Another development update.
For the most part the game is running at 60FPS on PC. We've optimized meshes significantly (in some places reducing the size by 40%) and have smoothed out a lot of the major bumps in the game.
Where we are seeing issues is in large levels with highly detailed geometry adjacent to other similarly sized levels. To tackle this we've written several tools to track the memory usage and performance of each level in the game. This has allowed us to evaluate our effectiveness and pinpoint which areas are problematic. It's a slow and tedious process but we're making steady progress.
Ending Refinement
Getting the game playable from start to finish was a huge milestone for us, but there were still a few areas that were quite rough. Based on feedback from testers the first draft of the ending didn't feel very focused. I've been redesigning the ending using this feedback as well as lessons learned from making the first ending.
Music System
If you're interested in how the music system in Manifold Garden works, I did a deep dive video recently. It's much longer than the typical development update videos, but I go into great depth explaining the architecture, showcasing the debug tools that we made, and how it’s all implemented in the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efifZwwcXtA
That's it for this time. I can't announce a ship date yet but we do have a window in mind. Hopefully we will be able to share it with you all soon.
Don't forget to wishlist the game! Here are several other options for staying up to date: