August 2023 - Last Month in Open Source Runescape Alternatives
August 2023 -
Hello everyone and welcome back to another FOSS Runescape recap! Many of these servers are playable today, free forever, and more authentic than the current version by Jagex. The /c/Runescape mod team endorses every project in this list!
Darkan is the oldest remake on this list - It's been developed for years by a veteran RSPS owner, with authentic dungeoneering support, multiple near-maxed players (on 1x exp rate), the first OSRS player to max, and more.
Started implementing Vinesweeper
The first OSRS player to max is now active in Darkan's Discord
2011scape is a brand new remake, with major pieces of content being implemented constantly. This month, Tyluur from 2011scape started using ChatGPT 4's new AskTheCode feature that analyzes any public git repo to refactor 2011scape's obfuscated client!
Added Restless Ghost & 4 new agility courses
Added full authentic account verification through account creation
2009scape's changes this month were a long time in the making, with hundreds of bugs fixed across the 4 updates. This is far from a normal, with the bug patches landing in after the massive updates, so we expect things to quiet down again after this month!
2004scape breaks records in RS reverse engineering. It's the first with a real 2004 cache, has the most advanced RuneScript, and a webclient. It is the only one on this list that does not yet have a playable live server.
The 2004scape development team said they currently need to add combat (which is very different in Runescript than RSPS solutions), NPC modes, and hunt modes, after which they will be focused on adding content. Their estimate is the game will be playable in around 2 months!
I find this very interesting, how much time does Jagex put into stopping these private servers? I played WoW private servers for a while, but you never knew when they would get shut down.
I've only been playing runescape for a few years, but what are the advantages to using private servers? Do they generally have an ironman game mode implemented? That is how I prefer to play.
Also interesting to see a private server of classic doing so well, that is very cool to see! Did they keep the enchanted chest bug so no one can get dragon stones? I hope not, but it is a very funny part of history.
Btw despite popular belief, the crystal chest bug had nothing to do with classic being shutdown, but instead a much lesser known exploit where you could teleport any player into the Underground Pass where they would get killed by the Black Demon. The bug was too spaghetti to fix, and it made classic virtually impossible to play
how much time does Jagex put into stopping these private servers?
10-15 years ago was the last time they shut down a server. They used to go after the really big ones, but these little open source ones have flown under the radar for a long time
but what are the advantages to using private servers?
Most private servers it's things like custom items/bosses/faster exp/coins/etc, these remakes are for playing different versions of the game frozen in time
Do they generally have an ironman game mode implemented?
Yea, everyone loves ironman :D
Did they keep the enchanted chest bug so no one can get dragon stones?
For a new player, you know a lot ;). IIRC they keep authentic bugs, but not game-breaking ones