A Big Announcement for Avalon

02 Mar 2022 - MarcatoSound

STRAP IN EVERYONE, this is a big one.

After an absolute ORDEAL… the Atlantis server machine is back, along with the Survival server! Sorry it took so long, but unfortunately it was completely out of our power. Our old datacenter was being difficult which turned what should have been just a few days of downtime into fully 2 weeks. But we’re back, and the network issues appear to be resolved!

We haven’t forgotten about the re-opening of the old survival world from before the reset, either! But we need a bit more time to get that prepped.

But the return of the Survival server isn’t the only thing to be excited about now that Atlantis is back. Not by a long shot. In fact, it’s likely you’ve already guessed what I’m about to say. You see, I have spent the last month doing some planning… and following over 100 pages worth of planning documents, I can comfortably make this announcement.

Avalon III officially in development!

As of the last few weeks, tasks have been handed out to our various team members, with much of the planning work for Avalon 3.0 being completed now. Texture artists are texturing, builders are building, programmers are programming… Starting this weekend, the team will be firing on all cylinders.

The scale of the project has increased significantly, with more than triple the amount of content planned than what was shared for the 2020 Beta! I can’t share too many details, as we want to make sure the team operates under as little pressure as possible. (Hard to do, given the new scale of the project.) But I DO want to share some incredibly exciting developments and plans we have.

Zones

Similar to the AvN III Beta, the game will be divided into zone worlds. We currently have plans for a total of 7 zones, each of which are custom generated and painted by our talented world designers. (Thanks Logs and Tyler, you two are KILLING it.)

Check out some screenshots from the Faria zone! Faria 1 Faria 2 Faria 3

Combat

Various combat classes

Avalon Combat is coming back, and in a big way. The 6 combat classes you know from the beta will be making a return, along with their skills. Furthermore, we’ve reworked shields and bows, allowing us to make stronger ones for higher level players. We also have plans to add several new weapons types to give players further control over their playstyle, but we are not prepared to show them just yet!

For now, I’d like to focus on the shield rework. We’ve added stats that change the behaviour of shields and encourage crafting stronger shields as you level up. As a result, shields can no longer block damage forever. They now have a “shield integrity” meter that goes down when you block an attack, and slowly recharges. In addition, we’ve implemented a “parry” mechanic, where if you raise your shield right before taking a hit, the attacker will be knocked back and your shield integrity will take reduced damage. You can see both of these changes in action here.

Link to YouTube video

Instances (Dungeons)

Avalon Combat is coming back, and in a big way. The 6 combat classes you know from the beta will be making a return, along with their skills. Furthermore, we’ve reworked shields and bows, allowing us to make stronger ones for higher level players. We also have plans to add several new weapons types to give players further control over their playstyle, but we are not prepared to show them just yet!

For now, I’d like to focus on the shield rework. We’ve added stats that change the behaviour of shields and encourage crafting stronger shields as you level up. As a result, shields can no longer block damage forever. They now have a “shield integrity” meter that goes down when you block an attack, and slowly recharges. In addition, we’ve implemented a “parry” mechanic, where if you raise your shield right before taking a hit, the attacker will be knocked back and your shield integrity will take reduced damage. You can see both of these changes in action here.

Link to YouTube video

Closing remarks

Where’s Rem?

Basically, RemSMP is on hiatus for several reasons. Chief among these reasons is that the SMP genre has fallen out of favor with the YouTube algorithm, meaning even with support from Black Plasma Studios, it may be hard to see success with it. As a result, we are going to hold off on RemSMP and do some other YouTube content until the MattSquared channel has a larger following. Please stay tuned for another (much easier to make) series coming this Spring!

When is Avalon III Coming? Honestly, the scale of this project has become monstrous, and I do want to ask that people please be patient with me and the dev team. We’re all working very hard, and the last month has been absolutely INSANE with the amount we’ve done… but it’s still going to take quite a bit of time before it’ll be ready for release, and we won’t be sharing any news about a release date or even a target release window until more of the game is complete.

A Message from Marc

This is the part where I get a little more personal. Seeing the activity on the lovingly christened “budget Avalon” server has opened my eyes to just how much Avalon as a community and project means to you all. Despite being so dialed back and smaller in scale, you all have stuck around. Even while the server was down, I saw people still sharing, still talking, and even still sitting in voice calls. Our tiny community is so incredibly alive and I’m honestly humbled that so many people have been brought together by something I have created.

I know this sounds cheesy, but it is legitimately because of you guys that I am buckling down and putting my all into Avalon 3.0. This place has become a home for so many, from the people roleplaying and creating, to the people meme-ing it up on the survival server… and of course, the passionate development team that continues to surprise me every day. I refuse to squander that. As such, I will be making every effort to push and even break Minecraft’s limits to create an experience yet unheard of and on an unprecedented scale. Will it succeed? Well, time will tell, but one thing’s for sure… as long as I have you guys’ support, Avalon will be nothing short of extraordinary.

So… are you with me?

Matthew “Marc” Grice