u/iskandarsulaili

Not sure if you read my previous post about my Peer-to-Peer RO with AI NPC project before, but actually I didn't stop there. I pushed the limit by creating custom Machine Learning to train the Mobs. Although at this moment it's only supported by very few kind people back and forth with me to test & report while I am in marathon fixing all the bugs, the mobs, finally start showing sign of aggressiveness. I wonder what will happen when more players after the pre-alpha phase...

Sorry we were late... (parody of ads you might often see everywhere lol)

Joke aside, yes I am sorry because the release was late than scheduled. Lots of unexpected issue but we are finally here.

For those who did not follow my previous post here a quick recap, plus with extra details:

Objective:

1. To achieve true P2P MMORPG (Peer to Peer)
2. To create living AI world that evolve with players/NPC/environment/other AI and variables simulating real world
3. Self-sustain server and AI world

Stage: Early Prototype and Proof of Concept
Current status: Pre-alpha Server, Experimental Project

16 Vibe Check before you proceed:

This server is NOT for you if you are:

1. Looking for another type of "P2P" (pay-to-play) game
2. Expecting for a P2W (pay-to-win) game
3. Allergic to AI
4. Hoping for flashy interface and cosmetics
5. Wanting for rigid and fixed game mechanics
6. Finding something negative in every positive thing
7. Not able to respect others
8. Not looking for fun, but expect an easy game without effort

But this game might be for you if you are:

1. Looking for a free P2P (peer-to-peer) server & client game
2. Aware this is a pre-alpha test and accept that there are heaps of bugs with mix of expected and unexpected issues
3. Open-minded about new tech, features and functionalities
4. Prioritizing game experience and mechanics over cosmetics
5. Enjoying feeling the challenge to adapt game nerfs/buffs and evolving mechanics faster than you breathe
6. Happily sharing constructive criticism and ideas
7. Respecting both humans and AI alike
8. Willing to "Dance in the Rain"

If you read this far and agree, congratulations! Let's continue. What we have now...

Implemented Features:

1. P2P (peer-to-peer):

a. File sharing:
Drop PlayRAW.exe into an empty folder, run it, and sit back while all client files are downloaded through the P2P network, shared by other players. Downloads pull from multiple peers in parallel, are resumable chunk-by-chunk, and fall back gracefully to LAN peers, then internet relays, then the main server only when needed.

b. In-game:
Through the same PlayRAW.exe launcher, you can register or log in with your Discord. If a peer near you (another player on the same in-game map) has better latency to you than the main server does, you will be automatically connected to them to reduce latency and delay as much as possible. Traffic is routed smartly: combat, items, skills and chat travel over TCP, while movement streams over UDP. An in-game /ping shows your live latency, route and role (seeder / candidate / peer). Players can even volunteer as relays and will be rewarded with a capped +10% EXP boost as a thank-you (no currency, no items, ever).

2. Living AI:

a. AI NPC: NPCs are not static quest dispensers. Each resident has its own persona, name, background, personality and memory where they will holds real 1-on-1 conversations with you, powered by AI with long-term memory of your past chats and world events. They quietly listen to public chatter, move around on their own, and react to what is happening around them.

b. AI agents: An entire staff of autonomous agents runs the world behind the scenes, meet the crew:

- World: the World Agent watches the whole world and spawns events when something is off (like a city with too few players); the World Event Agent runs multi-day festivals, invasions, disasters and political storylines; the Event Chain Agent weaves branching epic quests; the Faction Agent manages alliances and conflicts; the Weather/Time Agent drives weather, seasons, day/night and lunar phases, and they all affect gameplay.

- NPCs & players: the Dialogue Agent gives every NPC a personality, reads your emotions and remembers you; the Decision Agent makes NPCs choose context-aware actions; the Memory Agent stores long-term memories with semantic search, NPCs remember what you did, said, and how you treated them; the Dynamic NPC Agent can generate entirely new NPCs with backstories and schedules; the Social Interaction Agent makes NPCs gossip, befriend and rival each other; the Reputation Agent tracks your standing from Hated to Exalted; the Karma Agent tracks moral alignments and consequences.

- Economy: the Economy Agent simulates supply and demand, forecasts prices and detects market manipulation; the Merchant Economy Agent runs NPC shops, inventories and trade routes; the Treasure Agent spawns and hides treasure with rarity.

- Content: the Quest Agent generates dynamic quests on the fly (8 types, 6 difficulty levels); the Problem Agent creates contextual challenges (combat, puzzle, resource, social, moral, strategic); the Dynamic Boss Agent adapts boss difficulty and phases to your party; the Adaptive Dungeon Agent reshapes dungeons for each party; the Map Hazard Agent adds weather, terrain, magical, biological and temporal hazards; the Archaeology Agent grows the world's lore through discoveries and artifacts.

