Fantasy Toonz: Embers of Creation
Dec 22 Project Update
So far Fantasy Toonz has been developed on Unreal Engine 4.26 and while we would love to update to Unreal Engine 5 for many reasons we have not been able to due to technical changes in the engine. With the release of Unreal Engine 5.1 most (if not all) of these technical issues have been resolved. There is still a few issues I am looking at that can be resolved with the addition of more coding. This coding is time consuming but in the end it may be the best route. If we stick with 4.26 then any additional content (such as DLC or expansions) would have to be completed in 4.26 also. The switch to 5.1 would allow us to add so much additional quality of life and improvements to the game that it just isn't worth NOT upgrading as long as the technical issues can be resolved.
This is what I am currently working on is determining if the upgrade is possible with the release of 5.1 and determining how much this will postpone Early Access.The following is a list of things I am trying to determine can be added to the game at the current time:
- Modifying the landscape to use voxels so players can modify the landscape themselves. This will make it much easier for players to create houses, cities and the like.
-Adding a "stink modifier" to characters. This will allow for a few thing.. first off adding the crafting of soaps, cologne, perfumes, bathes and showers. It will also allow us to modify reputation temporarily to affect your interaction with NPCs.. If you stink the quest givers might not want to talk to you and stores may charge you more or less. It will also effect your interaction with people in what information they give you. If you wear the correct cologne or perfume they might offer more than if you wear one they don't like. Essential what this addition is that the longer you wear an outfit the dirtier you will get.. to the point that flies will circle you. It will also increase the range that other characters can detect you and have a great effect on stealth operations. It will also add "cleaning of clothes" that will directly impact the durability of your items. Later (after release of Early Access) we will also be adding this mechanic to weapons with the addition of blood, rust for metal, rot for wood and other ways for weapons and other items have their durability affected.
-This upgrade will also allow for bigger and better maps with more a more lived in settings with the addition of the new way 5.1 interacts with items. Both Lumen and nanite will allow for a much more "lived in" setting for the game.
-Moving from 4.26 to 5.1 also allows changes to the maps in the way they are loaded. Right now some of the maps load slowly as there is so much contained in the maps but with the new way 5.1 handles large maps it will reduce the wait time for maps to load.
Over the next few weeks I will be building a demo version of the game to make sure all the in game systems function correctly and once it is complete I will release the demo to the public and start work on the Early Access version in the hopes of releasing it this spring or early summer. WARNING: This timeline is not "set in stone" as there are many, many things at this point that could effect it, or even make us revert back to 4.26 so we will have to keep you up to date.
Early Access Pre-Alpha
Hi all.. I have been working hard on getting a playable Early Access Pre-Alpha version available for everyone to download and play by the end of this quarter. It is getting really close but some of the game functions are not ready yet. Please be aware that while some of the game's systems are nut functional at this time they are our second priority (after bugs) and will be available as soon as possible. I will post all updates here so you know when new systems come on line.Thanks!