Hello everyone,
welcome to our next development blog! Today, we want to give you an update on our progress of Watch Legion United – which is on its way to the first major release: version 2.0.
As promised, with version 2.0 we will finally release server binaries, allowing you to set up and join custom dedicated servers. Additionally, we are adding vehicle synchronization, unrestricted map access as well as a “freeroam” gamemode.
In this development blog we want to address some of the upcoming features and give you a general overview of our progress and plans.
When will 2.0 release?
So far, there is no official release date yet, but our goal is to release version 2.0 in September 2022.
In the past few weeks, we have made several improvements to our framework and the platform itself. The feedback and data collected during our Early Access helped us a lot to further stabilize the mod.
Features
In our initial Early Access we offered a limited and basic Deathmatch gamemode. With 2.0, we will fully unrestrict the map and add support for spawning and synchronizing vehicles & boats. To make things interesting, we are switching our official servers over to a freeroam gamemode. This freeroam gamemode will have the following features:
- Spawn vehicles & boats to drive around London with your friends
- Giving yourself weapons
- Use the Character Creator to customize your look
- Noclip / Fly around to explore the map
- Enable/Disable PVP
Sneak Peek: Vehicles
Working on and testing the vehicle synchronization was challenging, fun and frustrating at the same time – check out the video below of a testing sessions we had the other day! The video shows a screen recording of two different players that are connected to a server (with a latency of ~80ms).
Dedicated Servers
With version 2.0, we are releasing the dedicated server software. Server owners can create gamemodes to their own chosing and imagination using the integrated scripting system – racing, cops vs robbers, roleplay, prop hunt, etc.
In our Launcher we will add a “master list” consisting of all available servers. Using this list, we want to enable players to quickly find new servers and communities to play and have fun with.
Feedback
If you haven’t already joined: we want to invite you to join our Discord server – This is the best place to express your thoughts, ideas, concerns and feature requests!
For developers
We are very eager to see what ideas and gamemodes you come up with! In this section we will give some more insight into the resources that we’ll provide for server owners and developers.
NomadDB 2.0
Previously, we have been relying on a Wikipedia-like place for documentation called NomadDB. For Legion: United (and other platforms in the future), we are working on a new and more modern site. The new NomadDB will include user and scripting tutorials, a full scripting API reference and other info.
We are looking for contributors, if you’re interested please contact us on Discord!
Scripting
As announced in earlier development blogs, we are offering a scripting system using JavaScript with Node.JS on the dedicated server. In addition to the API reference on NomadDB, we are offering TypeScript declarations to quick-start development.
The first release will not include client-side scripting yet. However, we plan on adding support for client-side scripting within one of the upcoming 2.x updates.
Open-Sourcing Resources
NomadDB 2.0, the default scripting package for servers, and the freeroam gamemode will all be open-sourced on our Github page. If you want to contribute to the development of our platform, you will be able and are welcome to open pull requests.
