This week, the development of Depths of Erendorn saw substantial advancements across all departments as the team continued to refine and enhance the game’s systems, visuals, and overall player experience. The 3D modelling team introduced a vibrant new palette of hair shaders, vastly expanding character customisation options. Set Piece Design focused on completing an array of melee weapons and began crafting decorative trophies, enriching the game’s visual storytelling. The client team concentrated on optimising the inventory system and addressing issues with character creation tooltips, alongside preparing new enemy NPCs for in-game testing. On the server side, efforts were directed towards optimisations and streamlining server deployment processes, laying the groundwork for future auto-scaling capabilities. The sound team developed new audio loops and effects for abilities with active components, further improving the gameplay experience when in combat. Meanwhile, the environment team made significant progress in the settlement area, constructing new structures and testing lighting setups. The animation team continued to refine player locomotion, focusing on realism and dynamism, while the VFX team enhanced the visual effects for enemy attacks, ensuring that every encounter feels impactful and engaging. 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 completed work on the hair shaders throughout the last week, introducing a brand-new palette that significantly enhances the range of hairstyle customisability available to characters in the game. The updated shaders bring a vibrant selection of colours, allowing for greater customisation and visual diversity. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
Set Piece Design
Last week, the Set Piece Design team completed a diverse set of melee weapons, including swords and axes, each showcasing varying levels of detail and degradation to reflect their use and history within the game world. Additionally, the team began working on wall decoration trophies, which will serve to further enrich the visual storytelling and atmosphere within the game’s environments. These efforts continue to enhance the immersive world of Erendorn. An example of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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Programming
Client
Throughout the last 7 days, the client team focused heavily on refining the inventory system, particularly in relation to vendor interactions. While working on resolving issues that arose when selling items from the player’s inventory, the team discovered that outdated code was not compatible with the new multiple inventory system. As a result, significant time was dedicated to exploring and addressing the root causes of these issues. In addition to inventory updates, the team worked on fixing tooltips in the character creation menus, which were either displaying incorrectly or not at all. This task proved to be more complex than initially expected, revealing inconsistencies in how various parts of the character creation screen were implemented. Alongside these tasks, preparations for a new batch of enemy NPCs were made, ensuring that each had correct references and functional Character Blueprints for in-game testing. The team also dedicated time to removing outdated assets and fixing bugs related to players logging out, contributing to a more polished and stable gameplay experience. Examples of other work completed by the team can be seen below.
- Ensured new NPCs had functional assets and correct references.
- Tested a number of new buggy enemies.
- Removed old Settlement and contained assets.
- Removed references to missing assets.
- Fixed an issue where a previous party was restored when relogging.
- The Log Book Widget now clears when switching session.
- Created Data Assets for all new NPCs.
- Icegrip Centaurs (Explorer, Slaver).
- Icacian Necromancer.
- Frogs (Small Stone, Elder Stone, Venomspitter).
- Bears (Brown, Black).
- Hulking Blackhorn Rhinoceros.
- Boars (Glacial, Giant Glacial, Fleshrender).
- Eagles (Brown, White Crested).
- Cannibal Wolf.
- Savannah Dog.
- Novice Human Mages (Standard, Elementalist, Pyromancer, Vitalist, Student).
- Small Ogre.
- Rockbark Sapling.
- Stone Golem Slave.
- Bats (Vampire, Sonomatic).
- Beetles (Heavyhusk, Flare).
- Thunderclaw Crab.
- Fen Elf Plague Scout.
- Skeleton Mages (Novice, Novice Temporal, Cryomancer).
- Coldweave Spider.
- Human Rangers (Wandering, Survivalist).
- Storm Elves (Civilian, Initiate Wizard, Wizard Overloader).
- Parakaws (Civilian, Watcher, Ice Watcher, Fire Watcher).
- Watertargs (Traveller, Swift Traveller, Warrior Traveller).
- Forest Druids (Juvenile of the Snake, of the Grove).
- Zentragals (Lesser, Lesser Shadowmancer).
Server
The server team at Depths of Erendorn focused on optimisation efforts following the resolution of most critical bugs in the open world. Throughout the week, these optimisations included refining client logs to reduce their size for more efficient sending and processing, and minimising redundant active effect triggers on entities that die with effects still active. Additionally, a few lingering bugs related to newly introduced enemies were identified and resolved during combat testing. The team also continued work on streamlining server deployment, setting up install scripts and refining the server setup pipeline. This groundwork is aimed at facilitating auto-scaling infrastructure in the future, tied to population tracking for more dynamic server management. Smaller tasks included addressing gameplay bugs, refining server-to-server character transfers, updated targeting for XP zones to give the team the ability to test varying XP levels, and ensuring that Fast Travel point names are now visible in the travel menu.
Sound Design
Last week, the sound team focused on preparing new audio assets for upcoming implementations, particularly for abilities with active effects. This involved creating new loop sequences for abilities such as Arcane Mine, Crystallic Preservation, and Static Impact, ensuring that the audio effectively supports the dynamic nature of these effects. Additionally, the team crafted the sound design for the Icacian Necromancer's Necromantic Mending ability, further enhancing the eerie atmosphere surrounding this character. Examples of the world completed by the team can be seen below.
Environment Art
This week, the environment team made significant strides in developing and refining key areas within the settlement. The interior of the inn saw major progress with the construction of rooms on the second floor and the addition of a balcony/mezzanine, enhancing the building's overall layout and atmosphere. The blacksmith's outdoor work area was also created, adding to the settlement's realism and functionality. Additionally, a stone circle was integrated into the settlement, and adjustments were made to the prop master material to conceal intersecting grass elements, with the asset arrangement still in progress. The team also began testing baked lighting within buildings to ensure optimal visual quality and consistency across all structures. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen in the images below.
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Animation
The last seven days has seen the animation team at Depths of Erendorn continue to refine player locomotion, with a focus on enhancing realism and dynamism in character movements. Efforts were made to update the speed of animations, ensuring that players now experience consistent and fluid running animations across the board. These improvements are aimed at delivering a more immersive and responsive experience, where character movements feel natural and synchronised with the game world. An example of their work can be seen in the image below.
Visual Effects
This week, the VFX team at focused on enhancing the visual effects associated with enemy attacks and impacts. They successfully created both the melee and ranged attack effects for the Sonomatic Bats, ensuring that these creatures deliver visually striking attacks that align with their abilities. Additionally, the team updated the static impact visuals, adding an OnRemove effect to provide a satisfying conclusion when these impacts dissipate. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
That’s it for this weeks’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of July yet?!
