Throughout the last week, the team has continued to push towards the next milestone for Depths of Erendorn, forwarding the development in a variety of aspects. The 3D modelling team made substantial progress in creating a new hairstyle, refining both the top and side/back elements with the guidance of the concept team, ensuring a cohesive and polished look. Meanwhile, the set piece design team completed an elegant chandeliers set and crafted a versatile rope/chains trim texture, enriching the game's interior environments. The client team focused on implementing a map panel for enhanced player interaction, alongside troubleshooting persistent rotation bugs and refining animation logic for smoother gameplay. The server team tackled navigation data issues, significantly reducing errors and stabilising the game's server infrastructure while testing new abilities for enemies. Simultaneously, the sound team enhanced gameplay immersion with new audio for enemy abilities, and the environment team advanced the visual coherence of the game world with corrections and tweaks to landscapes and materials. The animation and VFX teams collaborated on importing essential assets and laying the groundwork for dynamic enemy behaviours and captivating visual effects, respectively. 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
Throughout the last week, the 3D modelling team at Depths of Erendorn made notable progress in creating a new hairstyle. After extensive experimentation with various ideas for the top hair, the team achieved the desired result and is currently in the refinement phase. Efforts were also made to determine the style for the side and back of the head, with valuable assistance from the concept team, who helped concept the remaining parts of the hairstyle and provided a clear outline and guide. This collaborative effort ensures a cohesive and polished final look for the new hairstyle. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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Set Piece Design
Last week, the set piece design team at Depths of Erendorn completed the chandeliers set, adding an elegant and detailed touch to the game's interiors. In addition to this, the team created a new rope/chains trim texture, which will be utilised in various elements throughout the game to enhance visual authenticity and cohesion. These additions contribute significantly to the immersive environment of Depths of Erendorn, ensuring that each setting feels rich and meticulously crafted. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
Programming
Client
Over the last seven days, the client team at Depths of Erendorn focused on exploring and beginning the implementation of a map panel, which players can access with the M key. Designed to serve multiple UI functions, this map panel will not only act as a zone map for players but will also be integrated into the fast travel menu and other future features. The team dedicated significant effort to identifying the source of persistent rotation bugs in combat, which required extensive testing and logging. While the exact cause remains elusive, this process has highlighted specific actions that frequently trigger these issues. In addition, the team assisted in correcting abilities that were still using mismatched animation types and streamlined the logic checks for triggering animations, reducing unnecessary complexity and improving overall performance. This work reflects the team's ongoing commitment to enhancing the gameplay experience in Depths of Erendorn. Additional work completed by the team can be seen below.
- Created a map panel for displaying a top down view of the entire region.
- Added the ability to zoom and pan around the map.
- Began working on a map-trackable component that will be added to entities and objects of interest.
Server
The server team at Depths of Erendorn concentrated heavily on navigation data, implementing new validation methods to debug issues on both the server and client sides. This intensive process led to the identification and resolution of numerous issues, significantly reducing errors in the test chunk from over 24,000 to approximately 500. Despite the time-consuming nature of the task due to the many iterations required, these efforts have made substantial progress, with work continuing to address remaining edge cases. Additionally, the team fixed a server crash issue caused by attempts to load non-existent chunks. Concurrently, the team completed testing new abilities for recently coded enemies and tackled a bug that caused navigation paths to lead to non-existent locations within game world chunks. These developments mark significant strides in improving the stability and functionality of the game's server infrastructure.
Sound Design
Last week, the sound team at Depths of Erendorn concentrated on developing new audio elements for enemy abilities, specifically for the Plague Arrows and Toxic Arrows used by the Fen Elves. These new sound effects were designed to enhance the immersive experience of these abilities, including the ominous spread of disease and the noxious impact of toxic attacks. This work contributes significantly to the game's atmospheric depth and helps bring the unique abilities of the Fen Elves to life. Examples of work completed by the team throughout the week can be seen below.
Environment Art
Throughout the last week, the environment team at Depths of Erendorn focused on several key areas to enhance the game's landscape and visual coherence. They researched, conceptualised, and began forming a new settlement gate and surrounding wall, which is currently a work in progress. The team also corrected errors related to landscape HLODs and implemented material fixes to undo changes caused by Substrate. Additionally, they tweaked the ocean material and systems to improve coastline effects, particularly around the new rocky area. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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Animation
Last week, the animation team at Depths of Erendorn continued updating enemies for Alpha 1, focusing on several critical tasks to enhance their integration into the game. They imported missing skeletal meshes and animations into the engine, ensuring that all necessary components were in place. Additionally, the team created Animation and Character Blueprints to facilitate smooth and dynamic enemy behaviours. Examples of animations completed by the team throughout the week can be seen below.
Visual Effects
The VFX team at Depths of Erendorn finalised the concept art for enemy visual effects (VFX), setting a clear direction for their implementation. This involved detailing the visual elements that will enhance the gameplay experience, ensuring they align with the game's artistic vision. This week, the team has begun laying the groundwork by initiating the in-engine development of the VFX bases for these enemies. This process includes creating the foundational elements within the game engine, such as particle systems and visual effects shaders, which will bring the concept art to life in the dynamic and immersive world of Depths of Erendorn. An example of the concepts created by the team can be seen below.
That’s it for this week’s devlog, but have you seen our monthly roundup of June yet?!
