I avoided adding Mining to Antorum for a long time. I kinda wanted to expand the Salvaging skill instead, making a gathering profession around breaking down old machines and equipment as the only way to get metals. However I decided that didn't really fit the game setting, and traditional mining made more sense instead. I don't deny that Antorum is a pretty standard fantasy world, but that was kind of the point when I started this project out. Maybe I'll try something a bit spicier for the next game.

Mining works similarly to Fishing, and actually shares a lot of code which is nice. It was a good opportunity to refactor some resource node stuff in general and remove a bit of code duplication. I was also able to reuse the Cooking code for the furnace and ore smelting mechanics, which saved me a ton of time. Unfortunately I didn't get to implement any sort of mining animation just yet. I need to make some other fixes first before I can support something like that with the current character model.

Raw ore isn't too useful on its own, and you'll need to smelt it into bars first. I added a furnace to Belmart for that.

There's also a new Pickaxe shop in Belmart. So get out there and strike the earth!

Bacon + Bears

At the start of the week I made some polls in the Discord channel asking "Which food item should be added to the game next?" and "Which type of wildlife NPC should be added to the game next?". The winners of these polls were Bacon and Bears! I spent a bit time adding that stuff, and the bonus of adding Bacon is that the game now has Pigs.

Watch out for the bears next time you are out and about! I was killed mid-screenshot there.

Other Stuff

Playing the game with others this past week has been really fun but has also turned up a lot of issues, as expected. Here's a list of the fixes I made.

• The `/all` command for global chat has been changed to `/shout`
• Crafting and Ritual casting no longer require you have a Hammer or Scepter equipped. The tool can just be in your inventory
• The player blip on the world map has been made more visible, and the map centers itself on it when opened
• Item tooltips will refresh if the item changes while the tooltip is open (like after being repaired)
• Crabs will now drop useful materials more often
• Cultists will now drop useful materials more often
• Skill guides have been tweaked
• Some typos have been fixed
• Maximum durability is now included on item tooltips
• Durability is now colored on tooltips when low to make it more clear when equipment is broken
• Improved the chat box, adding distinct tabs to help filter chat messages
• Driftwood can no longer be equipped as a weapon
• Added a small shortcut in Belmart and made other tiny changes
• Added a level 10 fishing node in Belmart
• Slimes are no longer aggressive
• There should be less Chonkrat Alphas terrorizing the road at Lordling Lake

Play Antorum Online

Antorum Online is free to play and the server is now running! Check out the game homepage for info on how to download the game client and connect.

- Declan (@dooskington)