Welcome to Antilia!

Antilia is a sandbox-style RPG which is currently in development. It features an open world, single and multiplayer modes, and customizable characters! Click on "Features" in the overhead menu to learn more!
Under Construction - We are currently in the process of building a new website for Antilia. Please excuse our mess!

Latest Video Update

Here is Antilia's most recent video update. Be sure to scroll down for the latest weekly updates!

Weekly Update - Quest System, NPC Conversations

Posted: Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Quests

My primary focus for the past couple months has been on adding a quest system to Antilia. Antilia's quests will be broken up into stages, and each stage can present primary and optional secondary objectives.

One thing I am experimenting with that may be a bit more unique to Antilia are multiple-character quests which I've laid out the foundation for. Not all quests will allow for multiple characters, but I'd like to try it and see how it works for quests where it makes sense.


A work-in-progress Quests screen.

I have the basics of a journal/quests screen working as well as some of the guidance logic that'll help the player find their way through the next objective. NPCs can move around in Antilia, so I think it makes sense to provide a HUD indicator in most cases. (I can control when HUD and map indicators are provided.)


Quest objectives can optionally provide map and HUD indicators when appropriate to help players locate their next objective.

There is still some development work remaining for quests. For one I need to get more of the objective "condition checks" working (this code detects when an objective has been completed). I have a "give items to NPC" screen that NPC conversations can display, but it doesn't function yet. And third I need to get the rewards system working so that when you complete a quest your character can receive items, skill cards, guild reputation, and experience.

NPC Conversations

The NPC Conversation system has been expanded to allow multiple characters to speak with the player as a group. Dialog "nodes" can now have multiple "pages" of text, and each page can have it's own speaker, pose or animation, dialog, and camera transition.

It is perhaps easier to demonstrate with a couple samples:

Early demonstration of a conversation with multiple characters.

A more recent example conversation. Character dialog now appears with text styles themed based on the currently speaking character.

I have been thoroughly enjoying the process of developing these little scenes. Conversation scripts are easy to write and maintain, and I have been refining the system with new features like an include directive that allows me to place text styles and shared conversation nodes in their own files.

There are still things to consider of course - especially as characters start moving around more with better NPC behaviors. I wouldn't want to start a group conversation if not all of the characters are present. To address this NPC conversations now support embedded LUA scripting and I've been building up a library of functions such as "InConversationRange", "SpawnQuestInstance", and "GiveQuest". Player responses can also have a bit of LUA code attached to determine if a player response is available to the player.



I have been expanding the number of poses and animations available for use in NPC Conversations.

Factions System

Antilia now has a factions system. Quests will typically be associated with a faction, and completing the quest may earn reputation (and eventually rank) in the guild. A tab has been added to the character status view that displays faction rank and reputation.


The Factions tab. Note that I plan to hide factions with zero reputation in the future.

Miscellaneous Improvements

Set Player Character Behaviors

The player can now choose the behavior of characters they own but are not currently controlling. I plan to add Skill Cards that will unlock behaviors as you progress through the guilds. For example after a character joins the Fishing Guild they might receive a "Work for Fishing Guild" card that allows the character to earn money working for the guild when not being directly controlled. Later quests in the guild might unlock more behavior cards like catching fish and placing them into a container. With this arrangement repetitive tasks like gathering resources can be automated later on in the game as more behavior cards are found an added to the skill grid.

Trailer Component

And finally in preparation for getting more sophisticated NPC behaviors, I have created a very basic "trailer" component for use by Game Objects. It has some rough edges, but gets the job done for now. (If you played the Antilia MMO it had Jidou pulling crates around using a similar system.)

This style of carriage looks a little out of place on the Isle of Kasau, but it demonstrates a jidou pulling a cart object around.

That's all the updates I have for now, thanks for reading!

Article Link: Weekly Update - Quest System, NPC ConversationsNews Article Page

Weekly Update - Quest System, NPC Conversations

In this update we take a look at a new work-in-progress Quest System and improvements to the NPC conversation system.

Posted: Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Weekly Update - Combat Behaviors, Server Architecture Improvements

For the past few weeks I've been working on combat-related behaviors and improvements to the Simulation Server, and I'm now starting to polish things up a bit for a video update near the end of the year.

Posted: Wednesday, November 08, 2023

Weekly Update - Status Effects, Aggro and Faction Systems

Development of Antilia's combat systems continue to move along with new status effects, "aggro" and factions systems, projectile damage, and more!

Posted: Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Weekly Update - Archery, Game Over Screen, and IK

For the past few weeks I've continued work on combat focusing on archery and projectiles, and work on the Animation Editor continues with the addition of inverse kinematics.

