First of all, happy holidays to everyone!
This past 6 months have been long for me as I've been back at University. I have been working hard in my spare time on the game, but I've since moved into full production since the semester ended a while back.
I didn't want to post until I had something big to share with all of you, so here goes.
Firstly, we've listened to the feedback that has been given by people who have played the builds we've uploaded, and the biggest complaint is that its a little hard to know what to do. Because of this, I will be designing and adding a mini-map with objectives and fast travel system.
Secondly, I've been working hard on new areas, some of which are far enough along to share, others are just concepts (mainly other dungeons are still works in progress).
That being said, please have a look at the new areas. We have a Saloon, Inn, Sheriffs Office and Chapel. I'm still working on polishing them, as well as the characters in them.
New interiors:
Other things we've been working on include swapping over to a terrain editor instead of the old system we had. The results are amazing for us from a workflow and consistency standpoint. We've also swapped over to a more standard linear HDR rendering setup with double the roughness sensitivity and complete utilization of reflection probes as well as new cinematic image effects and a full GI pass. What this means is that we have far more range in colors, roughness and light. It also means the PBR and shadows are more accurate and realistic.
New renderer / new textures, objects etc:
Over all, the game should look far better. It should have more realistic properties (even though it is stylized) and it should have a more modern and film like look to it.
OH, before I forget. I've also coded the grass and vine shaders to blow in the breeze so that the environment looks more living.
Our plan for the coming weeks is to implement the mini-map and objectives, as well as the new characters and the first bit of the story, dungeons and side quests.
hope you all have a great holiday. Hope to share more soon.
