We've just announced the updated roadmap for our next release and a rough layout of major features for the following release:

Dates:
Testing: early January
Release: end of January

Atavism 2.6 is the biggest release by far with a large amount of testing having been done to ensure suitable performance of the server and client along with a lot of API changes to make working with Atavism easier and less major structure changes going forward. The release also includes several new features such as the new uGUI, grouping, trading and interactive objects. This is not an exhaustive list.


New Major Features:

• uGUI: The whole UI system is being recreated using Unitys uGUI system. This includes everything from login to character creation to in-game. It also includes numerous UI improvements including the chat system and player menus.
  
• Grouping: Players will be able to form groups to fight mobs together. Sharing xp and quest objectives will be supported along with the basic group functions of inviting, leaving, promoting to leader and kicking members.
  
• Trading: Players will be able to trade items with each other. This includes improvements to the Inventory system to prevent trading of bound to character items, and checking for unique settings.
  
• Interactive Objects: Developers will be able to place objects in their world like mobs that players can interact with such as changing the state of a door from open to closed, having a chest players can put items into.
  
• Server selection: Players will be able to choose which server they connect to after logging in. Characters will currently only exist on a single server, with plans to make multi server support for characters in a later release.

New Minor Features:

• Regions: Regions for water, fire, poison etc. will be place-able in your world. As players enter or leave the regions they can have effects applied to them, or changes to their stats.
  
• Patrolling: Patrol paths will be able to be set up for mobs to follow.

Improvements to existing features:

• Combat: Many new effect types added including Morph, Revive, Teleport. Stat linking added to allow having one stat change values in another stat. Other stat improvements such as setting the value on revive.
  
• Death: Better death handling including being able to set different respawn locations and a ghost state.
  
• NavMesh: A new tiled system has been developed to allow generating of individual tiles rather than the whole terrain at once. Improvements to the way mobs move on the navMesh.

Atavism Editor:

• New search system added to find your data easier. This will replace the drop down lists and reduce the amount of data being transferred from the database (greatly).
  
• New game settings plugin added for setting properties such as bag size, whether mobs give exp etc.

API Changes:

• Quest code being moved into its own area greatly opening up the possibilities for quests such as using items to start quests or other trigger based quest activity.
  
• Inventory plugin being changed to greatly simplify the layout reduce the duplication going on, along with providing much more structured setup for AGIS developers to work with.
  
• The Mob Controller class is being split so it only contains movement code with 2 new classes added for handling animations, one for the old system, one for the new.
  
• Character display along with Equipment display re-written to support a wider range of character customisation/equipment types.

Add a massive list of bug fixes and small features being added which will be included in full changelogs notes on release.



Date: Unconfirmed

New Major Features:

• Guilds
  
• Pets
  
• Social system (friends list, ignore list and more)

Other Improvements:

• More combat improvements including AoE
  
• AI improvements

Along with continuing work on improving performance and the NavMesh system (including some dynamic object support) and API tidy up.

I'm pleased to announce that Atavism 2.5 has been released. It is available right now on the Neojac Store and will be available on Steam within 24 hours.

The changelogs and update instructions can be found on our wiki: http://atavismonline.com/wiki/doku.php/atavism_unity_changelogs_2.5

But to give you a sneak peak:


NavMesh System

• The first stage of the NavMesh system is now ready for use. Developers can generate a Navigation Mesh (NavMesh) of their worlds and export the data to xml files. The files can be placed on the server and the mobs will be forced to walk within the NavMesh areas.
  
• As this is the first stage there is no dynamic collision avoidance, only the static generated mesh. The system is also not fully optimized and can take a while to generate on the client. Further stages (and improvements) will be released with the later releases.

Retroactive Updating (Backdating)

• The first stage of the backdating system is in place. A PHP CMS system has been included in the server files that allow developers to retroactively change all items players have (both in their bags, and equipped). The PHP CMS system will need a bit of setup with a tutorial to be added this week.
  
• The server now recalculates a characters stats upon login ensuring that they have the correct value based on their race/class, level, skills and equipment. This means any of those values changed in the database will be applied on next login.
  
• The only other part left at this stage is the retroactive setting of skills and abilities. This will be included in a 2.5.1 minor update.

Building System Improvements

• The Building/Claim system has had major improvements turning it into a full featured resource and build system (when used in conjunction with the resource gathering system).
  
• A Build Object Template plugin has been added to the Atavism Editor allowing the setup of building objects specifying the items needed to build and/or upgrade a building object. Developers can also specify which skill is required (and can be increased) along with how long construction will take.
  
• Building objects can now be attacked once they are fully upgraded.
  
• Permissions can be set on a claim allowing others to build on your claim.
  
• Claims can now be bought and sold.

Mounts

• Players can now use mounts to help them travel the world.
  
• Developers can create a mount effect in the Atavism Editor and specify the GameObject (Prefab) to be displayed along with the speed increase it will give the player.
  