Posted: Thursday, August 31, 2023

Weekly Update - Animation Retargeting and Editor

For the past few weeks I've been trying to find a way to "retarget" motion capture animations onto the 3D skeleton the Taipii characters use. Unfortunately both approaches I tried hit a roadblock, and in my frustration I turned to solving my animation woes the only other way I know.

Posted: Wednesday, August 02, 2023

Weekly Update - Content Pipeline Work

For the past couple weeks I've been working on the Mesh Importer and making improvements to ToiEngine's Skeletal Animation System.

Posted: Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Weekly Update - Targeting, Animation Woes, Lore Writing

This week I implemented a targeting system for combat but then encountered a bit of a roadblock trying to make headway with Antilia's old combat animations. I have since been doing a bit of lore writing while pondering my path forward.

Posted: Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Weekly Update - Skills, Special FX, Projectiles

Over the past few weeks I've been working on the Skills, Client Special Effects, and Projectile systems - and those systems are finally starting to work well in concert together.

Posted: Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Weekly Update - Combat Decisions

Work on creature AI and the Behavior Editor continues to march along. Hostile creatures are attacking the player now, but I have some decision to make as to what style of player control is the best fit for Antilia and its server.

Posted: Tuesday, May 02, 2023

Weekly Update - Eggs are Hatching, Clothing

This week I finished up work on the creature nests with eggs now incubating, and hatching. Jidou and iichii now hatch, grow, and then die. I also spent a little time on the side working on clothing and equipment.

Posted: Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Weekly Update - Creature Nests, Eggs, and Spawning

Last week my attention shifted from the AI Behavior Editor to the creatures themselves. While my intent was to start building a nice behavior tree for the jidou and iichii, I first needed to get them spawning and de-spawning from the world in a well-tracked manner.

Posted: Wednesday, April 05, 2023

Weekly Update - AI Behavior Editor is Functioning!

For the past few weeks I've been working on the AI behavior editor, and this week I am happy to report that it is now functional!

Posted: Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Weekly Update - Character Switching, Behavior Editor

This week I started work on an editor for AI Behaviors, with as many questions rising from the work as solutions. I also spent some time working on the user interfaces and restored the switch characters function.

Posted: Tuesday, March 07, 2023

Weekly Update - Combat, Server Improvements

Last week I started planning and working on Antilia's combat system, including enemy detection, an AI behavior to follow/chase another creature, and made some server improvements.

Posted: Monday, February 27, 2023

Weekly Update - Teleporting, Floating Islands

With the video update having stalled, here are a few things I've been working on in the meantime and an update on what I'll be working on next.

Posted: Monday, February 20, 2023

Weekly Update - Plans for 2023

In this week's update I'd like to present my plans for 2023 and what's next for Antilia.

Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Weekly Update - NPC Conversations, Stylized Text Rendering, Bug Fixes

This week I continued work on the NPC conversation system, stylized text rendering, and fixed some bugs that were in the way of the next test build.

Posted: Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Weekly Update - NPC Conversations, More Fishing Poles

Last week I resumed working on Antilia, adding in some new fishing poles and starting on the NPC conversation system.

Posted: Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Weekly Update - AMD Radeon Support, Development Pause

Last week I solved a variety of bugs and glitches when running Antilia on an AMD Radeon card, but now need to place Antilia development on a temporary pause.

Posted: Monday, November 28, 2022

Weekly Update - Cave Improvements!

This week I took a little break from bug fixes and optimizations while waiting for a new GPU for testing to arrive. Instead I worked on improving the terrain engine when used to create caves so I can complete a rough pass across the entirety of the Isle of Kasau.

Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Weekly Update - Reducing FPS Drops, Optimizing, and Terrain Changes

Last week I focused primarily on reducing FPS drops when crossing terrain page boundaries and making a few optimizations. I also started on some improvements to the terrain system that'll finally allow for collisions with the cave walls and ceiling, and placing clutter on it.

Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Weekly Update - Detail Settings, NPC Conversations

This week I focused on issues that came out of last weeks test, a settings window, and a system for NPC conversations.

Posted: Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Weekly Update - Setting up a Test Server

Last week I wrapped up the remaining tasks and set up our initial test server!

Posted: Monday, October 31, 2022

Weekly Update - More Bug Fixes, Merchant Shops

My focus this week was to resolve the remaining issues that would prevent us from testing, and then I also added a system to buy things from merchants and worked on the Isle of Kasau some.

