Hi Everyone!👋
We've got some pretty impactful bug fixes and performance boosts for you this week, across a few different systems!
NEW minimap
The previous minimap did the job, but was generally noisy to look at. Also, as it's camera based, the old minimap would duplicate lighting effects, potentially obstructing view and generally impacting performance.
This system was replaced with one where floor tiles know how to render themselves on the minimap, and do so with an unlit tile which isn't visible with the main scene camera.
FASTER Roster
The roster used to validate against the server each time an item is moved between inventories. Now, these changes are batched, and only sent off once the roster screen is closed. This should keep the same general behavior in the roster screen, while making equipping characters near instant.
Forward+ Renderer
The project's officially changed from the default forward renderer to the Forward+ renderer, originally released in the 2022.2 beta. This should give an immediate performance boost on low to mid power machines, such as the Steam Deck. The change technically adds a minimum performance overhead, but given the complexity of the scenes we have, this should increase overall performance in all of our render scenarios.
Localization Framework
You may notice the new language dropdown at the top of top of the settings screen - we've added localization functionality to the game! We've only got English setup right now, as languages other than English are going to take targeted implementation work, but we've got the system setup now to localize the various strings across the game. This should allow us to implement localized text for common languages moving forward!
Bug fixes
Game play inventory handling was completely refactored! Now, you should never have an input get dropped / missed, even on systems running at sub frame-rate
Programmer note: This was really bothering me, and I'm so excited to finally have it fixed!
What else?
Detail torches now have a lower effect distance, better set to avoid multiple needing to blend on meshes while still illuminating the scene
Detail torches no longer try to cast dynamic character shadows
As always, please share your thoughts on Discord and follow us on social media:
https://linktr.ee/ballardgames
-- The Ballard Games Team