Project Pinion Progress #4

[Martoph]

Hello all, here is a long overdue update from the staff team. I take full responsibility for the delay of Project Pinion and sincerely apologize-things have definitely been being worked on quietly in the background, but them coming to fruition has taken longer than expected. As you all know, we’ve certainly been in a bit of a rut due to overall burnout as well as the team generally becoming busier through the holidays and new year (congratulations to our members who’ve gotten full-time jobs now!) For transparency, we’ll lay out the status of Project Pinion and what’s left before it can launch for beta. We’ll also address the state of ember hours going forward.

The Current State of Project Pinion:
The pre-production phase is done (and has been for a while). Stuff like world-building & ideation have been complete, with concept art established for anything that’s needed a unique look for beta.

Mob models are complete for Beta- enemies with unique models are ready to go! This includes the previously shown Gardener and Queen Bee.

Also something we haven’t shown off before: potential battlefield hazards!

Along with completed models, we also have a completed texture pack for Pinion! Here are some of the unique pinion equipables:

Map generation & buildings are also completed, and just need final touches on boss room ceilings to make sure containments are never breached
Here’s a look at rooms courtesy of @maymay
A bird’s eye view of how rooms of the dungeon get shaped & what the generation draws from:

Some room interiors:

What’s Left:
As we’ve developed Pinion, we’ve come to experience the hydra that is game development. QA/Testing has continued to reveal bugs which require a lot of squashing alongside what I already have to work on as sole developer.

Here’s what I believe remains to be implemented & time estimates:

• AWS server system needs to be finalized
  • We plan to use a dynamic server system to create and delete cloud machines as needed. This system needs some way to have an auto-update feature to ensure all the correct checks are in place.
  • Ensure that the proper checks and hooks are taking place between AWS and Athios
  • Between 30-50 hours
• Scoreboards and data are broken when managing more than one dungeon per server
  • Finding a solution for this is also a top priority
  • Between 30-50 hours
• Gardener fight needs some final tweaks
  • The animations for his unique movements are done and implemented, but I feel further testing could possibly bring out some bugs not yet seen
  • No estimate until we see if/what bugs present themselves
• Some sound design
  • This is basically adding a sound engine for the player
  • Around 10 hours
• Some more ‘randomness’ for the dungeon
  • We discussed giving perks that last only for a run to prevent monotony
  • This is around a day’s worth of work
• Elemental enemy abilities
  • We have some very primitive enemy abilities that have been completed.
  • For a beta release, these may seem fairly uninspiring or toned down. We hope to have a more complete idea of what these will be after we get some initial feedback.
• Perks need to be fixed where applicable
  • Around 20 hours
• Voting-entry system
  • Going forward for Pinion Beta, entry into the dungeon system will require VIP purchase or a certain amount of votes.
  • I understand that Athios is not in a trustworthy state, which is why I hate to ask for donations. That being said, there are still monthly costs that have emerged directly due to the development of Pinion. Voting is also a good source of easy publicity, so I anticipate most people taking this route (which is completely fine!), & doing so will provide a 24 hour pass. This will only apply to our ‘beta release’
• Some enemy AI needs desperate adjustments (in particular, projectiles)
  • Around 20 hours
• Further gameplay testing
  • Particularly, consumables & other loot just need to be verified that their implementations are without issue
  • No estimate (squash 1 bug, 3 more appear…)
• Update to latest version (1.19.4)
  • Ideally, not very long!

Here’s actually a collage of just some screenshots of what the team’s been working with in terms of how much we’re trying to include in Beta gameplay:

And yes, you saw correctly-you will be able to equip offhands & some nifty accessories!

Additionally, here are lists of some perks-both already working & not yet-that you can look forward to compiled by Cobra

Working perks:

Weapons
Hammering	Reduces enemy defense on hit
Freezing	Slows enemies on repeat hits. Eventually freezes them.
Targeting	Hitting an enemy marks them to take more damage
Rapid	Increased attack speed
Lightweight	Move faster while holding weapon
Armour
Marksman's	Consecutive hits increase projectile damage. Stacks decay over time or on missed shot.
Specialized	Slightly increases projectile damage, and increases firing speed. (Can only roll on Ranged-class armor) Slightly increases Max HP and Defense. (Can only roll on Defense-class armor)
Hearty	Increases Max HP.
Bursting	Projectiles explode upon contact, dealing splash damage to any nearby enemies.

Unfinished perks:

Weapons
Spectral	Grants invisibility to self on kill
Shocking	Chance to chain lightning dmg on nearby enemies
Soulseeker	Enemies release homing projectiles on death.
Virtuous	Grant regen to self/allies on hit
Devouring	Lose HP on hit, but deal increased damage
Armor
Heavyweight	Greatly increases armor granted by this piece, but also reduces speed after taking damage.
Charging	Sprinting for 5 seconds builds up momentum, increasing your Speed.
Honed	Melee attacks to deal +50% critical damage when a critical strike occurs.
Amplifying	Increase the effectiveness of any trinkets wielded by yourself and nearby allies
Potent	Any damage over time effects you apply deal more damage.

Additionally, 1.20 is looking awesome, and I think there are tons of new features to play with that will make a lot of the visuals easier to manage. In the meantime, as far as how many hours I can commit per week or per day, it’s incredibly hard for me to say. Between my commitments in real life and space to enjoy my time outside of online, I find it extremely difficult to make the time. I do feel guilty that this project has lost its priority in my life, but I need to work up the courage to enjoy it after constantly dedicating my time to it. There were points in development where my entire day, even week, was consumed, so thinking about this is a bit fearful! After taking a lot of time to rest, I am starting to develop a plan that allows me to dedicate specific hours of the week to this project.

As for ember hours, our staff members have expressed burnout.
We wanted to do a community poll to ascertain community interest in how ember hours could work going forward:

1. Every other week (staff present & boosted)
2. Once a month (staff present & boosted)
3. Community-led

Please let us know your preferences for how you want ember hours to work going forward by reacting to the announcement message in the discord using the emojis above! We also appreciate any thoughts you may have on what you’ve seen of Pinion so far! And thank you all for your patience throughout this time!

 

[Helfire Arrow]

One of the main problems I have with the textures is the shield texture. It feels too alien to normal minecraft.
Maybe you could do it like the shields in the Spartian's Shields mod since that keeps a more vanillaish style.
Heres some example images:


I hope you can see what I mean by it keeping a more vanilla style while still looking unique.
You also don't have to change it, I can probably modify the server texturepack to include vanilla looking shields.
Your weapons also look like weapons from the Spartan's weaponry mod (specifically the spear)
This is the Spartan's weaponry javelin, which looks just like your spear:

The development of project pinion is looking great and I wish you luck
PS: I think I have 2 accounts on this forum, I've lost the password to one.

 

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