May Development Report

Heads up, Steel Dragons!

If you've been downrange in our Demo during Tacticon, we salute you. Your debriefs have been pouring in and we've been combing through every piece of intel. We've already started patching up a few weak spots based on your feedback.

Now, let's bring you up to speed on the recent developments since our last devlog!

Level Design: Crafting the Battlefield!

When we embarked on the development of Project Haven, our initial plan was to use procedural generation for level design. We even posted some of the tech we’ve developed for it on this platform.

However, as time went on and we further honed the game's storyline and gameplay, we realized that procedural level design wouldn't do justice to our vision.

Despite the monumental task it posed for our small but dedicated team, we made the conscious decision to craft each of the 45 mission maps by hand. And now, having completed the vast majority of the levels, we can confidently say that the extra effort and time invested were undeniably worth it.

While handcrafted maps may limit certain aspects of replayability, they significantly enhance the overall experience. Having said that, we’re happy to report that our missions offer a diverse range of approaches tailored to different playstyles and squad compositions, ensuring ample replay value.

Environmental Art: Elevating the Visual Look!

Besides gameplay, an important aspect of level design is the look.

We have what we’d say is a fairly distinct look to our game and we want to bring it to the next level. With this in mind, we have dedicated some time to revisiting and refining every level, elevating them to their final polished form so we can achieve our unique artistic vision.

Before: After:

Pathfinding: Navigating the Warzone

Implementing a new pathfinding system was another major task. While Unreal Engine 4, our chosen engine, includes its own path finding system, despite multiple attempts at adjustments, it never quite hit the mark for Project Haven. While UE4’s path finding system is generic and works for the vast majority of use cases, we encountered significant hurdles in adapting it to the complex requirements of Project Haven.

Thus, we took it upon ourselves to construct a brand-new pathfinding system from scratch—one that encompassed all the necessary functionalities. This has resulted in cleaner paths, improved control when moving multiple mercenaries simultaneously, and an overall smoother experience.

Characters: Reinforcing the Steel Dragons Initial Roster

As some of you may have noticed in our new Demo or in the Tacticon’s trailer, we’ve added three new characters to the starting roster, expanding the pool of mercenaries available for your selection.

Here are the eight starting mercenaries you’ll play with in Project Haven’s campaign:

User Interface: Improving the Tactical HUD

After carefully observing numerous players in action, we identified a recurring issue concerning cover selection.

To address this concern, we've implemented a new snapping mechanic and UI, that seems to resolve these difficulties. With the updated system, you will not only be able to visualize nearby cover options relative to your cursor, but also preview your character’s stance and how it will be positioned. For those that like extra control, you’ll be able to select the snapping distance or use a modifier key to temporarily disable the snapping behavior.

Another common complaint is the HQ UI being confusing, which we definitely agree with. The current UI implementation was a temporary solution to facilitate early functionality testing. However, we always had plans to revamp