Status update

It has been about a month since the last status update where I discussed the things that are currently being worked on, so let's see what progress has been made in this time. A lot of people have also been asking for more sneak peeks lately, so it's high time to start dropping some bangers. You can expect to see work-in-progress footage of these areas starting next week and continuing for as long as there are things left to show.

Dragon Creator
The main focus has been on enabling more extreme body compositions like different leg setups, far extending wing membranes and slender serpentine shapes with long spines, and to ensure we can implement toggleable wings in the future if desired. This has required a complete rework of the way it was previously handled, and although it has taken some time to figure out the best way to do it, this new system is much more flexible and I expect to have a working prototype by the end of next week. It will also require a small rework of the animation system and physics controller though to adapt to all different body compositions. I've also started designing the dragon creator arena (where it takes place), as well as the user interface for it.

Dragon Physics & Animations
This is mostly on hold until the new body compositions for the creator are done, as it depends on it. There has been some more work on the physics-based controller though, which is pretty cool to look at and might make it into a sneak peek.

World
A completely new terrain system has been worked on which enables a world that is both huge and detailed with a flexible editor workflow and good performance. The latest developments have been in using procedural generation to create a base layer for continental landmasses, which can then be populated with more interesting hand crafted elements like mountains, ravines, caves, city foundations, etc. This approach seems very promising so far.

Battle System
The focus here has been on interfacing with the physics engine so that soldiers can be affected by the simulation, like getting crushed beneath debris from a collapsing wall, hit by a trebuchet projectile or being pushed around and stomped by rampaging dragons. The first results of this look oddly satisfying.

Destruction
This has mostly been about evaluating the new physics engine with demanding stress tests, as well as some experiments with smashing the dragon's body into structures to break them. As explained earlier, we unfortunately did not get the grant to purchase the license for the physics engine, but the good news is that we were able to extend the evaluation period another 3 months. This way we can hopefully get the next version out the door before it ends and fund the license with the uptick in Patreon supporters.

Assets
The main part of the dragon saddle has been fully modeled and textured, with the harness contraption still being worked on. There are also several dragon customization parts done that haven't been shown yet, including some dragon armor. The rider armor is also nearing completion in the modeling stage, along with a unique sword.