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Xsyon devs talk farming, crafting and PvE vs. PvP
If sandbox MMORPGs are more ambitious than their themepark counterparts, it follows that the former are also more susceptible to bugs, performance problems, and general player discontent. Xsyon is no exception, and the post-apocalyptic world-building title from Notorious Games has traveled a rough yet familiar road since its March release. According to a couple of recent posts on the Xsyon boards, better times are in the offing. Notorious is in fact expanding its dev roster, and new game designer/programmer Danathur throws the community a few bones in his introduction post. Aside from providing a bit of detail on his new duties, he also addresses the ongoing war of words between PvE and PvP supporters vying for the future of Xsyon. "We do not want to create a massively multiplayer first person shooter. On the other hand, conflicts and managing them (not only by violence) [are] the real challenge and where the most fun will come from in the long term," he explains. Danathur goes on to say that both crafting and combat will become more expensive in short order due to the enabling of item stats and decay. His sentiments echo those of lead designer Jordi Grau-Davis, who posted earlier this week to announce the new dev hires and to give the community a feel for Xsyon's development roadmap. "We are going to evolve Xsyon to include farming, contested expansion totems and revamped combat. The goal is to provide more daily activities to tend to and something to fight over," he wrote.
Choose My Adventure: Destination - Apocalypse now
So my bags are packed (what exactly do you pack for an apocalypse? I vote toothbrush, regardless!) and I'm setting out for the Lake Tahoe region. Yup, our itinerary is set -- Xsyon has won the hearts of the readers for this next escapade in the Choose My Adventure series. I find this kind of exciting, as I grew up frequenting this area out here in the real world and look forward to seeing it represented in the game. Now, I have a confession to make: I watched the vote carefully. Too carefully. OK, I was obsessed with it! I don't think I can even tell you how many times I clicked refresh in one day; it was quite addicting to watch the numbers creep up as the readers cast their votes. And since six weeks of my life was on the line, I had a vested interest in the outcome. At least, that's how I tried to rationalize my maniacal refreshing. Xsyon commanded the lead straight off, but Pirates of the Burning Sea had a good showing and maintained a solid second place throughout the contest. Four games kept running neck-and-neck: DC Universe Online, Earthrise, EVE Online, and LEGO Universe. I admit to rooting some for the underdogs as well -- each game has special and unique features I would enjoy delving into. Think about it: Can you imagine life as a LEGO? But in the end, no one could topple the promise of a vast wasteland filled with mutants and an empty canvas for players to fill in. So now that we have the setting, all we need is the character. Unlike many games, Xsyon demands that you pick things such as your crafting skills at character creation, so please forgive the number of polls attached to this week's article. Head on past the cut to learn a bit about Xsyon and vote to make me build the CMA creature of your bidding!
Xsyon release moved to March 15th
Building sandboxes is hard. So hard, in fact, that not many of them get built. Those that do eventually see the light of day, like the upcoming Xyson from Jordi Grau-Davis' Notorious Games, often go through laborious birthing pains, buggy betas, and delayed releases. In a post on the official Xsyon boards, the game devs have announced the decision to postpone the official release by two weeks (the new date is March 15th) due to "problems with our servers and bandwidth" brought to light by the recent headstart launch and the sudden influx of warm bodies. The post details the forthcoming fix for the recent lag issues (a new download server) and also puts a positive face on things by bringing up the fact that the lag has caused a few hidden problems to surface. The Xsyon client and installer have also been updated, and pre-order players will have two weeks of free game time comped to their accounts.
Massively Exclusive: Jordi Grau Davis answers our Xsyon questions
With Xsyon's impending release date just around the corner, we thought it was high time we sat down and had a chat with the brains behind the indie post-apocalyptic sandbox. Notorious Games' Jordi Grau Davis was kind enough to answer a few of our questions relating to the game he's wanted to make "since I first sat at a computer," and he has a lot to say about Xsyon's unique features and how it differs from other PvP-enabled sandbox titles. Join us after the cut for all the details.
Xsyon launching March 1st
Though it's been some time since we've heard anything new from Notorious Games regarding its Xsyon MMORPG, there is some light at the end of the lengthy beta tunnel. Lead designer Jordi Grau Davis has sent word that the post-apocalyptic sandbox game is nearing release. March 1st has been confirmed as launch day, and the company is now taking pre-orders for a limited initial release called Xsyon: Prelude. The Prelude is set in an isolated basin somewhere in the American wilderness, where survivors of the apocalypse will carve out humanity's future in an open-ended sandbox that will evolve according to the actions of its community. Pre-order customers will receive immediate access to the game's final testing phases as well as two free months of game time and a limited edition in-game weapon.
