Thread: Alotic - Experience Nostalgia

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  1. #21  
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    Our first Development Blog for Alotic has been posted by Edu on our community forums this morning, if you didn't read it or are not a member of our forums; here is the post:




    "Hello! It's been just over a week since I joined the team to be the content developer on Alotic, so I thought I'd write a post to show what I've been working on so far, as well as ask for the community's input on a few topics.

    If you've played Alotic in the past, you'll know it already has plenty of content. So, rather than focusing on new content right away, I chose to improve and modernize existing systems, as when the server is live it will become trickier to rework core aspects of the game.


    Grand Exchange

    The grand exchange on Alotic was notorious for buggy behavior, dupes, and even performance issues. Instead of trying to improve the existing code, I started from scratch and built an entirely new system. This new system is much more performant and easier to work with, as well as being (hopefully!) dupe-free.

    Everything works as you'd expect from the Grand Exchange: you can place buy and sell offers, and they will still complete even if you're not online. This rework also opened the door to reworking old features and adding some new ones an opportunity I took advantage of.

    I'd like to start by ripping off the band-aid: The feature that allowed players to sell almost every item to the GE itself for -5% of its guide price is not present in the new GE. This was a feature that was overall very damaging to the economy, as it caused massive amounts of gold to be created, and thus I believe it will be better overall if it is done away with. Do not worry, however, as there will still be many ways to make money, including ones that do not require trading with other players.

    Attached image

    This is the offer setup interface. Those with attention to detail will notice a new button in the bottom right! Here's what it does:

    Attached image

    The "view offers" button. Clicking this button will show matching active offers for the selected item, as in, if you're setting up a buy offer, clicking this button will show the current sell offers for that item, like so:

    Attached image

    Shown in the image are the sell offers for coal. This is an example of what you would see if you clicked the view offers button while setting up a buy offer for coal. The offers are always sorted from best to worse, so when looking at sell offers, you will see the cheapest items first, and the other way around for buy offers.

    As it says at the bottom, the offers are updated in real time, so if you kept this open, you would see the offers being updated live! There is also a handy button on the bottom left to go back to the offer setup interface.

    Attached image

    This is the offer setup screen after you've selected an item. There are a few things to point out here that might be different than you expect.

    First, the price is not automatically set to the "guide" price. That was a feature we used to have on Alotic, but it often caused more confusion than anything else, as these guide prices were based on old RuneScape GE data and did not accurately reflect Alotic's economy, so they are no longer shown here.

    Second, highlighted in red, is some helpful text. This will show how many active offers there are for this current item, and remind you that you can use the view offers button to browse these offers. And finally, clicking the button highlighted in blue will set your offer's price to the price highlighted in green, which is the price of the best offer that is currently active.

    All of these changes are designed to help players get a better idea of how much items are worth in the ever-changing economy.

    Attached image

    The chatbox notification was also reworked to show what exactly was the update in your offer, rather than just send you a generic message that didn't even say what the item was!


    With the new GE features explained, there is something I'd like to mention and ask for community input. If you've played Alotic in the past, you will remember that the Grand Exchange had an "infinite stock" for many items, essentially functioning as a shop. The new GE system, currently, does not have this feature. The question is: Would you like this feature to return, or would you prefer if these items were instead moved to NPC shops? Please respond to this thread with your thoughts on this matter!


    NPC systems

    I have also completely reworked how some NPC systems work. The old systems were set up in ways that could prove to be cumbersome to work with. While these were mostly behind the scenes changes, there are still some things I'd like to talk about.

    First, PvM combat. In the old system, monsters did not have stats such as Attack or Defence like players do. In the new system, they do. This will make PvM combat much more accurate to how it used be back in 2011, as well as allowing stat-based effects such as the Turmoil curse or the Statius Warhammer's special attack to work correctly against monsters.

    And second, drop tables. The old drop table system was very cumbersome to work with, requiring a specialized editor, as well as making it difficult to accurately determine drop probabilities. This system has been completely removed and replaced with a new one that is much easier to work with, and allows for drop rates to be easily and precisely determined. On top of that, a balance pass was made, with the help of @Robot, over every boss and monster with rare/unique drops to ensure they have well balanced drop rates, as some items ended up much rarer than ideal when ported over to the new system.

    While we do not currently have an interface to show drop tables in a nice presentable way to every player, that is something I'd definitely like to add. For now, we can have a look at drop tables using a developer command.


    That's it for this blog. I understand that these features may not be too exciting from the outside looking in, but I firmly believe that having great, polished, and balanced core systems is key to a successful game.

    Please leave your thoughts as a replies in this thread! I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts. And before you ask, no, I don't have a release or beta ETA to share as of right now, sorry!"
     

