Fixed Mining and Ueik Pickaxe, added Stone Rocks needed to map.
Cleaned up time/day&night code, added sun&moon phase clock to interface. Added an additional sun and moon phase line to overview statpanel.
Fixed a compass duplication bug.
Corrected buildexp tag on digexp objects.
Fixed another bug in the lighting code.
Fixed the land generator so I can make fresh maps of different biomes any time. Inevitably the game may be randomly generated and offer endless generated lands to explore.
Still need a faster map save if anyone is interested in helping me get Swapmaps running. Currently it takes a long time to save a 700x700 map tile by tile.
Will be adding more furnishings to build among other improvements, until next time! Stay hydrated.
Higoten helped fix Koil's soundmob library, which enabled sound in the game! Hear the waterfalls of Pondera and the forest birds, once again.
I have fixed every spell in the game and made sure the revival spell can get you out of the afterlife. I noticed after adding creatures that the attack for them wasn't working due to some previous unfinished work I had done. You can defend yourself again. Added all the ranks to the statpanel and colored all the stats. Added a sun and moon phase to the statpanel and interface, nifty! Added a meteor shower that distributes spell books for those who don't have them with their class, maybe you can learn some of the spells by finding them out in the wild! A reason to explore more. Since I focused on damage dealers this update, PVP, PVE, Spells and all associated with it should be fixed up and working now! Open PVP Sandbox is currently the mode available and needs lots of PVP combat testing! Cleaned up the map, it had several hundred spawned enemies and too many spawners. All of the improvements I've done have made the game compile and run faster as a whole! Generated more variety of biome and features, added a few more mountains (could use more, will be focusing on map polishing some day). Added storage containers to the build menu. Can store logs, ore or food. Added a "Destroy Property" verb for players so they can destroy the things they build, or reset the turf they alter. Setup right click menus for everything (so you can right click a fire, or a forge and use it). Re-enabled weather, probably needs some attention (layer issues). Had the thought that perhaps I could use this amazing sandbox mode I've created and build the story mode into it. Make it a living world rather than a static single player game. Thinking about adding different "lands" with different tree types/etc. Added blood spills for dead enemies. Still much more to be done! More on the way... | |
Hired a contract programmer who has and will be combing through the source to fix many bugs. Bugs have already been fixed in the movement, sound, saving & loading, and login/logout. Many more bugs will be squashed by this excellent individual, bringing this project out of a buggy state and into the next phase of development: Polishing and Refinement! They will help to integrate an efficient map saving mechanic that will facilitate the viability of an online multiplayer sandbox mode. This will allow me to host the game more regularly for players. This will also allow me to put some more focused development time into the Story mode for offline and online play, which will create alternative options to play the game more readily than simply when it is hosted online.
I look forward to finally bringing this product to light in this community and hope you all do as well. I encourage public participation in the continuing growth and longevity of this project.   | |
 The awesome programmer that I hired has fixed several functions that have advanced the viability of the project to a LIVE world, finally able to be served and played by the public. This will be the growing world that I spoke of, featuring plant growth, day and night cycle, calendar/seasons/weather/time, building/landscaping/crafting and pve/pvp. Essentially an MMO, but plays like a building survival sandbox. The current roadmap is to bring these same mechanics to the Story mode which will be single (offline) and multiplayer (online). With multiple biomes to explore, it will offer a variety of items, weapons and equipment that can be created from your surroundings. Announcements will be made in the coming days/weeks, stay aware and stay hydrated! Been cleaning up the graphics from 32x32 to 64x64! Great results with the improved resolution offered by larger sprites.  | |
Making a lot of progress in preparation for public playtesting. Fleshing out the tutorial guide so that you can get information in-game about controls, survival, tools, and the environment using picture references to help make it easier to learn what does what in the game. Added several new functions, such as clay-working to create a Jar that must be baked in a fire. Added the ability to fill the jar with Cactus and Vines instead of only water sources. Refined a lot of the graphics of the game. Adjusting all of the descriptions of items so that they are correctly formatted, feature their respective rarity color, pictures and statistics. More to come, stay hydrated!
