Supporter newsletter 27

Issue
This is a copy of Eternal and Diamond Supporter Newsletter #27, published by Grinding Gear Games.

Hey Diamond, Eternal and Unique Item Creator Supporters,

I have spent this morning putting the final elements together for 0.11.4c, which includes the unique art and new elements for Race Season 4. George Lovesy, who we profiled two newsletters ago, did most of the alternate art. I like how different some of them are from the originals, I recommend checking them out when we announce season 4.

After that, its time to work on 0.11.5, which has some interesting things in it.

0.11.4

0.11.4 went out with five unique items.

Voltaxic Rift has inspired a lot of interest, including positive and negative reactions. The Goddess Scorned has been found after the highly cryptic hint poem was interpreted, and has produced more comments on the site that any other item. Devoto’s Devotion has more movement speed than you’ll ever see on a Helmet again.

The non-Diamond unique items were Wideswing and Mindspiral. Wideswing is pretty straightforward in what it does, although I have seen a few less obvious suggestions about what can be done with it. While Mindspiral has been not very well received, it is actually the item in this set that scares me most balance-wise. It is an item lying in wait for another game mechanic to be added to the game.

0.11.5

0.11.5 will have more diamond unique items. It will likely have a mace, a claw for casters, a sceptre for summoners and possibly a map.

Insider Info

The most recent patch there were significant improvements to the art sizes and graphics performance. Much of this is from our new engine programmer Grzegorz Slazinski (or Greg).

Greg has recently immigrated to New Zealand from Poland. He has been programming his whole life, originally making text-based games on the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. He has made his own game engine called Esenthel for 3D RPGs, which has been used for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS games.

Greg has also worked on Call of Juarez 2 for Techland.

Now at Grinding Gear Games, Greg uses all the C++ magic he knows to make the game look great and run smoother. In his first couple of weeks here, Greg has already reduced the game package and assets substantially. Greg has been recently implementing a new shadowing technique in the game.

Greg can be seen at work here: http://i.imgur.com/XfLFNLt.jpg