Hi everyone,
Summer keeps getting hotter, and my brain more often switches into “cooling mode,” but game development is still moving forward steadily. Between my occasional hugs with the air conditioner, I mainly worked on the new locations to make them as logical and interesting as possible, though I also managed to make progress on several other aspects of the game.
New Locations
The next update is planned to include two and a half sectors for exploration. Since I’m trying to give each sector its own distinct mood, a lot of time goes into planning and creating new environmental elements. Still, I’m quite happy with how everything is turning out so far.
Light, Once Again Light
Yes, about half a year ago I already mentioned improvements to the lighting in PI, but only now have I really started learning how to use more advanced Unreal Engine tools that allow me to add more small light sources without hurting performance too much.
I’m still exploring different lighting approaches in UE, from classic baked lighting to MegaLights, trying to find the right balance between visuals and optimization. So this definitely won’t be the last time you hear me talk about lighting.
Water System
In the new location, Oni is going to get a little wet — and no, not in the way you probably thought.
I added a water system to the game that not only gives the location a more distinctive look, but also directly affects gameplay and is tied to certain puzzles. This includes both sound and visual effects for falling into water and walking through it.
Spatial Puzzles
Speaking of puzzles, I created the systems for two new spatial puzzles, and they fit very naturally into the structure of the new sectors.
Animations for Boletus
As a continuation of what I mentioned in the previous Dev Report, a few more new animations for Boletus were created.
Cameras After Loading
A lot of players — and honestly, me too — were often annoyed by the fact that after loading a save, the camera would end up pointing under a table or straight into a wall.
So I had to spend some time improving that behavior, and now the camera should act in a more controlled way and look in front of the character after loading the game.
New Outfit
Since we now have water, we also need a fitting outfit. It’s still at a very early stage, but quite a few of you have been asking for something like this.
New 3D Assets
As usual, I also created a number of new 3D assets for the upcoming locations. Since each new sector is meant to have its own distinct identity, I try to avoid relying too heavily on repeated elements and instead add more unique details to the environment.
This takes extra time, of course, but it helps the locations feel more believable, memorable, and visually different from one another.
In July, I plan to focus on building the next sector, finishing the work on the current locations, and creating some new mechanics as well.
Best regards,Kodman