Server Optimization.
Last week we mentioned that we will be opening up the server to everyone who backed us for a steam key during our Kickstarter campaign. So right now, we will be focusing on polishing the current state of the game and adding in additional content and systems.
We have been working around the clock to get everything fixed, we've made good progress. Pretty much every network interaction has been refactored into separate interaction handlers and reworked to be compatible with the proxy server. Server startup was pretty tricky, there were a lot of conflicts and transaction errors, but we were finally able to get all of the servers running today. There are still some connection problems during client startup that need to be resolved, and likely a couple of broken client-server transactions to address.
Everything will probably be working again tomorrow, or Monday night at the latest though there will still be more updates and improvements on this front after that.
Various optimizations are also currently being done on the server side to prepare for the influx of players onto the server and to make the game more stable.
UI and Game Additions
We are heavily into the process of polishing up many of the UIs in Novus AEterno and we are also adding various UIs and a initial key binding system into the game. We are also working on a system where a player will have multiple pre build keybinding schemes available to him or her when she goes in to the keybinding menu.
The Ship skinning system is almost ready to be placed onto the server. The finish touches are being done on the UI, which is the final piece before it is completed.
We have added in new star types for greater variety within the game universe. Changes are also being made to the effects associated with the sun to allow for a more authentic feel.
We are also working on a large amount of other environmental elements for Novus AEterno; and we really do mean a large amount. We wish to make each and every solar system feel unique and different from the rest, therefore we wish the game to have hundreds of different celestial objects to choose from when generating a new solar system.
Finally for this week, I will leave you with two words: “Healing beams”. It came up during this week’s developer meeting and I will not say more on the matter, but as someone who loves playing a supportive role when it comes to MMOs, I found it to put a smile on my face.