In this week's development log, we showcase the impressive progress made by our dedicated teams. The 3D modelling team has brought the spellcaster armour to life through meticulous sculpting, adding intricate details to every aspect of the design. As the sculpting phase nears completion, the team is preparing for the next stage of retopology. Additionally, the environment team has optimised the foliage in the game world, reducing overheads and improving shading issues. The animation team has focused on refining the animations and poses for the Dwarf character, ensuring smooth and realistic movements. They have also introduced frost dwarves into the game, adding an exciting new element to the world of Erendorn. 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
The 3D modelling team has made significant progress this week, focusing on refining the spellcaster armour through meticulous sculpting. With the sculpting phase nearing completion, the team is soon moving on to the retopology stage. Throughout the process, the team has added additional intricate details to every aspect of the armour, further enhancing its visual appeal and craftsmanship. Notably, the helmet, shoulders, and crown have received special attention, with intricate details that showcase the attention to detail and artistry of the team. To add an extra touch of dynamic movement, a bit of rope has been skilfully incorporated around the waist, completing the overall design. Examples of the spellcasters' protective gear, as it nears completion, can be seen below.
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Programming
Last week the team would spend some time giving the mapping tools a face lift and add a new feature to the data. We can now map out Fast Travel networks, save/load and update existing networks. This will be utilised in the next milestone. This will be the last of the foundational work done with the new nav system, before the team turns to implementing the new system on the server ready to switch it over and enable a much more open adventuring experience with many more features. Additional work completed by the programming team throughout the week can be seen below.
- Some more updates to minor UI elements for notifications, mostly text formatting and style updates.
- Main task of this week has been getting screen pop-ups working nicely for post combat/dungeon and other loot-awarding events. This has entailed a fair bit of reorganising several functions involved in the pipeline of the client receiving an update to displaying it, in the name of making it both efficient and expandable for future uses. And of course a lot of trial and error testing for a lot of different contexts has been needed.
- Updated Portrait background, Movement icon and Stat Bar dividers.
- Updated Portrait layout and text styles.
- Added Party Colour image to Player Portraits belonging to party members.
- Added Secondary Resource Stat Bars for the Dwarves' Inner Grit, Knight's Zeal and Watertarg's Ancient Power stats.
- Hid Mana Stat Bar for non-magic users who gain Mana stats through gear bonuses.
- Added the ability to show the corresponding Regen Stat when Stat Bars are hovered.
- Added a Stat Description Data Asset.
- Optimised large number of Subwidgets' design and refactored their functions to improve performance in Adventures.
Environment Art
The environment team made significant strides in optimising foliage in the game world. They implemented changes to the foliage map packing convention, resulting in a more efficient use of texture samplers and a substantial reduction in foliage overheads. Additionally, the team addressed an issue where various shrubs, trees, and bushes were shading incorrectly when shadowed, particularly noticeable in long grass and Ivy. With a fix now deployed, the visual quality and consistency of the foliage have been greatly improved. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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Animation
The animation team remained dedicated to refining and updating the animations and poses for the Dwarf character. Their ongoing efforts ensure that the Dwarf's movements and actions are smooth and realistic, enhancing the overall character visual appeal. Additionally, the team introduced a new addition to the game by implementing frost dwarves into the engine. These icy counterparts bring a unique twist to the world of Erendorn, adding diversity and excitement to the gameplay. Examples of the refined Earthen Dwarf animations and the Frost Dwarf can be seen below.
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That’s it for this week’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of June yet?!
