Bodies, names and town life

Since 23 October, character creation offers more choice: three body types per gender for humans and Ithreni, plus six faces per people and gender. Slim, medium and broad differ in silhouette, shoulder and hip width, arm and leg strength, and posture. Faces bring their own eyelids, mouths and features; skin, hair and eye colours stay the existing palettes.

Nameplates now appear above characters, like in classic MMORPGs. In the interface, “Names” switches between “All”, “Functional NPCs” and “Target only”. “All” shows names at short range, including townsfolk; “Functional NPCs” hides townsfolk; “Target only” shows only the target. Target and mouse hover take priority, and in a conflict the lower-priority plate gives way. The choice is stored per device.

The townsfolk themselves have grown more varied too. 26 figures wear three cuts from four cut families per role, plus place-based fabric colours, headwear and props such as lanterns, baskets, sickles and shovels. Functional NPCs keep their set clothing, and guards keep their uniforms.

Since 24 October, townsfolk are server-driven. Two players see the same person in the same place, with name, level and health. They wander, sit down, eat and drink, stop at wells and market stalls, and make room for players; conversations show fixed, hand-written lines, and gestures add to the scene. On memory-constrained devices the rendering stays lean so dense crowds keep running smoothly.

The flora season adapter has been in the game since 24 October as the foundation for this: fields, plants and seasons come from one shared description. The first seasonal trees arrive with the next map package in Whitmere, more places after that. The latest map package also brings revised paths in Lanterhall, market stalls and more spacing between NPCs, so encounters at the market stay readable.

As an outlook we are planning short sessions: around ten to twenty minutes for a solo stretch, roughly forty minutes for a dungeon evening. The decisions are made, the implementation follows step by step; nothing is promised yet. There is still no fixed launch date.

Saltwarden Online is inspired by classic MMORPGs and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any other game or its publisher.