Missing Data and The One True Animation Controller
Earlier in the year, we worked in tandem with the Oxide guys to expand our mutual understanding of how some of the original game's files stored data. We now have information on what particles, sound effects, and animation events are on each object in the game, enabling the use of this data in editor scripts to correctly attach particles and sound effects to object prefabs. Our plan is to begin integration of this data into our pipeline after we finish the UI Work we are currently working on (see later section).
As for the animation data, we plan to utilize the animation data sometime after the next alpha update for The One True Animation Controller. We currently have implemented an animation controller that is functional and looks good, but it is not fully up to our standards. Switching to The One True Animation Controller will bring us across that finish line for the level of polish we are looking for, but is not part of the critical path for the next Alpha Update. If this sounds like something you would be interested in working on, apply to join the team here. You would need to know both C# and Unity at an Intermediate level.
UI Updates and Scaling Changes
Currently, our primary focus is working on implementing a core set of UI elements in our new system, including the shop, the minigame flow, and the gear equipment screens. Getting this core set implemented will enable the building of services to populate the UI and to consume and apply user interactions and get us closer to an Alpha update.
If you currently play CWAEmu on a ultrawide monitor, you will know that some of the UI can be cut-off and hard to access. Or if you play Oxide on a high resolution monitor (QHD/UHD), you will know that the original UI will appear very small and almost unreadable. Because of these issues present in both the original game and CWAEmu, we plan to implement a UI Scale option in the game settings, allowing the user to pick a UI scale via a slider or menu.
Website Updates
One of our devs has been working on re-platforming our website from Blogger onto a self hosted site. That effort is coming to its conclusion soon, with the majority of the required features, such as news, features, and the roadmap, being majority or fully complete. This announcement post will be the last post directly posted to discord, with subsequent posts being posted to the website first, with an announcement post being made in discord instead.
Website Home
Downloads Page
Legacy Downloads
News Page
News Article
Unity Engine Upgrade
We also recently upgraded the version of Unity our project is using from 2021.3.45f2 to 2022.3.62f3. Undertaking this upgrade didn't require a large change to our project code or assets and it gave us access to some newer APIs we may need. This was primarily done for those APIs, but was also done to ensure we continue building our game on a supported version of Unity at least in the short term, as Unity 2021 recently went out of Long Term Support. This upgrade may slightly increase the minimum specifications needed for our game, but we do not believe many, if any, players will be affected. As of right now, there are not plans to move to Unity 2023 or Unity 6, but should that decision be made, we will follow up in a subsequent announcement.
Final Thoughts
For our final thoughts, we will continue to keep working through the UI and some of our other goals in parallel as much as possible, with the goal of getting back to alpha updates as soon as possible.