Is it Friday already! So much progress part deux!

Folks,

For those of you who read our update last week, you’ll remember I spoke about the volume of progress we’d made, and continue to make. As user stories were so prohibitively large, (and included a past user story update we punted on.) I chose to break them up into two weeks. Last week we knocked off 165 items! This week I’m adding to the tally, catching up from the previous week and adding in some more things from this week. All in all, the already hard working CSE team continues to complete work at a good pace while cleaning up a host of bugs at the same time. I’m going to keep my intro short here and move into some of the week’s highlights.

1. Re-abilitation: We’ve implemented over 60 modifier components, which completes the brunt of our B1 class components. (For now) That’s over 150 components to build with across nine WIP classes!
2. Re-abilitation: Banes and Boons – We had a great meeting today where we were able to hit three birds with one stone. Because the new ability system is so much easier to build on top of, several engineers were able to architect a way to build out tech for Banes and Boons, that also works with our stances, and adds more functionality to the general ability system. Overall a big win!
3. Re-abilitation WIP:  Lots of class specific ability fixes went in this week. Thanks to our testers last weekend for you help!
4. Art – Armor: Michelle and the art team did a technical review of how all the Autumn Court heavy armor will fit together with itself and other equipment as well as how it will be rigged and animated. As you can guess this is a very important precursor to the modeling phase. I’ve added a couple images below.
5. Art – VFX: Mike continues to get added VFX editor features and bug fixes. These improvements will help us get into Beta as well as pave the way for continued improvements later.
6. Rendering: George is currently working on the second pass to the HDR update which will include the sky and celestial bodies. Look for those changes, plus bloom soon. One thing we forgot to mention last week, his changes should see some small performance gains for some users. Visual and performance improvements at the same time? Definitely good stuff.
7. Multi-Zone: We’re currently testing last week’s changes to our server tech. We’ve also made it so players can see distant islands from further away.
8. Art – Animation: We finished the female backwards walk improvements. These we hope to make use of later once we knock out some tech dependencies. Also, lots of rigging of weapons, shields, and bows occurred at the end of the week. Look for new items to show up in player inventories for testing.
9. Art – Weapons: More items were completed this week. I’ve added images below of some of the standout assets.

Those are some of the highlights from this week. Below you’ll find a fairly large list of user stories. We updated 9 existing cards and added 16 new cards, with a total of 254 items marked complete!

Old Cards:

As a Developer, I’d like to have a selection of weapons that visually represent each Realm’s identity. – Arthurians
One-handed mace – v4: Modeling pass. – Complete
One-handed mace – v4: Materials. – Complete
One-handed mace – v4: Integration. – Complete
One-handed mace – v5: Modeling pass. – Complete
One-handed mace – v5: Materials. – Complete
One-handed mace – v5: Integration. – Complete
First pass concept Art: Longbows – Complete
Longbows: First Pass planning mix and match parts system. – Complete
Longbow – v1: Modeling pass. – Complete
Longbow – v1: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v1: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v1: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Integration. – Complete

As a Developer, I’d like to have a selection of weapons that visually represent each Realm’s identity. – TDD
First pass concept Art: Shortbows. – Complete
Shortbows: First Pass planning mix and match parts system. – Complete
Shortbow – v1: Modeling pass. – Complete
Shortbow – v1: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v1: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v1: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v4: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v4: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v4: Integration. – Complete

As a Developer, I’d like to have a selection of weapons that visually represent each Realm’s identity. – Viking
First pass concept Art: Shortbows. – Complete
Shortbows: First Pass planning mix and match parts system. – Complete
Shortbow – V1: Modeling pass. – Complete
Shortbow – v1: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v1: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v1: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v2: Integration. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Modeling pass. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Materials. – Complete
Arrows – v3: Integration. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to be able to pick an item up off the ground, put it in my inventory, and if applicable, equip it.
Art – Three generic loot bags for possible grouping of dropped assets for performance. – Complete

As a Backer and Developer, I’d like to play a game that looks like it is from 2016, by implementing a new lighting and material system.
Tone Mapping HDR and Bloom:
FP16 version. – Complete
PostEffectHandler – Place to put post effect specific settings, render targets, constant buffers, and seperate dx10 and dx11 implementation. – Complete
Eye adjustment. – Complete
Add controls for artist tuning per HDR updates. – Complete

As a Developer and Backer, I’d like to see improvements in the movement animations of the player.
Walk (female) Locomotion:
Walk 135° – Complete
Walk 180° – Complete
Walk 215° – Complete

As a Developer, I’d like to improve, and add to, the SFX for re-abilitation.
Additional generic use material for “magic” abilities.
Melee swing sounds for crushing damage. – Complete
Melee swing sounds for slashing damage. – Complete
Melee swing sounds for piercing damage. – Complete
Create loop for active bleeding effect. – Complete
Arduous exertion shout sounds. – Complete
Lighting damage over time assets and events created. – Complete
Lighting damage AoE sounds. – Complete
Arrow impact sounds for crushing damage. – Complete
Arrow impact sounds for slashing damage. – Complete
Arrow impact sounds for piercing damage. – Complete
Arrow impact sounds for acidic or oozy type impacts. – Complete
Arrow impact sounds for arrows with cords, vines, or ropes for grabbing and slowing type sounds. – Complete
Arrow impact – flame burst. – Complete
Generic fire loops. – Complete
Arrow impacts for cloud-like “poof” explosions. – Complete
Generic heal over time loops. – Complete

