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Welcome to Antilia!
Antilia is a sandbox-style RPG which is currently in development. It features an open world, single and multiplayer modes, and customizable characters! Click on "Features" in the overhead menu to learn more!
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Latest Video Update
Here is Antilia's most recent video update. Be sure to scroll down for the latest weekly updates!
Dev Update - Digging, Panning, and Smelting!
Hi everyone! I've been meaning to write a development update for the past couple weeks now, and with each week I've missed my list of new features grew more intimidating. I best write it today before the list grows any longer!
My primary focus continues to be getting Antilia to a point where there are enough things to do in the game that community testing makes sense again. With the quest systems added in the last update and several new gameplay systems added in this update, I can say confidently that progress is being made on that front. Antilia still needs more content to go with the new game systems, but I'm starting to reserve time for that as well.
Atmospheric effects have been improved recently with multi-color fog.
Digging
Antilia now includes shovels and a basic digging mechanic. What you dig up is largely determined by the terrain type under foot, and can include immediate findings (for example worms when digging in grassy terrain) as well as "samples". Samples can be panned and sifted at a Panning Workstation to recover more interesting resources and treasures.
Digging is currently functional but still needs additional work:
- I'd like the character's position to impact the frequencies of rewards - so in theory if you're finding good resources when panning "Burning Sands - Sample C" there may be a specific location on the map where that sample drops more often than A or B.
- The digging animation still needs work.
- I need to add an AI Behavior Node for digging. (This is important for a specific quest.)
Grab a shovel and start digging to discover new resources and collect "samples" for panning.
Panning
Once your character has dug up some samples, you'll want to refine those into useful resources at a Panning Workstation. First you'll need some water containers (like clay jugs) to fill with water at a nearby water source. Fill up the panning station with water, then add your samples to start panning.
While in development I'm experimenting with two panning modes right now - Auto Panning and Hand Panning. I'm undecided right now which direction we'll ultimately go in or keep both.
- Auto Panning - Place water and samples in the input tray and you can walk away while the station pans the materials entirely on it's own. (If we keep both modes, in this mode the resulting rewards will be limited by a ~80% "luck" factor, so you'll miss some of the rare stuff this way.)
- Hand Panning - This mode still requires water and will cost energy. Using this mode pans a single sample at a time, and each time a small mini-game pops up. By playing the mini-game you can boost your luck for panning rewards up to ~150%. This mode is slower and requires more interaction, but the rewards are better.
I'll continue to experiment with that and see if it's worthwhile keeping both modes.
| Info: | Antilia's current design philosophy is that by allowing multiple characters with assigned behaviors we shouldn't want workstations that are automatic on their own, but rather that the player switch to another character while one is "working". In practice it feels strange for a character to get locked in place doing something like smelting when so many games do it differently (having a character animation that plays would help a lot of course.) The idea was that by introducing a mini-game system workstations could be a little more interactive. |
The panning workstation separates samples into useful resources.
Smelting
Many "samples" in the game include a variety of resources including sand, clay, and sometimes gems and ore. Sand, clay, and ore can be refined into glass, bricks, and ingots at a smelting workstation (kiln).
I just got the smelting workstation working over the past weekend, and I kept it simple for now. Currently it just needs fuel and raw materials to refine.
The new smelting workstation can refine metal ores into ingots, sand into glass, and clay into bricks.
Miscellaneous Improvements
Taipii Base Camp Improvements
As the number of characters and guilds continue to grow the limited space for buildings in Tasii Garden has become noticeable. I've given the old "base camp" in what is now Tasii Garden a second pass, replacing a pond and few buildings with more tents.
The old base camp has been expanded with more tents and a better flow.
Tasii Garden Sawmill
Recent quest and lore writing has prompted me to move the 
Lumberjack Guild from out near the Blue Coast to be located just east of the base camp. This new location has a waterfall, allowing the sawmill to be powered by a waterwheel. For story reasons I didn't want this particular sawmill to be powered by miiraun, and it made sense to move the building. A building nearby has also been designated the Lumberjacks Guild hall on the Isle of Kasau.
Tasii Garden now features a sawmill with waterwheel for the Lumberjack Guild.
Masons Guild Hall
Meanwhile the 
Masons Guild hall found a home in a much more remote location on the edge of the Burning Sands region. Here they have the space to lay out rows of bricks to dry under the light of the Miiraun Star before firing them in kilns. The Masons Guild is growing their influence on the Isle of Kasau, seeking to improve local building materials and influencing village leaders on the island.
A new Masons Guild hall has been set up in the Burning Sands.
Rows of mud bricks dry in the sun outside the new guild.
Liquid Containers
Liquids can now be gathered and stored in containers such as Clay Jugs. These containers can be filled by standing in a body of water and accessing the "Fill" option from the inventory. Liquids have a base type (water, milk, oil, pitch, etc.) and a secondary type (for water those might be pure, fresh, muddy, salty, etc.)
Liquid containers can be filled with different kinds of liquids.
Right click on a container while standing in water to fill it.
