Illuvium Dev Blog - Jan 2023

Note: This blog was created more than a month ago but not published. I have kept it exactly as it was apart from the summary.

Intro

Returning after the team took a well-deserved break over the new year feels fantastic. I hope everyone had a tremendous start to the year and is ready to dive back in with us. This is the first blog update of the year, and I'm pumped to share with you all the exciting things we have in store.

To start, I must mention our successful Illuvium: Zero Alpha launch. We couldn't have asked for a better start to the year and are grateful for all the support we received. The feedback has been invaluable, and we're using it to make improvements across the board.

We have a metric boatload of products releasing this year, and it will be a wild ride. This year is about delivering features and products; we want to ensure we do it right. They may not be perfect, but they will set the foundation for the future. We can polish more in the coming years as we build on our success. We want to get things into your hands so you can play with them.

2023 is the year that Illuvium will become a dominant player in the Web3 space. We're working hard to ensure that happens and are confident we can make it a reality with your support.

I hope this intro has gotten you excited. Can you feel it in your jellies? I can.

Illuvium: Zero

January was the biggest month for Illuvium: Zero so far. We launched our Public Alpha and quickly followed up with two critical fixes in v0.1.1 and v0.1.2. The team is constantly working to ensure the best experience for our players. We were also thrilled to welcome Julien as the lead for Illuvium: Zero, bringing even more experience and creativity and ending Johnny’s despotic reign. In all seriousness, that is a big deal, as we need Johnny in other areas and with his input, other parts of the project will see a marked pickup in delivery speed.

Highlights

• v0.1.0 Public Alpha.

• v0.1.1 Critical fixes.

• v0.1.2 Critical fixes.

• Welcomed Julien as the Lead.

Illuvium: Overworld

After spending some much-needed time addressing community feedback from the first Beta, it’s back into implementing features we go. We’re working on a few mechanics to add more dynamic elements to the world while still giving off that “What the hell happened here?” vibe. In the next Beta, we should have two more regions ready. They probably will need some polish, but that’s ok. They are still jaw-dropping already. We’ve also made significant progress connecting the backend to the game. You’ll want that because it’s how we get the game to understand what is in your wallet and how to use it. Good things are coming on the horizon. Be patient!

Highlights

• Client and Backend Integration:

  • Player stat code.

  • Locker Storage.

  • Forge.

  • Handling Reconnections.

  • Splitting FOV options for AB and OV.

• Backend Updates:

  • Updating formulas and implementing player stats.

  • Code Cleanups.

  • Setting up interactive plants and tweaking them.

  • UI updates for Travel, Encounters, Player Tips

  • Lots of Bug fixes

Illuvium: Arena

The Arena team have been hard at work polishing the game, implementing PVP, and integrating the final Illuvials. There are only a few characters left. There is still a lot of design work for Ascendant, and we need to improve the online experience to be seamless, but we are getting there. Get ready because the next Beta is going to be a blast! While it won't be perfect, it's shaping up to be a fantastic experience with multiple game modes, improved online functionality, and some real quality-of-life improvements that give it much-needed polish.

Highlights

• Imported 15 new Illuvials along with creating JSON files for all the Illuvials.

• Ascendant Mode:

  • Synching the board state between clients.

  • Ability to continue with a new battle.

  • Ability to continue rounds with last-placed Illuvials.

• Simulation:

  • Ability Activation Trigger Updates.

  • Rework movement interpolation/ smoothening algorithm.

• Handling Reconnections:

  • Displaying the status.

  • Option to ignore the reconnection.

  • Handling sim / animation.

  • Showing relevant data to the users.

• Tech Refactors and Maintenance:

  • Simulation Profiling. (what takes the most resources)

  • JSON Schema Updated to 17.0.

  • Bug Fixes.

Illuvium Website

The website is one of those silent performers, ya know? Every month there are new updates that improve the experience. Not always something that will knock your socks off, but if you look at where we were two years ago, it is clear that we’ve come a long way. Some more extensive improvements in the works will give it some extra sizzle, but at the moment, it’s steady as she goes.

