Project Update: Development Progress and Frieren Character Customizer Roadmap

TL;DR: I’m taking some extra time to polish the first build of the character & animation customizer app. Since I balance my time across multiple projects and commissions, I’ve decided to focus on refining the experience—adding essential features like a proper "Exit" button and camera shake effects—before releasing the first Early Access build to members. I’m aiming to have this ready by the end of this month, featuring breast, genitalia, and facial expression customization.

Detailed Update:

I’ve been working hard on the first build of this project, but I’ve decided to take some extra time to polish it before sharing. I hit some unexpected technical roadblocks that took longer to resolve than I anticipated, and I want to make sure the first version you see is functional and feels right.

I spent most of my time troubleshooting issues that were actually default engine behaviors I wasn't familiar with—like a persistent black circle in the middle of the screen (which turned out to be related to Spawn settings). Additionally, I’ve been working on replicating the visual fidelity of my Moho animations within Unreal. Using an overlay layer behaves quite differently in a 3D engine, and I’m still fine-tuning the Post Process settings to get the look and color grading perfectly aligned with my original animation style.

Clarification on the Project: I want to clarify that this is not a traditional "game" in the sense of having win/loss conditions; it is a character and animation customizer app. My focus is on creating a tool that allows you to play with different looks and expressions.

Development Progress:

Breast Customization: The breast size slider is functional. Implementing the areola and nipple variations is more complex as it requires syncing three flipbook animations for every breast size. Because of this, the full breast expansion system might not be 100% complete for the initial release.

Workflow Optimization: I am prioritizing "single-layer" customization features first because they are faster to implement. This means I will focus on genitalia and expressions next, as they allow me to reuse my existing Blueprints more efficiently.

New Features: I am also planning to add a dedicated shadow layer under the large breasts and a camera shake effect to add more dynamism to the animations, capturing the feel of my original work.

Looking Ahead: Since I divide my time strictly between different projects and commissions, I’ve already exhausted my allocated time for the Frieren project this week due to these technical fixes. It will be difficult to make significant progress on this specific project for the rest of the week, but I am fully committed to the end-of-month goal.

My target is to release the first Early Access build for members by the end of this month, including three main customization categories: breast sizes, genitalia, and facial expressions. Before the release, I also want to add a proper "Exit" button and a few more UI refinements to make the build feel more polished.

I’m primarily an animator, and while I have some experience prototyping, I am still learning the ropes of game engine development. I didn't foresee some of these technical obstacles, but I’m learning and improving every day.

Thank you all for your patience and support as I navigate these challenges. It means a lot!