Posted: Monday, October 24, 2022

Weekly Update - Bug Fixes, Request Batches, Merchant NPCs

My priority continues to be preparing Antilia for initial multiplayer testing, but along the way I took the time to add merchants you can sell excess items to.

Posted: Monday, October 17, 2022

Weekly Update - Testing Preparations, Crossbows, and Blunderbusses

This week I've been debugging and preparing Antilia for initial testing, reworked the item selection code, and added decorative crossbows and blunderbusses!

Posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Weekly Update - Testing Plans, Respawn Character, Polearms

This week's update includes some details about our first upcoming test phase, development work on character respawning, improvements to the scene object editor, and some new polearm weapons!

Posted: Tuesday, October 04, 2022

Weekly Update - Mushroom Forest, Caves, Hammers & Staves

This week I worked on the Mushroom Forest area (Moivalau Forest), the caves under Gajoi's Claw, and added decorative Hammers, Maces, and Staves

Posted: Monday, September 26, 2022

Weekly Update - The Columns, Maulei Beach, Decorative Daggers

Last week I was inspired to do quite a lot of world design, with a new design for Maulei Beach and new regions for the western side of the Isle of Kasau.

Posted: Monday, September 19, 2022

Weekly Update - Server Login Changes, Decorative Weapons

More work on the network code with a focus on the login system, and I've added some temporary decorative weapons to the game.

Posted: Monday, September 12, 2022

Weekly Update - More Networking, Character Creation, Taipii Guilds

This week I continued my work refactoring the network code, debugged tine character creation process, and spent some time working on the Taipii Guilds.

Posted: Monday, September 05, 2022

Weekly Update - Wei Garden, Interface Fixes, Networking

This week I (mostly) finished up Wei Garden, started some needed optimizations to the networking code, and fixed some user interface issues. I focused primarily on refactoring and UI fixes this week, so this update will be brief.

Posted: Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Weekly Update - Chat Window, Takadynns, The List

This week I tried to wrap up work on the Chat Window, made improvements to the games teleport/respawn points, and started on a list of everything that needs to be done to get back into alpha testing.

Posted: Monday, August 22, 2022

Weekly Update - More Chat, Scripting, Desert Ruins

This week I continued working on that chat system and added a new set of ruins to the Burning Sands

Posted: Monday, August 15, 2022

Weekly Update - Chat Window, Bug Fixes

This week I started work on the chat system, and continued general preparations for multiplayer testing.

Posted: Monday, August 08, 2022

Weekly Update - Multiplayer Progress, World Scale

This week I started work on Antilia v0.12, with a focus on multiplayer and preparations for alpha.

Posted: Monday, August 01, 2022

Weekly Update - More Web Content and Fixes

This was the second week of my c++ programming break, and as a change of pace I continued work on the lexicon and website!

Posted: Monday, July 25, 2022

Weekly Update - Website Fixes, Lexicon Content

This week I made improvements to the website, and roughed in more pages to the lexicon!

Posted: Monday, July 18, 2022

Video Update - 0.11.0 Pathfinding and AI Behaviors

I just posted a new update video with a look at Antilia's new pathfinding and AI behavior systems. Characters and creatures are moving around on the Isle of Kasau now, and the Taipii are starting to work together as a simulated community!

Posted: Monday, July 11, 2022

Weekly Update - Tree Fade, Bug Fixes

Last week I focused on testing and fixing bugs in preparation for the upcoming video, and managed to implement a few small improvements I've been wanting.

Posted: Monday, June 20, 2022

Weekly Update - AI Cooking and Deliveries

As the mid-year point closes in I spent time this week trying to wrap up the foundational NPC behaviors and get a few new behaviors in place. As I transition to working on a video update over the next few weeks these updates will likely look a little different - with tasks related more to debugging and video production and less world building.

Posted: Monday, June 13, 2022

Weekly Update - AI Tasks, Southern Kasau Design Pass

This week I worked on a new "Task" system to compliment AI Behaviors, gave the southern side of the Isle of Kasau some preliminary layout passes, and improved the sea rendering.

Posted: Monday, June 06, 2022

Weekly Update - Burning Sands, Treasure Chests, Topo Map

This week I added two new regions to the game and improved a third, added treasure chests to make exploration more fun, and experimented with a new topographic style map.

Posted: Monday, May 30, 2022

Weekly Update - Fell Trees Behavior, Logging Camp, Bamboo Ponds

This week I implemented a new AI Behavior for felling trees, improved the area around the logging camp, and added a new "Bamboo Ponds" area nearby.

Posted: Monday, May 23, 2022

New Antilia Website Now Live!

The new Antilia website is now (mostly) live!

Posted: Saturday, January 11, 2020