Xsyon: Prelude
Xsyon Summer Fishing and Taming Event
Saturday May 13th
Peace Server - The Hidden Realm
Event Time: Noon Pacific Time
War Server - Zone 767 X 418 Z 1008
Event Time: 2 PM Pacific Time
Event Particulars:
A message from Guide Elijah about this coming event:
For this event work on those Fishing and Taming skills to get ready. There is a hard to catch fish in the coastal waters here, the Tuichub.
Everyone who catches one will get to participate in the Animal Taming event. I will spawn in 5 Canis Armadillis pups, 3 male and 2 female. I will set their age to 1, so you can level them up, once you tame them. Once I get them all spawned in and their age set, I will then give the go ahead to start
trying to tame them.
Everyone who attends will get $5000 and of course you get to keep your new Canie Armadillis pup if you can tame one.
Come join the fun!
Xsyon Spring Update!
It's been a few months since my last update and I've been very busy working on the DirectX graphics update. As noted before, this is a full revision of the graphic engine and is the largest single task I've undertaken to the game. It's been a lot of work but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Here's what's been updated since my last announcement:
- Water rendering (expect for the waves caused by a player in water)
- Shadow rendering
- Distant terrain revised
- Terrain bump mapping
- Terrain textures updated
- Cloud rendering
- Tree rendering (this was the largest single graphics system that needed updating)
- Post processing system set up
- Clean up and optimization of systems and elements previously updated
What still needs to be done:
- Map panel
- Fires
- Improved lighting
- Further improved shadows
- Final ground texture selection
- Grass
- Waterfalls
- Minor fixes and improvements
- Optimizations
Most of these are relatively simple tasks. Once I feel the overall graphics update is polished enough for public view and I'm comfortable with the updated textures I will launch this new version on the Test Server.
In the meantime, the latest version with the War System and architecture snap functions (but without the graphics update) is running on the Test Server. Feel free to check the Xsyon forums for more info.
In addition we have a few events coming up and I will announce those in a separate post.
Thanks for your patience while I work on this major update. It's been a grind this year but the update is starting to really come together and I'm excited to release it hopefully before the end of summer.
Enjoy!
Xsyon New Year Update!
I've been quiet lately as I've been absorbed in coding and there's nothing new quite ready for public testing.
My focus is still upgrading the graphics engine from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11 and then DirectX 12. The update from 9 to 11 has been complex and time consuming while updating from 11 to 12 appears to be more straightforward.
So far the following graphic elements have been updated:
- Interface functions (panels, inventory, character creator, chat etc.)
- Font creation and rendering
- Sky rendering
- Terrain rendering
- Snow rendering on terrain
- Rendering players and creatures
- Rendering buildings and objects
- Selection and interaction
- Occlusion and depth rendering for special effects and optimizations
- Lighting functions
I'm currently working on:
- Shadow rendering
- Water rendering
What's left:
- Trees (I plan to update trees using the latest version of SpeedTree)
- Grass
- Effects (fire and rain)
- Clouds
- Waterfalls
- Mist
- Post processing effects (effects while teleporting, distance blur)
Shadow rendering is complicated but nearly done. The rest of the effects left to be updated I believe will not be too difficult. While working on this I've learned a lot about DirectX 11 and 12 and HLSL language in general. Going forward it will be easier for me to improve graphic capabilities like adding torches finally and more effects.
This major task is taking a long time. There was a lot of code that had to be completely rewritten and there were times I was stuck on some functions but I am progressing rapidly and smoothly at the moment.
In addition to the DirectX update, the War System and architecture snap functions are nearly ready to go. I have a short list of things to double check and plan to open up a final round of testing once I finish the shadow rendering code I'm currently focused on.
That's all for now!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Claim your gifts!
This year we will be distributing gifts through January 5th, while Xsyon is on sale.
To receive a gift, please open a help ticket and request one blueprint, pattern or scheme. You will receive that gift in addition to a Christmas outfit and some cash.
In your ticket, please note your character name, tribe name and the location of a basket that you leave in game (preferably at your tribe's totem).
I will post an in depth update on the status of the DirectX update and what's in the works after Christmas.
Enjoy!
Xsyon 2022 Thanksgiving Event!
On Saturday, November 26th, we will be hosting Xsyon's 2022 Thanksgiving Event over at the camp on Mystery Isle. This will be a cooperative Event in the spirit of Thanksgiving.
The Time for the Event on the Peace Server will be Noon PST.
The Time for the Event on the War Server will be 2 pm PST.
Guide Elijah wants Triceracock Kebobs for my Thanksgiving Dinner!
He will spawn in a Legendary Triceracock and name him ThanksgivingDinner. Players will be expected to cooperate to take him down. You will only be able to use one of the 4 types of dogs as your hunting pet for the event. Coyotes will not be allowed for this Event.
So get out there and tame yourself a good hunting dog and train him up for the event.
When he is taken down, Guide Elijah will skin him and evenly distribute the spoils among event attendees. You will then need to cook a Triceracock Kebob using the following ingredients:
Primary Ingredient 1 Triceracock Meat
Secondary Ingredient 1 Water Cress
Terciary Ingredient 1 Yarrow
Each person that turns in a Triceracock Kebob will receive their choice of Special Weapon and $5000.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Big Halloween Event and Sale!
This coming weekend we will be hosting our annual Halloween Event.
