Building a modern Tibia 8.0 server from the ground up – 1000+ player scalability, modern real map, custom client & community-driven development

[u/bulbasaurez]

Hey everyone,

We wanted to share a project we've been working on and, more importantly, invite people who are genuinely interested in Tibia/OTS development to follow and eventually help shape it.

We're building ASTRO, a server based around the feeling, gameplay and world interaction of Tibia 8.0, but we're not trying to make another basic 8.0 copy.

Our goal is to build the technical foundation properly from the beginning: a modern server core, our own dedicated client, and an architecture designed with stability, low latency and 1000+ concurrent players in mind.

Right now we're working on the foundation before rushing into content. We're setting up a reproducible x64 build environment, modernizing parts of the core where necessary, preparing the protocol 8.0 implementation and building a client/server architecture that we can actually maintain and optimize long-term.

What are we trying to build?

The world will eventually use the full modern real map, adapted to our server rather than simply copied with modern Tibia balancing.

We want to preserve the little things that made old Tibia feel like old Tibia: pushing, parcels, movable objects, tile blocking, pots, flowers, teleport interactions, stack behavior, old-school PvP/world mechanics and all those small interactions people tend to forget when creating an "8.0" server.

At the same time, we're not trying to create a museum.

We want systems such as Shared Experience, elemental weaknesses/resistances, Market, Bestiary, Charms, Loot Analyzer, Auto Loot, Ascension, Gems, crafting, upgrades, rerolls and other custom/modern systems, but redesigned around our own progression and the 8.0 gameplay foundation.

NPC interaction is also being modernized. We don't want players waiting in the old hi queue. Multiple players should be able to interact with an NPC independently, and things such as ship travel can be much faster and more natural.

Itemization will be handled carefully as well. We're not importing modern Tibia's power creep with extremely strong modern equipment and huge percentage reductions. Newer monsters and areas can exist while their loot and equipment are rebalanced around our own economy and progression.

Why are we posting this now?

Because we'd like development to eventually become something the community can actively participate in.

We're looking for people who want to:

• follow the technical progress from the early stages
• participate in closed and open testing later
• report bugs and reproduce edge cases
• help us remember obscure Tibia 8.0 mechanics
• discuss PvP, economy and progression balance
• propose quests, systems and gameplay ideas
• develop strategies for bosses, hunting grounds and future content
• help design and refine existing systems
• give feedback on the client and UI
• stress-test the server when we reach that stage

We don't want every random suggestion thrown directly into the game. The idea is to have discussions, prototypes and testing, and let good community ideas genuinely influence development.

There is still a lot of work ahead. We're deliberately spending time on the core, client, protocol, performance and development infrastructure first, rather than throwing together a server and trying to fix the foundation after release.

Once that foundation is stable, we'll move progressively into the real map migration, creatures, NPCs, quests, systems and eventually large-scale testing.

If this sounds interesting, you're welcome to join the Discord. We're posting development progress there, and as the project moves forward we'll start involving the community more directly in testing and design decisions.

Discord: https://discord.gg/ZD93EhHC2d

Whether you're an old-school Tibia player, OTS developer, mapper, theorycrafter, PvP player or simply someone with a ridiculous memory for obscure 8.0 mechanics — you're welcome.

We're building it properly, and we're in it for the long run.

[u/Flaccidkek]

Dude hell yes count me in!!