State of the Bane 09JULY2010

RedOctober · 07-09-2010, 06:42 PM

We are pleased to bring you the July 2010 State of the Bane address!

July 1st, 2009
Most of you will remember, Shadowbane officially closed on July 1st, 2009. Though the Shadowbane Emulator project was in existence prior to this date, this is when efforts truly started to take off. One year later we're still hard at work, but we remain as committed as ever to bringing Shadowbane back for everyone to enjoy. Over the past year we have made significant progress as a result of the sacrifices so many individuals have been willing to make. This project is fortunate to have such dedicated team members and an outstanding community whose support has been key in our success so far.

On that note, the Shadowbane Emulator Team would like to thank the entire community for making this possible. Without a community as enthusiastic as this one the project would never have made it this far, and we really appreciate it!

Server Development
Large amounts of progress have been made this past month in terms of server development. The most exciting work has been in the area of powers, where Rich has been slaving away to get one of the most important systems in Shadowbane working. At this time a substantial chunk of the powers have been completed, including both weapon and spell powers. Several examples include sprint, travel stance, some stuns, bleeds, damage over time spells, buffs, debuffs, and combat stances. General work on combat has been going on in conjunction with the power work, and so advancements have been made in that area as well. Below you will find a screenshot taken by Dreamsicle of several powers in action on the effects bar, specifically buffs and debuffs.

As usual, even more formulas have been implemented this past month, below is a partial list of formulas implemented and working at present:

Movement Speeds
Race and class movement modifiers
Running skill movement modifier
Base Stats
Modified Stats
Attack Rating
Defense
Damage
Pre-promotion Health/Mana/Stamina
Health/Mana/Stamina regen rates
Available Stat Points
Unused Stat Points
Base Skill Percentages
Modified Base Skill Percentages
Base Effective Skill Percentages
Modified Effective Skill Percentages
Stamina Costs - Combat
Weapon Damage
Attack Rating vs. Defense

In other development news, Claymore has continued major work on server infrastructure and re-organization, an extremely important part of preparing the server for the upcoming preview. Eighty has also been working on item management, a continuation of his work on bank and vault functionality last month. Things are really begin to shape up and we're quite happy with the progress over the past month.

The list of systems remaining to be implemented is growing ever shorter, several of the big ones being non-player characters, mob AI, city placement and management, mines, and siege mechanics. We hope this gives everyone a rough idea of where the team is at and what to expect in the future!

Design
The design team is balancing their time between placing mobs and addressing building placement issues reported by the testing team. These individuals, as well as the developers and testers, have all been doing an outstanding job handling such daunting tasks. KonradKnox, Aerumna, Daymar, Ganked, and Dyson have put in countless hours placing mobs and truly are an asset to the project.

Another area that the design team has spent some time on is refining and verifying formulas. Arkanis has been at work on the post promotion health formula, and Daymar has been concentrating on the melee and spell damage formulas. This assists the developers and helps ensure that the proper formulas are in place.

Testing
With the initial implementation of powers, the testing team has started to assist in testing powers as they are implemented and help the developers catch any issues with them. They have already brought a number of bugs to the attention of the development team, which has helped to streamline the development process and keep SBEmu true to the Shadowbane that we all remember.

Along with powers the testing team has also been taking a look at combat and flight, reporting any issues that they find with them. Many potential issues with powers can be caused by flight and other combat systems, so this goes hand-in-hand with their power testing.

Contests
For the time being we will be retiring the character optimization contest as we will be exploring other contest ideas. Several options on the table include a SBEmu wallpaper contest (as suggested by Daymar in response to a forum topic), a promotional video contest (closer to launch), and possibly a group building contest as suggested by several community members. The team will be preoccupied with other matters for the foreseeable future, but we intend to provide more contests at some point, both for the betterment of the community and to assist in spreading the word about the Shadowbane Emulator project.

Public Test Event
On Monday, July 12th, barring any major disruptions we will be opening the servers for a brief public preview event. This event will have several restrictions, which I will discuss at length in a moment, but is primarily intended to help us prepare for a large and more elaborate event in the near future. As people are aware, the next public preview will focus on PvP combat, so properly functioning powers are crucial to the event's success. This public test will help us work out any initial kinks before we have a full-fledged PvP event.

Due to the fact that not all powers are being implemented, the July 12th test will be limited to level ten characters. While this does significantly limit the scope of the test, it will help the team to fix any basic bugs in the way combat works and already implemented powers. Furthermore, it will allow Rich to concentrate on just the level 1-10 powers (as well as basic ones, such as sprint and travel stance) so that all powers within that level range should be functional for the test. Ideally this will allow for a more enjoyable experience, everyone should have the powers they remember at level ten.

As the event draws closer we will announce additional information, so please check back here for additional updates!

Public Preview Two
After July 12th we will be able to give a more solid estimate of when this will be, but it's safe to say that's it will be coming up relatively soon. It will largely depend on how the public test goes, but the rate at which powers can be completed is also an extremely important factor. We're committed to making the second public preview as enjoyable of an experience as it can be, which has meant being rather cautious about scheduling it. Again, we'll keep you posted so keep an eye out for an announcement sometime after July 12th.

