Hi everyone!
This was a big week in-game. Your characters look different, the starter critters got a glow-up, and a pile of stuck-in-the-world bugs got cleared out.
Fixes
- Stuck less often in the world. Pond banks, bushes, trees, and covering pines should stop trapping you. You can walk up to walls and slide along them more cleanly, including on slower machines.
- North exit stays open. Leaving through the north exit no longer disconnects you or leaves you stuck.
- Camera and clicks on phones and high-density screens. Zoom drift, off-target clicks, and the black screen some phones hit should be gone. Characters also draw sharper on retina-style displays.
- Other players see you properly. Cloak, hood, chat, and Leave World now show up for everyone else the way they should. Leaving the world hides you on their screen right away.
- Small site polish. Community category counts add up correctly, Member of the Day matches on Home and Community, existing accounts can unlock “A New Journey,” and sign-up keeps the check-your-email message plus clearer password rules.
Improvements
- New player look. Meet the updated Aethan and Lyra: eight-direction walk, cloak, and hood. Phones get a lighter version so the HUD stays clear.
- Jellits replace the starter dogs. The Jellit slime family is in as the new starter creatures, with matching sounds. You can also turn game sound on or off.
- Easier first steps. A How to play panel appears the first time a character enters the world. Press Space to attack the nearest enemy, and Leave World now lives under a Game Menu.
- Achievements page. Signed-in players have a place to see their achievements.
- Member of the Day. Picking Member of the Day now looks at Republic Points.
- Spectator preview. The home-page preview uses the real game map and starts at the saved camp.
What's next
These are plans, not promises:
- Dewmere Vale, the new world that will eventually replace the current island. Phase 1 (smoother map loading, spawn zones, and fresh ground textures) is lined up after the current polish pass; the island stays live until the full switch.
- More polish on the new character art across the site (avatar, profiles, and create-your-hero), plus any leftover zoom or click quirks on the new sprites.
Thanks for playing and for telling us when something feels off. Drop a note here on the forum anytime. We read everything!
— The Athena Online team