News

	Decide the Future by Raygoe on February 28, 2011, 12:00 pm CST In the light of Stellar Conflicts' return. Xeno 4's real-time game is no longer necessary. It is time to decide what Xeno 4's future will be. Please cast your vote and state your opinion on the forums. Here's the post's link: Click here to cast your vote! 0 commentsfuture, stellar conflicts

	New Real-Time Game. by Raygoe on August 7, 2010, 5:33 pm CDT We have switched back to a real-time game. We will be using Flash. I'll post it on the menu soon. It will replace the current Game Panel. It will also be visible to non-logged in users. For now you can see it here: http://www.xeno4.com/media/viewGame.php 0 commentsreal-time, realtime, real, time, game, xeno 4

	New Theme Live by Raygoe on August 1, 2010, 10:12 pm CDT Well, as you can see, the new theme is live! There are probably still places it doesn't work 100%, but I will get them all flattened out soon. How do you guys like it? It's a hell of a lot better than it was, that is sure! Eric 0 commentsnew, theme, live

	Navigation Path-finding by Raygoe on July 26, 2010, 10:42 am CDT I've finished the Solar System's navigation path-finding algorithm. In reality, it doesn't do much except show you the path it would take if it could move, but its a start. I've already made a blog post if you want to see what I will be working on next. In a slightly random bit of news, I am posting this news article from a Lynx browser. Sure is an ... interesting browser! 0 commentsnavigation, path-finding, map

	Finally! by Raygoe on July 20, 2010, 8:16 pm CDT It took 6 minutes with a KD-Tree Algorithm in Python, and it was a 20 Megabyte SQL dump file. However, finally, at long last, all the systems are linked correctly. You can see that the interactive galaxy map now shows connections. I still have a few bugs to fix with it, but it generally works fine. I'll post a HUGE map with all the connections on it on the blog and the forums. You can see the large scale map there. 1 commentgalaxy, interactive, map, jumpgates

	Python to Save the Day! by Raygoe on July 20, 2010, 1:49 pm CDT Elapsed time 17.09 seconds on 3,600,000,000 points [(2657, -1389), (2707, -1358), (2646, -1398), (2718, -1372)] That'd normally take hours in PHP. This is in Python. That means linking the systems will be much easier. 0 commentspython, linking systems, nearest neighbor

	For the New Members by Raygoe on July 16, 2010, 9:13 pm CDT Hello everybody, I see a few members have joined us. Yes, I realize there's no way to talk to each other. That will be fixed in time; however, right now, we are basically in alpha. I plan to have communication up soon. Basically, just check in once every few days or so. Or, more preferred by me (of course) post on the forums! Thanks! Eric 0 commentsnew members, no communication, sorry

	Registration Up! by Raygoe on July 16, 2010, 2:40 pm CDT Wow, I forgot to add a registration page. That's fixed now. You can now register (with the assumption that you have a beta key.) I feel like I've said this 100 times already, but if you don't have a beta key and would like one, please email me at: webmaster@lurous.com. Thank you! Eric 0 commentsregistration

	Interactive Galaxy Map Mostly Functional by Raygoe on July 16, 2010, 1:10 pm CDT The Interactive Galaxy map is now mostly functional. It doesn't have the correct star colors and it also is a bit hard to navigate, but other than that, it's fine. I'll probably add some sort of mini-map so you know where you are in the large scale. I do need to fill in the center of the galaxy and then I can start making solar systems. 0 commentsgalaxy, interactive, map

	Game Panel Mockup by Raygoe on July 15, 2010, 2:05 am CDT I've completed a Game Panel mockup so you can see what what's going on in an overview format. You can see it by logging in and then clicking "Game" in the menu! The two maps are obviously not dynamic and the ship it puts as yours is really ugly, but its a start! I'll start working on the interactive galaxy map (the first link in the Quick Links area) tomorrow. If you find any bugs, please post on the forums! Thanks! 0 commentsmockup, game panel

	Coming Together by Raygoe on July 11, 2010, 3:35 pm CDT Everything is coming together now! I just finished the administration panel and I am starting work on the game portal area. I posted some grids on the forums, so you can see what the movement will be like there. Keep in touch! - Eric 1 commentgrids, movement, beta

