In a somewhat surprising early birthday/xmas present (note: this was the best way to express how this felt upon discovery; I’ve long stopped celebrating either since they are just another day since any day could be celebrated to treat yourself/others). I ended up finding out there is a forked project (not publicly accessible) of the public 1.2 development for this ArcheAge emulator that utilizes the 5.0.7.0 client.
Since my Discord Nitro subscription was going to end soon (and I wasn’t planning to renew it given my ongoing de-platforming objectives), I decided to use a server boost (part of that Nitro subscription) for the AAEmu Discord as thanks for what this project has managed to provide to date (a mostly playable version of the 2014 launch version of the game). I ended up learning that boosting the server unlocked a “Booster Club” channel where one of the project developers has been working on a fork from the publicly available 1.2 version (which is much farther along in terms of working main story/race quests and content).
This developer had been previously working on a 3.0.3.0 version but depreciated that in favor of 5.0.7.0 (Relics of Hiram release which launched in November 2018). This includes all races (that had been released), their home zones, and zones opened on Auroria all the way to the Western Hiram Mountains. It uses the game client from the AAFree (ArcheAge) private server (which uses a modified encrypted game_pak file that also seems to have a lot more items like decor and buildings backported to it). I did a quick check and it looks like buildings like the Beanstalk House are in the game; I was able to spawn a full-kit in-game (doing a quick check, this design was released in early 2019 for a limited period of time).
Before shooting myself in the foot (by just downloading the latest files, trying to set it all up, and running into errors because I missed important stuff that had been posted), I read the channel from first post to last for that purpose AND to just to take in the progression that this part of the project has managed to achieve. I learned that most of this development fork began last August and is definitely more challenging without fully decrypted databases (which allowed 1.2 to get further along in recent years).
Once I had caught up reading an years worth of posts/information, I proceeded to setup the server in my ArcheAge virtual machine (running in the same one as AAEmu 1.2). I ran into just two errors (forgot to add the client data game_pak location into the configuration file and didn’t have the other compact SQL file for the server downloaded and copied into the data directory). Once I dealt with these two oversights, the game server started without a hitch.
I then setup the launcher for the game client and took the step to register and update the client from AAFree.to by using their launcher. Once that was all completed, I fired it up. And yes, the wave of nostalgia hit me when I saw that both the Dwarf and Warborn races were available in the character creator. Official ArcheAge has been closed since June 27, 2024 and back then, I didn’t expect to see an emulator that would allow me to at least rebuild my characters and properties. But here we are a little over an year later with one of the best surprises during a time when I have no desire to play most any online only title (the occasional Genshin Impact being the one exception). Let me be more blunt; I have no desire patronizing/spending money with the greedy gaming industry. But I digress.
Surprisingly, my character customization presets from post 2017 for the dwarf still worked (presets for the other races from that same time period unfortunately didn’t as some slider parameters had changed) and I was able to recreate my main character from the Unchained days (when I began playing on the western Nuia faction). Nonetheless, being back in a much more complete version of the open game world again gave me literal chicken skin. I was already satisfied with what 1.2 provided but this is icing on the cake.
The fact that main story quests (MSQ) and racial quests aren’t fully working (as of the September 2, 2025 build of the 5.0.7.0 server emulator), doesn’t really bother me. As noted in prior writings from 2019 with ArcheAge Unchained, my game play was primarily as an “in-game potato” with mainly the exploration, property and vocational parts being my main activities. What currently exists suffices and will allow me to re-engage with that part of the game completely free from the greedy publishers monetization (cash shop) and free from the basic grind (for leveling, vocation, gold, etc).
Using GM commands, anything available for this build (or whatever has been backported) can be spawned in. The build command can be used for building designs that have no full-kit, etc. I’ve already set the property tax period to be an year (I guess I could set it for longer if I wanted to) where I can build out housing zones over time. I should emphasize that this part of the game provided an entertainment outlet for the final 5 years of the game. Having it available again in an emulated fashion is definitely one of the unexpected highlights for this year (I am glad I decided to boost the AAEmu Discord server when I did the other day and plan to remain subbed to Nitro for at least the next year just for this perk).