Experimental Mini-game Framework
While working on panning the idea of a mini-game came up as a way to make the workstation more interactive. Developing small mini-games in C++ with the overhead of compiling and linking all of Antilia after each change proved very time inefficient. To make mini-games more approachable I implemented a small framework of lua functions for drawing shapes, getting input, and playing sounds without needing to re-compile or even restart Antilia. These games are intended to be very simple with only basic graphics and lasting only a few seconds.
A very basic mini-game built with the new framework.
Rewards System
While working on the Panning Workstation it became apparent that I needed a better "rewards" system. The treasure boxes in the game have some of the logic I needed already, so I turned that into a generic system accessible by all components and server-side lua scripts. This system solves several common problems. For example it can handle complex cases such as rewarding a skill card by default but then falling back to a bonus token if the player already has the skill. It will be used for both quest rewards and NPC drops in the near future.
Lore
Last but not least I've been doing a lot of writing lately. Much of it is quests and NPC conversations (which I don't want to spoil), but along the way I've been adding new information to pages on the website, including:
- A list of services provided by the
Taipii Merchants Guild - New details regarding the Taipii Masons Guild
- All of the villages on the
Isle of Kasau have been updated with minor details about transportation and guilds halls, and 
Tasii Garden received some new historical information.
That's all for this update, thanks for reading!
Article Link: Dev Update - Digging, Panning, and Smelting!News Article Page
Dev Update - Digging, Panning, and Smelting!
As I started adding quests to Antilia it quickly became apparent that I'm going to need a wider variety of things to do as quest objectives. I've been working on a quest/story for the Lumberjack and Mason Guilds, and that lead to digging, panning, and firing bricks in kilns.
Weekly Update - Quest System, NPC Conversations
In this update we take a look at a new work-in-progress Quest System and improvements to the NPC conversation system.
Weekly Update - Combat Behaviors, Server Architecture Improvements
For the past few weeks I've been working on combat-related behaviors and improvements to the Simulation Server, and I'm now starting to polish things up a bit for a video update near the end of the year.
Weekly Update - Status Effects, Aggro and Faction Systems
Development of Antilia's combat systems continue to move along with new status effects, "aggro" and factions systems, projectile damage, and more!
Weekly Update - Archery, Game Over Screen, and IK
For the past few weeks I've continued work on combat focusing on archery and projectiles, and work on the Animation Editor continues with the addition of inverse kinematics.
Weekly Update - Animation Retargeting and Editor
For the past few weeks I've been trying to find a way to "retarget" motion capture animations onto the 3D skeleton the Taipii characters use. Unfortunately both approaches I tried hit a roadblock, and in my frustration I turned to solving my animation woes the only other way I know.
Weekly Update - Content Pipeline Work
For the past couple weeks I've been working on the Mesh Importer and making improvements to ToiEngine's Skeletal Animation System.
Weekly Update - Targeting, Animation Woes, Lore Writing
This week I implemented a targeting system for combat but then encountered a bit of a roadblock trying to make headway with Antilia's old combat animations. I have since been doing a bit of lore writing while pondering my path forward.
Weekly Update - Skills, Special FX, Projectiles
Over the past few weeks I've been working on the Skills, Client Special Effects, and Projectile systems - and those systems are finally starting to work well in concert together.
Weekly Update - Combat Decisions
Work on creature AI and the Behavior Editor continues to march along. Hostile creatures are attacking the player now, but I have some decision to make as to what style of player control is the best fit for Antilia and its server.
Weekly Update - Eggs are Hatching, Clothing
This week I finished up work on the creature nests with eggs now incubating, and hatching. Jidou and iichii now hatch, grow, and then die. I also spent a little time on the side working on clothing and equipment.
Weekly Update - Creature Nests, Eggs, and Spawning
Last week my attention shifted from the AI Behavior Editor to the creatures themselves. While my intent was to start building a nice behavior tree for the jidou and iichii, I first needed to get them spawning and de-spawning from the world in a well-tracked manner.
Weekly Update - AI Behavior Editor is Functioning!
For the past few weeks I've been working on the AI behavior editor, and this week I am happy to report that it is now functional!
Weekly Update - Character Switching, Behavior Editor
This week I started work on an editor for AI Behaviors, with as many questions rising from the work as solutions. I also spent some time working on the user interfaces and restored the switch characters function.
Weekly Update - Combat, Server Improvements
Last week I started planning and working on Antilia's combat system, including enemy detection, an AI behavior to follow/chase another creature, and made some server improvements.
Weekly Update - Teleporting, Floating Islands
With the video update having stalled, here are a few things I've been working on in the meantime and an update on what I'll be working on next.
Weekly Update - Plans for 2023
In this week's update I'd like to present my plans for 2023 and what's next for Antilia.
Weekly Update - NPC Conversations, Stylized Text Rendering, Bug Fixes
This week I continued work on the NPC conversation system, stylized text rendering, and fixed some bugs that were in the way of the next test build.
Weekly Update - NPC Conversations, More Fishing Poles
Last week I resumed working on Antilia, adding in some new fishing poles and starting on the NPC conversation system.
