Hey TDN Community -
We know it's been a while, and as ever we're thankful for your patience. Outlined below will be the majority of the subjects that we've been working on, and though a couple of them were already mentioned in the previous update or in passing, they are being reiterated in case some of the playerbase has missed them.
Once we're back online you'll notice a few systems that are intended to support NPCs responding to players in specific ways that were previously reliant on DMs to control, for example spellcasting breaches of law in the proximity of guards. More to come on those systems, however we expect they'll help the world feel more authentic. There are some useful goodies for the Guard team as well - whose numbers we expect to be bolstering - to assist with keeping order within Murann.
Goldberry has been hard at work in these past months, from core tilesets to individual placeable upgrades, as well as new hair and gear options:
Prior to coming back online, our death and dying system will be modified to result in a more consistent experience class-to-class. Opting in for Permadeath will likely remain intact but see some changes. Instead, all classes (including Civilians) will be considered permadead if they reach 3 Grim Wound stacks.
To summarize:
It's time to address the apparition in the room. No, not Sabrina Carpenter.
We know the downtime ended up being far lengthier than intended, and frankly, we still have finalization to do on a number of the aforementioned additions and changes. We can't at this time commit to an exact date of TDN's return for both your and our own sakes, but can roughly promise a timeframe of early 2025 for our relaunch. We're all eager to return to running the server, but we'd rather ensure there won't be any need for another period of downtime ever again, and that the server's relaunch will be entirely on our terms rather than rushed and premature out of pressure or impatience.
We know it's been a while, and as ever we're thankful for your patience. Outlined below will be the majority of the subjects that we've been working on, and though a couple of them were already mentioned in the previous update or in passing, they are being reiterated in case some of the playerbase has missed them.
1. Performance Optimization
- General Optimization:
- Goldberry has made great strides in reducing stuttering and general FPS loss from our HD models, whether bodies or customisation options such as armour. In addition, some placeable models that previously were not compiled are now indeed compiled. General client crashing should be lessened across the board by these optimizations as well.
- Compared to the launch experience, this is a significant server-wide improvement, nearly entirely eliminating stuttering. Stutters may still occur, but are expected to be far less common. Overall, the in-game experience should be smooth now.
- Murann Optimization:
- Tethir Thoroughfare was identified as an outlier in terms of client crashing and lag (stutters specifically). The area has been overhauled to be smaller among other changes. If anyone is interested in the technical details of this, the chief issues were constant loading in of models on both sides of the main gates (which the aforementioned model improvements will also help in now) as well as area size somewhat exceeding reasonable values in tandem with sheer placeable count present. In essence, the area that previously existed has been seperated into two different ones, the outskirts now being its own area alongside the Thoroughfare.
2. Lessening of DM Reliance
Once we're back online you'll notice a few systems that are intended to support NPCs responding to players in specific ways that were previously reliant on DMs to control, for example spellcasting breaches of law in the proximity of guards. More to come on those systems, however we expect they'll help the world feel more authentic. There are some useful goodies for the Guard team as well - whose numbers we expect to be bolstering - to assist with keeping order within Murann.
3. New Hair & Other Art Additions and Improvements
Goldberry has been hard at work in these past months, from core tilesets to individual placeable upgrades, as well as new hair and gear options:
- New Hair:
- Both human genders have received new hairstyles, with the bulk of them this time focusing on male humans whose selection was deigned to be lacking in comparison to human female options. As an added bonus, we've managed to make all hair work with any and all headwear without clipping, though this is still a system in development - more information (and screenshots) to come on this later. We're very excited about this system and the implication of additional complexity and variety in customisation.
- Tileset Upgrades:
- The majority of wilderness and city / civilisation areas have seen a thorough overhaul, replacing old textures with HD equivalents and in some cases adding brand new additions.
- We don't anticipate any performance issues created by these upgrades, as they run smoothly in our tests, but in the event it unexpectedly happens we'll be fixing any drastic performance dips.
- Keep in mind that said performance is to a large degree reliant on your PC. Given TDN's sheer visual differences compared to regular NWN, it's highly recommended players play the server with a modern setup.
- Y'Tellarien's tileset (meaning the elf city and hub to be above the boughs of the Wealdath) has also seen further progress, but isn't quite ready for release yet. We expect this to be launched somewhere in the next year.
