Hello, Dear player !
Time flies—it’s already the end of the month, and our September Team Report is here!
Eastern Era has now entered the final sprint. These past weeks, the whole team has been working nonstop—coding, modeling, polishing, fixing bugs—over and over again, all with one single goal: to deliver a unique martial arts world to you at the October 13th Steam Next Fest.
It’s been exhausting, but knowing that you’ll soon get to experience it firsthand makes everything worth it.
Whether you’re here because you love the wuxia genre or simply out of curiosity, your support reminds us that all this hard work is never lonely.
Hopefully, the next time we meet, it’ll be within the rivers and lakes of the jianghu.
See you at the Next Fest!
The Eastern Era Dev Team
What did we focus on in September?
1. Added several exquisite costumes
We've added several new costumes in various styles, ranging from simple refugee clothing and practical farming gear to luxurious clan ceremonial attire. We've also implemented custom outfits for each section (tops, bottoms, capes, hats, belts, shoes, and pendants).
Some outfits offer minor attribute bonuses (such as cold protection, a small amount of stamina, or speed bonuses), focusing more on appearance and identity. Accessibility options include initial acquisition, exploration drops, and battle acquisition. Limited-time events and collaboration costumes will also be available in the future. We've also optimized outfit transitions and display animations, as well as the level of detail (LOD) for clothing.
2. Added Multiple Technology Tabs
This month, we've expanded the tech tree with multiple new branches covering agriculture, construction, forging, mechanical modification, storage, and more! Each technology has clear prerequisites and resource costs, and unlocking them brings immediate tangible benefits: mastering "Metal Smelting" unlocks stone quarrying techniques and enables crafting basic disciple weapons; unlocking "Tailoring" provides access to basic sewing stations, allowing disciples to move beyond clothing shortages; researching "Dining Halls & Food Stalls" adds tables, chairs, and other facilities, giving disciples the chance to enjoy delicious meals after training. More exciting content awaits your discovery!
3. New Martial Arts System, Supernatural Jiangshi Invasion
A comprehensive martial arts system has been added: including basic moves, passive mental methods, combos, and unique skills. Disciples can master them through studying classics or practicing in martial arts scenes. We've also optimized the visual effects and transition animations of the moves, making combat smoother and more impressive. Meanwhile, a supernatural Jiangshi invasion is imminent. While building your sect, you must remain vigilant, deploy defenses, and lead your disciples to resist the zombie tide and protect the safety of your sect!
4. Optimizing Scene Visuals
This month, we focused on improving scene rendering quality and atmosphere: including improved global illumination and dynamic shadows, volumetric fog/weather particles (rain, snow, and dust), wetland reflection and water surface ripple shaders, vegetation wind and detail maps, and adjustments to day and night color grading. We also optimized distant LODs, occlusion culling, and texture streaming, balancing image quality and frame rate. Finally, we reworked the lighting and textures of key landmarks (such as the ruins of Wangyue Peak and the Qingyun Hall) to enhance their narrative quality.
5. Hundreds of Known Bug Fixes
In September, we conducted a large-scale round of fixes, including but not limited to: crash and memory leak fixes, AI pathfinding freezes, missing quest trigger conditions, save game compatibility issues, UI/localization misalignment, item stacking/recipe anomalies, animation clipping, and hitbox errors. Some critical quests that previously caused process blockages have now been fixed. To ensure quality, we implemented regression testing and automated script checking for key scenarios and strengthened our reporting channels and internal issue tracking procedures. We are very grateful to the community creators for providing us with extensive tracking information; this information has effectively fixed issues in the current version and improved the gaming experience.
🎬 Behind the Scenes
With the October 13th New Product Festival launch drawing ever closer, I'd like to take you inside our studio to see how this 3D martial arts simulation business game came to life.
🧠 The Original Concept
"Eastern Era" was inspired by our love for traditional martial arts culture and our passion for business simulation gameplay. We hope to create a game world where you can experience the grudges of the Jianghu and manage your clan.
👨💻 Team Composition
Our team consists of programmers, planners, artists, and sound designers, all of whom are passionate about the game. On a daily basis, we not only discuss technical details but also stimulate each other's creativity to ensure every system is flawless.
🛠️ Anecdotes from the Development Process
Every martial arts move undergoes repeated testing and optimization. Programmers and animators fine-tune frame rate, collision, and smoothness to ensure smooth operation. Even when staring at the screen for long periods, team members are always there to guide and adjust details to ensure the moves are both aesthetically pleasing and functional.
The debugging of lighting, weather, and night effects requires continuous testing across different time periods and environmental conditions. The color, shadows, and physics of each frame are repeatedly compared to ensure the most realistic Jianghu environment.
Every system, including disciple AI, enemy AI, and resource collection logic, undergoes rigorous testing and refinement. The team repeatedly simulated extreme scenarios to ensure the game system remained stable and reliable even in complex maps and multi-mission scenarios.
The physics of clothing fabrics and character equipment were meticulously optimized to ensure consistent movement and visuals. Even the slightest sway was meticulously crafted to embody realistic motion and the aesthetics of martial arts.
The team held daily morning meetings to set goals for the day and focus on key feature implementation plans. In the afternoons and during overtime, everyone remained highly focused, discussing, debugging, and documenting issues and optimization plans.
Despite the tense atmosphere, every adjustment, fix, and optimization brought a sense of accomplishment to the team members, as each improvement directly impacted the player experience.