Flying lead changes and blinking
In the last update we showed you some work being done on lead changes. Well, now we have the respectful animations to go with them! Previously, the blinking has been a part of the blend keys, which are basically deformations in the mesh itself. But we have moved on to have the blinking be a part of the rig and animations instead, as it works better with the new whiskers and eyelashes.
Alligning with terrain and skybox
Since we will have terrain such as uphills and downhills, it's important that the horse rotates and aligns with it! It's finally a part of the game now, and as you can see in the above GIF, the horse is going uphill and aligning with the terrain nicely! In addition, we have a small showcase of the skybox in the evening/night!
More work on rugs and blankets
The first rugs and blankets have received their first sets of textures. This includes woolen blankets, hi-wiz and fleece. More is of course to come with time!
Meet Erika
Erika is a new NPC in the making. We are still unsure of her design yet, but here you can see three iterations of her. Which one do you prefer?
The bot Oskar
While Oskar might be an NPC for the game, he also serves an important role of gatekeeping the Astride Discord server. He makes sure to verify everyone who enters and lets them through the doors if being told to let them in. By simply messaging Oskar "let me in", he will oblige and give you access to the server! He also loves treats.
Freshening up the server
Continuing on the subject of the community server, we've made some further upgrades to the welcome and guidelines channels. They now have a fresh, new look with some upgrades to the information given. It's important for us to have clear guidelines in case anything should happen, especially now as the server is growing. We want everyone to feel safe and heard.
The start of cross country jumps
We are taking small steps towards all three disciplines. Cross country will get some focus in terms of jumps and obstacles that are needed. We have just started on one of the first jumps - a Viking ship cross country jump.
Please note that everything shown in these devlogs is mostly just work in progress and is not finished. Changes may happen and the things showcased here will have further work put into them! To see work in progress daily, join our Discord server community here!