- New Customisation Options:
- Many new options have been added altogether, from civilised apparel to savage headwear, but this time focusing more so on nature options for non-elves. Exclusives have nonetheless been added for elves, whose additions range primarily from jewelry to headwear, but also include a few armours. Some accessories have been added to all races in turn, as a taste of what's to come in the future via greater batches, such as quivers and scabbards. A selection of HD cloaks (including furs) previously promised and showcased have been finalised, which also will be expanded on over time.
4. Dungeon & Overland Design & New Dynamic Events and PoI
- General Expectations Going Forward:
- First and foremost, this will be the last lengthy downtime - TDN will remain online aside from routine maintenance or unforeseen technical issues. Now, we're aware that the playable area at the time of launch was too limiting and small for what is already a large playerbase. This was of course by design to help us manage the launch, but we acknowledge that it had the unfortunate consequence of limiting concepts, RP, and forcing certain opposing and conflicting elements far too close to one another's spheres of RP. Regardless, other primary subjects will be covered below:
- The Swordbelt has new coastal areas to lessen the feeling of confinement, along with some other new overland areas that have been slotted in where reasonable (such as where empty space was discovered in our map). The plan is to let players now deal with the aftermath of the storm that the launch period suffered from IC, and have more of the server open up via initiatives and general RP of this overall effort. We expect the first openings to be within 1-2 weeks, but the timing may change depending on many factors.
- On the subject of economy and balancing, it will inevitably be an ongoing, gradual effort to adjust these aspects of the server. Licenses will be renewed for all PCs at the start of relaunch once more. Specific classes, abilities, and spells are on our radar as outliers - whether slightly too weak or too strong - but we don't deem most of these to be too high on the priority list at the moment. Economy in particular is a difficult beast to tackle, and must be carefully adjusted, as a single mistake can permanently ruin it. For this reason the silver cap will remain in place for the moment.
- Cantrips have been nerfed OOC and IC (which will be left for players to discover in-game), as they were vastly overperforming and causing drastic balance headaches and unintended player behaviour. In short, guaranteed damage as an endless, spammable resource proved to be an overadjustment on our part, and created narrative dissonnance that was inconsistent with the overall vision of TDN. An in depth explanation will be included below for those interested.
- Due to many NPCs having elemental weaknesses and the overall bounded numbers as part of our creature design, this became particularly untenable the more players were using cantrips, and combined with some dungeon and creature design mistakes (in other words many NPCs being too difficult), this cocktail of design unintentionally forced players - particularly mundane and anti-magic PCs - to be reliant on spellcasters to a jarring degree. The primary reason was that these PCs couldn't easily if at all defeat the majority of enemies without cantrip spam. This evidently defied the whole vision and nature of the setting. While the intention OOC partly was to give certain classes such as Wizards something to do at all times, unfortunately, that QoL gameplay trait has to be set aside in favour of TDN's setting and intended vision - we still feel that affected classes have more than enough to play with and rely on even in the wake of this change.
- If you feel this change and overall approach to magic ruins your experience and enjoyment, we'd recommend players reconsider their class of choice, and remind all that every server does things differently, and that this is simply how magic gameplay is on TDN. It will be an adjustment, as it already was, and may take some time to grow accustomed to. Casters here are largely meant to have to make specific, deliberate and timed choices in their gameplay, rather than being able to spam and throw endless magic at their foes or for their friends, which would simply upset and ruin the mechanical balance of the server, and in turn the integrity of it. Their power nonetheless has the potential to turn the tide in both PvE and PvP in ways that mundane classes never will be able to, which IC is seen as part of the reason magic is feared and regulated within the world, and why it must have drawbacks and potential fallout.
- First and foremost, this will be the last lengthy downtime - TDN will remain online aside from routine maintenance or unforeseen technical issues. Now, we're aware that the playable area at the time of launch was too limiting and small for what is already a large playerbase. This was of course by design to help us manage the launch, but we acknowledge that it had the unfortunate consequence of limiting concepts, RP, and forcing certain opposing and conflicting elements far too close to one another's spheres of RP. Regardless, other primary subjects will be covered below:
- Dungeons:
- In hindsight, we feel that the early level experience was a little too much on the harsh side. Many numerical values have been adjusted on enemies, and in some cases even NPC positioning was changed or group numbers were lessened.