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  3. #22  
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    Can't wait for this looks great
     

  4. #23  
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    Forum link?
     

  5. #24  
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    Quote Originally Posted by Levels View Post
    Forum link?
    Not allowed to post it here pm me lol
     

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hank View Post
    I have also completely reworked how some NPC systems work. The old systems were set up in ways that could prove to be cumbersome to work with. While these were mostly behind the scenes changes, there are still some things I'd like to talk about.

    First, PvM combat. In the old system, monsters did not have stats such as Attack or Defence like players do. In the new system, they do. This will make PvM combat much more accurate to how it used be back in 2011, as well as allowing stat-based effects such as the Turmoil curse or the Statius Warhammer's special attack to work correctly against monsters
    where are you getting the data from?
    Quote Originally Posted by blakeman8192 View Post
    Keep trying. Quitting is the only true failure.
    Spoiler for skrrrrr:

    Attached image
     

  7. #26  
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    Best of luck guys
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  8. #27  
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    Bump!
     

  9. #28  
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    Focusing on one server gains you more in the long run imo.
    Looks decent though, best of luck.
     

  10. #29 Dev Blog #2 
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    Hey everyone. It's been a while since the last dev blog, so here's another one.


    Grand Exchange Infinite Stock

    First up, an update on something mentioned in the last dev blog: the Infinite stock mechanic has been added to the new GE implementation.
    After much deliberation, I decided that bringing back the infinite stock was the best course of action to take. With that being said, there have been some changes to it compared to how it used to be.

    Attached image

    The amount of items that are available as infinite stock has been brought down, with many non-essential items being removed, and the prices have, in general, gone up.
    The intent of these changes is to shift the infinite stock to serve the role of a fallback, rather than being the primary way of obtaining items. To also fit that purpose, player sell offers will always be prioritized over the infinite stock as long as they have the same, or lower, price.

    As an economy based server, maintaining a healthy player trading experience is key, and the infinite stock should not undermine that aspect.
    With that being said, it is entirely possible that the demand for certain items will vastly surpass the supply, so this is where it comes in.
    High demand items such as basic armor, runes, potions, and food are all still available as infinite stock, for those players who simply do not want to wait for someone to finally come along and sell them some death runes so they can go back to the wilderness.
    This will come at a premium however, serving as a gold sink, while also leaving room for other players to fulfill these offers, provided they are willing to beat the infinite stock price.

    I fully expect the items available and their prices to need tweaking over the course of the beta, so I will not be sharing a full list of the infinite stock at this time.


    Ironman modes

    Ironman modes is a feature that simply could not be missing. In the time Alotic has been away, these modes have become very popular, and also happen to be a great fit for a server that is not fully focused on PvP.
    There is also another interesting aspect to it, being that ironman modes were not a popular thing in the 2011 era, so it will be a very unique experience.

    Attached image

    The following ironman modes are available:

    • Ironman
    • Hardcore Ironman (All ironman restrictions + if you die, you become a regular Ironman.)
    • Ultimate Ironman (All ironman restrictions + no banking)



    Each mode has its own exclusive title.

    All 3 modes have the following restrictions:

    • No trading with other players
    • Cannot pick up items dropped by, or for, other players
    • No staking
    • No access to the Grand Exchange (including Infinite Stock)
    • Maximum combat XP rate is 15x.



    These restrictions should be not taken lightly, as they fundamentally change your experience, providing a much more challenging game.

    The most problematic of these restrictions, in terms of development, was no access to the GE infinite stock.
    The infinite stock provided access to a wide range of otherwise unobtainable items, some of these being extremely important for character progression.
    The easy way to solve this would be to simply add these items to shops, but I feel that doesn't really fit with the spirit of the game mode. To that end, alternative ways to obtain these items have been added to the game.

    Take the Dragon Scimitar, for example. It will be the go-to weapon for ironmen for a large portion of their progression, but without access to the GE, they would not be able to obtain it!

    Attached image

    This is where the Jungle demons come in. Previously only encountered in the Nightmare Zone, these demons can now be fought as regular monsters and have their own new drop table, which includes the Dragon Scimitar.
    There have been many other additions to drop tables like this, specifically catered towards making Ironman a better, more challenging, and deeper experience.

    One last point, this time specifically about Hardcore Ironman.

    Attached image

    If you die, we will all laugh at you.


    Gold caskets

    Gold caskets were one of the most iconic features of Alotic, but also one of the most problematic ones.
    For those unfamiliar with it, most monsters had a chance to a drop a casket, which could then be looted for between 50,000 to 100,000 coins. They had a base line drop chance of 20%, regardless of the monster killed.
    Since this chance did not scale at all with the monster itself, the best way to make money was to simply kill weak monsters as they provided the fastest kills, with barraging rock crabs bringing in an absurd amount of coins into the game.

