Breaking the silence: February 2023 Development Update
The last 2 ½ months has had little to no news for the public. We felt that today, the start of a new month, would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys what the hold up has been.
Full notes
Full War of the Worlds update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
What changed
0 fixes3 additions1 change0 removals
Gameplay
Performance
Balance
addedThe last 2 ½ months has had little to no news for the public. We felt that today, the start of a new month, would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys what the hold up has been. Work began on a new Tripod model on December 4th when I contacted the talented @EldeBH after seeing his 3D art in the artwork channel. Thanks to closed tester and supporter @Ev's , we managed to create a 3D scan of his Pegasus miniature tripod model by taking it apart and using thousands of photos of individual pieces. This gave us an obviously unusable mesh with millions of polygons and thousands of holes in it but we were able to layer it over the current tripod in game and see all of the faults, inaccuracies, and improvements that could be made. With this 3D reference, we were able to gauge dimensions and create a brand new virtually 1:1 3D model of the tripod’s in the film from scratch. This is the most accurate model of the tripod in the film ever created.
addedWhy make a new Tripod model?
changedClosed testers began to point out many inaccuracies and things they felt needed to be changed or improved on the tripod’s model and animations as well as performance issues related to the tripods. In the process of investigating & addressing these concerns, it became apparent that the model was far from saving. It had a ludicrous amount of unneeded polygons & bones, and was far off from the quality and detail that we were striving for and that our community deserves in the finished product. This has been a huge and time consuming task but something that has proven to be worth the wait. While being extremely detailed & accurate down to the smallest nooks and crannies, this model has a much lower polygon count than the previous one and uses a simpler rig/skeleton which will save on in-game performance especially when performing IK calculations on the toes and legs to conform them to the height of the terrain. The more bones, the more calculations and slower framerate. Multiply this by the amount of tripods on the map at one time and it can have a huge impact on performance.
addedWork on the new animations that will replace the previous ones is well under way. In the last 2 weeks I have been recreating all the new animations to be used in game on the new rig. I've wanted to take this chance to improve on the previous animations and make them as good as I can to do the model justice. Patreon members have gotten to see previews of the brand new Uberpod model that Elde is creating and the new and improved walk cycle animations, crouching and rising animations that I’ve been working on. There are still a few animations left to do before the tripod is fully ready to preview in game in all of its glory. While @EldeBH has been wrapping up the new tripod, I’ve gotten a good start on the major NPC revamp that the game has desperately needed. The new tripod and NPC improvements as well as the new cage tentacle death sequence will all be shown in a video in the near future. Things will be moving a lot quicker as of today. Thank you all so much for your patience through this brief period of silence!
War of the Worlds changes
addedThe last 2 ½ months has had little to no news for the public. We felt that today, the start of a new month, would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys what the hold up has been. Work began on a new Tripod model on December 4th when I contacted the talented @EldeBH after seeing his 3D art in the artwork channel. Thanks to closed tester and supporter @Ev's , we managed to create a 3D scan of his Pegasus miniature tripod model by taking it apart and using thousands of photos of individual pieces. This gave us an obviously unusable mesh with millions of polygons and thousands of holes in it but we were able to layer it over the current tripod in game and see all of the faults, inaccuracies, and improvements that could be made. With this 3D reference, we were able to gauge dimensions and create a brand new virtually 1:1 3D model of the tripod’s in the film from scratch. This is the most accurate model of the tripod in the film ever created.
addedWhy make a new Tripod model?
changedClosed testers began to point out many inaccuracies and things they felt needed to be changed or improved on the tripod’s model and animations as well as performance issues related to the tripods. In the process of investigating & addressing these concerns, it became apparent that the model was far from saving. It had a ludicrous amount of unneeded polygons & bones, and was far off from the quality and detail that we were striving for and that our community deserves in the finished product. This has been a huge and time consuming task but something that has proven to be worth the wait. While being extremely detailed & accurate down to the smallest nooks and crannies, this model has a much lower polygon count than the previous one and uses a simpler rig/skeleton which will save on in-game performance especially when performing IK calculations on the toes and legs to conform them to the height of the terrain. The more bones, the more calculations and slower framerate. Multiply this by the amount of tripods on the map at one time and it can have a huge impact on performance.
