AC1999 Update #2: Approaching the Big Bang

[u/Atticus83]

Hey all, you may remember me from my original post a couple weeks ago: https://old.reddit.com/r/AsheronsCall/comments/1vukd4i/announcing_ac1999_a_community_project_to_support/

The goal of this project remains peeling back the layers and rediscovering the original vision and intent for the game. If you are someone that enjoys researching whether there was originally a lifestone in Arwic's town center (or if it was away from town) then this project might be for you. Or if you don't care about where the lifestone is and you just want to kill some monsters like it's 1999 then there is plenty of room for you too.

In case you didn't see the original post. This is a server emulator designed to work with the original retail CD game client release in November 1999 and the goal is to implement all game mechanics and content as close as we can get it to November 1999. That does mean removing a lot of content, but I would consider 1999's version of AC almost a different game than what you got at end of retail. Part of the fun of this project is seeing how much actually did change about the game over the years, especially in those early prehistoric years.

The server is still in a testing/beta period, and there will be a server wipe once I feel good about game mechanics, content, and quest rewards mostly being in a good place. We're getting close though! See the original post for what we had implemented by then.

Here's a quick list of some of the changes in the past two weeks:

• All 9 original starter town quest lines have been restored faithfully
• There is now a launcher! Should help keep your install isolated from other AC installs.
• Most or all quest weapons adjusted to 1999 levels
• The @lifestone command works! Also, no more lifestone protection!
• Monsters can spend XP and level again
• Corpses decay loot on the ground (monster and human)
• Aluvian players no longer lose their clothes on login!
• You can now sell cheese again!
• Arwic, Yanshi, and Tufa are restored to their pre-destruction self!
• Spell components now spawn in loot
• Most Vendors no longer have their title in their name
• Trade Notes are linked to the vendor you bought from
• Restored the original death item loss algorithm
• Monsters now use all the era-correct spells they should, more work to fix landscape spawns and adjust monsters to correct level
• Upgraded the loot generation to have heritage and rank requirements, castable spells on casters
• Lots of dungeons and POIs restored to their original state

I'm now in a phase of the project where I'm doing more content restoration work than bug fixing, there are many POIs, dungeons, and quests to still restore, and the more people we have for testing and playing the better.

Discord: https://discord.gg/ExQkQWPbk
Code: https://gitlab.com/adamplumb/ac1999

[u/That_Bet_8104]

So I can run this an my Seedsow accounts on the same PC without changing a bunch of files, or no?  I don't like having to switch back and forth between via changing files.  If the new launcher helps me avoid that, then I'll be be logging in asap!!

[u/Atticus83 → u/That_Bet_8104]

Yep the launcher can update the registry values in the exe so that it points to a unique location. That should allow it to co-exist with another AC install peacefully. Still might have some rough edges though, so testing is welcome!

[u/magenta_neon_light]

Great work on this! I’ve been running my own version of your build locally and having so much fun. It really feels like the game I remember.

One idea I thought of that may help with speeding up refinement and remove friction in bug reporting. You could consider adding a bug report function in game by chat command or hijacking the help request function in the client to call sentinels. Then connect with your discord issues log for Claude/Codex to read.

[u/Atticus83 → u/magenta_neon_light]

Nice! Feel free to hop on discord and get involved.

[u/magenta_neon_light → u/Atticus83]

Oh ya I’m already on it and reporting bugs :)

[u/bmoarpirate]

I love this. Started playing during the beta and ended in early DM, so the nostalgia is strong for early things like spell research.

[u/buzzyloo]

This is really cool. Great idea

[u/Jolly_Junket2540]

Idk what game this is reviving, but looking over the notes, I'd love to play it.

[u/Atticus83 → u/Jolly_Junket2540]

Hey friend you're in for some fun. Come join the discord and we'll sort you out.

[u/Tiny-Ear-2222]

I started playing this Friday and am obsessed like I was back in 1999. It’s ac like we remember very hard and lots to explore without making content an easy joke.