Hey all, Monster Tooth here with a quick update on DoE progress.
I can't believe it is already the end of July, it feels like it flew by. Well team is making great progress towards our goal, still working on finishing up the first chapter of the campaign, but took a break to implement some cool new features and a major optimization that was needed!
In Drudgers keep, one of the main hubs that serve as your home base in chapter one, the city now feels much more alive as the NPCs go about their days wandering around, sitting in the tavern, watching the sunset or keeping watch if they are a guard. This was a fun one to see get turned on and really makes the hub feel much more immersive when you unlock this location. It's a big comparison to the small forest camp that the player will start the game from.
I also finally got around to some companion improvements, creating a hud element for your companions, showing you their health. What drove me to get this done was the last part of chapter one, where you are accompanied by Scout Master Ramble Route, on your quests.
As always, I am keeping an eye out for how to optimize the game - This past week I changed how enemy AI were navigating the world, and it was such a simple change! Even after two years working with this Engine there just all these small tweaks you can make to save performance here and there - but learning them is essentially the entire battle.
I have also started the process of beginning to voice the rest of the characters and get artists onboard to draw out the cutscenes. We are taking a graphic novel approach for the introduction of DoE and major story events, I am excited to see how it comes together.
Getting closer and closer each week, within the next two weeks I should be announcing the official date of release!
Cheers,
Monster Tooth
