1. Preface

As the holidays are upon us, work has obviously slowed a good deal as we tend to our families, jobs, and travels. However, that's not to say work has not been done! We have been doing quite a lot pertaining to development and configs and have made solid progress toward getting our alpha plugins ready for launch. However, we're still a good ways off. So, without further ado let's begin.

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2. Coder Chronical

The biggest thing we've been up to in the past week is our development of one of our core plugins and features, Smeltery. Smeltery is an already existing plugin based off of Brewery. However, Smeltery was used in projects apart from Civ, and the free version of it was abandoned. The only way to get the latest, most up to date version of Smeltery was to enter into a contract with the creator, one which may be altered at any point.

This was, of course, highly disagreeable to us. As a result, we've created an offshoot of Smeltery, and are developing it in house. As a result, the way we described smeltery originally isn't entirely accurate anymore. Smeltery is now done through an interface with a "forge." Players will input materials into the forge to get their outputs, instead of interacting with a lava cauldron and a water source. Credit goes to Orinnarri/Protonull for their exceptional work into developing this.

So what exactly can "Smeltery Forges" do now?

• Forge logic is easy to follow, and players will be able to understand what is happening to their inputs.
• Forges are responsible, i.e., you'll know the forge is empty rather than just nothing happening.
• Forges will have permissions, and be integrated with Citadel, though it will not rely on it.
• Forge UI and Management is more robust and fleshed out.

With all this together, Smeltery is well on its way to being a fully developed plugin, and we're getting close to being able to implement it into the game.

2.1. Cavern Catalogue

Descent has also seen a great deal of work going into it. Descent will feature over 100 unique cave themes, with most of these having at least one unique mob. With this, Descent will hold an effectively infinite number of caves, with each cave being unique not just in style and theming, but also what dangers and rewards lurk within.

2.2. Config Codex

Configs are well underway of being implemented, with the head of our Config Division, Kicky, working hard to get factory recipes, growth times, and more implemented and ready to go for launch.

3. The Hub

CivReign will be unique among Civ Servers as the first to implement not only a whitelist, but now a hub world. However, neither of these points are entirely true. We will be implementing a spawn world where new friends will be able to learn the mechanics of the game through a tutorial series. Then, players will be able teleport once into any of the continents of the world. There will also be a rotating showcase of active and powerful nations, where groups that have proven to be a notable presence in the living world of CivReign will have the opportunity to advertise themselves firsthand to new players. This is still very much in the works, but it is something we are excited to show in our alpha.

So what about the whitelist, then? Well, we are changing it. Players will be able to join, and once they proceed through the tutorial and enter into the gameworld, they are free to explore. However, players will not be able to PvP or reinforce blocks until they verify themselves. This is still being worked on, but it's possible we will use something similar to Kira or a Google Form.

4. The World of CivReign

The Map is complete. The World is yours. Seize the reigns of your destiny.

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From all of us in CivReign, have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!