Weekly Update - AMD Radeon Support, Development Pause
Last week I solved a variety of bugs and glitches when running Antilia on an AMD Radeon card, but now need to place Antilia development on a temporary pause.
Weekly Update - Cave Improvements!
This week I took a little break from bug fixes and optimizations while waiting for a new GPU for testing to arrive. Instead I worked on improving the terrain engine when used to create caves so I can complete a rough pass across the entirety of the Isle of Kasau.
Weekly Update - Reducing FPS Drops, Optimizing, and Terrain Changes
Last week I focused primarily on reducing FPS drops when crossing terrain page boundaries and making a few optimizations. I also started on some improvements to the terrain system that'll finally allow for collisions with the cave walls and ceiling, and placing clutter on it.
Weekly Update - Detail Settings, NPC Conversations
This week I focused on issues that came out of last weeks test, a settings window, and a system for NPC conversations.
Weekly Update - Setting up a Test Server
Last week I wrapped up the remaining tasks and set up our initial test server!
Weekly Update - More Bug Fixes, Merchant Shops
My focus this week was to resolve the remaining issues that would prevent us from testing, and then I also added a system to buy things from merchants and worked on the Isle of Kasau some.
Weekly Update - Bug Fixes, Request Batches, Merchant NPCs
My priority continues to be preparing Antilia for initial multiplayer testing, but along the way I took the time to add merchants you can sell excess items to.
Weekly Update - Testing Preparations, Crossbows, and Blunderbusses
This week I've been debugging and preparing Antilia for initial testing, reworked the item selection code, and added decorative crossbows and blunderbusses!
Weekly Update - Testing Plans, Respawn Character, Polearms
This week's update includes some details about our first upcoming test phase, development work on character respawning, improvements to the scene object editor, and some new polearm weapons!
Weekly Update - Mushroom Forest, Caves, Hammers & Staves
This week I worked on the Mushroom Forest area (Moivalau Forest), the caves under Gajoi's Claw, and added decorative Hammers, Maces, and Staves
Weekly Update - The Columns, Maulei Beach, Decorative Daggers
Last week I was inspired to do quite a lot of world design, with a new design for Maulei Beach and new regions for the western side of the Isle of Kasau.
Weekly Update - Server Login Changes, Decorative Weapons
More work on the network code with a focus on the login system, and I've added some temporary decorative weapons to the game.
Weekly Update - More Networking, Character Creation, Taipii Guilds
This week I continued my work refactoring the network code, debugged tine character creation process, and spent some time working on the Taipii Guilds.
Weekly Update - Wei Garden, Interface Fixes, Networking
This week I (mostly) finished up Wei Garden, started some needed optimizations to the networking code, and fixed some user interface issues. I focused primarily on refactoring and UI fixes this week, so this update will be brief.
Weekly Update - Chat Window, Takadynns, The List
This week I tried to wrap up work on the Chat Window, made improvements to the games teleport/respawn points, and started on a list of everything that needs to be done to get back into alpha testing.
Weekly Update - More Chat, Scripting, Desert Ruins
This week I continued working on that chat system and added a new set of ruins to the Burning Sands
Weekly Update - Chat Window, Bug Fixes
This week I started work on the chat system, and continued general preparations for multiplayer testing.
Weekly Update - Multiplayer Progress, World Scale
This week I started work on Antilia v0.12, with a focus on multiplayer and preparations for alpha.
Weekly Update - More Web Content and Fixes
This was the second week of my c++ programming break, and as a change of pace I continued work on the lexicon and website!
Weekly Update - Website Fixes, Lexicon Content
This week I made improvements to the website, and roughed in more pages to the lexicon!
Video Update - 0.11.0 Pathfinding and AI Behaviors
I just posted a new update video with a look at Antilia's new pathfinding and AI behavior systems. Characters and creatures are moving around on the Isle of Kasau now, and the Taipii are starting to work together as a simulated community!
Weekly Update - Tree Fade, Bug Fixes
Last week I focused on testing and fixing bugs in preparation for the upcoming video, and managed to implement a few small improvements I've been wanting.
Weekly Update - AI Cooking and Deliveries
As the mid-year point closes in I spent time this week trying to wrap up the foundational NPC behaviors and get a few new behaviors in place. As I transition to working on a video update over the next few weeks these updates will likely look a little different - with tasks related more to debugging and video production and less world building.
Weekly Update - AI Tasks, Southern Kasau Design Pass
This week I worked on a new "Task" system to compliment AI Behaviors, gave the southern side of the Isle of Kasau some preliminary layout passes, and improved the sea rendering.
Weekly Update - Burning Sands, Treasure Chests, Topo Map
This week I added two new regions to the game and improved a third, added treasure chests to make exploration more fun, and experimented with a new topographic style map.
Weekly Update - Fell Trees Behavior, Logging Camp, Bamboo Ponds
This week I implemented a new AI Behavior for felling trees, improved the area around the logging camp, and added a new "Bamboo Ponds" area nearby.
New Antilia Website Now Live!
The new Antilia website is now (mostly) live!