May was a productive month for the development team at Depths of Erendorn, with progress made across all disciplines as work continued to expand the game's systems, characters, and environments. From backend improvements to quest handling and event generation, to frontend refinements in UI, audio, animation, and visual effects, each department contributed toward strengthening the game’s core experience. New tools and workflows were introduced—such as the block-based Events system and a procedural spline tool—while character development saw the Necromancer move from sculpt to game-ready asset. The world itself became more immersive through updated settlements, richer audio design, and improved dungeon visuals. Together, these efforts reflect a growing momentum as the team builds toward the next phase of development. 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
Over the past month, the 3D Modelling team dedicated their efforts to the full development cycle of the Necromancer character, progressing from early concept sculpting to a fully retopologised game-ready asset. Initial stages focused on defining the character’s imposing silhouette through the sculpting of a layered robe and striking surface details, all designed to reflect the dark fantasy tone of Erendorn. Hairstyles from a new asset library were also adapted to fit the game's proportions, adding flexibility to the character’s appearance. Once the high-poly sculpt was completed, the team moved into retopology, optimising the mesh for performance without compromising visual quality. To support additional design elements, a modular rope mesh was created to display hanging skulls at the character’s waist—crafted with a non-destructive workflow that allows for efficient UV usage and future edits. This month’s work represents a major step forward in bringing the Necromancer to life as a distinctive and fully integrated figure within the world of Erendorn.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Set Piece Design
Throughout the past month, the Set Piece Design team focused on elevating the visual and structural identity of one of Erendorn’s core settlements. Vegetation was reworked to introduce a more natural and grounded atmosphere, while landscape refinements helped unify the surrounding terrain and built elements. The team also enhanced the settlement’s marketplace area with updated layouts and props, setting the stage for future NPC integration and player interaction. A key addition during this period was the completion of a spline-based tool driven by procedural grammar rules, enabling faster and more consistent placement of walls, fences, and similar structures. These updates not only improve visual cohesion but also increase the flexibility and efficiency of worldbuilding workflows moving forward.
-min.png)
-min.png)
Programming
Client
Over the past month, the Client team made steady progress on several core features, with particular emphasis on inventory systems and the integration of settlement-based quests. Efforts to refine the handling of consumable items led to more accurate categorisation and improved reliability across both inventory and vendor interfaces, accompanied by fixes to display bugs such as placeholder items and incorrect slot alignment. Work on the settlement quests system advanced significantly, beginning with the creation of a dedicated UI window and progressing to the implementation of supporting C++ functionality. This included integrating the new window into the existing client framework and developing logic to handle quest tracking, allowing the system to accurately differentiate between active and unaccepted quests. These additions move the quest system closer to full implementation and further enrich the game’s interactive potential.
The client is now capable of performing the following actions outside of Combat:
- Ability cast (specific abilities/consumables).
- Attacks/Heals.
- Active Effect procs/Duration updates.
- Projectiles.
- Applying Shields.
- Changes to Stats/States/Cooldowns.
- Damaging/Dodging/Blocking/Missing.
- Death.
Server
Throughout the past month, the Server team concentrated on advancing key backend systems that support dynamic gameplay and content generation in Depths of Erendorn. A major focus was the ongoing overhaul of the Events system, which included a full refactor of the WorldEvent and Event structures to introduce a more flexible, block-based system. This new approach allows developers to assemble reusable logic blocks triggered by specific conditions, significantly streamlining the creation and maintenance of diverse in-game events. Supporting this, the Events Editor was expanded with additional triggers, improved UI behaviour, and web-based access for more convenient editing. Work also progressed on the core functionality of these event blocks, with support added for spawning entities, switching allegiances, and launching projectiles—enhancing the system’s versatility across dungeons, settlements, and open-world encounters. Alongside this, improvements to item systems included updating the item generator for database compatibility, expanding consumable item behaviour, and resolving several bugs related to purchasing and inventory allocation. Collectively, these updates mark a strong step forward in delivering more responsive and varied gameplay experiences.
In addition to this some smaller bugs were addressed:
- Guaranteed items on vendors were crashing the servers on start.
- Item stats calculations were crashing the server when consumables were loaded due to them not having an equipment slot.
- Fixed map initialisation on preloaded abilities and Active Effects.
- Adjusted Service loading order.
- Prepped the database for the new events editor.
- Added LOS Check History to combat viewer visuals and data exports.
Sound Design
Throughout the past month, the Sound team concentrated on refining the audio identity of the Skeleton enemy to better reflect its visual and gameplay presence. Updates began with a full replacement of footstep sounds, shifting from lighter, clicky effects to a heavier, more resonant audio profile that matches the weight and tone of recent animation changes. Alongside this, the team began reworking the creature’s vocalisations, identifying areas where the original recordings lacked the necessary character and impact. A new vocal direction was planned, with early implementation underway to create a more atmospheric and threatening soundscape. These adjustments aim to elevate the overall immersion and reinforce the distinct identity of Erendorn’s undead adversaries.
Environment Art
Over the past month, the Environment team balanced technical fixes with new content creation as they continued shaping the underground spaces of Erendorn. A key issue introduced during the upgrade from Unreal Engine 5.3 to 5.5 was resolved, restoring proper terrain fidelity after an unintended flattening affected parts of the landscape. Additional fixes were made to cave assets, correcting missing material assignments and ensuring visual consistency across subterranean environments. Alongside this stability work, the team began developing a new suite of dungeon set pieces aimed at expanding the variety and narrative depth of the game’s interior spaces. Numerous other bugs were also addressed throughout the month, helping to solidify the foundation for future environmental updates.
Animation
Throughout the past month, the Animation team contributed a wide range of updates aimed at enriching character behaviour and preparing key assets for in-game integration. Work began with a focus on NPCs, where additional idle variations were created and tested using newly developed animation controller blueprints—adding more life and variability to populated areas. Several fixes and improvements were also made to existing characters, including resolving weapon clipping on the Skeleton enemy and enhancing the presence of Human Soldier NPCs with new poses and gear. Progress continued on creature implementation, with updated meshes and rigs for the Vampire Bat and Snake fully imported into the engine. The Fen Elves also received attention, with new cloth physics applied to heighten visual impact in dynamic settings. Rounding off the month, the team worked on refining the Forest Druid’s combat animations, improving fluidity and updating older sequences to better reflect the character’s nature-based combat style. Collectively, these updates push the game’s animation systems closer to production-ready quality.
Visual Effects
Throughout the past month, the VFX team focused on enhancing both the quality and versatility of the game's visual effects, laying important groundwork for future content. Much of the effort was dedicated to creating and refining high-quality flipbook textures, with particular care taken to eliminate visible seams and ensure smooth, consistent animation playback. Alongside this, the team implemented improvements within the Niagara system, including a rework of the camera offset functionality to allow for more precise and intuitive effect placement. Development also extended to new parallax materials for surface details like cracks, introducing depth variation that enhances realism when viewed from different angles. In addition to building new effects, a clean-up pass was completed on older assets, removing redundant emitters to support better performance and maintainability. These combined efforts continue to grow the visual identity of Erendorn and prepare the effect systems for larger-scale implementation. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
That’s it for this month’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of April yet?!
