OpenDAoC is a .Net 6.0 application that emulates a DAoC server, a project that I launched in 2021 and have completed with the help of a team of 30 volunteers at its peak.
Originally, we were a fork of the Dawn of Light (DOL) project and the server was known as Atlas.
Atlas wanted to be a faithful recreation of the original Dark Age of Camelot 1.65 experience, but with a set of modern features that would make the game more enjoyable for the players.
Thousands of hours of work have been put into researching the original game mechanics for the patch level and implementing them.
We quickly realized that the DOL’s event-driven codebase was not suitable for those amounts of players and we’ve spent around 12 months refactoring the core pieces: introducing the gameloop, removing events in favour of ECS architecture, removing the ‘good enough’ combat formulas and ensuring parity with accepted data, and filling an entire game world with NPCs for our players to enjoy.
At launch, we had around 2.000 players online, and we have been able to maintain a stable population for a while.
When I started the project, I had no idea how to write C# code, and I had no idea how to write a game server but I was able to learn and grow with the help of the community and the team that I’ve built around the project.
In October 2022, in spirit of the open source nature of the project, we have decided to release the source code under the GNU license and to rename the project to OpenDAoC with the goal of providing a platform to support the DAoC freeshard ecosystem’s longevity moving forward.
Unlike Atlas, OpenDAoC is not a server. It is a platform for others to build upon and extend. The server formerly known as Atlas has become a showcase for what can be done with OpenDAoC.
Under the OpenDAoC umbrella, we are providing the tools and documentation necessary for others to create their own servers.
Specifically, we have open sourced the following:
- The Classic Module
- The PvP Module
- The full database
- A web account management system
- The launcher and patcher
- The queue service
With these tools and the documentation we provide, we hope to make it easier for others to create their own servers and to contribute back to the community.