To finish out the week, the web team is completing performance improvements on the web page. Jared has made some caching improvements, images have been optimized across the page, and we’ve made some changes to the Story Timeline view, in order to make it quicker to scroll through. We talked some more about a secure player to player trading system, and what things we need to avoid when creating such a mechanic. We also briefly discussed new merchandise options, and what things we’d like to see available on the Shop page in the near future.
The team made some melee weapon and crafting updates as well. We looked at some options for destruction effects for trees being chopped down for wood, and rocks splitting apart for metal and minerals. Soon players will see a tiny explosion of rock when their pickaxe work bears fruit. We added a few more weapon animations and improvements, so spears look great when you throw them, or thrust them into the horrors of the jungle up close. Chris did run into an interesting bug however, when his hands started to produce a blurry aura, like they were about to go into stealth mode, but got stuck midway through their transformation. We’re addressing the issue, and will get a fix in soon. Here’s a screenshot of his sneaky hands on the bottom right.
Our AI work continues to make creatures fight and act more tactically, and we’re wrapping up ui improvements to the Settings page. The team is still working on ui for leveling up your character, and a way to claim buildings for one of our loot scenarios, as well as some other potential applications down the road. We had a longer discussion about ways other games handle currency: weight, where it is kept (taking up an inventory slot or not), how much you lose upon death, if any, and how much other players should be able to loot from your lifeless corpse.
The art team showed off a number of concepts for specific areas on the map. We talked about how to best use existing structures, and the landscape to funnel players to and from different areas, and where we need to add a clearly visible path. We discussed natural and manmade structures that would have survived the fracture, and would make good “hero” areas, where players could either get supplies and quests, or rampage through and explore. We discussed different options for work/wash/crafting benches and we talked about whether we want to go with a futuristic looking design or something a little more jury rigged.
The team is working on map, grass, and foliage improvements across a wide range of Lahaina, and we’re making some lighting improvements in those areas too. Our large buildings: The Communications Tower, Municipal Veilstation, and Thorcon Power Plant, are all getting some attention. We’re working on some performance improvements there in order to make them better able to handle large groups, without making your GPU fan spin like a top. Lastly, while the weather in West Maui is mostly beautiful, it has been known to get a few cloudy days and some rain. We haven’t been satisfied with the way things look on a cloudy day, so we’re working on a few things to make the game look beautiful, even when the sky is grey. Below you can see a screenshot of the beginning of that silver lining work.
We’ll have more updates next week.
