We have been working on a few priorities this week – investigating some difficult bugs, working on NPC combat tuning, and continuing to build out future content for the game.
Design and Narrative
- Continuing to implement dialog trees and overheard dialogue for the Port of Rulun to help make the town feel more alive for players who visit there, and starting on similar work for Detihauna.
- Work on NPC abilities to help with tuning combat across all level ranges.
- Continuing to investigate bugs reported by testers and working to resolve them.
- Updating game itemization, with a big focus on weapons.
- Preparing the roster of NPCs that we’ll need to populate the different areas in Faerthale.
- Continuing to test a new game tool which will help us speed up ability and mastery development.
- Continuing the preparatory work for crafting recipe data conversion and implementing difficulty/progression mechanics for crafting and gathering systems.
Programming
- Continuing to add functionality to support some envisioned class abilities and gameplay mechanics.
- Focused work on NPC pathfinding and responsiveness.
- Working on the updated class ability data tool for designers to help them speed up their ability to implement new abilities and masteries.
- Working on identifying the root causes of a newly identified bug that is impacting many class abilities and masteries.
Worldbuilding and Environment Art
- Continuing work for rocks and trees for Faerthale, including the great trees of the Oldwood.
- Getting ready to start shaping the base terrain in Faerthale so we can begin building out the different areas of the zone.
- Started on a list of 44 environmental props for Faerthale to help make the zone feel more unique and specific to the populations that live there.
Character Art and Animation
- Working on updates for player models that will come in with the updated armor. The focus this week has been on the human female (both for the model and the armor).
- Continuing to work on the Spriggan models and the Vale Strider for Faerthale.
- Working on animations that can be used in NPC and player interactions.
- Working on ways to potentially help speed up animation development in the future, so we can get more animations created more quickly.