    To solve this problem, I've reworked gold caskets from the ground up. They've been split up into 4 different types:

    Small
    • This is the most basic casket type, it drops from the weakest monsters and contains the lowest amount of coins, but also has a high drop rate, making it a consistent source of starting coins for new players.
    • Drops from monsters between level 10-39.
    • Contains between 4,500 and 5,500 coins.
    • Drop chance scales with monster level: 50% for level 10 monsters, ~70% for monsters level 30 and up. Linear scaling in between.


    Medium
    • The intermediary casket type. This is intended to provide players with enough money to get their entry level late game equipment, such as the Dragon Scimitar.
    • Drops from monsters between level 40 and 99.
    • Contains between 10,000 and 15,000 coins.
    • Drop chance scales with monster level: 30% for level 40 monsters, ~60% for monsters level 99. Linear scaling in between.


    Large
    • This casket type will likely be the one players grinding up their experience will see the most of.
    • Drops from monsters level 100 and up.
    • Contains between 25,000 and 40,000 coins.
    • Drop chance scales with monster level: 25% for level 100 monsters, 50% for monsters level 300 and up. Linear scaling in between.


    Giant
    • This casket type will only drop from boss and demi-boss type monsters. They are intended to give the hardest PvM encounters a source of income that does not depend on trading or rare unique drops.
    • Contains between 100,000 and 150,000 coins.
    • There is no set rule for what monsters drop this casket. The chance is set on a monster by monster basis. For example, Godwars bosses have a 65% chance to drop a casket of this type, while the Dagannoth Kings have a 33% chance.



    Please note that these numbers are still, and will always be, subject to balance changes, especially during the beta phase. Feedback will be vital!

    It is also important to note that there are currently 2 boosts for casket drop chances. Monsters that are your slayer task have a 25% higher casket drop rate, while wilderness monsters have a 20% boost.
    These increases are multiplicative and also stack multiplicatively with each other, providing a 50% boost when both are active.


    Skilling additions

    I've also taken the time to re-implement the skilling menu. It's more of a technical thing so I won't bore you with the details, but here are 2 new features that were added as a result:

    Attached image

    The "All" and "Custom" buttons were previously missing! They're now here and fully functional.

    Here's some new content I've added that uses this system.

    Attached image

    Crossbow fletching. From making stocks to unstrung crossbows to finished crossbows, it's all there. Should be useful for the Ironmen!

    Attached image

    Glassblowing. You can obtain molten glass by using buckets of sand in a furnace, no soda ash required. Buckets of sand can be collected from sand pits, and you will fill all buckets in your inventory in a single swoop.
    The Superglass Make lunar spell has also been added.

    Attached image

    Orb charging has also been added, so that all those orbs you make with glassblowing have a proper use!

    Attached image

    Of course, you can then use those orbs to create battlestaves. Should be a good alternative crafting training method.


    Shops

    Two simple, but useful, improvements have been made to shops.

    Attached image

    First, as shown in the image, the price of each item is now displayed below the item itself. Previously, due to technical issues, it would simply display "N/A" instead. These issues have been resolved.

    Second, when you attempt to buy an item but do not have enough inventory space to buy the amount you wanted, the shop will now sell you the noted version of that item instead, if possible. So you can now easily buy thousands of buckets to fill with sand!


    Shift-dropping

    I've added the highly requested shift-clicking feature. Rather than simply drop the item you shift click on, I decided to make this as fleshed out as possible.

    Attached imageAttached image

    The right click menu. On the left image, shift is not held. On the right image, shift is held. As you can see, the menu options are actually re-ordered.

    Attached imageAttached image

    Another shift click example. While "drop" is the default shift-click option, it can be set on an item by item basis, which is useful for items such as the essence pouch. Left click to fill, or shift-left click to empty.

    Shift-dropping should be a very useful feature for the last piece of content I have to share in this dev blog.


    Barbarian Fishing

    Attached image

    A much-requested feature, barbarian fishing, has been added. Coupled with shift-dropping, this will be a great option to level up your Fishing as fast as possible, as well as getting some extra Agility and Strength experience to boot.



    That's all I have to show you in this dev blog. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think of what I've shown so far.

    As a closing note, I'd like to point out that we're gearing up for a beta soon. If you'd like to participate, please make sure to apply
     

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  12. #30  
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    To also fit that purpose, player sell offers will always be prioritized over the infinite stock as long as they have the same, or lower, price.
    surprised u didnt have this initially! good blog post though.
    Quote Originally Posted by blakeman8192 View Post
    Keep trying. Quitting is the only true failure.
    Spoiler for skrrrrr:

    Attached image
     

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