Monthly Devlog | October 2023 | No. 57

In October, Depths of Erendorn witnessed a convergence of creativity and technical prowess across its development teams. The 3D Modelling team meticulously crafted an agile armour set, exploring vibrant colour variations to cater to the preferences of Erendorn’s agility-based characters. The Programming team showcased steadfast dedication by addressing UI bugs, implementing bow drawing animations, and optimising AI for a smoother gameplay experience. A pivotal achievement was the revamp of the inventory system, introducing multiple containers and setting the stage for a more interactive looting experience. The Sound team orchestrated an auditory symphony, fine-tuning elements and crafting distinctive audio for Level 3 Talents, breathing life into the game’s soundscape. The Environment team sculpted immersive structures, particularly focusing on a grand multi-story building with authentic elements, promising an enriched exploration experience. The Animation team’s proactive approach involved refining animations for Dwarf characters and preparing the main bipedal rig for future updates, showcasing their commitment to a polished gaming experience. Troubleshooting local issues, exploring animation tools, and refining existing animations underscored their dedication. The VFX team, beyond fixing playtest-identified issues, demonstrated strategic planning by initiating a collaborative workspace, reflecting a commitment to continuous improvement and teamwork. 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!

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3D Modelling

Over the past month, the 3D Modelling team at Depths of Erendorn has been dedicated to texturing the agile set of armour, meticulously combining gold and blue to create a visually striking appearance. Their work extended into exploring alternate colour variations for the armour, emphasising saturated blues and deeper browns for the leather components to enhance contrast and appeal. The outcome is a remarkable armour set, tailored for agility and adorned with vibrant hues and intricate leather textures. While perfect for adventurers seeking mobility and a distinct appearance, it caters to the extravagant characters among Erendorn’s player base, exemplifying the team’s meticulous attention to detail and dedication to crafting assets that enrich the game world. An examples of their work can be seen below.

Programming

In October, the Programming team at Depths of Erendorn showcased their dedication to improving the game’s functionality and player experience. The client-side team focused on completing tutorial help pages, implementing bow drawing animations and projectiles for ranged characters, and resolving UI bugs. Concurrently, the server team addressed final bugs for the upcoming internal milestone, optimising ranged enemy AI and fixing issues related to dungeon entrances and player movements. The team also undertook a significant task—revamping the inventory system for the next stage of development. This overhaul includes introducing multiple containers for player inventories, enabling more interactive looting experiences, and laying the foundation for usable consumables and items. Their holistic efforts, spanning bug fixes, UI enhancements, and systemic improvements, reflect a commitment to refining Depths of Erendorn and creating a more immersive and accessible gaming environment. Additional examples of their work throughout the month can be seen below.

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• Rolled back some changes to the progression system to add in new header artwork and adjust how they’re displayed.
• Fixed the layout of the stat panel in the inventory so that stats are arranged so as to avoid allotting space for unused and hidden stats.
• Updated artwork in the help book.
• Fixed launching onto the wrong intro page in the help book.
• Fixed wrong pages displaying in the help book.
• Improved Tutorial Help Page text, layout and ordering.
• Tested Tutorial Triggers and their saving.
• Added the ability for bow using characters to fire projectiles and spawn hit VFX in basic attacks.
• Updated stat panel toggle layout and show button.
• Fixed a bug preventing enemies from showing hover and aggro outlines if they join a combat after the initial start.
• Updated the “Select spawn tile” layout and triggers to ensure the message shows while spawning is possible.
• Updating of tutorial images.
• Fixing a number of character attack SFX triggers.
• Fixed a bug with the Knight’s idle animation showing a one handed weapon.
• Fixed a bug where players needed to reselect themselves after moving between Dungeon floors in order to move.
• Ensured all Tutorial triggers are correctly firing and saving correctly.
• Fixed a bug where dialogue history wasn’t jumping to the bottom when a new message appears.
• Fixed an animation bug for Zentragal where they can get caught looping a cast animation.
• Fixed ability descriptions for a number of abilities.
• Worked on clamping camera movement to areas with navigation data only.
• Turned off a number of development features not intended for players.
• Added a tooltip for the Aggressive enemy type icon to let players know how Aggressive enemies behave on their turn.
• 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.
• 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

Over the past month, the Sound team at Depths of Erendorn has been committed to enriching the auditory experience for players. With the game engine back in operation, the team embarked on fine-tuning various elements to ensure a well-balanced and immersive soundscape. This involved making minor adjustments to the volume and attenuation of character vocals and abilities, both for player characters and enemies. Their diligence was evident in their dedication to creating an environment where sound contributes seamlessly to the overall gaming experience.

In addition, the team dedicated themselves to the development of Level 3 Talents for the Forest Druid. These talents, such as Life Mend, Dampening Shield, and Toxify, were meticulously crafted with distinct audio elements to make them easily distinguishable in the heat of battle. The use of volume techniques to emphasise impactful moments further heightened the immersive experience. Moreover, the team’s work extended to more subtle sounds in supporting roles, exemplified by Life Spirit, ultimately enhancing the overall audio quality and bringing the game world of Depths of Erendorn to life. Examples of the work completed by the team can be seen below.

Environment Art

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In October, the Environment team at Depths of Erendorn dedicated their efforts to crafting immersive and functional buildings for players to explore. They focused on a particular building, adding characters for scale and developing a multi-story layout to enhance visual interest and functionality. The team significantly increased the building’s size, redesigned the Viking roof shape, and incorporated authentic structural elements, such as beams and joists. A second floor and a balcony were introduced, with ongoing work including roof windows and a mezzanine for added immersion. Examples of their work can be seen below.

Animation

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Throughout October, the Animation team at Depths of Erendorn demonstrated proactive preparations for future updates, primarily focusing on the main bipedal rig. Their forward-thinking approach involved planning and experimentation to ensure the rig’s readiness for upcoming developments. The team also dedicated efforts to refine animations for Dwarf characters, emphasising smooth movements and animation quality. Weekly updates included troubleshooting local project issues, relocating the project for efficiency, and addressing animation refinements. They reimported Zentragal and Forest Druid animations, enhancing quality by removing unnecessary weapon rotation. Notable improvements were made to the animation controller for Droval, refining death and hit reaction animations and adjusting weapon positions. Additionally, the team explored animation tools like Unreal Engine Control Rig and Cascadeur, showcasing their commitment to delivering a polished and immersive gaming experience. Examples of their work throughout October can be seen below.

Visual Effects

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Throughout October, the VFX team at Depths of Erendorn diligently addressed issues identified during the recent playtest, ensuring a smoother and more enjoyable gameplay experience. They not only fixed the spotted problems but also demonstrated foresight by initiating the creation of a collaborative workspace for VFX and animation teams. The team began outlining a rough plan for this workspace, emphasising seamless collaboration to enhance the quality and efficiency of their work. This strategic move reflects their commitment to continuous improvement and teamwork. Examples of their work, including the rough plan, 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?!