Greetings plagued ones, and welcome to Dev Blog #63!
We wanted to cover the above topics and features in last week's issue but we had so much to show you all from the last 2 months of progress!
This week we take a look at:
- Dev Updates: Including progress on Localisation and our newly added controller support.
- Polish Extras: Showing our new NPC vendor types, tweaks to the building system including: new animations, precise rotation and larger land claims.
- New Features: Animal Husbandry and our Profession unlocking system.
- Spotlight Feature: Taking a look into our World Events.
Dev Update
Localisation Status
We talked about our progress on Localisations for both French and Russian for The Black Death in a previous Dev Blog. We have since added French and Russian localisations into The Black Death! To access these, when you have loaded up the game, look to the bottom left hand corner on the Main Menu screen where the flag is. Clicking on the flag will bring up the Language options, French is situated in the centre, Russian is situated on the right hand side and English (UK) is on the left. Clicking to and from these will change the localisation for The Black Death.
Please note that our Quest text and NPC chat trees are currently still in English (UK) for all languages. These are still being worked on and will be added at a later date, as these systems are separate to other elements of the game
Partial Controller Support Info & Bug Form Updates
When submitting Bug Reports to us, you can now select your input method that you are using, whether this is a mouse & keyboard or a type of controller. Selecting this along with your bug report details will help us greatly to fix any issues relating to controller support within The Black Death.
Let us know how you get along playing with a controller in The Black Death!
Along with the above, you can also highlight the co-ordinates and now right click and select "copy" on the Unreal Engine context menu that appears. Making it easier to copy co-ordinates for bug reports too.
Polish Extras
More NPC Merchant Variety
As another addition to our ongoing polish to The Black Death, we have added more merchant types to the world of Mercia! These include: Plague Doctor, Tailor and Hunter! The Hunter NPC merchant can be found roaming around the outskirts of Freeman's Port, whilst the Plague Doctor can be found to the left of the Blacksmith, and the Tailor can be found facing the food vendor across the central bridge in Freeman's Port.
Both our new and existing NPC merchants have white glowing icons above their heads, making them more identifiable whist throwing in some new faces into the mix! These NPCs should be moving into Raven's Reach in the future too.
Barricade Door Mini Polish
We have given our breakable barricade doors a polish. Upon smashing these doors, they now break into smaller pieces of wood and drop to the ground in a pile! Check out this Dev Blog over on our website to see a video of this in action. Dev Blog #63
Building Tweaks & Polish
We have some tweaks to our building system, these include a change to Land Claims, rotation of structures and animations too.
We have changed the region zone for our Land Claims. When you are looking to place a Land Claim you will now notice the region that is covers is much larger than before! Also, if you place a Land Claim on a raised platform such as the inside of a house, when placing structures within this volume the ground area will be lit correctly.
Jump over to this Dev Blog over on our website to see a video clip of our new rotations, with our Wattle Wall used as an example. Dev Blog #63
Another polish to our housing system is that we have changed the rotation on placeable structures. Rotation on structures is no longer fixed at 90 degree increments. Structures can now be rotated with much smaller detail, this is great for placing walls and wall corners around tricky spots on stable ground, or making unusual designs. The video clip above shows our Wattle Wall as an example of the new rotation.
Jump over to this Dev Blog over on our website to see a video playlist of some of our new building animations! Dev Blog #63
When placing structures on your stable ground, as of our new V0.30 Professions update, each craftable and placeable item has it's own animation. We have selected a few in our video reel above for you to check out.
Animal Husbandry Feature
Animal Husbandry is a new feature included in the release of our V0.30 Professions update! You can now purchase Cows and Chickens from a Peasant Merchant, place them in your own plot, feed them and gain resources!
Going back to an earlier section of this Dev Blog, Cows and Chickens can be purchased from a NPC Peasant Merchant, such as the one next to the barn in Freeman's Port, for a price of course!
After purchasing your livestock, when you have found a good place for your animals, simply place them on your Quick Slot Bar and then press the assigned key and place and rotate them like you would with a house structure.
Jump over to this Dev Blog over on our website to see our video clips showing our new Cows and Chickens in action. Dev Blog #63
Crafting either a Small Animal Feed or Large Animal Feed, place this on your Quick Slot Bar, then press the assigned key, then highlight your chosen animal, then press E. You will then use the feed and receive Milk or an Egg in return.
New World Events System Feature
We showed off a teaser of our new world events system in last weeks Dev Blog. This system is still being worked on as we iron out issues, add more events, test the gameplay and focus on how it all flows together with other elements of the game such as combat.
This feature released with our new V0.30 Professions update, we are working on polishing this system as we receive feedback from the community and work on adding new events too.
As mentioned the World Map will play a very important part within these events, it's your indicator for knowing where these events will be, or if you are not feeling up to it, you can avoid them until you have some better gear! In the top left hand corner of your HUD you will see an event notification, if you open your World Map, you will notice a glowing exclamation mark, this is where the current event is located.
The image gallery above shows off one of our events the "Bandit Construction Site". This event spawns inside the Bandit caves found around Mercia. There's only one entrance and exit with this event, so be careful not to get trapped in the Bandits nest!
Within this event you will see a half built structure, lying on the floor of this will be a nice pile of resources. Killing the enemy Bandits will give you some nice loot, then searching this construction pile will yield a nice selection of materials! These can include; Iron Nails, Forged Bricks, Clay Tiles and more.
The gallery above shows another one of our events you can find in the world of Mercia. This event has a Plague Doctor who has been tied to a stake by the Templars. Sadly, the Plague Doctors fate has been sealed as there is no way of saving them from the grip of the Templars.
Guarding the deceased Plague Doctor will be an array of Monk Fanatics, Templar swordsmen and a Templar Grand Master. The Grand Master is the main target of this event, and will have a crown icon above his head.
Killing the Templar Grand Master will yield some nice loot, the Plague Doctor at the stake will also have some Doctor tools and other healing items for the taking.
We hope you enjoyed reading this weeks Dev Blog and we hope you are all getting stuck into our new Professions update! As always, thank you for playing, that's all for this week, see you next time!
// The SIG Team
——————————————
To keep in the loop, follow The Black Death on our social and news sites!
The Black Death on Steam
The Black Death Official Discord
The Black Death Steam Community Hub