Hi people. I've been busy this week with other matters, therefore it was not possible to come with a game update for the weekend. Still, I bring the weekly report and the roadmap for future updates.
I am currently working on area optimization, mainly on memory optimization, with some repercussion on FPS. For now, I recorded a saving of about 5GB of RAM in some areas, like Death's Pass, Valmsteim Forest and Dark Forest, while other areas have about 2GB of savings. The FPS improvement ranged from 10% to 38% (measured in specific spots).
The next update, with this optimization, should arrive next week. This will be the last update before I dive deep into the software "infrastructure" to reform it in order to make it more viable to accommodate future features, like improved AI, an improved action/ability system, etc. This means I will become more absent while doing this, but I may occasionally release small urgent updates if really needed.
Now about the roadmap. It is not viable to have a predefined set of tasks with expected starting/ending dates, so the roadmap is more abstract. Here is a summary:
First year (2026): improve and create new systems
Complete ability trees
Improve/redesign AI (includes improved control of companion AI)
Improve UI. Not just aesthetics, but the structure, and make it controller-friendly
Controller support
Optimization: better area loading, reducing area memory usage, mesh combining on NPC gear, faster AI
QoL improvements
Inventory system reworked
Second year (2027): polishing and narrative
Polishing audiovisual elements: 3D models, animations, sound effects, improving map visual details
Improving narrative: improving and/or redesigning quests, creating new quests, events, and dialogues. Probably redesigning some maps to accommodate the quests/events.
There is no strict division between the tasks of year one and year two, though. This is just the emphasis of each year. And of course there are many omitted details here.
After the next update, I am aiming on extending the ability trees as well as enhancing/reworking some mechanics. The main target of this is a spellblade-friendly system.