So, what's new in Castle Daybreak: Resurgence?
Performance in this update has seen a huge improvement, having a steady framerate with 90% fewer stutters than in the previous update. Lots of codes were either remade, removed, or restructured in this endeavor. Including but not limited to the proper utilization of Unreal's built-in optimization tools.
One of the challenges I faced with this update was optimizing everything while not having to sacrifice too much of the visuals. With that came the decision to change and redesign most areas. This helped with the sense of cohesion within the world, eliminating unnecessary materials and meshes.
Lighting has been improved and optimized, especially indoors.
Abilities are a core pillar of Castle Daybreak, and this update gave me the chance to revisit nearly all of them. Many abilities have been improved or completely reworked to feel more responsive, more intuitive, and more fun to use. My goal has always been to ensure each class has a distinct identity and playstyle, and these changes push that vision forward in a meaningful way.
Not only that, combat also sees some improvements. One issue I tacked, especially with the large quantity of enemies the system throws at the player, is collision. Previously, the player could collide with enemies, and while this helped solve some issues, it was a performance nightmare for this type of game. Likewise, removing collision also introduced other issues, one of which is enemies stacking on top of the player during combat, to fix this. The player now pushes enemies away with each melee swing, just like a traditional action RPG.
Aside from the major changes, there's an incredible amount of small changes made since the previous update, and some many not get mentioned. However, here is a general rundown. There were changes made to the player to improve the way the regeneration system works to bring a more modernized touch to it. Improvements were made to some of the UI elements along with new perks and an overall improvement to the in-game story narrative.
Focus Ability -> New Ultimate Ability: Charges overtime and remains ready until used. Recharge time can be shaved down due to certain actions during combat. Each class has their own unique ultimate ability.
Spellchecks: I learned it was not the best idea to write things out inside the game engine
Lots of bug fixes
Improved tutorial level: The tutorial zone is now more intuitive to help players prepare for the world.
Improved camera angle for combat clarity: Was too close before, making it difficult to see when there were too many abilities/vfx on screen. (known bug with this change; hitting walls sometimes pushes the camera around).
Landscape improvement: Including foliage, shaders, and optimization.
Help Tab: There is now a help tab inside the player's menu, which helps to see some basic information that might have been missed during the tutorial.
Story/Lore Tab: There is now a new lore tab that unlocks the story of Castle Daybreak as the player progresses through the main story quests. (I wrote it.)
New Craftable Items: Including new resources to gain from loot to craft said items. However, some of those resources can only be crafted.
New perks and perk improvements.