Hello again! It’s about time for another development update! Most of the changes this month have been environment and gameplay focused, rather than the heavily art-focused updates as of late.
On a quick side note, I just uploaded a new gameplay teaser trailer to my YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look!
New Spells + Magic VFX
Stormrite’s spellcasting system has received a major overhaul recently, with some new VFX and spells being added to the game. Spells in Stormrite are all comprised of three runes from Stormrite’s ancient runic alphabet. These runes will be seen in many places in the game, and understanding each one’s meaning will aid you greatly in your journeys across Redreach. When a spell is activated, its runes will show on screen, along with a sound effect to let you know which spell is currently in use. Additionally, players can now cycle through all of their spells in the heat of battle, allowing for much more flexibility and control when running a spellcaster’s loadout.
Previously, the only spells usable were projectile spells (such as fireballs and arcane missiles) and buff spells. We have added a third spell type to the game, “Beam” spells. These will be spells that the player fires freely, not locked onto any target, that either affects the general area in front of them, or a concentrated cylinder that reaches further. We have added two new spells of this type to the game, “Flames” and “Icy Mist”. They can be seen in this video which also shows the spell switching + new VFX:
World-Building
As far as world-building goes, the main focus recently has been on getting the most out of UE5 to create amazing landscapes that still run smoothly on devices of all shapes and sizes. This means utilising nanite technology to allow us to use high-quality assets in ways that simply weren’t possible before.
Additionally, the area linking Silverhorn and Sprucewood has been worked on, with a bridge over the nearby (unnamed) river to travel between the two areas:
There’s also been a lot of work put into the snowy areas of the map, with dynamic snow trails for all characters, and varying snow coverage for a realistic look.
There’s also been some work on the interiors of the key buildings, like the Magick Shoppe, for example:
Character Customisation
We want the player to be able to create their own story. And that all begins with creating their own unique character. We now allow a lot more customisation for characters faces, bodies, and hair. In the future, we will be aiming to allow much more refined tuning of the character’s body shape. We’ll also add different hair colours + facial hair types very soon!
NPC Logic
To make the game feel more alive, the NPC logic has been rehauled. When out of combat, NPCs can patrol, wander between different tasks, rest, eat, or simply just stand around doing nothing. No two NPCs will be doing the same thing, making the player feel like they are in a town full of individuals living their own lives.
Main Story Characters
Along with the new NPC Logic, we’re also working on building out the cast for Stormrite, with recognisable faces that will have their own roles in the story.
Chapter 1’s main story NPCs
New Enemies
There’s been work done on some new enemies in the game. The strigoi (mentioned a couple dev updates ago) are almost ready to be fully implemented, the game’s first boss is also almost ready, and there’s been some work on another new (unnamed) enemy:
That’s all for the major updates. There’s been a bit of art and some reallyexciting music made for the game recently, but I’ll include all of that in the next update!
The game looks really nice so far!
I’ve just recently heard of this game through an upcoming games type of youtube video.
Looks kinda like Skyrim in UE5 which I think is just awesome!
Do you intend on enabling modding for users to implement differet mechanics, objects, surfaces, etc. in future or already perhaps by the time the game’s intended to be released?
Thanks for the kind words 🙂 To answer your question, we’re aware of how modding allows for more content for our community, so it’s something we’ll definitely look into, but I can’t promise anything at this time unfortunately
Louis
7th June 2022 at 12:59 pmThe game looks really nice so far!
I’ve just recently heard of this game through an upcoming games type of youtube video.
Looks kinda like Skyrim in UE5 which I think is just awesome!
Do you intend on enabling modding for users to implement differet mechanics, objects, surfaces, etc. in future or already perhaps by the time the game’s intended to be released?
Kelechi Apakama
7th June 2022 at 1:22 pmHi Louis!
Thanks for the kind words 🙂 To answer your question, we’re aware of how modding allows for more content for our community, so it’s something we’ll definitely look into, but I can’t promise anything at this time unfortunately