Highlights

• Overworld Landing Page update Illuvium.

• Zero Landing Page.

• Improved Analytics. (GA, Pixel etc.)

IlluviDex

Precisely what the IlluviDex is, is a question that has taken a long time to answer. With a much-needed kick in the butt to yours truly, I’ve been working in the background to define each product more succinctly, and out of this process, we’ve had some big wins clarifying how the IlluviDex will function in the medium to longer term. Navigation throughout all our systems will become more apparent over time, but I can’t stress enough how monumental this task is. We have an entire set of documents to help people learn how to document our mammoth project. That’s nuts. A multi-game universe with a story, staking, marketplace, sales, governance, merchandise and about a billion other things can easily swamp a team in complexity. But I think we’re getting there. And the IlluviDex will be at its heart.

Highlights

• General fixes, tech debt, bugs

• Land Collection minor enhancements (visual/bugs)

• Account Areas & Associated Flows to go live alongside Illuvitars Binance Connect.

Illuvitars

We’re getting close. So close that we’re thinking about a name change. Don’t worry; the items will still be called Illuvitars (and Accessories and D1sks), but we need to give the product a name like everything else. Internally there seems to be a clear winner, but let us know your thoughts. We’re looking for something that encapsulates the rather loose feel of the project (Atlas doesn’t usually don a monocle, innit?) and the fact that it will take place beyond the canon Illuvium Universe.

Highlights

• Frontend Complete.

• Backend Complete API integrations WIP (nearing completion) Minor design review/changes WIP.

• Work continues to finalise the scope of the Album project. Some features may not make the cut.

Play/Account

These will split into separate products soon. As we build out the features of the Account App needed for the game, it is its own beast. Play will use it heavily, but they are different things. That being said, there is only minor work done for each this month, apart from the large amount of scoping done for the final look of the Account app.

Highlights

• Minor changes pushed in support of Illuvium Zero Alpha.

• Minor changes to the Support Area.

• PLAY Account Areas developed in support of Illuvitars Delivery.

Staking

Only one change to staking this month. But I think it’s an important one. Looking at most websites, such as CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko, you’ll get generic figures that don’t represent a project like ours in the proper context. We’re looking to fix that, but we have added an essential metric to our staking app: Release Token Supply. The point is that we’re about 50% of the way through our token releases, be they yield or unlocks. There are additional metrics we’re looking into, but for now, this is an excellent addition to clarify the project's health.

Highlights

• Released Token Supply Component Added to the Staking App

Merchandise Store

The most significant indication of the Merch Store’s progress is that we’ve transferred all the remaining work to be done internally. That means that we’re busy getting it exactly right. So we’re pretty close. As with everything, we won’t release until we’re confident that very few issues could impact customer experience. And what a customer experience you’re going to have. We have some really cool products ready to go; this will be paradise for those physical collectors out there.

Highlights

• Project handed over from external team.

• Web Team onboarding.

• Planning scope of work for Print Your Illuvitar feature.

• Implementing minor visual fixes across the store ahead of a Pre-Sale Event Featuring the Illuvium Team Jacket.

Launch Cinematic

Sorry again; going to have to leave this one up to your pure imagination.

Highlights

• By not rushing this one, we have made it better than it otherwise would have been. It’s coming along nicely.

Summary

Edit: Since this Dev Blog is being released extremely late, I’m redoing the summary. It’s always interesting to come back to these when I’ve had a bit of time to absorb all the work we’ve done. It’s amazing how quick things move. I want to keep everything here for posterity, for example we were still calling the project Illuvitars “back then”. I hope you can gain some value out of this even though a lot of the features discussed here have been delivered. I’d do a vlog, but I think with all the leaks we put out it would be largely pointless. If anyone feels like a video format for these would serve them better please let me know.

Release Order

Illuvitars → Merch Store → PB2 Overworld → PB3 Arena → Launcher