Hello everyone!
May brought a much fuller version of the new Xyren client, with improvements to login, remembered characters, game screens and the world itself. Terrain, buildings, ground items and graphics settings all received attention as I brought more of the familiar game into the new client.
April's experiments helped establish the direction. During May, I moved onto the client that would carry that work forward. It was still being developed, but the progress was becoming easier to recognise in the places you use every time you play.
A Better Welcome Back
The login screen received a lot of attention this month. I improved its layout, background, text and buttons, including how they behaved when the window changed size.
Some of the more awkward problems involved controls that looked like they were in the right place but responded beside where you clicked. I corrected those mismatches and worked on keeping the screen properly aligned as it resized.
Remembered characters also began appearing in the new client, with follow-up improvements to their position and presentation. Seeing your character when you return is a nice personal touch, and I wanted that part of the login screen to feel at home with the rest of the game.
There was still more polish to come, especially on phones. May's changes gave the login screen a more complete shape and made the next round of mobile work possible.
Game Screens That Stay Where You Expect
I worked on the placement of open interfaces, including screens that appeared off-centre or shifted while loading. There were also fixes for flickering and for parts of a screen appearing at different times.
These problems are easy to notice when you're doing something repetitive. If you're opening a bank or moving between settings, you want to get on with the task without waiting for the interface to settle into place.
Settings tabs received a correction, and the option to move the minimap to the left became available in the new client. That gives you another way to arrange the screen, which can be useful when you're playing in a smaller window.
I kept working through the familiar screens rather than treating the appearance of the world as the whole update. Chat, menus and inventory controls matter just as much when you're spending an evening in the game.
More of the World in View
Terrain, buildings, walls, decorations and ground items continued coming together during May. I corrected cases where scenery disappeared as an area changed, along with walls and roofs that looked wrong from certain camera angles.
Ground items received attention so that a drop remained visible alongside the rest of the scene. It's a small part of a screenshot, but a fairly important part of collecting your rewards!
Textures also received improvements to their appearance on models and in the distance. Transparent details needed more attention, particularly where a model could be present but still look noticeably different from how it should.
Water began receiving more of its reflected appearance too. This was the start of work that continued in later months, with further checks needed around shorelines and different graphics settings.
Graphics Settings You Can Try
I connected more graphics choices and corrected settings that weren't behaving as expected. Antialiasing became an option with a restart requirement, while texture and fog controls received further work.
The useful thing for a player is knowing what a setting changes and when that change will appear. I wanted those choices to become easier to understand as the new client developed.
There wasn't one performance result that applied to every device. Higher visual settings still asked more of the computer, and mobile work was continuing. The aim was to give you room to choose the balance that felt comfortable on your own setup.
Loading and Launcher Improvements
Loading received fixes for damaged downloads and missing images. I also addressed cases where a screen stayed incorrectly placed after its images finished appearing.
The launcher received follow-up work on its log viewer and an unwanted extra console window. The separate early-May launcher article already covered its account pages and support options; those remained useful ways to manage your account and ask for help.
If something went wrong, the aim was to make the next step easier to find. A clearer screen or a useful support option can make an otherwise frustrating problem much easier to deal with.
Other Changes
- Improved remembered-character positioning and appearance.
- Corrected several login buttons after resizing.
- Improved centring and reduced flicker in open game screens.
- Fixed settings tabs that didn't switch correctly.
- Corrected missing scenery and several roof-visibility problems.
- Continued improvements to model textures and water.
So what's next?
June's focus is getting the client into better shape on Android, including the keyboard, touch controls and loading as you move around. There's still a lot to improve, but more of Xyren is now in place to work on together.
All the best, Austen