Xsyon: Prelude
Massive Sale (67% Off) Through March 30th
As we close in on an upcoming series of major updates, Xsyon will remain on sale through March 30th.
This is our biggest sale yet!
If you are new to Xsyon, want your friends to join you or wish to build up your tribe, now is a perfect time to do so.
Please check my previous update and the Discussions for more information on the first of many upcoming patches. We are in the final testing phase of a revamped creature, combat and synchronization systems.
Join us on the Test Server to check things out!
Developer Update 2020.03.25
The first of many upcoming patches is ready for final testing!
This patch is a complete revision of creature AI including path-finding, combat and the migration system. Both the server and client have been optimized allowing for more creatures to be processed at a much faster rate.
Movements and animations are much smoother. Synchronization between players and npcs is vastly improved. Variables are adjusted so that new survivors can find some easy critters to hunt while veterans can still find a challenge.
Most of this was described in more detail in my December update. I've continued optimizing the code since then and now we're ready to go.
You are all welcome to check things out on the Test Server!
Once this build seems satisfactory - bugs fixed and variables balanced based on player feedback - it will go live as the first patch in a series.
Thanks for all your patience while I reworked these major systems. We're finally getting there!
Feel free to join the Feedback Discussion and let us know if you find any problems or think something can be better balanced or improved.
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
The Xsyon Santa will be handing out presents by request this Christmas season. You may request a gift from the following list:
- Santa Outfit
- Ms. Santa Outfit
- Elf Outfit
- Ms. Elf Outfit
- Santa’s Big Helper (Shovel)
- Pillager (Special Axe)
- Massacre (Special Axe)
- Mauler (Special Club)
- Pounder (Special Club)
- Mutilator (Special Knife)
- Dissector (Special Knife)
- Prospector (Special Pick)
- Extractor (Special Pick)
- Excavator (Special Shovel but works as a Pick)
- Harvester (Special Shovel but works as a Pick)
- Two blueprints or schemes of your choice
To request a gift please open a ticket through our help desk
Please leave a basket at your totem for gifts and we will deliver them between Christmas and January 1st. (January 1st will be the last day for gift requests).
Developer Update 2019.12.19
It’s been a while but Xsyon is finally ready for public tests of upcoming features!
Important note: At the moment creatures are set to always follow players but not attack. This is done on purpose for specific tests that I am running. Once I switch the full AI system on I will post here and in the Developer Zone forums (on the Xsyon website).
Several features are ready for casual testing:
- Completely revised creature AI and movement
- Pet system
- Mount system (bear and deer mounts)
- Stables (for pets and mounts)
Currently I am still wrapping up the details for these systems so I am not asking for any specific feedback yet. However, players are more than welcome to check out the Test Server and get a glimpse of what’s up and coming.
Once I am ready for specific feedback I will post requests for specific tests on in Developer Zone forums on the Xsyon website and in the Discussion on the Xsyon Steam forums.
First we will be testing a completely revised creature AI and movement system. Revising these systems has been a lot of work and this is my third and final revision.
The original creature systems were coded by several hired programmers and, as most players are aware of, have many problems. These systems are currently still running on the main servers.
During my first attempt to improve the systems I took the original code and cleaned it up, optimizing many functions and removing entire sections of code but keeping a lot of basic libraries that the code relied up. This was not good enough. For my second attempt, I went further and rewrote and restructured large sections of the AI and movement code while still relying on some of the core path finding and movement interpolation functions. I still wasn’t satisfied with the results.
For my final attempt I completely scrapped the original code and all underlying library functions and rewrote all the systems. This has been a huge task and has taken me most of this year. My timed tests have shown vast improvements! The core path finding function for example now runs 500 times faster than the original. (Yup, that’s not a typo, 500 times faster). The paths found are also a lot more consistent, rational and accurate.
I’ve been testing recently with assistance from the Guide Team and the overall results are very satisfying. Creatures react a whole lot better and smoother and we’ll finally be able to have better combat, pets and mounts.
In addition I have updated the data arrays and structures used throughout the code. The original code used outdated structures which I’ve replaced with much more efficient structures. (This entailed changing code in hundreds of locations affecting nearly everything in the game). I’ve seen overall speed improvements throughout the code thanks to this much needed update.
So if you’re wondering why I’ve been quiet for the past several months it’s because I’ve been completely focused on rewriting the AI and all creature systems and updating all the data structures. I will be posting more frequently from now on and these new patches will be coming out as soon as they are tested and finalized.
I hope you all will enjoy the upcoming features and improvements!
Summer Sale (50% Off) Through July 9th!
The 50% discount is also available directly through the Xsyon website
In addition, I am upgrading the servers this week. The new Test Server and Download Server are already up and running. (The Download Server affects only players using the direct Xsyon Launcher).
Next up I will move the War and Peace Servers and then back to working on updates!
For players playing directly, this upgrade will require a new Xsyon Launcher. The new launcher will be available in the download section of your account page shortly. A notice will be posted in the current launcher window when the new version is ready.
This was brought on by the Test Server starting to fail last week. As I looked into a new machine I saw that I could upgrade all the servers to better, faster machines at a lower cost.
As a bonus, the new servers should be able to handle more creatures and process creature AI faster which will go great with the upcoming updates.
Enjoy!
Special Promotion (50% Off) Through June 17th!
It's a good time to invite your friends and build up your tribe!
In addition
- I will be patching minor updates to the Main Servers this week. These are further preparatory patches, primarily to adjust the database so that I can more easily run tests (on the Test Server) with the most current data. I will announce minor patches that require a server restart with a 30 minute advanced alert.
- Thanks to new and returning Guides we will have a more active Guide Team running events this summer! Once the event season has been planned out I will post all the details in our event calendar.
Enjoy!
Special Promotion (50% Off) Through April 11th!
We're running this special promotion as we're getting very close to the upcoming creature updates, finally. So far, the required systems update patch in late March has gone smoothly and there's just a bit of balancing and testing before to do before I can start patching the upcoming series of improvements.
The Test Server will open up again next week to again test pets and mounts and to focus on creature AI and balance tests. Until then, enjoy the special promotion!
Developer Update 2019.03.18 (Systems Patch Today)
The servers are currently down (at 9:15 AM PST) for a patch. I am updating the database and software that Xsyon depends on. This is the final preparation patch before I start rolling out new features including pets and mounts and many other upcoming improvements.
The servers may be down for several hours as there is a lot to upgrade and check today.
Enjoy!
Systems Upgrade Patch March 18th!
I will be patching an update this coming Monday, March 18th starting at 9:00 AM PST.
This is the final preparatory patch for the upcoming creature updates.
The servers will be down for several hours during this patch as it requires an update to the database system and software that Xsyon depends upon.
I will run performance tests on this patch for a week and fix any reported issues. If all looks good, the first creature update (AI and motion revisions - which is a major change) is ready to go next, followed finally by pets and then mounts.
I've had to rework a lot of code, removing deprecated libraries and upgrading to the latest database systems. Thank you all for your patience during this time!
Winter Holiday Sale!
During this time we are also handing out Christmas gifts. This year we are giving out the traditional Santa and Elf outfits along with a blueprint of your choice.
To put in a request for Christmas gifts, please open a ticket in the help desk and leave a basket at your Tribe Totem.
You can choose one outfit:
Santa
Ms. Santa
Elf
Ms. Elf
and 1 blueprint / scheme
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!