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Most recent updates to the game have implemented procedural generation. Now lakes and mountains are randomly created in the world, thanks to F0lak for helping to make that possible. Eventually, this procedural generation will be allowed to expand on the edges of the map, meaning that Pondera will be infinitely procedural generated, facilitating real exploration of the game world that will be different every time (but persistent in worlds that choose to do so). Currently, work is being done to implement ore walls on the cliffs. Item Stacking and Map Save/load has been implemented, bringing Pondera that much closer to a public release! Play testing will occur so that bugs or refinements may be put into place, harboring a more favorable public release which will mean keeping the server up longer and not having to take it down to correct or fix issues as often. Thanks for your interest! Until next time, stay aware of your surroundings and stay hydrated.
 Pondera Patch notes thread | |
Certified sowing and rank based planting, finishing off Gardening functionality, adding Vegetables and Grains to the game that grow and harvest based on season. Added the possibility to receive a variety of gemstones while mining.
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Hosting a Test server that will remain online with the newest test build. Join if you would like to contribute to development by bug reports or finally play the game after all these years! Still lots to add and refine, but it can now be played at the very least.
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After in-house testing, more updates have been released -- they addressed one game-breaking issue, among others.
Client-side systems were having some troubles, notes below. The day/night system initially had a long-term performance issue that would lock up a server hosting it for more than a day. After this was discovered, it was debugged and has been fixed. The particle weather system wasn't functioning correctly. It has been fixed and is now fully functional, it will rain or snow based on season and chance. Another stab at the lack of movement issue after loading a saved character. Movement should return more quickly, the issue is known and it will continue to be monitored and a permanent fix administered. Currently, it can't be permanently corrected without messing up the desired movement of the player character. The sundial readout has been corrected and adjusted to include the current season. | |
Update 23 brings some improvements to the game:
Movement loading bug has been permanently fixed Graphic improvements on trees, cliffs, bushes and flowers/tallgrass. Starting spot should now generate on a random grass turf that won't trap the player Sound spawning during day/night and for weather. Energy has been renamed to stamina. Map Generation has been corrected and improved with some additional resources that weren't spawning correctly before, such as bushes, logs and stumps. Berries can now be picked individually instead of only harvested with a sickle. Now the sickle will collect clusters of berries along with seeds while hand picking (no tool) will only collect one berry at a time (when bush has ripe berries during appropriate season). Clusters heal more than individual berries. Needs Testing: General overall gameplay to certify Tech Tree and functionality Seasonal water bug may have been corrected Bushes and Flowers/Tallgrass are now removable with a shovel. Bush spawning needs more adjustment (a bit too many spawn at present and may be of only one type) Additional news: A working copy of the story mode is in the works, just needs tested and refined. After I check all of the teleports are working as intended and add sfx spawners, I will release an alpha copy of the story mode (no frills, really!). Stay aware and keep hydrated! | |
Update 28
Fixed the clay+sand combining bug Updated Movement code Continuing to monitor public play testing for any bugs and fixing them. More progress and attention will be paid if more people play test and report bugs! Thank you for your interest. Stay aware and keep hydrated! | |
Turned PVP on, added affinity (lose for killing players, gain for helping -dark/light+). Needs testing.
Added monsters, Stay safe out there! Turned Spells on, they need testing and fixing.
Turned Tree Growth on based on season.
Added afterlife and spells to revive from afterlife, needs testing.
Added biomes on the map and more resources required by the game. No longer just tar pits! (Now you have access to all of the base resources, including clay, sand, obsidian, tar, soil/richsoil.)
Added stump removal to trees after chopping down, which now stay chopped down. You can take sprouts to reforest chopped down areas.
There is now an xmas tree that appears on the 25th day of Winter that gives a gift!
Fixed more bugs and more on the way! Thanks to all who show interest, even so, I am fixing this game up so that I can play it myself! ;) The more the merrier.