Dev Update - May

Concepts

Ragsul, a nightmare straight from the deepest Void comes to the Known World. This is the last commander for the Travelers and we are only missing a single unit to finish the concept of the Travelers and to move on to the Ironfolk, the last race to concept.

UI

Wireframe exploration for the main menu UI has started. We wanted to use the theme of the game (Time) and portrait that into the menu somehow. So, a changing seasons scene was proposed for the background while sundials will make the primary UI interaction. You can see the beginnings of this below (very much WIP):

Engine Migration

We have been working on UE5.4 for the past year and it has been enough for our purposes. But, lately we found ourselves wanting to use some of the newest tools the engine provides with the latest version, so the decision was to migrate to 5.7. This is not an easy task to do, as with all engine version upgrades, it will require a lot of work to reconcile both versions and keep it functioning. I'm glad to say this work is 90% done.

Pathfinding Rework

Feedback has been good regarding our pathfinding solution but we are still not quite happy with it. There are cases where the units go back and forth trying to reach their target through the shortest path, resulting in a bothersome non-infinite loop. Some of you even pointed this out during our last playtest. To actually solve it we need a complete rehaul of how we are approaching pathfinding.

The new solution is a clever combination of Flow Field and our own custom target acquiring algorithm. We are still polishing it but it feels much better already.

FFA

We are working on a new game mode, one that will be of a higher fidelity to our vision than the 1v1 mode from the last playtest. This work includes a new level, the display of the minimap (but full screen) to pick your initial province, reworking the AI for considering 8 players and a new province structure, among other things. The main systems and mechanics are still there but instead of playing against just a single player, you will fight against other 7 players/AI, in a battle for survival and be the last man standing.