Give me a server to play that’s active, and is rewarding that’s not named Conquest.

But can of you EMU server admins/creators maybe link up and actually come up with 1-3 servers that don't fracture this already tiny as heck community even more? The magic of Asheron's Call was in the community and the people. Having a new server pop up every other day with the same thing someone else is doing only thins the numbers. There are a ton of people playing Asheron's Call across like 40 servers now. Imagine if ya'll could set aside your personal ambition and work together to have just a few?

Hey, for those who may remember me, I'm Xes Drah from Leafcull (~1999-2008). I started working on a modern client rebuild last week (C# .NET 9) and started a subreddit to post my updates, r/AsheronOnline, but I will post them here too. Awesome to see some other people like u/JokerFactor and u/GamesNotDeadlol working on similar projects. That makes me even more optimistic about what is possible.

---

I've been heads-down this week on ACRE (AC Reverse Engineered). The client I'm building is AsheronOnline — a modern .NET 9 / C# client aimed at retail parity with the 2013 Turbine client.

Under the hood it's a lot of unglamorous tooling: DAT readers (portal / cell BTree), PDB-driven types from acclient.exe, a full decompile of the retail functions, and a Silk.NET OpenGL viewer. It talks to ACE (https://github.com/ACEmulator/ACE).

The rule I've set for myself is retail first. Restore how the 2013 client actually behaved, then consider improvements. Most of the week was UI. Chat is the piece that finally started looking like the real thing.

Side by side, retail vs AsheronOnline chat:

https://preview.redd.it/eqk9mrmevijh1.png?width=838&format=png&auto=webp&s=d204ad7e31a2c70622bab56581b71fa609650010

I've also been poking at more fun stuff — view distance and lighting — still with Silk.NET if that's your thing. AI is doing a lot of the heavy lifting on decomp navigation and optional HD texture packs; I'm still matching the original client function-by-function rather than inventing a new UI.

https://preview.redd.it/vrxro2bgvijh1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=3855ad337c74c7c11c1936011a867d62eed91246

Longer term I want to host a free server once the client is actually playable, even in a buggy Alpha state is fine. Not there yet.

Happy to answer questions.

Well, the grass seemed to get a surprisingly positive reception.

So naturally, the next major technological advancement in my completely reasonable attempt to bring Dark Majesty into Unreal Engine was obvious:

Bush.

I made a video this time since screenshots weren’t really showing it properly. You can see the world in motion, creatures, characters, terrain, vegetation, the old UI and more of how everything is starting to come together.

I’m still trying to walk a pretty specific line with this. I don’t want to just dump modern assets everywhere until Dereth looks like Generic Unreal Fantasy Game #472.

The old game had a very particular atmosphere, and I’m trying to keep that while adding detail and modernizing the presentation where it makes sense.
It’s still early. Plenty is unfinished, plenty will change, and I’m still using a lot of the original models and textures while I get the underlying world working correctly.

But every time I get another piece working, this stupid experiment looks a little less stupid.
Anyway, you asked for grass.
I have delivered bush.
You’re welcome.
Discord for anyone following the project or interested in the technical side:
https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

To all the old og players of this game, do you guys remember seeing someone by the user of slen? He was on the top of the worldwide leaderboards, if so, anyone have good stuff about him if yall played with him / he helped you with quests?

For a long time this project was screenshots, debugging, and me saying “look, this thing works now.”

It has finally reached the point where I can just say:

Come play it.

Aetherium is a completely new AC emulator built from the ground up, currently focused on recreating the Dark Majesty era with the real Dark Majesty client and protocols.

I put together a proper video showing where the project is now:
https://youtu.be/PimYIBukGbw

It’s still a beta. You will find bugs. You might find some spectacular bugs. But the world is becoming more complete every day, and people are already playing, leveling, fighting, looting and helping me find everything I still need to fix.

Open beta:
https://aetherium.ac/
Discord:
https://discord.gg/QPCw85TQA

If you haven’t seen that old login screen in 20+ years, this might hit a little differently.
Welcome back to a different time.

The Portal Storm, is Here.

A new server brought to you from some familiar developers.

Now that things are smoothly underway on PortalStorm, we're having our first 2X XP and LUM Event. Live now, through the weekend. The perfect time to hop back into AC!

The PVP Event to take down the Crystal for 20% XP and LUM Bonus for 72 hours is TONIGHT at 8PM EST! This event happens automatically every 3 days and whoever is the victor claims that juicy bonus for three days!

Custom Content Highlights:

• T9 - 60 Custom Quests
• T10 - 66 Custom Quests
• T11 - 40 Custom Quests
• T12 - 37 Custom Quests
• T13 - 49 Custom Quests
• T14 - 77 Custom Quests
• T15 - 41 Custom Quests

We are continuing to add more custom content on a regular basis, as well. Several retail quests have been updated to T9 recently, and there is a new T10 Quest Zone/'Raid' Area in Development.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/ZzYNQnXdM

Connection info in #Connection-Info on Discord !

General Features:

• Maximum level of 1,000.

• 3 account limit - single accounts automatically deal 20% more damage and take 20% less damage.

• Hundreds of custom quests, kill tasks, and boss fights.

• Thousands of unique items, including extensive custom gear.

• Reworked Rare System: find Portal Shards and exchange them for the rare gems and items you actually need.

• In-game leaderboards.

• Hard Mode: an optional adventure - always drop items on death in exchange for a 10% XP and Luminance bonus.

• Custom Enlightenment quests with rewards through 10 Enlightenments.

Expanded Features:

Portal Storms: Idle players may find their characters portaled to random locations across Dereth, automatically removed from their fellowships, and generally used as fodder for hungry drudges. Designated safe areas are exempt.

Infinite Luminance Auras: Customize your ratings far beyond retail restrictions. Give your healer a ton of Purity Auras, or turn your two-handed character into a glass cannon.

Deep Custom Loot Progression: Seven new loot tiers extend progression beyond retail’s maximum of eight. Each tier includes custom loot profiles for monsters and chests, additional quest-weapon suites, unique armor tailors, new spells, and custom summons - providing meaningful progression all the way through Tier 15.

Custom Questlines and Boss Encounters: Experience original story chains, enhanced retail boss encounters, brand-new monster mechanics, unique rewards, and exceptionally challenging areas such as the Valley of Death, which will push even the best players to their limits.

A Unique Player Experience: A multitude of paths are available for every playstyle. Whether you’re a quest-hungry adventurer, dungeon dweller, involved monarch, or quirky role-player, there’s a path ahead for you.

Convenient World Recalls: Recall directly to Haven (/haven), the Town Network (/tn), Subway (/sub), or Facility Hub (/fachub) instantly and without an animation delay.

Progression and Utility Commands: /level, /lum, /skillcredits, /myquests, and /myshare provide useful character and fellowship information.

Proven Stability: PortalStorm runs on a professionally hosted VPS with a strong record of reliability. Extensive post-retail stability improvements help ensure a positive player experience.

PortalStormPlus Plugin: An optional Decal plugin that adds PortalStorm’s custom properties to the ID panel and accurately displays level costs beyond level 275.

Active Anti-Cheat Protection: Active administrators, server-side protections, and custom in-game mechanics work together to prevent griefing, discourage unwanted leeching, and combat exploitation - ensuring fair play for beginners and veteran players alike.

Live, Now! Join Discord here: https://discord.gg/ZzYNQnXdM