Over the past week, the team at Depths of Erendorn has made significant strides across all departments, further enriching the world and refining the systems that define the game. From crafting intricate details for the Earthen Dwarf armour set to continuing the set dressing of settlements and updating the new map’s terrain logic, the game world is steadily becoming more immersive and cohesive. Camera systems have seen notable improvements with adjustable settings and smoother tethering functionality, while server-side updates have addressed critical crashes, enhanced debugging tools, and progressed the implementation of pre-written quests. The environment has been revitalised with a range of new foliage assets and procedural systems to add depth and realism, while animations have been refined and expanded across character classes for more seamless gameplay. 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
This week, the 3D Modelling team at Depths of Erendorn focused on refining and detailing the various components of the new Earthen Dwarf armour set. Additional plates were added to emphasise a robust and bulky aesthetic, perfectly complementing the stout and resilient nature of the Earthen Dwarf character. These enhancements aim to create a visually striking design that aligns with the character’s grounded and formidable identity, bringing the world of Erendorn further to life with detailed and immersive craftsmanship. Examples of the progress made can be seen below.
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Set Piece Design
This week, the Set Piece Design team at Depths of Erendorn continued refining the settlement areas through detailed set dressing, ensuring each environment feels cohesive and immersive. Fine adjustments were made to several assets to enhance their integration and visual appeal within the settlement. Looking ahead, the team plans to expand the improved set dressing to additional areas in the settlement over the coming days, further enriching the depth and atmosphere of these vital player hubs. Examples of the progress made can be seen below.
Programming
Client
This week, the Client team at Depths of Erendorn continued to refine and enhance the camera control systems, focusing on the implementation of adjustable camera settings. This required the creation of new UI classes to handle each setting and the addition of a "developer mode" for testing, which restores the camera to its previous infinite range and untethered functionality. Currently, controllable settings include base speed, acceleration falloff, and tether range, all of which can now be saved and loaded via updates to the file manager and saved data system, akin to audio settings. Significant progress was also made on improving camera acceleration, ensuring it adjusts based on the direction of motion—using its base speed when returning to its target while decelerating when moving away. Additionally, forced tethering was updated to drag the camera smoothly in response to the player's movements, rather than snapping abruptly back when exceeding the tether bounds. These changes continue to improve the fluidity and responsiveness of player navigation in Depths of Erendorn.
Server
Last week, the Server team at Depths of Erendorn focused on remapping the terrain of the new game map to integrate it seamlessly with server logic. This involved recalculating nodes, movement and distance values, and re-placing fast travel points and zones. While the process revealed a few issues with the mapping workflow, each iteration refined and improved the system further. Alongside this, three critical server crashes were resolved, including issues related to enemy placement, movement location updates, and a race condition in the debug mutex tool. These fixes have greatly enhanced the reliability of testing and debugging. Updates were also made to the combat area viewer tool, with features like clickable nodes and entities added for easier debugging, as well as an entity rotation display to assist with syncing and dungeon generation. The team also resolved broken abilities, such as Starblast, Charge, and Lightning Pulse, while continuing to develop pre-written quests, including concepts for tracking prerequisites like enemy kills and event completions. Finally, procedural dungeon generation was improved, addressing set piece linking issues that previously caused irregular layouts.
Environment Art
This week, the Environment team at Depths of Erendorn delivered a substantial update, introducing new assets and optimisations to elevate the game’s natural landscapes. New grass, fern, pennyroyal, beech saplings, spruce saplings, and bush assets were created, significantly enhancing the variety and detail of Erendorn's flora. The landscape’s master material was updated to scatter “dumb foliage” like grass and pennyroyal, while Procedural Content Generation (PCG) tools were leveraged to dynamically place boulder clusters—covered in moss or snow based on altitude—and scatter diverse tree species at varying densities depending on factors such as ground material, altitude, and slope angle. Additionally, “smart foliage” systems were developed, enabling the placement of elements like ferns in shady areas, such as around boulder clusters or within dense spruce forests. An optimisation pass was conducted to improve performance, involving tweaks to poly counts, adjustments to quad overdraw, evaluation of nanite meshes, and updates to foliage animation cut-off distances, as well as shadow and culling parameters. These enhancements not only improve visual fidelity but also ensure the game’s environments are more immersive and performant.
Animation
This week, the Animation team at Depths of Erendorn made continued progress on updating animations and transferring shared animations and abilities across various character classes. Adjustments were made to ensure these animations align seamlessly with the unique movements and abilities of each class, maintaining consistency while preserving individuality. This process enhances the fluidity and responsiveness of character actions across the game, ensuring a polished and immersive experience for players as they engage with a diverse range of classes and abilities in the world of Erendorn.
That’s it for this week’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of November yet?!
