Progress on 0.748 (Patreon)

The build is taking more time than expected as switching to asynchronous asset loading proved to be much more work than anticipated. Good news is that's mostly done, and I have implemented a proper loading screen. This should resolve the infinite black screen some players have experienced. Additionally, I upgraded to the latest version of the engine (4.26). The release notes state that loading times were improved.

However, the RAM usage was not reduced as much as I had hoped it would be. With the upgrade to 4.26, I was surprised to see massive improvements to the engine's hair and physics systems. It's enough for me to strongly consider replacing my fur system with the engine's solution. While my fur system has served me well, it's responsible for most of the RAM usage and performance problems in the game. Not to mention, the engine's hair looks better and has more features.

Should I decide to replace the fur system, it will take a significant amount of time. Every fur asset would need to be replaced and the code will need to be changed to interface with their system.

Physics has long been a source of frustration for this game. Up until now, the engine used a limited PhysX system with more than a few problems. I have been testing their new system called Chaos, and it is promising. For 0.748, I will only get it to parity with 0.747, especially if I decide to do the fur. Beyond that though, I will look into expanding it into the gameplay.

Lastly, 4.26 introduces water tools. I intend to replace the ugly water in the world with the new stuff. It looks infinitely better and is completely dynamic. Who knows what other more lusty things could be accomplished with such a thing.

I understand this is boring to most of you, but at some point it had to be done. It is much better to do this now as the longer I wait the worse it gets. Continuing to add content as I was, without regard to RAM usage and load times, would have rendered the game unplayable for many.