The last week has been a period of intense development and significant progress for the Depths of Erendorn team. Each department has made notable strides in their respective areas, contributing to the overall enhancement of the game. The 3D modelling team finalised a new hairstyle, the client team focused on stabilising combat and improving the levelling-up process, and the server team resolved crucial bugs and optimised navigation data. Meanwhile, the environment team created a new watchtower asset, the animation team refined the movements of early game enemies, and the VFX team developed performance-efficient dust kick-up effects. These collective efforts reflect the team's commitment to delivering a polished and immersive RPG experience. Examples of the work completed by the teams can be seen below. 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
Last week, the 3D modelling team at Depths of Erendorn completed the creation of a new hairstyle. This design features intricately layered braids that mimic the natural layering of actual hair, inspired by Nordic styles. The team explored various colours to demonstrate the levels of customisation available for characters' hairstyles in Erendorn. This particular style includes a selection of braids running across the length of the head, complemented by a ponytail on top to manage the additional hair, resulting in a dynamic and authentic look. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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Programming
Client
This week, the client team at Depths of Erendorn made significant strides in stabilising combat testing, which revealed several bugs impacting the combat system. The team prioritised addressing these core issues to ensure smooth and uninterrupted testing. Following a system upgrade for triggering animations, some use cases became outdated, necessitating a comprehensive fix for all animation controllers and improvements to the Ability Stepper. Additionally, efforts were focused on enhancing the client-side levelling-up process. This involved ensuring accurate communication of stat changes and providing better details when players learn new abilities by allowing them to compare descriptions simultaneously. Bug fixes were also implemented for the level-up panel and connected systems to correct stat display errors and enable level-ups for levels where no new abilities are granted. Additional work from the team can be seen below.
- Replaced animation triggers across all character's Animation Blueprints.
- Fixed an issue causing projectile launch triggers to be overridden.
- Fixed a bug causing all enemies to turn incorrectly when attacking.
- Fixed a bug where Custom Steps (Animations/VFX/SFX) could not be inserted if the parent had less than 1 child log.
- Fixed an issue with the Dry Test Level that caused entities to be referenced incorrectly.
- Fixed an issue causing the grid not to show during combat in certain areas of the world.
Server
This week, the server team at Depths of Erendorn made significant progress in testing and fixing some of the newer abilities, particularly those that interact with the now-fixed navdata. A notable bug where levelling up did not grant characters their new stats until the server was restarted has also been resolved. Building on the previous week's efforts to address nav data errors, the team successfully eliminated all remaining issues, resulting in a vast portion of the game world being mapped without errors. Validation methods were employed to ensure data integrity. The auto-mapping functionality was updated to be more reliable, with improvements such as moving the camera around with the automapper, which enhanced the mapping speed and reduced the likelihood of incorrectly detecting chunks as having no mappable area. In addition to this the following changes have also been made by the server team.
- Fast Travel locations updated.
- Containers now open for other players when a player opens a chest.
- Updated trainer NPC location.
- Fixed a crash when loading an invalid chunk.
Environment Art
Last week, the environment team at Depths of Erendorn embarked on creating a new watchtower asset for the initial area. The concepting phase led to a design with a more rustic, temporary construction feel. Using Speedtree, the team crafted basic tree logs, which were then modified and refined in Maya to fill holes at the base and UV'd for optimisation. These logs were subsequently imported into UE5, where existing materials were applied to ensure performance efficiency. The process culminated in the construction of a test watchtower, which will enhance the visual and thematic consistency of the game's early environments. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
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Animation
This week, the animation team at Depths of Erendorn focused on updating the early game enemies in the initial area of Erendorn, with particular attention given to the Rockbark Treeman. Significant updates were made to enhance the overall fluidity and believability of the enemies' movements. These improvements ensure that this large enemy exhibits more realistic and smoother animations, contributing to a more immersive gameplay experience. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.
Visual Effects
This week, the VFX team at Depths of Erendorn focused on developing dust kick-up effects for running and certain abilities. Several iterations were explored to find the most visually appealing and performance-efficient solution. Initial fluid-based effects significantly impacted framerates, leading the team to optimise these effects to ensure they can be used frequently without performance issues. The refined dust kick-up effects enhance the game's dynamic quality, contributing to the overall visual fidelity. Examples of the work completed 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?!