	New Name, New Theme by Raygoe on June 28, 2010, 10:26 pm CDT Well, everything is starting to form back up. I am having to do a ton of redesigning. Project: Ant started out organized and very quickly became a disaster (organization-wise.) This is a chance for me to fix that. The login system is not yet functional, the menu isn't there yet and there's a few bugs left to iron out, but this is starting to take shape! The sad part is I have to do this news update via database because I have to go to bed. I don't have time to add the login system in tonight. I'll probably have it in tomorrow! 3 commentsnew, name, theme

	Changes, Changes, Changes by Raygoe on June 15, 2010, 1:07 pm CDT Well, things are changing. Since I have work consuming 85% of my time. Other things, including my lack of knowledge of Pixel Art, changes this. This change means I will be making a text-based game. I'm sorry, but I don't have enough time with work to do a 2D game. It'll still be fun! All the features will still work, it just means that it won't be real-time at first. 1 commentreal-time, changes, beta

	Open Beta Bump by Raygoe on May 22, 2010, 8:05 am CDT Yeah, as you can see, the new Open Beta date is June 26th. I hope that will be enough time! Keep up the support! Thanks! Eric 4 commentsopen beta

	Drawable Update 3 by Raygoe on May 11, 2010, 3:39 pm CDT Drawable Update 3 And now, this is it! I have fixed the Pixel Shader in the Drawable class. It now renders the star backdrop much better. At this point, the only thing left to do is make sure I have methods of positioning the drawable dynamically. After that, I can create the player objects and finally get this thing moving. Spread the good news: The Drawable Class works! Thanks for all of your support over these past few weeks while I've been battling this object. I hope the Viewport class won't pose as many problems! Thanks! Eric 0 commentsdrawable, drawable update, beta

	Drawable Update 2 by Raygoe on May 10, 2010, 2:44 pm CDT Drawable Update 2 As it turns out, it looks like the Rectangle object had to be brushed and attached to the Canvas before it would let the BitmapImage return the event "ImageOpened." Which is, of course, very bizarre. Regardless, it now works. At this point, the only thing left to do is fix the pixel shader. At the moment, it is, obviously, skewing the result of the image. I have, currently, no idea why. I will continue keeping you all in touch. Thanks! Eric 0 commentsdrawable, drawable update, beta

	Drawable Update 1 by Raygoe on May 10, 2010, 2:07 pm CDT Drawable Update 1 This is the first update in this series. Like I said, I will keep you all informed. After a few hours of work, I have decided to completely remove the Drawable class and restart from scratch. As you can see right now, the drawable class is now sort of working. I will get it back to full functionality over the course of these updates. Thanks, Eric 0 commentsdrawable, drawable update, beta

	So, Why Is Ant Slow? by Raygoe on May 10, 2010, 1:28 pm CDT So, you're wondering why Ant Development has slowed? It is because I am working on an extremely annoying bug in the Drawable Class that must be fixed before any development can continue. I will keep you posted. Most likely, I anticipate that this might affect the Open Beta date. It is simply harder than I imagined it would be to solve this issue. However, I will inform everybody when it is finished. Thanks! Eric 0 commentsdrawable, beta, date, open beta

	Galaxies & Beta Dates by Raygoe on May 3, 2010, 8:27 pm CDT As I have already mentioned, our recent downtime probably will not effect the Open Beta release date. In other news we have around 86,545 different systems. Just remember: Space is mostly empty. Stay tuned! 1 commentgalaxy, beta

	April 24, 2010 Updates by Raygoe on April 24, 2010, 10:00 am CDT See Comments. 4 commentsrolling updates, beta

	There! Good Lord! by Raygoe on April 23, 2010, 6:18 pm CDT We're back up. Sorry about that. It won't go down again. I'll try to work on Ant from 9am to 11pm tomorrow to get caught up to the deadline of 39 days. 1 commentbeta, up, finally, functional

