Hello all. Well, I finally have some news to share. I will mention different things in no particular order.
The first and most important, I have started to build the game in UE4. The mechanics will still be a combination of Classic Tomb Raider and the Prince of Persia "sands trilogy". Right now, I have a "character" that can hang from a ledge and move along it (as seen in the video), and also jump off the wall and climb up the ledge.
https://odysee.com/@TheDomaginarium:7/ezgif.com-gif-maker:79
My plan right now is to get all the programming done (to have a "character" cylinder that can run around, climb, wallrun and all that, and also a basic enemy) and then continue from there. It still won't go as fast as I would like because it's pretty much a weekends-project but I think I can get the mechanics finished fairly quickly.
I have been using Unreal Engine since early 2020 and I have learned a few nice things and have also improved my "workflow" a lot. For example I can get very realistic characters in UE4 now with "realistic hair" (like the image below) and I've also learned a lot about AI so I can make better enemies (I can't make super-amazing AI like your AAA super-games though).
Even if this is a reboot, the only clear thing is this is still going to be a "Lovecraftian Tomb Raider". I will worry about the story later, but I will be seeking advice from some Lovecraftians I know, to make sure the game feels truly Lovecraftian even if it's not directly adapting any story.
I still can't give an ETA but I hope things will start moving faster after I am done with the mechanics part. At some point after that I will upload an update, and when we have something that looks and plays nice we can see about opening purchases again (my goal is mid-2022) because I will definitely not be like "Hey! I have a moving cylinder, so the purchase button is enabled again!"
When I have another update (with another moving cylinder) I will post again.
Have a nice day!