Warlords,
As usual, thank you all very much for your patience. I know I was supposed to deliver a news post in October (2 months after the last), but as suspected, end-of-the-year business crept in on me, and now here we are midway through December.
In the last post I touched on some changes and improvements coming to the open world mechanics of Warlord: Awaji. Today I would like to share some news regarding the scope of content to be found in the new game.
Just this past week I officially completed all environment assets for the game. What does this mean exactly? Well for starters, it does not mean the game is finished! What this means is that all of the models and textures I planned to create for the full game are completed and "game ready." These "environment assets" I speak of are mainly structures and props, but also things like lighting objects (torches, lamps, lanterns, fires) and the full panoply of camp objects the player can place in-game. In addition to simply creating the objects, they are also fully "rigged up" with all their necessary features and mechanics. Doors open and close, structures burn down convincingly, flags and screens billow in the wind, and campfires ignite and extinguish as the day cycle dictates.
Looking back over 3 years ago at Warlord: Britannia, the scale and scope of Warlord has come a long way. Britannia had exactly three unique structures, and let's be honest, the difference between the "long house" and the regular barbarian house was probably unnoticeable to most players. There were a total of only 8-10 props giving life to the barbarian settlements.
Warlord: Awaji now has almost 30 unique structures and even more props than that to decorate them. Not only are civilian structures more diverse, there are 4 completely separate groups of structures in the game. First, there are the civilian structures: farm houses, sheds, lean-tos, that kind of thing. These will make up the bulk of the population on the island. Next are the warrior mansions and estates. These structures are where the armed lords of the island reside, and will be easily recognizable by their more elegant architecture, bright walls, and raised porches. The final two categories of structures are the Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, which are both rendered in great detail. As in real life, temples and shrines in the game look (to the trained eye) and function completely differently. I may share more info about the religious world of Warlord: Awaji at a later date in a special post, since it is a topic that warrants it's own discussion.
Along with all of these new living and working spaces, the characters in Warlord: Awaji have been upgraded to make much better use of them. In Britannia, the amorphous nature of the character models limited what I could do in terms of animation. But with the fully-articulated characters in Awaji, I have full freedom to add immersive animations and make their day-to-day routines more life-like. Now in Awaji, characters can relax, sleep, pray, clean, farm, and more. Farmers will be out in their fields during the day, then come inside at night. Warriors will gather around campfires at dusk, then doze off under the stars. All of these features also work for the player's camp. Depending on how you place your builds, you can create a highly immersive and historically authentic samurai camp.
I hope this has given you all some more things to look forward to as we creep ever closer to Warlord: Awaji's release! I know some people are concerned by the lack of an official release date, but please have a little understanding as I work through the various components of this game. Although I have professional help with music, sound design, and animation, everything else in the game is created and maintained just by me. This makes it very difficult to balance writing posts like this with actually sitting down and making the game. I have a lot of respect for developers who are able to do that. As far as my current schedule for releasing the game goes, I am still on track and don't expect any major delays, so as I make more progress early next year, I should be able to announce a release date!
Thank you all for the support, and please stay tuned. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Darkmatter
P.S. Since we are entering the twilight of 2025, here are some night scenes.
(A Warrior's House. And a retainer burning a marshmallow?)
(A Buddhist Temple. And no monks, still need to get those in...)