As a Designer of Camelot Unchained, I’d like to have the tools necessary to create abilities using the re-abilitated ability system code.
File/line number logging for skills – When something breaks, we now know what file and line in that file. – Complete
Use the axis for projectiles that don’t have a model assigned to them. – Complete
Archer + Healer melee parts – integrate melee styles for those 6 classes into master. – Complete
Add more flexibility for giving entities created by the ability system blood and stamina. – Complete
Better error logging of XML deserialization – Complete
Stonehealer stones – Integrate latest version – Complete
Heavy LAE logging – We can print out all of the math in an LAE when we evaluate them. – Complete
Pull latest number changes across all skills into master. – Complete

As a Developer, I’d like be able to place and modify Spawn Areas, Zone Portals, Building Plots, etc. from the World Editor.
Placeable Building Plot:
Add UI for Tool. – Complete
Generate Plots Randomly. – Complete
Incorporate grid spacing. – Complete
Resource nodes – Terrain Spawnables:
Build a path for Server to extract data from the terrain system. – Complete
Refactor Spawnables to support multiple def types. – Complete
Integrate terrain spawnables into WorldStateDB. – Complete
Integrate Editor. – Complete
World Editor Usability:
Placeables should be Terrain Relative by default. – Complete
Handle Invalid Grid Position Updates better. – Complete

New Cards:

As a Backer and Developer in B1, I’d like to see improvements in the visual quality of armor for CU.
Autumn Armor test:
Concept art collating previous designs into something to stress our processes. Improved silhouette and material oversight. – Complete
Armor part breakup oversight. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like all players, regardless of class, to be able to use the available weapon types in Beta 1.
DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Standard components created. – Complete
Initial testing pass. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the Arthurian Physician class.
Physician – Arthurian – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Elixir Components. – Complete
Delivery – Components. – Complete
Infusion Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Physician – Arthurian – ENG – Additional B1 Class specific needs.
Consumables – Vials/Bottles. – Complete
Physician – Arthurian – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the TDD Empath class.
Empath – TDD – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Rune Components. – Complete
Shape Components. – Complete
Infusion Components. – Complete
Focus Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Empath – TDD – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the Viking Stonehealer class.
Stonehealer – Viking – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Stone Components. – Complete
Delivery Components. – Complete
Rune Components. – Complete
Shape Components. – Complete
Infusion Components. – Complete
Focus Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Stonehealer – Viking – ENG – Additional B1 Class specific needs.
Stone health. – Complete
Blood from Stone. – Complete
Imbued Shard – Prep time move speed (Active effects that persist as long as you are in an ability phase – ex: move speed in prep phase is faster. – Complete
Stonehealer – Viking – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
ART – Focus – Polished Gem. – Complete
ART – Focus – Lava Gem. – Complete
ART – 4 rock models for throwing that matched their spawned counterparts. – Complete
ART – 4 Spawned rock models that match their thrown counterparts. – Complete
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the Arthurian Black Knight class.
Black Knight – Arthurian – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Weapon Speed Components. – Complete
Weapon Potential Components. – Complete
Shout Components. – Complete
Inflection Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Black Knight – Arthurian – ENG – Additional B1 Class specific needs.
Armor penetration. – Complete
Deflection. – Complete
Black Knight – Arthurian – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the TDD Fianna class.
Fianna – TDD – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Weapon Speed Components. – Complete
Weapon Potential Components. – Complete
Shout Components. – Complete
Inflection Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Fianna – TDD – ENG – Additional B1 Class specific needs.
Armor penetration. – Complete
Deflection. – Complete
Fianna – TDD – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the Viking Mjölnir class.
Mjölnir – Viking – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Weapon Speed Components. – Complete
Weapon Potential Components. – Complete
Rune Components. – Complete
Shape Components. – Complete
Focus Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Mjölnir – Viking – ENG – Additional B1 Class specific needs.
Armor penetration. – Complete
Deflection. – Complete
Mjölnir – Viking – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the Arthurian Blackguard class.
Blackguard – Arthurian – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Arrow Components. – Complete
Nock Components. – Complete
Draw Components. – Complete
Aim Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Blackguard – Arthurian – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the TDD Forest Stalker class.
Forest Stalker – TDD – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Arrow Components. – Complete
Nock Components. – Complete
Draw Components. – Complete
Aim Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Forest Stalker – TDD – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like to play the Viking Winter’s Shadow class.
Winter’s Shadow – Viking – DESIGN – B1 Functionality and Scripting
Weapon Style Components. – Complete
Arrow Components. – Complete
Nock Components. – Complete
Draw Components. – Complete
Aim Components. – Complete
First pass Banes and Boons design. – Complete
Winter’s Shadow – Viking – ART – B1 Class specific needs.
VFX – First pass VFX complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
SFX – First pass SFX (Including shared & generics) complete and assigned in spreadsheet. – Complete
ANIM – First pass animations complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. (Including shared & generics.) – Complete
ICONS – First pass ICONS complete and assigned in design spreadsheet. – Complete
ICONS – All components have icons in game. – Complete