Discussion Thread
Discuss Here

07-09-2010, 06:42 PM	#1
RedOctober Community Manager Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,095	State of the Bane 09JULY2010 We are pleased to bring you the July 2010 State of the Bane address! July 1st, 2009 Most of you will remember, Shadowbane officially closed on July 1st, 2009. Though the Shadowbane Emulator project was in existence prior to this date, this is when efforts truly started to take off. One year later we're still hard at work, but we remain as committed as ever to bringing Shadowbane back for everyone to enjoy. Over the past year we have made significant progress as a result of the sacrifices so many individuals have been willing to make. This project is fortunate to have such dedicated team members and an outstanding community whose support has been key in our success so far. On that note, the Shadowbane Emulator Team would like to thank the entire community for making this possible. Without a community as enthusiastic as this one the project would never have made it this far, and we really appreciate it! Server Development Large amounts of progress have been made this past month in terms of server development. The most exciting work has been in the area of powers, where Rich has been slaving away to get one of the most important systems in Shadowbane working. At this time a substantial chunk of the powers have been completed, including both weapon and spell powers. Several examples include sprint, travel stance, some stuns, bleeds, damage over time spells, buffs, debuffs, and combat stances. General work on combat has been going on in conjunction with the power work, and so advancements have been made in that area as well. Below you will find a screenshot taken by Dreamsicle of several powers in action on the effects bar, specifically buffs and debuffs. As usual, even more formulas have been implemented this past month, below is a partial list of formulas implemented and working at present: Movement Speeds Race and class movement modifiers Running skill movement modifier Base Stats Modified Stats Attack Rating Defense Damage Pre-promotion Health/Mana/Stamina Health/Mana/Stamina regen rates Available Stat Points Unused Stat Points Base Skill Percentages Modified Base Skill Percentages Base Effective Skill Percentages Modified Effective Skill Percentages Stamina Costs - Combat Weapon Damage Attack Rating vs. Defense In other development news, Claymore has continued major work on server infrastructure and re-organization, an extremely important part of preparing the server for the upcoming preview. Eighty has also been working on item management, a continuation of his work on bank and vault functionality last month. Things are really begin to shape up and we're quite happy with the progress over the past month. The list of systems remaining to be implemented is growing ever shorter, several of the big ones being non-player characters, mob AI, city placement and management, mines, and siege mechanics. We hope this gives everyone a rough idea of where the team is at and what to expect in the future! Design The design team is balancing their time between placing mobs and addressing building placement issues reported by the testing team. These individuals, as well as the developers and testers, have all been doing an outstanding job handling such daunting tasks. KonradKnox, Aerumna, Daymar, Ganked, and Dyson have put in countless hours placing mobs and truly are an asset to the project. Another area that the design team has spent some time on is refining and verifying formulas. Arkanis has been at work on the post promotion health formula, and Daymar has been concentrating on the melee and spell damage formulas. This assists the developers and helps ensure that the proper formulas are in place. Testing With the initial implementation of powers, the testing team has started to assist in testing powers as they are implemented and help the developers catch any issues with them. They have already brought a number of bugs to the attention of the development team, which has helped to streamline the development process and keep SBEmu true to the Shadowbane that we all remember. Along with powers the testing team has also been taking a look at combat and flight, reporting any issues that they find with them. Many potential issues with powers can be caused by flight and other combat systems, so this goes hand-in-hand with their power testing. Contests For the time being we will be retiring the character optimization contest as we will be exploring other contest ideas. Several options on the table include a SBEmu wallpaper contest (as suggested by Daymar in response to a forum topic), a promotional video contest (closer to launch), and possibly a group building contest as suggested by several community members. The team will be preoccupied with other matters for the foreseeable future, but we intend to provide more contests at some point, both for the betterment of the community and to assist in spreading the word about the Shadowbane Emulator project. Public Test Event On Monday, July 12th, barring any major disruptions we will be opening the servers for a brief public preview event. This event will have several restrictions, which I will discuss at length in a moment, but is primarily intended to help us prepare for a large and more elaborate event in the near future. As people are aware, the next public preview will focus on PvP combat, so properly functioning powers are crucial to the event's success. This public test will help us work out any initial kinks before we have a full-fledged PvP event. Due to the fact that not all powers are being implemented, the July 12th test will be limited to level ten characters. While this does significantly limit the scope of the test, it will help the team to fix any basic bugs in the way combat works and already implemented powers. Furthermore, it will allow Rich to concentrate on just the level 1-10 powers (as well as basic ones, such as sprint and travel stance) so that all powers within that level range should be functional for the test. Ideally this will allow for a more enjoyable experience, everyone should have the powers they remember at level ten. As the event draws closer we will announce additional information, so please check back here for additional updates! Public Preview Two After July 12th we will be able to give a more solid estimate of when this will be, but it's safe to say that's it will be coming up relatively soon. It will largely depend on how the public test goes, but the rate at which powers can be completed is also an extremely important factor. We're committed to making the second public preview as enjoyable of an experience as it can be, which has meant being rather cautious about scheduling it. Again, we'll keep you posted so keep an eye out for an announcement sometime after July 12th. Discussion Thread Discuss Here Last edited by Daymar; 07-09-2010 at 08:27 PM.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode