlay. And underlay like that denotes that an item is "Enchanted" (the lowest level of rarity after normal items). If the item were "Rare", the underlay would be green. This new feature suggested by the testers helps to more easily identify valuable items without having to click on them.
Pretty simple stuff, but every little bit contributes to what is becoming a very polished product. Without private testing the initial release of the game would have been raw, unbalanced, and buggy. However, thanks to the dedication of the testers, you'll be fighting monsters instead of glitches on the first day.
Posted by SilkWizard (Default) on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 02:16AM
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Zeidrieck's first day of Acheron's Awakening
Zeidrieck, one of the new private testers has posted a ton of screenshots and an accout of his experiences in AA today in
a topic over on the Silk Games forum. For those of you who don't know... Zeidrieck is the extremely talented guy who drew the majority of the awesome inventory icons in the game.
Feel free to join up over at the Silk Games forums to join in the discussion, or reply to this post here. I also have some responses that I'd like to make to the comments from the last AA journal entry, but I'll make another post about those tomorrow or Monday.
Posted by SilkWizard (Default) on Saturday, September 23, 2006 10:18PM
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Acheron private testing Phase 2 begins
One step closer to release. In the next week or so I'm going to be making the final pre-release posts in this developer's journal that explain the subscription system and several other aspects of the game that I haven't covered yet.
There are quite a few more private testers this time around. If they're up for it then I'm going to have them post their (hopefully) unbiased opinions of the alpha version of the game here. Hopefully their testimony will finally give you someone else's point of view on the quality of the game!
I'm debating having a little bit of fun and giving BYONDers the opportunity to preview the game by the end of next week. Sort of a contest/experiment. If people are interested in this opportunity, then let me know and I'll post the details.
Posted by SilkWizard (Default) on Friday, September 22, 2006 11:26AM
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