The design phase is going very well, much better than expected in fact! The design document is not a 500 page behemoth yet, but does at least sketch some of the game out. I will post some of this in two weeks. I have read that most games start with a design document, so to develop for 2 years and then write one is a bit odd. It does mean though, that when the design is completed, we can be much faster in putting our ideas into motion, because we have a really good starting framework to work in.

The design document itself is not that close to being finished of course. With a game as big as an mmo, this process takes a lot of time. Even with as clear of an idea as I have had about Crescent Dawn up till now, getting everything on paper and taking all of the details into consideration is no quick feat.

In addition to the design document, I am working on sketching the world out and making some maps. I am now very clear on where the game takes place, and if we have a desire to make a certain kind of area, I will know what portion of the map that area would fit into, and what kinds of things to include.

Just to get some statistics out there, Crescent Dawn will have 6 nationalities (perhaps races) which each have their own cities. Most races have one city only, as the world map is not actually that large, in real terms. In game terms however, it does cover a lot of space.

The largest city is fully fleshed out, and will consist of 11 zones. These zones are smaller than what you will find in other games, but all together it covers quite a lot of space. I am hard pressed to find another game with a city of this complexity. How well this translates to the actual game remains to be seen.

Going forward, I hope to provide some sketches or renders of what I have been working on in the next week or two. I am planning on finishing up the design process, at least as it regards to alpha4, in July, at which point development of alpha4 will resume.

I haven't yet solidified which city I will pick, but alpha4 will consist of one of the cities being fairly fleshed out, along with some of the surrounding area. I am thinking of using a planned game session model for alpha4 instead of leaving the server on, because it's so early this will let me interact with the few players better. I will try to schedule enough varied sessions that everyone who is interested will get enough chances.

I think further alphas will probably each focus on a new city as well.

Look for the alpha sometime in September, and I will continue to update progress here.