Highlights in this week’s game development update include a set piece for an in-game event, screenshots from Erendorn’s flourishing world, and three new ability VFX. As always, join us on Twitter, Instagram, or Reddit for daily updates on Depths of Erendorn - now let’s get into it!
3D Modelling
Last week, our Character Artist began blocking out the various pieces for a heavy armour set in the game. (This will be going over the underclothes that you saw us create in our last devlog.)
This particular armour set that our Artist is creating will be available to players when they progress to higher levels in the game. With an ability to take high amounts of Damage (and padded with lots of fur to keep you toasty), it’s ideal for the dangerous escapades you’ll endure in the Ice Dungeons.
Animation
Our Animator is now a bona fide ornithologist after all of their work on birds last week. This work included preparing the skeletal mesh of an eagle (mainly adjusting its skin weights and cleaning up the skeleton) for three new animations that were created for it.
This feathered aviator has now been imported into the engine along with all its animations. Check out the set below:
Environment Design
One of our Environment Artists spent last week creating a set piece for the ‘Mysterious Egg’ event in the game.
Events will trigger randomly when adventurers enter a particular room, and they will present players with a procedurally generated scenario that they have to respond to. The decision the players make, or the way they respond to the event, will alter the way their journey pans out. Basically, it’s a way for us to keep you on your toes!
In the ‘Mysterious Egg’ event, players will enter a room that has an egg hidden in the corner beneath some old cloth. The decision they’ll have to make is whether they want to bring it along with them, knowing that the egg could hatch at any given moment, or leave it behind. Players won’t know what lies within the egg - it could be a violent beast, a curse, a spell, or maybe even an animal companion - so there’ll always be a risk involved.
Our Artist added their own twist to the mysterious egg that headlines this event, making it more grand and ornate. More variations of this set piece will be created eventually, but here’s how the first one looks!
World Environment
You know the phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’? Well, that definitely applies to our world environment, because although tons of optimisations were carried out last week (more new clouds, for example), we think the screenshots taken of it speak louder than anything we could explain:
Game Trailer
Work continued on the game trailer last week, with our Environment Artist set dressing the caves, our VFX Artist creating a placeable volumetric cloud material for dungeon fog, and our video production team tightening up existing settlement sequences.
Our Animator also carried out a ton of work on the Tavern scene, which you’ve seen us working on for a couple of weeks now.
With this work:
- Tables and chairs had their scale adjusted
- Animations were adjusted so that they performed smoothly
- An animation blueprint was created for each animation, allowing them to play randomly
- NPC character blueprints were created and are in the middle of getting arranged on-set
Additionally, map modifications were set up for dungeon replay sequences, which are now ready for capture!
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/Clouds4_Trim.mp4
Volumetric cloud material
Visual FX
Two Earthen Dwarf abilities received visual FX last week, including:
- Earthen Touch: Deals a significant amount of Earth Damage to an adjacent enemy
- Land Raise: Allows you to raise up the surrounding debris from the ground and form a wall that protects against attacks
The existing effects for ‘Adid Bolt’ were also reworked last week. This ability deals Nature Damage, as well as removes 1 point of Armour for 10 turns. Check out all the new VFX below:
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/EarthenTouch-Documentation-1.mp4
'Earthen Touch' (no cows were harmed in the filming of this VFX)
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/LandRaise4_Trim.mp4
'Land Raise'
Sound Design
Our Sound Artist spent the week working on the environmental sounds we showed you in our last weekly devlog. This time, however, they were more focussed on the sounds of docks and harbours, as well as marshes and ponds.
The sound clips below are examples of what these are sounding like so far. Eventually, the individual files that each of these tracks is made up of will be put into the engine separately, and then reworked into ambience through the use of blueprints.
This method will allow us to transform, for example, marsh sounds into pond ambience, river ambience, or ambience for anywhere that has water, trees, and insects!
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/Marsh-Pond-Ambience-General-1.wav
Marsh/pond ambience sample 1
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/Marsh-Pond-Ambience-General-2.wav
Marsh/pond ambience sample 2
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/Docks-Ambience-Calm-2.wav
Dock ambience sample 1
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/Docks-Ambience-Calm.wav
Dock ambience sample 2
Programming
Golang Server
Last week, our Golang team were all hands-on-decks as they continued ironing out the multitude of bugs caused by having so many lines of untested code (may their frontal lobes rest in peace).
Headway is being made in spite of this, with our poor test dummy players (including one of our Programmer’s beloved ‘testclientboi’) now being able to move towards enemies using their own distinct AI, and send our servers move and attack commands so that they can fight back!
Soon, we’ll be able to automate full-scale wars, sit back, and enjoy watching the chaos without lifting so much as a finger (unless it’s to eat something).
https://depthsoferendorn.blob.core.windows.net/assets/AcidMuzzle.mp4
Reworked VFX for 'Acid Bolt'
That’s it for this week’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup from May yet?!
