Nightly Build: Developer Preview

Hello everyone!
I would like to share with you the latest news about the development.

The public version can already be considered stable and this means that the next development cycle has already begun. Therefore the public version will not receive updates for a while until the development of the Nightly Build ends and merges as usual.

This nightly build is special as it will be the last one before entering the beta version of the game and therefore carries significantly more content than other nightly builds from the past. I preferred not to split this nightly build into two or more parts, since that would entail extra time for fixing regression bugs after each merge, which always tends to take several months, so this time it is preferable to introduce all the planned features in the same nightly to fix all those regressions at once and thus save some time.

As this nightly is going to take me more time to develop than what is usually normal, this time I am going to publish updates (Developer Previews) about the state of the development regularly to keep you informed about which feature I am working on at those moments.

This time, being the first update, I still do not want to go into many details since I am working on several features at once and there are certain parts of the design that I want to finish defining first, but I can tell you broadly what the new attack vector will entail.

The new attack vector, which will complement the current buffer overflow, is being designed with multiplayer mode in mind, specifically for PvP mode. It involves 0-day-exploit attacks combined with code injection, which along with buffer overflow will allow for a more dynamic and balanced PvP between attack and defense, especially among more veteran players.

The 0-day-exploit attack will consist of several phases, requiring in the first of them that players collaborate with each other in order to advance. Upon reaching a certain level, players will be able to obtain limited pieces of information (rumors) which, upon completion, will lead them to a specific network to continue with the discovery of the exploit. This will encourage collaboration among guild members to obtain this privileged information before another group, whether their intention is to attack or protect a specific network or server.

Once this information is obtained, players will still need to do research work to discover and deal with the engineers who have worked on the library that may contain the undiscovered exploit, thus being able to move on to the next step of the attack which will then be more technical for the player.

In the next phases, the player will need to create specific code, which will vary depending on the vulnerability of the 0-day-exploit to continue the attack. Therefore, as an exception in the game, this time players without programming knowledge trying to discover the vulnerability will be at a disadvantage compared to players who know how to program. Hence, exploits of this type of vulnerability will not be generated in stores, unlike the current buffer overflow. Although players without programming knowledge can always use them once they are discovered and published by other players.

What I have described would be the first phases of the attack explained in a general way, the attack does not end there. There are also parts that I am currently exploring such as the introduction of an API that can only be accessed temporarily depending on various factors, or the introduction of additional, smaller attack vectors to help with the balancing of this new system.

In the upcoming dev previews, we will be exploring other parts of the nightly that are also being designed, as well as more details about this new vector attack.

More news soon!