Development Update - Content Delivery Plan (Patreon)

Introduction

Hey everyone! Oscar Payn here with a brief update concerning the future of the Aether II.

First of all I would like to apologise for our lack of communication about the project’s progress. We’ve not had much time to dedicate to our social media and community relations outside of our official Discord server, so to some it may appear that progress has completely halted on the mod.

We are attempting to address this issue by hiring a dedicated Community and Public Relations manager. Who will handle our social media and ensure updates about progress with the mod are posted to our users, as well as answering any questions users have as fast as possible.

On top of this we are going to start pushing our Official Discord Server as the primary form of communication with our users. It offers immediate interaction between us at Gilded Games and our users, and allows us to post updates in an easy to access manner.

Now with all that out of the way, let’s get onto the main event!

The Highlands Update

We are currently in the process of finalising the design for the Highlands Update, the first major release for the Aether II.

At the moment it’s just a basic outline of what content we want to include, but we feel it is time to communicate our intentions with the Aether II and the scope of the mod’s content so we have a clear path going forward.

The Highlands Update will feature the first Continent in the Aether II mod, and will overall be comparable to the scale of the Aether 1’s content.

But that isn’t to say the Highlands Update will be a repeat of the Aether 1’s content, far from it actually. The Aether II will finally become its own entity with the Highlands Update, featuring new and unique content never seen before in the Aether mod, as well as many innovations and updates to traditional aspects of the mod. 

The basic outline for the Highlands Update is as follows:

A Brand New Island Generation system

Updated visual design, redesigned mobs, new texture work, new block models

Overhauled Moa mount system

Additional flora and fauna

Revamped equipment system

Various new materials

Non Player Characters to interact with

NPC Settlements

Brand new Mini-Dungeons on the scale of the original Aether’s dungeons

A variety of additional smaller structures to explore

New story content and detailed lore

This list isn’t final and will likely change and develop as we continue development. But this will hopefully give you an idea of the basic structure and additions we’re working on while developing towards the Highlands Update’s release.

Now you may be wondering why this list doesn’t contain the Aether II’s first dungeon, the Slider’s Labyrinth. That is because it will not be appearing in the first release, and will instead be entirely redesigned from the ground up as a new dungeon “The Ancient Vault” which will have its own dedicated release, to be worked on immediately after the release of the Highlands Update.

The Ancient Vault

The Ancient Vault will be the Aether II’s first Dungeon, a complete reimagining of the fabled Bronze Dungeon.

The Ancient Vault Update will allow access to the main dungeon found in the Highlands continent, which will add new story elements and challenges to overcome, as well as new unique equipment designed specifically as loot for the dungeon.

The main content the Ancient Vault Update will add is as follows:

New and Unique hostile Mobs

Brand new challenges

Epic final Boss

A variety of new loot

More story content and progression

The Ancient Vault hasn’t been fully designed yet, and won’t be worked on properly until after the Highlands Update is released, but hopefully this gives an outline of what to expect from the first Dungeon.

Future Updates

These two updates aren’t the only things we have planned, but unfortunately it’s all we’re really ready to share at the current time. But we hope to give more details and hints towards future content in the coming months. We have big plans and bigger hopes for the Aether II mod and we hope you will all support us through development and give us feedback and suggestions all along the way.Thank you all for your continued support and kind comments,