Dev-log #5 - Water volume and Swimming System - 20/09/2025

Hi folks, Alex here!

It’s time for our weekly devlog: every Saturday at 12:00 CEST I bring you the latest from behind the scenes: updates, fixes, new features, and a few visual treats.

Water volumes - Since the river was having problems, I decided to replace it directly with a new, fuller body of water. Effects have been added to simulate underwater conditions, so when you move the camera underwater, it realistically looks like your eyes are open. I'm still having some issues with the river's movement, but I'll see if I can fix that soon.

Swimming System - Once the water volumetrics were done, installing the swimming system was just a natural next step. I'll certainly improve it over time, but for now, just installing the system and making it work is a great achievement.

Tree and brushes rework - I'm slowly replacing the tree and shrub meshes, which were quite ugly. Some even loaded poorly at a close distance. Now I'm adding assets that are a little more realistic and pleasing to the eye, so I hope you like them.

They stand out a bit right now because the landscape needs to be adjusted to match these new trees. The trees also need some color adjustments, but the quality is significantly better than before, so I'm happy with the results.

New hair for Sylveth? - Since Sylveth is an NPC that will remain important in the game, we'd like to characterize her as best we can. We're a bit unsure about her hairstyle, and we'd like one that also highlights her elf ears. Currently, we're undecided about these two cuts above.

While we wait to add a system that allows players and NPCs to change their hairstyles, a decision needs to be made on which haircut to give Sylveth. We'll be holding a poll for Founders in the next few days and letting our supporters choose.

Unfortunately, I've had a few days off this week due to a fever, so I don't have much else to update you on. I'll add more once I'm well again.

Thanks for reading today and for keeping the project alive with your feedback and support.

Founders still have access to the pre-alpha build and we will not take it down until a newer, stable build is ready. If you want to play what others tried, become a Founder and jump in.

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