As a Backer, I’d like my weapons to use the correct hand and Realm variation to further support the B1 combat needs.
Give EquippableComponent an array of locations that it can be equipped to (ie left hand | right hand).
Weapon Definitions include the possibilities of where the item can be equipped (LH, RH, LH | RH, LH | RH). – Complete
Crafting supports this definition. – Complete
Inventory UI tries to be smart about equipping. Example: RH item is already equipped, player tries to equip an LH | RH weapon. New weapon goes into LH automatically. – Complete
If Realm-specific version of item exists, use that instead of the default when crafting. – Complete
Give all items a Faction that is generated upon their creation. – Complete
Give the individual jobs a Vox performs their own factions, which get passed on to the items they create. – Complete
Update the Unequip function to make the unequipped slot an Out rather than a return value. – Complete
Convert ImmutableDictionary<GearSlot, Item> to ImmutableList<EquippedItem> – Complete

As a VFX Developer, I’d like additional tools and support for VFX needs in Beta 1.
Images Sets:
Particle effects can source a selection of images, as well as any row or location on the set. – Complete
System is easily updated with new options in UI. – Complete
Sets can be accessed randomly, and ordered, or using ranges. – Complete
Sets are combined into texture arrays compressed in memory. – Complete
Non-uniform, but still power of 2, sheets valid. – Complete
Directory upload support in editor with automatic slot mapping. – Complete
Image uploads don’t create duplicates.  – Complete
Supported naming convention determined for directory files. – Complete
Fixes and updates to old system that no longer work:
Support for particles with multiple spawners. – Complete
Animated parameters from Spawner affect child particles. – Complete
Velocity inheritance on directional partilces works consistently. – Complete
Fix particles flipping or rotating, seemingly randomly. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like the updated encumbrance system to use an item’s weight and compare that to the stat-driven carrying capacity of my character.
When items are added/removed from your inventory, update encumbrance. – Complete
If a player is encumbered, apply a skill node. – Complete
When a player is encumbered, queue a re-application of skill node after it expires. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like the appropriate classes to support the concept of consumable items when using abilities, using the updated ability system.
When items are added/removed from your inventory, update encumbrance. – Complete
If a player is encumbered, apply a skill node. – Complete
When a player is encumbered, queue a re-application of skill node after it expires. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like the appropriate classes to support the concept of consumable items when using abilities, using the updated ability system.
Make a Physician Skill check for a resource (requirement). – Complete
Make a Physician skill consume a resource. – Complete
Track consumption and update the database. – Complete
Create actual vials and/or arrows instead of using doodads. – Complete
Add a ‘munition’ component to vials and arrows. – Complete
Sort inventory based upon components for quick access and updates. – Complete
Replace Consumable component with more generic logic in Inventory component. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like a selection of Banes and Boons in character creation, using the updated ability system.
First pass Beta 1 design. – Complete
First pass updated UI design/art for updated patcher-based character creation. – Complete
First Pass Tech:
Build data structure. – Complete
Attach B&B to players during login. – Complete
Add slash command so Ben can test. – Complete
Create Stat Mod sample. – Complete
Create Damage buff/debuff sample. – Complete
Create generic eventhandler sample (might also get us the Damage buff/debuff sample). – Complete
Create resist buff/debuff sample. – Complete

As a Backer in Beta 1, I’d like the stance system to properly update the player animations according to travel state, weapons equipped, and other such gameplay transitions.
First Pass:
Mode and ModalGroup definitions in config – Complete
Current mode state tracking – Complete
Console/admin slash commands for listing and changing modes – Complete
Initialize active modes correctly on login/spawn/whatever – Complete
Skill nodes and sample parts for changing modes – Complete
Samples of functional-but-not-final ‘Travel’, ‘Aggressive’, and ‘Defensive’ stances or a similar small starting set – Complete
Feedback audits – Complete
Second Pass:
Inline definition of modes within parts, no separate list in archetype, ID instead of name, and default/initial mode configuration – Complete

Pretty good huh?  I’m pretty proud of the people I work with, and I hope you are too, as we continue our push to Beta. Okay, on with some images from the art team this week:

First up, some of the second pass Autumn armor concepts:

Here’s a portion of the break out work we sometimes need to do to understand how things will work:

Pretty nice! I’m looking forward to using what we’ve learned in our pipeline to apply here. Next up a selection of bows, Arthurian longbow, and Tuatha and Viking shortbows:

Next up, focuses for our B1 “healer” classes (Think magic enhancing item you hold in your hand.):

And the Arthurian Physician focus based off the Horn of Brân Galed:

Okay, that’s it for this week. Hope you all have a great weekend, and for those of you celebrating Halloween, Trick or Treat!

-t