The Event will be on Saturday October 29th at 12 Noon PST.
Pumpkin Head Revenants have taken over the long sandy gulch on Mystery Isle. Donning pumpkin head helms and wielding indestructible weapons, they terrorize the Isle.
We are calling for Heroes to come clear out this haunted batch of evil spirits!
Heroes can keep all the gear they loot from the Revenants, including the pumpkin head helms and indestructible weapons. If they so desire, players can exchange looted weapons for 10 Event Tokens and Halloween Helms for 3 Event Tokens.
In addition, there are baskets hidden in the area that each contain $5000 loot.
Guide Elijah will start summons about 20 minutes before the event start time.
Come one and all and enjoy the Xsyon 2022 Halloween Event!
Combat Events This Weekend. Get Ready To Rumble!
Time:
War Server: 12 Noon PST , Saturday October 1st 2022
Peace Server: 2 PM PST , Saturday October 1st 2022
15 minutes prior to the event, whisper GuideRaguel for a port.
Details:
Let’s get ready to rumble. Two citizens enter, only one leaves alive. With the conquest update coming up, it is time to fight. Spar with your fellow survivors to see who has the edge. Depending on participation there may be time for rematches, challenges, or team fights for fun.
After the fights, we’ll have a short race just to see how fast you can get to those contested areas! Everyone is a winner. Food will be provided.
Come hang out and see your fellow players and enjoy an afternoon of sparring and fellowship!
Rules:
Single elimination bracket
Must keep it in the area
No mounts
Order of port request determines bracket order
Weapons allowed
Looting of opponent NOT allowed
Destruction of the arena high discouraged
Don’t kill non-combatants!
Prizes:
1st gets a brand spanking new craft-able weapon of their choice and a pick of material (within reason) or schematic.
2nd gets either a new weapon or pick of material (within reason)
3rd gets whatever 2nd did not choose.
Fishing Rodeo Event This Coming Weekend - September 17th!
The event will start at 12 Noon PST / 3 pm EST. GuideElijah will be on hand about 20 minutes before the event begins to give summons.
Everyone who shows up will get $5000.
You can turn in 5 fish of any type to get 1 event token.
Turn in fish as follows for other prizes:
20 Mountain Whitefish Supreme ql 125 Master Scrapper's Rod
15 Brown Trout Supreme ql 125 Welmeti Fish Pouch
10 Cutthroat Supreme ql 125 Welmeti Fish Basket
5 Brook Trout Supreme ql 100 Dissector
However be sure to hold some fish back for the special grand finale of this event. I will spawn a male hunchback coyote pup and set his age at 1.
Whoever tames him gets to keep him.
Age of animals in Xsyon is in months, and about every 3 and one third to 3 and one half real life days your your pet's age will go up by one month.
Come and join the fun!
Combat events this weekend. Get ready to rumble!
Let’s get ready to rumble!
Time:
War Server: 12 Noon PST August 6th, 2022
Peace Server: 2PM PST August 6th, 2022
15 minutes prior to the event, whisper GuideRaguel for a port or ask in global chat.
Details:
Two citizens enter, only one leaves alive. With the conquest update coming up, it is time to fight. Spar with your fellow survivors to see who has the edge. Depending on participation there may be time for rematches, challenges, or team fights for fun.
After the fights, we’ll have a short race just to see how fast you can get to those contested areas! Everyone is a winner. Food will be provided.
Come hang out and see your fellow players and enjoy an afternoon of sparring and fellowship!
Rules:
Single elimination bracket
Must keep it in the area
No mounts
Order of port request determines bracket order
Weapons allowed
Looting of opponent NOT allowed
Destruction of the arena highly discouraged
Don’t kill non-combatants!
Prizes:
1st gets a brand spanking new craftable weapon of their choice and a pick of material (within reason) or schematic.
2nd gets either a new weapon or pick of material (within reason)
3rd gets whatever 2nd did not choose.
Developer Update 2022.07.19
I'd like to update everyone on what is currently in the works.
My primary focus right now is to finish updating the game engine DirectX graphics. I started this task many months ago and kept interrupting it to work on other improvements such as the terrain expansion, War system and interface and interaction revisions.
For now I am spending most of my time working on this graphics update. It's a massive task as the more current versions of DirectX are very different from the antiquated version (DirectX 9.0c) currently used for Xsyon. Basically it's a rewrite of the entire graphics code but it's a necessary update that in the long run should be well worth the effort!
So far I've updated all core functions, loading functions and 2D interface elements. Rendering code for 3D basic objects (buildings etc.) is updated as well. Character and creatures are rendering but I haven't finished updating animations yet.
I'm currently working on updating the terrain rendering system which so far is relatively straightforward.
There is still a lot of work left to be done but it's coming along!
The next public update will be the War System. There are few minor features I need to complete or revise but I think it's almost ready to go. I will be reviewing the current feedback to see what's left and try to wrap things up as soon as possible.
I'm a bit behind schedule this summer as I caught Covid during the Summer Sale. Fortunately I didn't have any symptoms aside from being very lethargic and dizzy. (No cough, sore throat, loss of taste or other common symptoms). It did render me unable to concentrate and code but I caught more sleep than I've had in many years!
In summary: I will try to release the first version of the War System before September and I will be focused on the DirectX update until it's complete, however long it takes.
That's all for now!