Development News

Hello, PandaWoW players!

We decided to lift the veil a bit and tell you what the team is currently working on.
It's important to understand: this is not a complete list, this is exactly what is being done right now. There are many more interesting things in the plans, but we will tell you about them another time, when the time comes.

Over the past year, the server has changed noticeably - we are confidently moving towards custom content, and this is just the beginning.

Every day we receive a lot of feedback on hardcore. We see that you liked the idea itself, but there are still plenty of problems - and we acknowledge this.
The main problem right now is incorrect damage and HP amount for NPCs. A large-scale rework of the damage and health calculation system is underway:

• calculation based on NPC stats (stamina, strength, agility, intellect) for each level + class combination;
• using logic as close as possible to official servers.

This will allow us to globally fix thousands of NPCs with one systematic solution, rather than manual edits.
After eliminating critical problems that prevent leveling in Hardcore, the mode will continue to develop further. At minimum - different difficulty levels.

Important:
Yes, currently we sometimes resurrect characters who died in Hardcore. This is a temporary measure exclusively for collecting bug reports and feedback.
On the fresh server everything will be strict: dead means dead, regardless of the reason (server, cat, younger brother, or cosmic neutrinos).

Server and performance

A new Blizzlike NPC and object respawn system was recently installed on PTR.
What this provides:

• each respawn is a new object with a new GUID;
• no more "hide → resurrect";
• significantly fewer bugs on both server and client side (for example, incorrect display of object state after respawn until relog).

This also allowed us to improve spawn work in raids:

• targeted optimizations in Pandaria raids;
• we don't spawn what the player physically can't see (for example, the 5th raid boss when you're at the 1st boss);
• less load on server and client, lower latency.

In parallel, a new terrain system is being deployed to the test server:

• height, zone, and area calculations are heavily optimized;
• remember 1500+ players in one spot on x100 during the Halloween boss? We can do more. And with less lag.
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• A dynamic pathfinding system has also been implemented, which now takes into account certain types of objects (for example, hatches and floor doors).
  And this is just part of many small fixes and optimizations.

HD character models

In the near future, we're starting work on reworking HD character models.
Very recently, the ability to use DXT textures on character models was implemented (on official servers this appeared starting with Draenor).

What this provides:

• significantly more colors on textures;
• while textures take up 2 times less memory.

This is an important technical step forward.
Most likely, we'll have to abandon old character models: we plan to expand the number of races and customization options, and supporting all this simultaneously for old models will be virtually impossible.

Pandaria content

Work is in full swing here as well. Vale of Eternal Blossoms is in active development, being reworked for content from patch 5.0.5+.
Yes, you understood correctly, the fresh server will have Vale of Eternal Blossoms before the destruction.

There's a lot of work - quests and NPCs differ more than expected.
@Mel, we're with you, hang in there - we believe !

Development of a new Pandaria dungeon mode is also actively underway - Celestials. The mode is almost ready and will soon be available for testing.

We'll separately note changes to Isle of Giants:

• part of the map from version 5.2 has been added;
• problems that existed in version 5.4 have been fixed (on retail this was only fixed in Draenor).

Website

And finally: a new website is being actively developed, completely from scratch. Details will come later - but yes, it's worth it.

Thank you for being with us.
We continue to make PandaWoW better - together !

@DeadMouse