Paths and town life

Over the last few days we have worked on things you keep passing as you walk through a settlement: the path outside a door, the signpost at a junction and the people at the market. The map package with revised paths, signposts and village houses is in the game, in Ambercombe, Lanterford and Lanterhall. Signposts show destinations, directions and an approximate walking time; “Set waypoint” lets you mark a destination. Further corrections to doorway connections, bridge landings and stray path sections are still in progress, and the placement of some enemies near roads is being checked.

Townsfolk no longer just stay at their starting point. They wander nearby, sit on benches, eat or drink, and stop at wells and market stalls. When a player wants a seat, they make room. Short conversations between pairs and gestures such as wiping, counting, looking around and working have been added too. Conversations use fixed, hand-written lines. Transitions into gestures and working throughout a longer stop still need polish.

Window controls have changed as well. Free windows such as the inventory, character window and quest log can be dragged by their title bar and remember their position on each device. Double-clicking the title resets a window; the menu can reset all window positions. “Inspect” lets you look at another visible player character nearby, where equipment is shared. In the character window, additional stat tooltips explain where a value comes from, and active effects can be shown as a list of bars instead of icons.

Barrels, crates, market stalls, benches and wells have revised materials and shadows; characters and houses now run at the new scale. The yard scenery set and further scenery animations are still waiting for their next checks and release.

Next we keep working on the streetscape and the living world: weather and ambience, more signposts and character creation are on the list. Since 23 October, character creation offers three body types per gender for humans and Ithreni, plus new faces; the other peoples will follow. Some path issues also remain open; the current state is another step in pre-alpha.

There is still no fixed launch date. The first step is a friends test with up to five people, playing from level 1 to 10 over a week. Instant invitations with a cap of 20 people are planned after that, once the launch is approved. Testing on real devices and feedback from that first group remain part of the work.

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