Hello everyone!
June was a busy month for Xyren on Android! I worked on the phone keyboard, touch controls, world loading and several graphics problems, with improvements to animation and character previews along the way. Some of those changes also helped the desktop client.
The main focus was making the everyday parts of playing feel more dependable. Entering your login details, opening a menu and moving into the next area all needed attention as the new client continued taking shape.
Typing on Your Phone
The Android keyboard received an important round of fixes. Tapping a login field hadn't always brought it up, which made getting into the game harder than it needed to be.
I improved opening the keyboard and handling text as you type, including deleting characters and entering passwords. The keyboard's Next, Done and Enter controls also received attention, so moving through the login form made more sense.
There was further phone-keyboard work in later updates, but June addressed some of the basic frustrations. I wanted login to feel like an ordinary part of opening the game, without having to keep tapping a field and hoping the keyboard appeared.
Getting the World Back on Screen
One Android graphics problem left the screen showing sky where the game world should have been. I repaired the fault identified on the affected phone, bringing the scenery back into view there.
This wasn't the end of every loading or display issue. Similar-looking problems could still appear in other circumstances, and Android remained a major part of the work ahead. It was a useful correction to a particularly unhelpful first impression of the client.
I also kept working on how an area appeared during login and as you moved. The aim was to reduce interruptions and incomplete scenery while keeping the game understandable as it loaded.
Moving Between Areas
World loading received another round of improvements. These covered delays during login, scenery appearing in the wrong order and pauses while moving into a new area.
The changes were particularly relevant when running through the world rather than standing in one place. A location can look fine after you've waited for it to finish loading, yet still be awkward to approach during normal play.
There could still be a wait when visiting somewhere for the first time, especially on a slower connection or device. I continued working on those rough edges without treating one improved journey as the end of the loading work.
Characters and Animation
Movement animation received timing corrections, and animated scenery got further attention. I also worked on the remembered-character portraits shown when returning to the client.
Some portraits had incorrect colours or parts of a face appearing see-through. Those received fixes, along with improvements to how the character fitted inside its preview.
It's a small part of the screen, but it should still look like your character. Between the world view and the login screen, there was plenty of opportunity to make those details more consistent.
Lighting, Water and Touch Controls
Lighting, bloom and water continued receiving improvements during June. I corrected several visual problems involving transparent surfaces and the way water met nearby scenery.
These effects still needed checking across different devices and settings. If a higher setting made the game less comfortable on your phone, using a lower option remained a sensible choice while development continued.
Touch handling received attention alongside the graphics. Tapping, dragging and holding all need to feel different when you use them, especially around menus and inventory actions. June improved those interactions, with more work on zooming and item dragging to follow later.
Other Changes
- Improved Android password entry and keyboard controls.
- Corrected the identified sky-only display problem on an affected phone.
- Reduced unnecessary delays during some login and area-loading situations.
- Improved movement animation timing.
- Corrected colours and missing parts in character portraits.
- Continued work on held-press actions and ordinary taps.
So what's next?
I want to keep improving mobile play while making more of Xyren available to explore outside the game. July has something a little different coming to the website, alongside more loading and graphics work. If you encounter a problem on your phone, the device and location are always useful details to include in a report.
All the best, Austen