In tow will be the trusty demo laptop for those who want to take a peak of Atriarch live. This will be the first time we have all the different environments as shown in the screenshots available for demo. As discussed in our last month's update, we had been using mostly a single test/demo area. We've been staring at the Tyrusin Arena for quite awhile, time to shake things up a bit.

excavating for Atriarch content... Over the years, several staff, independent contractors, and community have contributed to Atriarch's content pool. This content includes things like graphics, stories, textures, animations, environments, design docs, etc. While much of this was maintained following a standardized process, several contributors did not have access to the pipeline or central repository. Also there were times when deadlines loomed or we worked offline that the standard pipeline was bypassed. This resulted in a certain percentage of Atriarch's content to be distributed amongst many locations. We are taking time to track down and corral the content that has been living outside of the pipeline and reintegrate it. It is tedious and time consuming work, but worth it. So far, we have found 12 weapons sitting on an old backup of a backup from a workstation that we forgot were even modeled. Woohoo! I'm hoping in our next backup dig we'll find Atriarch's Lost Continent .. heheh... ok ok bad joke ;-)

Atriana Globalization: world building & Atriarch cities...
While it (Tyrusin Region of Pallidrost) will remain our main test area, we are expanding the world to include Drasius (Eshlar Port City), Orescent (Lokai Desert City & Capitol), and the Cavolon Foreign Embassy in the Swamps.

In the past, each of these cities were a demo/test area in and of themselves. It made everything simpler for us that way. Now, we are moving these regions all to the same globe (Atriana) rather than their own individual test globes.

Why is Atriarch taking such a long time?

Two main reasons: 1) Funding and resources are minimal. 2) No matter how you look at it, even the most basic online world technology is extremely complex. It takes a lot of time. Even when tech is purchased or used from a 3rd party, it still requires a significant amount of skill, effort, and development. For a tiny team like ours, it just takes longer. If you want to see it move along faster, we are always open to your ideas and/or contributions.

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Is holding too tight to the original vision keeping it from ever getting released?

Actually, the original vision for Atriarch was tight and clean. As a highly anticipated project, expectations soared and we began to lose sight of the original vision as the scope contorted to meet those expectations. Atriarch's original vision invites players to participate in a unique alien and organic life where you can build, compete, and directly impact the world around you. The original vision is always what was fun and compelling about Atriarch and still is. Holding tight to the original vision (not its bloated successor) keeps what is important about Atriarch in the foreground.

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Given the current landscape of online worlds, Atriarch remains innovative. When it comes down to it, I find Atriarch interesting. It still has an epic quality of alien culture and politics and history. I'm looking forward to playing it with you.

Although the Lokai are renown for their explorations, they are not exactly known for their preservation of archives. Their adventures are shown on their Khanja Staff, but the details are mostly from oral tradition. The Others are making it their purpose to search for the marbling of truth in the stories the old explorers left us.

More specifically, Arc is spending as much time as possible working out some technical show-stoppers on the server side. Once this major, but necessary, undertaking is completed, we will be able to breathe a sigh of relief and get the world back up and in testable condition once again.

E3 went well. We had a year-old solo version. (we did make the caveat to ten ton hammer that this was a pre alpha version from last year. However there is some new information that I talked about that I haven't discussed publicly before, like the Achievement System which is mostly implemented. Also, the highly specialized skills they mentioned are also already implemented.

Ten Ton Hammer Impressions

"It’s going to be a niche game that doesn’t seek to compete against the power-houses such as World of Warcraft. Not aiming for the high-end, nor aiming for the low-end. This project of theirs is all about how they want to produce a product that will appeal to those who share their own passions and interests. To make something that they themselves have been seeking to play -- that’s their real goal."

They talked about testing in 2007. I'm not sure where they got that date, becuase I don't give dates anymore, so that one isn't my fault.

oh yeah... quick note, one of the reasons you haven't seen this in other games yet (especially other companies who have the millions$$$ and the manpower to do it)... is because it is technically more difficult than it seems on the surface. The concept of building blocks is simple, but the implementation of it in an mog is really complex. That is why you haven't seen it already over and over again in games.

Atriarch demos at E3 ... In the meantime (while we wait for the updated servers), we have revived a previous "solo version" of Atriarch. It is a version of Atriarch which runs without needing to connect to the servers. It is a very good view of the current state of the Atriarch game. It is what we will be using to demo at the upcoming E3. If you would like to see that, then please drop me an email anytime to set up an appointment. Me and my roaming bandits of Durakk will have laptop in hand ready for demos as a moment's notice.

Quite a bit of the game mechanics are now in Atriarch. We will be updating about those sometime soon (the word "soon" is a symptom of the disease). In terms of graphics, we are waiting until the last to update the graphics portion of the engine, because that is a significant undertaking considering integration, programming and 3D content necessary. We may have help in this area coming from an outside source. We'll keep you informed on how that works out. If you have any suggestions on that area, we are all ears (especially those sneaky Cavolon).

Sorry for the silence. Sorry for the lack of updates. Since I'm looking at Atriarch in one way or another everyday, I forget much a part of daily life it is. It is just part of me. Therefore, I forget that I need to actually update and share my Atriarch moments so you also get that information.

You're awesome! I love you all! Woo you! Woo Atriarch!

Looks like the play session will be more February/March time frame. We are working hard to prepare and are looking forward to it.

Whoa! ok, so updating did not quite go as planned. We just got back from a whirlwind tour showing off Atriarch to companies in the Pacific Rim and Australia. While that part went absolutely fantastic, there were a couple of technical difficulties. There was an issue with our colocation facility that could only be addressed in person when we got back. Good news is that we are back. Things are going well better than planned for once :-) We are working on some server bugs and hope to get the next testing play session up by end up January.

Things have been heating up lately. Publisher and press interest in Atriarch is really picking up. Typically, publisher interest begins after the first of the year due to the Christmas/December rush for most larger companies. However, Atriarch seems to have caught the scent of some major players, alternative venues and traditional publishers. I am currently on tour, talking with various publishers, partners and press. Right now I'm in Australia where New Era Companies has purchased the rights to publish, distribute and support Atriarch. We are excited and looking forward to good things happening!

Things are crazy. We are already setting up demos for the Game Developer's Conference, March 2006. This marks the soonest we've ever needed to do that. These are all good signs! If you will be at GDC, then drop us an email to let us know... (Make sure it doesn't look like junk mail or it will just get booted). Even if you are just a long time "Tuesday Update" fan... we owe you a good demo... email us and we'll be happy to talk and show everything Atriarch :-)