Balita (News):
[Developer's blog]

[March - April 2005] Under Development

March 2005 - Settled in with pinoyforum.net and started work on new sprites.

April 2005 - Anak Bathala featured on PhilGaming.Com
PhilGaming.com - a gaming community webportal wrote a short mention about Anak Bathala. You can read it here: First Filipino MMORPG! - I don't know about being the "first", all I know is that I haven't found any other MMORPG made by a Filipino that is set in the Philippine Islands. Anyway, it is an honor to be featured on the site. Thanks, PhilGaming.com!

Your Lead Dev gets a day job working for the government. Though this will slow things down even more (just for three months until training is done) it will help a lot with extra finances to support development such as:

◊ Shopping for a Server and a new Dev Laptop PC -

Since joining forces with www.pinoyforum.net,  AB has gained a lot of interest from all over. Granted, development has been slow and meticoulous, I have no more excuses not to release beta soon. As soon as we get our finances straight, it's time to look for a Server and at least a new laptop PC so I can continue R&D at anytime and anywhere.

◊  I started posting more info on the Anak Bathala Forum.
Nordenx

[January - Febuary 2005] Under Development

Up to a slow start this New Year but things seem to be looking up. I worked on the background story and started outlining several inter-character story lines and relationship. Also, I did more in depth research on tribal imagery, tattoos, and the pre-Spanish history of the Chinese settlements on the islands.

◊  Web Hosting -

Changed web hosting to a more appropriate Filipino Games Development Site www.pinoyforum.net They offered a support structure and forum space for the AB project that I need. ...until adequate funding is acquired, I have to use free hosting sites.

◊  Looking into future game engines -

For a while, the support forum & website for the PlayerWorlds game engine was offline.  It's been months before it came back up again; revamped  - but they lost the old data on the previous forum that I used to find a lot of useful info and references. I'm not one for excuses, but this is also one reason for delay, I was apprehensive to continue development using this engine. But I digress, I already indicated the plan to use a more advanced or even 3D game engine in the future. But for now, PW is quite adequate, fun, quick & simple, and as such will suffice for the project.

[November - December 2004] Under Development

Development still continues. Worked on a few sprites & graphics and did more research. I developed a more solid storyline and started putting it in print. It may turn into a novel and I might have it published when done.

As predicted, it was sort of a lean winter for me. I apologize again for the delay. Development slowed down drastically this winter; thus officially pushing any sort of release date for the beta well into sometime in 2005. Don't fret though; I am dedicated to the continuation of this project.

There have been quite a few curious people who have contacted me and offered their support and kind words. The AB project seemed to have gained a few followers who are anxiously awaiting the beta release. I have already considered a couple of great guys who would be more than qualified to be alpha testers and in-game moderators.

To those who showed much interest in the AB project - Thank you for your encouraging and inspiring words! It means a lot to me.  

Nordenx

[October 2004] Under Development

Development still continues. Research about how the pre-Spanish Filipinos lived helps on mapping the lowlander villages in Ma-i and the native Mangyan settlements. I found quite a few web resources like this one about barangays that are very informative.

I also find that by creating concept art and character representations (as well as individual background history) helps a lot in character building as well as making sprites and scripting. It helps to inspire and guide me through making the game. Expect to see more artwork in this website as I progress through development. From time to time I will take a break from game development to conceptualize my vision and share them with you possible future players.

I have enough materials like research and background stories to create a movie script which, not surprisingly, I plan to make fruition for a feature length animated or even live action film sometime in the far future. If I can only find funding for all my projects...

I am hard pressed for time and funds recently, so the release date for beta testing will be postponed indefinitely until I can resolve my scheduling and financial status. But don't dismay, this is my pet project and I am not stopping development. I just need to find a ways and options to host a server on a high-speed/high-bandwidth connection. I may not be able to stick to my self-imposed deadline for beta this winter but hopefully I can pin down something by next year. By then, I probably have a more comprehensive and completed beta to download by then; it'll give me time to perfect my craft. For now, I am doing some self testing on a home network, tweaking and ironing out the bugs.

More to come...

[September 2004] Under Development

Alpha stage continues this month. We're still working on graphics; sprites, tiles, spell effects, and items.

I am preparing to map the starting island of Ma-i (Mindoro). This is where everyone will start their journey as an Anak Bathala, since it is a neutral trading island. You'll encounter native Mangyan NPCs and hunt Tamaraws, Bayawaks, and Babuy-ramo (among other animals). The basic demons will be around to level you up, there will be Kapres, Tikbalangs, Mananangals, Tiyanaks, and Multo. I've decided to add Nauhawan Lake, Mount Halkon and Mount Bako as neutral spiritual centers of Ma-i. I haven't decided on what kinds of quests we will be adding, but hopefully I can figure that out as the mapping progresses.

Tagalog Notes:

• Ma-i = Pre-Hispanic name for the island of Mindoro according to early Chinese trade & navigation records.
• Mangyan = Indigenous Tribes of Mindoro
• Tamaraw = Mountain Carabao (water buffalo)  native  to Mindoro
• Bayawak = Philippine Monitor Lizard
• Babui-ramo = Wild Boar
• Kapre = Giant Ogre
• Tikbalang = Werehorse
• Mananangal = Filipino Vampire
• Tiyanak = Evil Infant (Imp)
• Multo = Ghost
• Nauhawan Lake = Naujan Lake
• Mount Halkon = Mt. Halcon, the archipelago's 3rd tallest peak.
• Mount Bako = Mt. Baco

[August 2004] Under Development

At this moment Anak Bathala is still on alpha stage. There are still a lot of things to do before I release the game client to the general public.
Please don't ask to become a beta tester just yet. I will announce when I will be accepting testers here.

Please visit us again from time to time for further updates.

I am trying to create a lot of custom graphics for the game. Before I even begin seriously mapping the world, there are a few graphic changes to do.  I would like to replace most of the sprites and tiles to 32 bit graphics. The items graphics are halfway done, but the tiles and sprites are still 30% complete.

Preliminary tests seems promising. The bulk of the research for the background stories are done. I find that scripting (programming) for the PW engine is limited but plainly easy in its simplicity. Although I am aware of some problems and limitations of the engine, I don't think it would be a big deal for AB. I need to rectify some of the graphic scaling (in relation to the sprites) to keep them consistent. All in all, it's beginning to be a very interesting project.

I'm looking forward to testing the game in a network environment.
I hope to be able to release the client and run a test server before wintertime.

 Nordenx