This week, the following items were checked into the development build for testing:

New torch VFX.

HUD - status text above: players, creatures and machines.

New Slingbow models with material progression to match the other equipment.

They look great but we need a little more work to hook up their actions and visual functionality. We are hoping that we can release the above with the overhauled Inventory and Smart Stacking that has been the source of many client and server failures.

We have also started testing the animations in the game for the following creatures:

Wildstock - Tier 5 - which looks absolutely huge in the game!

The Hunter

Basher

Hopper - also with explosion VFX

Cuttletrunk

The Cuttletrunk and Hopper will be the first new creatures to be released.

Code

We’ve been continuing the HUD development: working on the speech bubbles, adding a new font and general polish to it. The Smart Stacking code continues to be improved for stability and maintainability.

The new Slingbow and revised Ammo system are now in the development build.

The first person field of view is now independent of the one chosen for the rest of the game, so the items stay in the same place on screen.

The new game introduction has a first pass starting world in and work continues on scripting the NPCs you first meet there, invoking new emote animations as you progress. This location is played offline and is outside of the online worlds. Here players will go through an initial tutorial so that they’re prepared to enter the online worlds.

VFX work has added some new visual features, including: soft edges and inverted soft edges for particles so they fade near meshes, making them sit in the world in a more believable fashion. The ribbon system in being reimplemented so we can support trails.

We also implemented the first part of the PlayStation 4 login back end and the database work continues with the game interfacing through the updated APIs.

Design

This week Luke has been building the starting world for the intro to the game.

Lots of effort has gone into analysing the metrics coming out of the game. This includes confirming they’re accurate and then starting to build structures so that we can better balance the game supported by data rather then purely instinct. Ultimately this will be extremely valuable and worthwhile to make sure the game has good structure and longevity. Some of the comments on the forum about game balance (for example, about skill progression) help support anecdotally the data we’re seeing.

Art

Our big focus this week has been with the overall development of the creatures from modelling the new meshes to testing the animation and new AI. We’ve been working closely with the engineers to get these creations tested in game and it’s beginning to get genuinely exciting!

Here’s a few highlights:

The Ground Basher has had a new facelift matching the master concepts for the Tier 3 version. This week he has been modelled to his full scaled up grandeur and tested with his animations on our local build.

We now have a few Cuttletrunks waiting in the wings for in-game integration. The Cuttletrunk Tier 1 has been modelled and textured from scratch, also matching the master sheet concepts. Alongside this, the Tier 4 early version has also been brought up to the same aesthetic standard sparking the beginnings of a small squad of Cuttletrunks that will rule the airwaves! See the devlog for more details of this development.