So ...

[Joe M.]

Almost August! Where do we stand?

[Karl G.]

I'm right on target for a mid-August alpha--it'll be close, but I should be able to make it.

Check out the latest video (new, just released!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd5I1idZnKc

There's a LOT going on here:
- character animations
- dying and respawning
- serverside stat-based HP/MP regeneration
- characters collide with each other when alive
- projectiles collide
- combos (only 1 in this video, fireball + freezing aura)
- chat

Stuff that also works that isn't in the video because I made it really fast:
- sweet lookin' HP/MP bars that don't look like doofy blocks
- water effects and varying land-heights
- items that you can drop, pickup and equip

Stuff that's coming soon (will start work this weekend):
- class-based spells and a spell list
- monster spawning / AI control of monsters

[Joe M.]

that looks great. I'm looking forward to the alpha, even if I probably won't be able to play.

[Nenitus]

It says its not available
You posted like 3.5 hrs ago, so I would think its done processing by now...

[Joe M.]

Worked fine for me before, and still does.

[thadiusofx3]

totally awesome
whats the latency like with just those two on my server?

[Karl G.]

The latency is unnoticeable

[Serenity]

One thing that's brought to my attention by the video is character animations. Are they going to move when they cast spells or just stand still. Also, do they have attack animations?

[Karl G.]

I don't think characters will be able to move when casting spells. It's not a big deal either way as far as the code goes, but I have a feeling it would give spell-casters a distinct edge over melee types.

As far as attack animations go, the characters I bought have them...but they kinda suck. I'm not using them right now because I'm going to have to modify them by hand, and that's going to be a pain in the butt and wouldn't have much effect as far as gameplay goes.

[Joe M.]

I think Serenity meant: will they have spell-casting animations, or just stand arms-at-side?

[Karl G.]

oh! well in that case, they will have spellcasting animations. I actually like Xenimus's way of doing this--a single pose--because it allows you to cast spells more quickly without making the animation look weird. So this is what I'm going to do. Unfortunately, however, the models also don't have this animation

[Serenity]

Yeah that's what I meant.

They don't have to be dynamite... I mean just look at Xen. They're pretty cheap too.