Throughout this week, the Depths of Erendorn development teams have been deeply engaged in a myriad of tasks to refine and enhance various aspects of the game. The 3D Modelling team finalised the texturing for an exceptional agility-focused armour set, incorporating vibrant blues and rich leather textures to provide a unique and striking appearance, ideal for adventurers seeking both style and mobility. On the programming front, the team dedicated their efforts to resolve high-priority bugs, make vital audio and visual upgrades for several characters, and prepare the client for the pre-alpha milestone to ensure a smoother onboarding experience for new players. The Sound team diligently fine-tuned Level 3 Talents for the Forest Druid, ensuring each piece of audio had a distinct feel and enhancing impact moments with volume adjustments. Meanwhile, the Environment team made significant progress on settlement buildings, emphasising roof shapes and crafting intricate, dragon-inspired structures as main supporting beams, adding depth and character to the game's environments. The Animation team's focus remained on improving visuals and animations, including the replacement and removal of NPC models for enhanced visuals and exploration of animation tools like Unreal Engine Control Rig and Cascadeur. 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 at Depths of Erendorn wrapped up their texturing work during this week, and the results are remarkable. The armour set, distinguished by its agility-focused design, received its finishing touches, including vibrant, saturated blues and intricate leather textures. This eye-catching set not only provides adventurers with enhanced mobility but also ensures they stand out. Although not tailored for stealth, this armour set will undoubtedly appeal to the extravagant rogues within Erendorn's player base, further enriching the variety of options for players as they traverse the game world. The attention to detail and commitment to crafting unique assets for the game is evident, making this set a valuable addition to the ever-expanding Depths of Erendorn.
Programming
Client
This week has been about fixing a number of higher priority bugs, making some audio and visual upgrades across certain characters and wrapping the client up for our pre-alpha milestone attempting to cover any issues that new players may face when first entering the world of Erendorn. Examples of additional work completed by the team can be seen below.
- Fixed issues with Aggressive Active Effect displayed on enemy health bars.
- Optimised character weapon socketing and fixed issues resulting from the changes.
- Fixed an issue with ability targeting not showing in Dungeons.
- Updated a number of ability and stat descriptions.
- Updated Fen Elf animation controllers to give them bow attack animations.
- Hunted down a number of bugs affecting specific abilities.
- Changed and removed a number of dev options and settings to create a pre-alpha build.
- Remapped the Settlement's navigation data.
- Updated how navigation data is loaded to allow shipping builds zipped with external files.
- Added dynamic triggers to character animation blueprint's equip animations to allow different characters to use appropriate SFX based on the weapon they are equipping.
- Replaced missing icon for Pyrobolt.
- Added an Unreal Engine and Project Gamechanger splash screen.
- Packaged some 15 builds.
Server
This week, the server team continues to fix outstanding bugs for the imminent development milestone. The team would also start working on refactoring the inventory code to make way for future inventory changes we have planned. Additional work completed by the team can be seen below.
- A bug causing soul cooldowns to sometimes not apply to assassins if the entity that died late joined the combat.
- A bug that meant the first time you join an adventure, the server's weather would be incorrect until the next natural weather update.
- A fatal error caused when one party leaves for a dungeon while another party is in combat in a different adventure.
- Fixed a crash when part of a party starts a dungeon whilst another part of the party is in a combat elsewhere.
- Setup and configured new database servers for use with a milestone build to keep it separate from the main development database cluster.
- Updated Settlement nav data on the server.
Sound Design
The Sound team's focus this week at Depths of Erendorn was on fine-tuning Level 3 Talents for the Forest Druid, specifically, Concussive Vines, Life Spirit, and Wind Blast. These talents were meticulously developed with each piece of audio designed to have a unique feel, ensuring they are easily distinguishable in the midst of battle. The team employed volume techniques to accentuate the impact moments, creating an immersive auditory experience. Additionally, they added more subtle sounds to effects intended for supporting roles, such as Life Spirit, enhancing the overall audio quality and making the audio in Depths of Erendorn truly come to life. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen in the video below.
Environment Art
The Environment team at Depths of Erendorn dedicated their week to advancing the development of settlement buildings. They accentuated the roof shape with a grand arch reminiscent of a ship's hull, evoking a distinct visual style for the game. A significant transformation took place as they turned the main supporting beam into a remarkable carved wooden structure, resembling a dragon with intricate details, including a head. These endeavours underscore their commitment to creating visually captivating and immersive environments in Depths of Erendorn. Examples of the work completed throughout the week can be seen below.
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Animation
The Animation team at Depths of Erendorn embarked on a week of dynamic improvements, beginning with the replacement and removal of NPC models within the tent area to elevate the visual quality for the forthcoming development milestone. Additionally, they delved into the exploration of animation tools aimed at enhancing animation workflows and visuals for future developments. The team experimented with Unreal Engine Control Rig, constructing a control rig using blueprints and performing in-engine animation creation and adjustments, resulting in a video that highlights the head's direct in-engine animation. They also dabbled in Cascadeur, an AI-assisted keyframes animation tool designed to streamline the animation process, with a notable transition from grey (original hand key) to green (AI key assisted). While working with Cascadeur, the team explored and adjusted the tool's settings to attain optimal results, emphasising the importance of solid poses and a well-animated foundation for effective animation polishing. These dedicated efforts demonstrate the Animation team's commitment to refining animations and enhancing visual quality in Depths of Erendorn. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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That’s it for this week’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of September yet?!
