Throughout the past week's endeavors, the Depths of Erendorn development teams have been making progress across various aspects of the game. The 3D modelling team continued working on crafting an Assassin armour set, transitioning from the initial blockout phase to refining individual elements. The programming team has been centered around enhancing performance, optimising the Enemy Movement Filter, and refining the tutorial system for a smoother gameplay experience. The animation team continued to work diligently on expanding spell animations across different races and genders. The VFX team's efforts spanned from brainstorming future effects for concept art to addressing technical aspects, such as arrow projectile issues, and updating dungeon portals. As always, join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit for daily updates on Depths of Erendorn. Alternatively, join our Discord for all the latest! - now let’s get into it!
3D Modelling
In the latest week's efforts, the 3D modelling team at Depths of Erendorn made significant strides in the creation of the assassin armour set. With the initial blockout phase completed, the team has transitioned to the refinement stage, meticulously enhancing the individual pieces of the set. An integral addition to the set is the incorporation of a hood and flowing material, strategically designed to conceal the user's identity and evoke an air of stealth and intrigue. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
Programming
Client
This week has been about fixing performance issues underlying the Enemy Movement Filter and adding optimised methods of listening for changes to individual Entities. By making these changes we've seen a dramatic reduction in frame-drops previously experienced while large numbers of NPCs existed in a Session. Addtionally, the team has worked on building up the tutorial system. This has involved developing a new button class to assist with indexing and moving between entries as well as allowing us to open the tutorial screen onto specific entries based on in game context cues. Work has also been done on developing a system for popups to provide tutorial snippets that can be linked to a full tutorial using the same system.
- The Enemy Movement Filter (Activated by holding the V Key) serves to help players to strategise their turn by displaying the movement range of all enemies in an active combat at that time. The Filter takes changes to enemies max movement and states that may practically affect their movements into account and is required to be accurate for it to be a useful tool for players, so a broad scope of update criteria were initially applied. A lot of work has gone into reducing the amount of circumstances that trigger the movement filter's display to refresh to improve performance in adventures with large numbers of active NPCs.
- Refactored the Movement Filter so that it only updates while an entity in the relevant Combat is selected.
- Updated the Movement Filter's refresh conditions to trigger exclusively for relevant combatants.
- Optimised the Movement Filter's drawing functions so they run as smoothly as possible while the filter refreshes.
- Added individual listenable events for Entity State changes and improved the triggering of the events.
- Added an Entity Movement Finished event for each individual Entity.
Server
This week was spent refactoring how we handle settlement data and how servers are stored based on the area they manage. After the changes servers are now settlement servers and world servers that are not limited to a specific zone. Time was also spent implementing a fast travel command. Fast Travel points should now start and end adventures and work has been put in to ensure that if a player visits another settlement which they didnt start from, the adventure should also be ended correctly. Fast travel is now theoretically functional. Movement limitations have been removed from adventures, so the players are not limited to a small play area.
Animation
In the latest week's progress, the animation team at Depths of Erendorn maintained their focus on advancing spell animations and their seamless integration across various races and genders. The team worked on refining existing spells while also exploring new possibilities through ongoing research. This endeavor aims to ensure that the spellcasting experience is both diverse and inclusive, catering to the unique characteristics of different characters. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
Visual Effects
The VFX team's efforts during the week have encompassed diverse areas of development. They delved into brainstorming future effects for concept art, tapping into their creativity to envision captivating visual elements. Addressing technical aspects, the team successfully resolved an issue with arrow projectiles, ensuring smooth and accurate in-game mechanics. Additionally, they undertook a crucial first pass on updating dungeon portals, infusing them with new and enhanced visual dynamics. Examples of the work completed by the VFX team can be seen below.
That’s it for this week’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of July yet?!
