Hey crew.
Another small update for you guys, let's dive in.
First - there should be a small patch rolled out consisting of a couple of control tweaks and improvements. Moving "backwards" while flying should give more of a "flapping in place" hovering effect, and should no longer flip you around the other direction. I haven't had an opportunity to playtest it, honestly, but I am excited to see what Grant put together as that is one of the things I really wanted to see (so you can do that *flap* *flap* *fire* pose)
Another complaint we've looked at is the POV of the camera; it has felt too low to me, so we have lifted it a bit above your shoulder so you can see what and where you are biting. This is a first step towards making combat a little more visible and intuitive. We have some other improvements in mind, but this was an easy one to tweak.
I think there are a few other quiet goodies in there as well, but I will have to check our documentation to see. (Sorry, I know that's amateur-hour of me - Grant and I both had busy weekends so we didn't communicate much.)
In any case, load up and kick around a bit; if you have control comments now is definitely the time to make them heard. We'll keep trying to tidy up as we go along.
In other news, the overworld map patch is officially underway. Grant has the infrastructure in place to make it work; now we are working on some assets to make it look good. We'll be starting with a relatively "small" area this time around, with 2-3 zones accessible. When that goes out and we like it, we will be able to start expanding things pretty quickly, and adding map UI functionality, and so on.
That said - after the first overworld patch, odds are good we will do a few more upgrade passes; things like the experience system and UI are in need of attention. When we get a little closer to rolling this one out, I'll yet you know what's next on the docket.
As far as schedule, it mostly depends on how much polish we want to put on before we roll it out, but I would expect the overworld map to be working and pleasing in four weeks or less. I will keep you posted as we progress, even if it's going to take longer, but that is my hope.
ETA: here is a taste - I am working this through Campaign Cartographer 3+, which I have some experience in, using the Herman Wielink (sp) palette. In the future, we can consider hiring an artist to do an overhaul, but for the time being this hit the right balance between looking good, and within my abilities.