- Balance & safety: the Balance Steward Agent studies live server statistics daily, proposes balance adjustments within safe limits, and reports to a private founder channel; the MVP Spawn Manager times boss spawns fairly; the Decision Optimizer learns from player responses; the Consciousness Engine keeps all agents coordinated and the world coherent.

- Community: a Discord Moderator keeps the community channels clean, a Governor NPC lets you submit feature requests and bug reports from inside the game, straight to the control panel, and yes, the AI players (openkore-ai-v3) are agents too, learning to play the game themselves.

c. Self-improving Mobs: Every monster kill is logged with its archetype (tank / mage / ranged / defensive / support) and combat stats into a learning database, feeding a lightweight machine-learning pipeline. Instead of staying frozen in a database forever, the world's combat behavior is being trained to learn and adapt over time.

d. Living world: Seasons change, rumors spread ahead of events, and an engine throws rare, unexpected moments at you. Every account also gets its own personal Kingdom dimension to build and grow.

3. There's more... but where's the fun if I spoil everything before you explore it yourself?

Vision, challenges and a glimpse of the future:

1. True P2P, no centralized server needed; as long as one peer is alive, the game never dies:
2. Theoretically, it is NOT impossible. But sharing "decentralized" game state and keeping it synced, especially the database and anti-cheat, is a different story. I see the way, but I won't claim anything until it is proven.
3. Multiple regions unified as one big world on one single server:
4. Games are usually bounded by regional servers (US/EU/SEA/East Asia, etc.), and it makes sense for two main reasons: latency and server load. It is very difficult to remove delay across two different regions. And even within the same region, most providers have to split their servers because their physical hardware cannot support a certain maximum of concurrent players before the server crashes.
5. A living world where AI and humans can build and grow together:
6. I am pretty sure lots of haters will comment something like "AI slop." I won't waste time explaining to them because AI is a TOOL, and it depends on the wielder. Garbage in, garbage out. For me, AI is something we can't look down on for even a second, because it has the potential to build its own "artificial consciousness." Yes, this is an AI server, but at the same time I am also developing openkore-ai-v3, so AI won't just be the NPCs or agents, but the AI players as well. Ultimately, openkore-ai-v3 is built to beat the game, while rathena-ai-world is built to beat the players. For now I have an RTX 3060 12GB actively running custom machine learning to keep the world alive and growing, I don't have infinite money and resources for LLMs. But I think people here are smart enough to use their own imagination for what the machine learning models, AI and LLMs are for.

Current Stage & limitations:

1. I can't fully verify the P2P file sharing and in-game P2P features myself, I only have 2 laptops on the same single internet network, so I am not sure how they will perform in real-world use yet. That is exactly why everyone's feedback is highly appreciated.
2. I've tested some of the AI NPCs, but how they behave is totally out of my control because I let them loose to evolve and react with their own decisions and judgment.
3. We still use community-based Ragnarok Online game resources with custom mods, and at the same time we have certain limitations. If any AAA game publisher, or even Facebook/Meta, wants to collaborate on building a living AI open world, shoot me a DM and let's see what we can build together. LOL! **Joking, not joking.
4. Main server latency. One of the reasons I postponed the pre-alpha release is connection issues. In my previous post, I mentioned it would be released sooner, but unfortunately, on the planned release date, latency spiked to more than 500ms, which left me no choice. On the bright side, this occurrence gave me the opportunity to fix more bugs and tweak some mechanics, which I hope will be the best for our community.
5. Last but not least, it's always time and resources. Running a server itself is not cheap. While I happily do this for free (I really, really, really enjoy it!), I can't guarantee I can work on this on a daily basis because I have bills to pay. Of course, "money is good", that's the reality, haha! This is an anti-P2W server, so it is even more challenging to keep it alive. Yet there are multiple ways to contribute: share an LLM pool to be used for the in-game AI and development, or at least become a player who plays with P2P, which either reduces the main server load or even makes you a relay yourself.

Other than that, we, me, the AI and other peers, welcome you to jump into the new world.

Made by fan for fans.

Cheers,
RAW: rAthena-AI-World

I have this dream of an open-world game where we have a unified, single world, and servers are not separated by region.

I thought, why not try to make the prototype and proof-of-concept with my childhood and all-time favorite MMORPG?

Then, on a whim (or not), it took me about two weeks to develop.

Although the main server is currently in SEA, I am experimenting with players becoming P2P 'relays' to help reduce latency and server load.

But I know this is 2026. So, I added some AI elements to it so that NPCs can chat with players, mobs learn attack patterns and then coordinate with their gang against players, and, more importantly, the world itself grows based on player interactions.

P.S. TBH, I am not sure if I should post this here or somewhere else, because sometimes I feel like this is more on the tech side rather than RO itself.