- Select dungeons proved to be too punishing in terms of challenge & profits (or lack thereof) and have now been corrected (though this may take more than one pass to find a sweet spot). In addition some dungeons have been relocated as well as new ones having been added altogether or having taken the place of previous, old dungeons.
- As an example, the dreaded boars were previously a combination of high AC, AB, HP, and damage as well. Their AC has been drastically lowered now, and they act overall as more of a HP sponge to allow numbers to increase odds of triumph over solitary boars. Their AB and damage remain high, however, to emulate the sheer danger of these wild animals, especially in groups. That said, they spawn far less frequently now to boot, and largely at night (as is befitting of nocturnal animals).
- Overland Spawns & Difficulty:
- We missed the mark, frankly, with the challenge and placement alike of overland spawns, as well as lacking incentivization to do battle with enemies found in the overland. Overland spawns will toned-down versions of their dungeon equivalents & general enemy difficulty, but keep in mind they will still pose a danger when traveling. The general design will be based on distance from civilization - the more distant a place is, the higher level of overland & dungeon enemies you will find. This is especially true when straying from the relative safety of roads. It's recommended that you use Murann as your guiding compass in this regard.
- In addition to the reduced difficulty of overland spawns, where, how, and frequency of spawning have all been reworked. They will now also be dropping bounties as a way to incentivize dealing with overland danger and to help recuperate from financial loss when setting out into the world and running into danger.
- Players can expect roads and similar outskirts - especially within the vicinity of civilization - to be safe (generally speaking). The main exception here is time, in that nightime may spawn some enemies here and there, but even then roads will be significantly safer than before. Daytime meanwhile is almost always entirely safe, unless you stray from the roads to the wilds and other such paths.
- Closing Notes on PvE:
- It's important to remember that TDN is intended to be challenging in its approach to PvE, that we mean to instill a sense of grounded realism (within reason, it's still fantasy) in players, rather than having lower-level enemies become completely obsolete and effortless to defeat even in great numbers. Anything and everything can be dangerous in our depiction of Forgotten Realms, and the bounded numbers of our overall mechanical balance are intended to bring that vision alive. Specifically, the more enemies you face, the more likely you will fall.
- Dynamic Event Additions & Changes:
- Some of the existing events have been changed to be more dangerous, as we felt that they were far too much of a breeze. Similarly, the chance some of these events would trigger was adjusted across the board and individually where applicable, whether an event was designed to trigger too much, or too little.
- New events have been added to both existing and new areas. While not all of these are combat centric in nature, players are recommended to tread with caution and keep their eyes peeled for yellow text in their combat log / hovering above their head.
- As an example, new coastal areas south and north of Murann have received both new Points of Interest as well as Dynamic Events. Some of the roadside events likewise have seen adjustments, such as a bandit ambush along the Tethir Road.
5. Death & Dying
Prior to coming back online, our death and dying system will be modified to result in a more consistent experience class-to-class. Opting in for Permadeath will likely remain intact but see some changes. Instead, all classes (including Civilians) will be considered permadead if they reach 3 Grim Wound stacks.
To summarize:
- Both PvE and PvP deaths both contribute a single grim wound stack to the player.
- This effect is permanent unless removed from a priest/priestess NPC for a fee.
- If a player reaches 3 stacks of Grim wound (meaning they died twice, didn't get the wound removed, and then died again) - they would be considered permadead.
- As we are removing the randomization element for this step, while we can provide the dates/times of the player dying and receiving grim wounds, we will not be overturning permadeaths due to the heightened leniency around permadeath.
- Civilians are no longer instant-opted-in for permadeath, as they will follow the same death concept as regular PCs (described above).
6. Relaunch Timeframe
It's time to address the apparition in the room. No, not Sabrina Carpenter.
We know the downtime ended up being far lengthier than intended, and frankly, we still have finalization to do on a number of the aforementioned additions and changes. We can't at this time commit to an exact date of TDN's return for both your and our own sakes, but can roughly promise a timeframe of early 2025 for our relaunch. We're all eager to return to running the server, but we'd rather ensure there won't be any need for another period of downtime ever again, and that the server's relaunch will be entirely on our terms rather than rushed and premature out of pressure or impatience.
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