Endless Online 0.4.57 : Dev Post
Instancer & Weather
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Dev Post:
As announced in patch 4.56, this patch leans more into the code side of things as we explore the instancer (the channel copy machine).
This is a critical missing part of the current game that ties the channel and group systems and everything in between. Getting this right will enable private instances but also the foundation for dungeons, housing, guild events and more..
A large part of this patch is focused on building and upgrading these systems, including persistent group sessions, private channel instancing, and the foundations for future dungeon instances. Alongside this, several other code-heavy systems have been upgraded, including the new weather system and weather zones and some upgrades to the Dream Charm system. Definitely not the easiest systems to tackle ..more details below
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We already have a channel system surfacing as public channels. Expanding it to support private-public channels, dungeons, and shadow channels introduces a new challenges: different ownership rules, lookups, and channel allocation all needed, without making the existing systems more complicated than necessary..
The final design keeps the one vector as the source, with four additional new lookup indexes for each channel type. This gives the instancer fast, flexible access for packet handlers, timers, and player events, while keeping creation, removal, and ID reuse simple and consistent.
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Engine: Upgraded Group System
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While working on the instance system, it became clear that the existing group system is missing important functionality required for reliable instance gameplay. The existing group system only handles actively connected plaeyrs. This works for normal party management, but creates various problems when a player disconnects while participating in an private instance, or dungeon instance. A temporary disconnect should not necessarily mean that the player has left the party or the instance..
For this to work correctly, the group system needs to distinguish between a player leaving the party and a player temporarily disconnecting from the game. A disconnected player therefore needs to retain a session to the group for a period of time, allowing the group to remain intact and making it possible to restore the player's state and instance when they reconnecting.
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What was made:
To solve this the group system to support persistent player sessions. The new system keeps track of a player's group session even when the player disconnects. Instead of immediately removing the player from the group, their session remains associated with the party for a defined period. When the player reconnects, the group system can identify the existing session and restore their previous group membership. This provides a much more reliable foundation for instance-based gameplay:
- Players can disconnect without immediately being removed from their party.
- Players can reconnect to their existing party session.
- Party membership can be restored after reconnecting.
- Instance systems must be able to rely on the group system to restore the instance
- The group system becomes responsible for session recovery
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Upgrades:
The session system also expands the amount of information synchronized between group members. The group now supports synchronization of:
- HP and now also TP status
- Now also map locations
- Connection and session state (offline greyout)
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A dedicated UI is also available for managing group settings. This provides access to both general group options for loot and invitation rules, and individual player settings to disable the location sharing.
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Engine: PRIVATE (PRIVATE PUBLIC) channel instancing
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What was made:
This has been a frequently requested feature, with many players suggesting a way to create private versions of existing maps for solo and group hunting. With the new group session system in place, the foundation is here to make this possible.
One of the goals of this patch is to allow players to create their own instance of a public channel, while still keeping control over which maps allow this and and where instancing is offered. Private instances should feel as a natural part of the game, working aside the public channels rather than replacing them.
The result is quite nice.. *read more below
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* a public channel allowing to create private instances
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Creating your own instance:
As visible in the screenshot to the left, the channel dialog has been upgraded to understand the difference between public and private instances.
Public channels continue to work exactly as before. A new private channel slot is added on the bottom that allows to create and join private instances of a public map. Starting a new private channel is as easy as hitting the 'create private channel' button. From there, the engine handles the rest.
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Joining a private instance:
As visible in the screenshot to the right, joining a private instance is just as simple. When another party member already has a private instance open, it will automatically appear in the private channel slot.
No passwords or channel searching are needed. The group system handles finding the correct private instance and allows party members to join it directly.
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* another group member sees your private channel (clicks to join)
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Public Instancing recap:
- Private instancing can be enabled/disabled on a map-by-map basis*
- Solo players as well as groups can create private instances of public maps.
- Easy one-click create and join, without passcodes or passwords.
- Public and private channels can run alongside each other.
- Multiple private instances can exist within the same group**
- A foundation for future dungeon instances.
*public-only channels will collapse the private channel bottom slot.
**one instance per map, multiple instances on multiple maps.
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* mapeditor screenshot
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New rain weather:
The weather effect library have been extended to support rain conditions. Rain has been designed with different levels of intensity in mind, ranging from a light drizzle to heavy rain:
- Drizzle: A few light drops.
- Light Rain: A gentle, steady rain.
- Medium Rain: Stronger and more noticeable rain.
- Heavy Rain: Very strong downpour.
The weather system can also be expanded with additional weather types and effects in the future. Right now EO supports frost, snow and rain.
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Weather Zones
With the rain in place, the world needs a system to decide when and where it should rain. This is where weather zones come in. The server now decides per zone when the rain starts, how strong it becomes, and when it stops.
Every player on a map assigned to the same weather zone experiences the same realtime weather. So when it starts raining in Aeven Town, noone in the south of the Aeven continent will be spared. Aeven North could, however, have completely different weather if it belongs to another zone..
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Engine: Dream Charm Upgrades
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The Dream Charm was designed to give players a backup system for items with a very rare chance, which was working very nice for this use case.
Why it needed change:
However, due to an issue where map event npcs were are not correctly linking their drop tables, the Dream Charm itself became a rare way of obtaining the Pirate Bottle, which could only be obtained through playing the Pirate Invasion event using the Dream Charm.
This interesting side-effect was used to obtain the new Skullhead. However, the problem became clear quickly: by pre-charging the Charm at the chance of 1%, the first Skullhead dropped right away (gz Nife). At this rate, the item would become something almost everyone could obtain within a 1 or 2 weeks, which goes against the idea of making it an alternative, personal, and worthwhile grind.
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What was made:
The Dream Charm system has now been upgraded to support chances below 1%, all the way down to 0.01%, while also allowing the 50%, 75% and 100% charge levels to be individually enabled or disabled.
This turns the system into a all-round tool: it can still function as the original backup drop system, but also as a personal dedicated rare-item hunting system for players willing to put in the grind.
For the Skullhead, this critical change means that the event Bones and the Gates can come back online in this patch.
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Engine: Npc Spawn Upgrades
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It became clear that the respawn of the Crowbrero had started to feel more like a goal than an optional rare encounter.
To address this, the spawn table has been upgraded with a random additional spawn time. This allows, for example, an npcs to respawn at a random point between 20 and 60 minutes instead of appearing at a fixed interval. This makes the encounter less predictable and keeps rare npc spawns feeling more like something you can unexpectedly come across.
Although npc spawn alerts probably make the encounter more predictable, this has also been added as an optional feature. When enabled, an announcement appears in the announcement bar for the particular map channel.
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About: Various / recap
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- Event Bones At The Gates returns.
- Additional dream charm and npc features.
- Weather Zones + new rain weather type.
- Improved Group support.
- Private instancing support.
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- Aeven AP (office+jail) maps added.
- Various map fixes
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This is another patch reflecting a full week of work, keeping the patch pace high and the game moving forward.
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Update patch 4.57 is to release this weekend (around september 26th)
Thanks for playing Endless Online we are glad you are here. You can find a list of contributers here
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