	With [43] days left... by Raygoe on April 19, 2010, 9:17 am CDT Today (April 19th, 2010) I will do these things: 1. Create a login system in Silverlight 2. Create a chat input box in Silverlight 3. Get chat working in Silverlight 4. Start on movement, viewports, & Drawables. 0 commentstodo, beta

	Socket Support by Raygoe on April 12, 2010, 4:15 pm CDT Great news! For the first time, I've been able to connect Silverlight Client to an external socket server! All that I have left to do is set up a TCPHandler on both the server and the client so that it does things with the data. Then, I will finish the Drawable object so that it can be modified real-time. After that, I will create the Viewport Object so that it will follow your ship around. Finally, I will add a GUI and we'll all be able to fly around in a nice, space environment! We've made great progress! By the way: be sure to thank draekor for letting us use his VPS. :) 3 commentssilverlight, client, socket, beta

	Game Client Tests by Raygoe on April 8, 2010, 2:40 pm CDT Hello! I just tested the client's image loading capability. As you can see, it now loads an image with a fiery ant instead of that rectangle thing. Stay tuned for more information! 3 commentssilverlight, client, game, ant

	One Thing After Another by Raygoe on April 6, 2010, 3:31 pm CDT Well, due to issues I will outline on the forums, I will not be able to use Canvas after all. I am sure everyone here will be breathing a sigh of relief. What we're going to use now will be faster, more supported, and look far better. Read about it on the forums! Nothing else has changed, just the client 1 commentcanvas, beta

	Chat Box Completed by Raygoe on March 31, 2010, 10:08 am CDT Just finished the chat box! If you aren't logged in, you can still see it. For now... 3 commentschat, beta

	Some Great News! by Raygoe on March 30, 2010, 10:18 am CDT In a test I just completed, AJAX returns a latency of 27 - 50 ms. That's almost 4-6 times faster than a first person shooter's average latency! After this quick evaluation, it looks as if this idea may work after all. However, I have not attempted any database writes/reads. That operation has the potential to slow the latency down drastically. I'll post more data as I receive it. 9 commentsreal-time, beta, latency

	Comment Editing and Deleting by Raygoe on March 30, 2010, 12:26 am CDT To finish out todays additions, I have created comment editing and deleting! To edit your comments, you will see an "Edit | Delete" section on your post. Click "Edit" to edit it. If you would like to delete your comment, click "Delete" and you will be prompted if you really want to delete it. How's the updates, folks? Thanks for your continuing support! Eric 2 commentsediting, deleting, beta, comments

	Comments, etc. Up! by Raygoe on March 29, 2010, 2:31 pm CDT Everything's up now! For example: 1. Comments are up. 2. Individual news permalinks up. 3. Tags now show each news post attributed to it. Also, if you got an email, you are entitled to a Beta Key! Just e-mail me back, PM me, or post on the forums! 15 commentsbeta, news, comments

	User System Complete by Raygoe on March 28, 2010, 3:50 pm CDT Hello everyone! I've started developing some Admin functions (including posting News.) Among that, I have finished the registration of users. If you would like a key, please post on the forums. Speaking of the forums, I have created a category in our forums. I fully recommend you register there, as well. I will put a link to it in the Menu here. However, until then: Click Here. 2 commentsforum, registration, beta

	User Login Up! by Raygoe on March 26, 2010, 1:12 am CDT After a lot of toil, I have created a session login system like Castles of Astora. This time, however, I assume there will be less issues. I will finish the system tomorrow. After this, I will need to add a logout feature (haha) and a registration feature. At that time, I will initiate the Beta Key requirement. If you do not have a key, you will have access to the non-registered area only. Only the Beta Users will have access to the Members section. If you feel like you should have access, contact me for a beta key. Stay Tuned! 1 commentlogin, beta

	News Up! by Raygoe on March 24, 2010, 10:52 pm CDT Hello everyone! I have just finished the news system. From this point forward, it is more likely to find information here rather than on The Flux. I'll have game-play up eventually, but I am setting up the user registration and login right now. Of course, like in Castles of Astora, I will be requiring a beta key to register. If you know what Castles of Astora is you probably have been around long enough for one; just contact me. Thanks! Eric Christian 0 commentsnews, beta