addedWork on the new animations that will replace the previous ones is well under way. In the last 2 weeks I have been recreating all the new animations to be used in game on the new rig. I've wanted to take this chance to improve on the previous animations and make them as good as I can to do the model justice. Patreon members have gotten to see previews of the brand new Uberpod model that Elde is creating and the new and improved walk cycle animations, crouching and rising animations that I’ve been working on. There are still a few animations left to do before the tripod is fully ready to preview in game in all of its glory. While @EldeBH has been wrapping up the new tripod, I’ve gotten a good start on the major NPC revamp that the game has desperately needed. The new tripod and NPC improvements as well as the new cage tentacle death sequence will all be shown in a video in the near future. Things will be moving a lot quicker as of today. Thank you all so much for your patience through this brief period of silence!
The last 2 ½ months has had little to no news for the public. We felt that today, the start of a new month, would be the perfect opportunity to show you guys what the hold up has been. Work began on a new Tripod model on December 4th when I contacted the talented @EldeBH after seeing his 3D art in the artwork channel. Thanks to closed tester and supporter @Ev's , we managed to create a 3D scan of his Pegasus miniature tripod model by taking it apart and using thousands of photos of individual pieces. This gave us an obviously unusable mesh with millions of polygons and thousands of holes in it but we were able to layer it over the current tripod in game and see all of the faults, inaccuracies, and improvements that could be made. With this 3D reference, we were able to gauge dimensions and create a brand new virtually 1:1 3D model of the tripod’s in the film from scratch. This is the most accurate model of the tripod in the film ever created.
Why make a new Tripod model?
Closed testers began to point out many inaccuracies and things they felt needed to be changed or improved on the tripod’s model and animations as well as performance issues related to the tripods. In the process of investigating & addressing these concerns, it became apparent that the model was far from saving. It had a ludicrous amount of unneeded polygons & bones, and was far off from the quality and detail that we were striving for and that our community deserves in the finished product. This has been a huge and time consuming task but something that has proven to be worth the wait. While being extremely detailed & accurate down to the smallest nooks and crannies, this model has a much lower polygon count than the previous one and uses a simpler rig/skeleton which will save on in-game performance especially when performing IK calculations on the toes and legs to conform them to the height of the terrain. The more bones, the more calculations and slower framerate. Multiply this by the amount of tripods on the map at one time and it can have a huge impact on performance.
What does this mean for development & the release estimate?
Unfortunately, if I am being honest, this major change will delay any public testing release by at least another two to three months. The 3D model has been remade from scratch as well as the rig/skeleton, this means all animations will need to be made again. @EldeBH has been working nonstop to get the models game ready. He has studied every frame of the film showing the machines and crafted each little detail into the models to create these masterpieces. Thank you all for your patience, while things were moving slowly, these are big steps being taken and we are all excited to show the final product in game.
What’s next?
Work on the new animations that will replace the previous ones is well under way. In the last 2 weeks I have been recreating all the new animations to be used in game on the new rig. I've wanted to take this chance to improve on the previous animations and make them as good as I can to do the model justice. Patreon members have gotten to see previews of the brand new Uberpod model that Elde is creating and the new and improved walk cycle animations, crouching and rising animations that I’ve been working on. There are still a few animations left to do before the tripod is fully ready to preview in game in all of its glory. While @EldeBH has been wrapping up the new tripod, I’ve gotten a good start on the major NPC revamp that the game has desperately needed. The new tripod and NPC improvements as well as the new cage tentacle death sequence will all be shown in a video in the near future. Things will be moving a lot quicker as of today. Thank you all so much for your patience through this brief period of silence!