• Basic dismount region system is available for placing regions in Unity that will send a dismount message when entered. This is to be replaced with a proper server side zone system in a later release.
  
• A player can use the mount ability again to dismount as well. A proper UI for removing effects will be added in 2.6.

With minor changes and fixes to be found on the wiki page.

Atavism 2.4 has been released. Below is the changelog with changes that has been done and instructions on how to update. From here on forward Atavism will only support Unity 5 and upwards due to the fact that Unity made allot of changes from Unity 4 to 5.

Atavism Wiki Changelog [atavismonline.com]

Atavism Unity 2.4 Changelogs

Release 2.4 is a minor release that has been created to allow Atavism to run on Unity 5. A few of the changes originally planned for 2.4 have been implemented along with the start of the API tidy up and improvements. Some other features for 2.4 were dropped so we could get Unity 5 support running sooner rather than later. You will note the Baseline NavMesh system is in place but is currently not working yet like we need it to so its not added below as a update. A new roadmap will be released shortly.

You should not need to wipe any existing characters, but as all updates there are a couple changes to the world_content and admin databases which can be updated by running the sql update file (explained below).

Major Changes
Mail System
- A mail system has been added allowing players to send messages, items and currency to each other. See Mail System
- Developers can choose between using Mailbox objects in their world to bring up the Mail UI or using a key binding allowing players to open the Mail UI at any time.
- Cash on Delivery is supported allowing players to charge other players for the items they send them.


Minor Changes / Improvements
General
- Changed the default animation name for the StandardMeleeAttack coordEffect prefab to 'Attack' to match the parameter in the default AnimatorController.

Atavism Unity API Improvements
The majority of Atavism provided classes and files have been renamed to have the word “Atavism” at the start. As a result, pretty much every file has been modified with updated references.
- Improved the Cursor API to make it easier to get and set the item, ability or bag that the cursor is currently holding.
- Added a new AtavismUIManager class that will be the central file for managing the UI of the game. For users upgrading an existing project, make sure the component is on your UI prefab.
- Deleted the AtavismObjects/UI folder, moved files into AtavismObjects/Scripts/UI Components folder so all UI files are now in the same location.
- Deleted the StandardAssets/AtavismCore/World.cs file. It was redundant.

AGIS API Improvements
- Renamed EquipHelper.CalcValue() to EquipHelper.UpdateEquiperStats() to better reflect what the function does.
- Renamed AgisInventoryClient.EquipBonusMessage to AgisInventoryClient.ItemEquipStatusChangeMessage.
- Added AgisInventoryClient.ItemAcquireStatusChangeMessage which is sent when a player acquires or loses an item. This is caught by CombatPlugin.ItemAcquireStatusChangeHook.
- Added a UnAcquireHook which allows the running of functions when a player removes an item from their bag.
- Tidied up the SkillInfo class adding new functions for learning and unlearning abilities and moved the calculation for skill up chance to the CombatHelper class.
- Added EventMessageHelper.java class to the atavism.agis.util package. This class will be used to send event messages to the client for combat and inventory events.

Atavism Editor
- Database connection settings are now saved per project. For those who have multiple projects they won't have to worry about changing their settings every time they change project, just the first time.
- The Skills Plugin class drop down now links to the class list created in the Option Choices plugin.
- Craft recipes now allow the developer to set an amount of the result item to be given.
- The Resource Nodes plugin now has two different buttons, one to insert data and one to delete existing data.

UMA
Created a new UMAEquipmentDisplay class for UMA items. This should be used for all items that are part of the UMA character and the original EquipmentDisplay should be used for items that are attached (such as weapons in the hand). This will also fix the error that users who purchased Atavism from Unity are having when importing the UMA project.

Fixes Minor:
- Walking can now be toggled using the key binding set on the Atavism 3rdPersonInput.
- ResourceNode harvesting has been fixed to prevent users getting 0 or negative items. Players will only get skill gains when successfully harvesting from a node.
- Fixed an issue that was causing targeting or the whole game to break when a targeted mob despawns.
- The tag owner property on a mob is now set when using any attacking ability, not just auto attack.
- Fixed an issue where after clicking “Test Connection” in the Database plugin other plugins wouldn't load data correctly.

Client:
Due to the change in version for Unity, the update process is a bit more complicated than usual. Follow the steps below carefully (and backup your project first).

Step 1) Open your existing project with Unity 5 and allow it to update the project (if it hasn't already been done).

Step 2) Delete the AtavismUnity folder along with the AtavismObjects/UI folder. If you have made any customisations to those folders, keep the files you changed or added.

Step 3) Import the update package with the following files:

Step 4) Modify the Scripts and UI prefabs…

Recently Developers using Atavism was show casing their MMO they are making using Atavism at PAX East. They had a great response from the public and was interviewed by MMORPG.com. Congratulations to the guys at Utherous, hope this year brings much success to you!