Xsyon beta update adds architecture skills, revamps terrain
Yep, Xsyon's still around, and the post-apocalyptic sandbox MMORPG from Notorious Games continues its beta testing phase with a full client and server update this week. The patch has also wiped all your beta characters as well as the world terrain, making way for smoother texture revisions that should be visible as you read this. Other significant patch details include the architecture skill (which allows players to create walls and buildings), the masonry skill (designed to complement architecture), and various tweaks to combat and characters. Among these is a revision to the alignment system that flags both defenders and attackers. Finally, the new client boasts several bug fixes related to collision detection, memory leaks, and animation fixes. Check out the full list of improvements on the official Xsyon forums.
Xsyon updates ongoing, free-form inventory system discussed
You might have forgotten about Xsyon, the promising post-apocalyptic sandbox under development at Jordi Grau Davis' Notorious Games studio. While it's been some time since we've checked in on the title, we're happy to report that updates continue to flow at a steady pace. In a post on the game's official forums, the team tells us of a major move to new server hardware, expected to take place between September 15th and 17th. After the transition is complete, Xsyon's next update will go live. Included among its features are improved and expanded inventory management, player collision tweaks, character rendering and Speedtree optimizations, and several small bug squashes. The inventory tweaks are of particular interest, as Davis hints at a unique system that may happen in the future. "We've changed the way inventories and containers are saved. This will allow us to change to a more freeform container system (without slots) in the future if we choose to do so. This required some major changes that we are still testing," he writes.
Xsyon deploys extensive beta update
Notorious Games has updated Xsyon, its post-apocalyptic sandbox MMORPG. The pre-order beta client now boasts an extensive list of tweaks, fixes, and feature improvements. In addition to the changes, the developers have upgraded both the game and download servers. "Both the download server and the game server are now running from our new machines at a better location. This took a while to set up, but so far it looks like the switch was worth the bit of trouble," declares the update post on the game's official forums. "We've overhauled the server code and there are more changes to come. Hopefully the lag that was being caused by terraforming will be eliminated now, but this needs to be tested further. We are still in the process of optimizing the server code, but this build is a major step and has been our main focus over the past few weeks." The new patch also brings a number of changes to crafting, skills and actions, and interface tweaks. Check out all the details on the official site.
Xsyon launch delayed until August, further delays possible
The developers of Xsyon have have been working hard to make sure that they release a quality game when the time comes, but unexpected problems have led to the announcement of a launch delay. Notorious Games' Jordi Grau Davis has been maintaining regular communication with those looking forward to launch, explaining exactly what the team is working on and what this means for the community. The latest post announced the most current round of updates, as well as the news of the delay: "The official release is now planned for August 15th. We will reassess our progress every month and if we need to push this date further into the future we will. We do not want to force an unfinished release. Instead we are going to continue working as hard as possible until we can fully stabilize the server and finish implementing the planned game features. We're going to stick to our plan, it's just going to take longer than we hoped." He went on to detail what the team will be working on from here on out, and to ask that everyone bear with them as they make the needed changes and fixes. Take a look at the full forum post for all the newest information.
Xsyon pre-orders open, players show off in-game videos
Notorious Games' post-apocalyptic sandbox MMORPG Xsyon has officially opened its doors to pre-order customers, who have responded by filling a thread on the official forums with in-game video footage. Developers are allowing a trickle of players into the pre-order/beta phase in order to test systems and stability prior to the game's May 15 release target. If you pre-ordered but aren't sure how to access the beta, sit back and relax, as Notorious Games will be emailing pre-order customers instructions for downloading and installing the beta client as the need for more testers arises. In the meantime, enjoy the player videos, which include everything from character creation, to harvesting timber from trees, to laying down roads. Look for Massively's impressions on the Xsyon pre-order in the near future. [Thanks Nick!]
Xsyon lead developer talks release plans
Notorious Games founder and Xsyon lead developer Jordi Grau Davis has responded to community questions with a lengthy forum post on the game's official boards. The unveiling of this forthcoming post-apocalyptic MMORPG caught many of us by surprise last month, given the extensive sandbox feature set and the rapidly approaching release date. Davis writes that development and testing are preceding as planned, and that pre-order players will be let into the game in groups of 20-50 as the programming team finishes up various outstanding issues including Speed Tree implementation, terrain optimization, combat tweaks based on forum feedback, and a number of other items. Davis also touches on the planned user load for Xsyon. "What are the numbers we are looking for? I'm guessing about 500 before April 15th [release day], building slowly to around 5000 active players by the end of summer," he writes. [Thanks Chris!]
