Development News: Islands in the Rough
So I'm excited to let you guys know that this month we've broke ground on the release version of the world. We deliberated and discussed and thought it over, and we've since been hard at work getting the world all plotted and shaped up.
We loved our design of the Nexus so much that we are actually using that level design as the basis for the rest of our level design going forwards. You may have noticed with the latest screenshots that have been floating around that all of our maps now follow the same theme of 'islands.' This is what we think suits our tile-set the most, and it really has started to make things pop.
In our prototype, we designed these levels on the fly. That means, I basically just sat down, jotted whatever came to my brain, brushed my hands off and said 'yep, excellent, looks good.' This time, though, things are different. Zete has been hard at work with the world design, and he's been mocking up concept art, mapping the layout and figuring out how all these levels all connect together.
This is all because we're working towards getting our chapter one release. This should be ready for you all to hop on and test towards the New Year, and it's planned to include everything up to our first boss encounter. This means all quest-lines, all monsters, everything from then to there and it should all be polished for you to play around in.
We have some concept art for you today, and this comes straight from what we use to develop and shape the maps. This will be the layout for our chapter one release (although we may change or add things).
There is also a lot coming down the development pipeline. We're working on getting our player shops ready and live, which means that players will be able to sell items it other players through their own set up stalls. These will be available through certificates that'll be purchasable in town.
Another very exciting thing we've been hard at work on is crafting, gathering and refining. Zenith's Call will feature a number of professions your character can take up in order to create weapons, armor, potions and much more. In terms of the upcoming release, we're going to be allowing players to try their hand at mining, forestry and fishing; as well as cooking and smithing. This represents the 'core' of the professions, but there'll be much more to come down the pipes as we get more and more biomes into the game.
Remember, if you like these posts, be sure to follow our Discord for the latest. We regularly post information there, and you'll know just as we break news.