Here is a link to that interview


Read More On Article [www.mmorpg.com]

We recently did a interview about Atavism on 80.lv , read some more about it as it explains a bit of what our idea behind Atavism is.


Read More [80.lv]

New update has been released for Atavism. Make sure to check out the changelog at the bottom on our wiki to see how to update your current Atavism project if you are not doing a fresh install.

Atavism Wiki Changelog [atavismonline.com]

Atavism Unity 2.3 Changelogs

Update 2.3 contains a working Quad Tree System, Crafting and Resource gathering systems along with other fixes and minor performance improvements.

Improvements have been made to the content database and Character Template plugin to try to reduce character creation issues that have been hitting a good number of developers.

Important Notes:

I don't think this update requires re-souring the install.sql file. Please try update without it and just run the world_content_update source.

Major Changes
Crafting and Resource Gathering
- A grid based Crafting system has been added allowing users to create items by going up to a Crafting Station and placing items in the grid.
- Recipes and requirements are created in the Atavism Editor Crafting Recipes plugin.
- Resource Nodes can be placed in your scene in while in the Unity Editor, then saved into the Database via the Resource Nodes plugin in the Atavism Editor.
- Players can wander around your world and collect resources from Resource Nodes and skill up at the same time. Resources despawn when they have been harvested and respawn again a bit later.

Minor Changes / Improvements
Quad Tree System
- The Quad Tree system is now correctly splitting up the world to reduce the load on clients. This was supposed to be working, but was discovered to be faulty (thanks tomt).
- Loading in of mobs has been altered to reduce the big hit when a new node has been entered and the mobs inside are sent to the client.
Atavism Editor / Content Database
- A level xp plugin has been added to the Atavism Editor allowing the setting of levels and how much experience is required for each level.
- Fixed a couple issues in the Effects plugin in the Atavism Editor that were causing data to not load in correctly.
- Spawn Data is now removed for mob templates that get deleted.
- Character template stats are now deleted when the stat definition from the Stats plugin is deleted (this was causing character creation issues).
- Added a unique key to prevent accidentally creating two player character templates for the same Race/Class combo (this was causing character creation issues).

Other:
- Sound sets added to allow setting of different sounds on mobs to various events.
- Script added to allow music to be played when entering areas (trigger collision volumes).
- Tab targeting and first person targeting now added.
- Added a target type check to the cursor to not show the attack cursor or send attack command for friendly targets.
- Added a key code setter for walk on the Atavism 3rd Person Input allowing developers to easily set which key toggles walk and run.
- Added classes and races buttons to default Character Create UI.
- Merchant window (among others) now closes when the player moves too far away.
- More than 1 level can be gained if the exp is high enough.
- Changed the Dot Effects to no longer use the hitroll allowing more consistent damage from them.
- Added the ability to get a players level of a skill for skill level checks in the AGIS code.
- Looted currency now gets instantly converted to a currency.
- The Instance Portal script has been improved allowing the specifying of which marker or exact x/y/z location you want the player to be teleported to.

Fixes
Minor:
- Fixed an issue where a player may keep falling when they are dead.
- Attaching particles to weapons is now possible using the new slot options in the AtavismAppearanceController - MainWeapon and SecondaryWeapon. Weapons must have a child node called socket for it to work.
- Fixed the CoordProjectileEffect so it now correctly sets up the projectile for movement.
- Fixed an issue where vitality stats were still being modified after logging out.
- Fixed an issue where mobs kept facing the player after returning back from having run too far.
- Fixed the issue where players were staying in combat state (and possibly trying to auto attack) after having killed a target (in particular another player).
- Fixed an item adding issue that was causing onAcquire actions (such as currency) to run multiple times (such as getting 4x the currency).
- Fixed an issue that was allowing the duplication of bag items.
- Fixed an issue with the ActionBar key bindings that was causing the activate ability message twice (which resulted in a “You cannot perform this action yet” error message displayed to the player).
- Fixed a calculation error that was causing heal over time effects to not heal the correct amount.
- Fixed an issue where items of the same type to one that had been equipped cannot be moved around the bags.
- Correct sell values should now be shown on the Merchant Sell window.

One of the games using Atavism has recently done a interview on MMORPG.COM , take a look.

MMORPG interview[www.mmorpg.com]

Here is a link to Space Dwarves Twitch channel where they are doing regular broadcasts of their game Bionic Marine Command Online. They started with Atavism about 4 months ago so you can see how far they have come in that time frame.

Twitch Channel [www.twitch.tv]

Here is their Website for more information:


Bionic Marine Command Online Website [bionicmarinecommand.com]

As we have been having problems with Steam registering Atavism we have build a new installer. Everything is now in the new installer and very easy to get your product registered. With this version Mc users will now be able to install Atavism properly on a mac. If you are still having problems please let us know as soon as possible. There is also a link button to our website forum where there is a live chat channel if you have questions. Happy building all!