Currently, our team is actually split into two working groups. One’s working on a0.85 while the other’s working on a0.9. Due to all the changes to a0.9, there isn’t too much crossover between the two builds, we’re literally working in two separate branches of the project. Due to this, there are some bugs that we’re ignoring completely in a0.85, since by a0.9, they’ll disappear. Today, we’ll show you two things we’re working on for a0.9.
The first is the World Editor. It’s a program that you can launch and edit a world map with. The world map can be generated in the editor or through other editors such as World Machine. Once you have a map, you can convert it to full voxel format and edit the world to whatever you want, be it cave cities, race tracks, or floating islands. Currently, the largest map we’re aiming for is 6X6km. We’ll also have voxel brushes that players can make and share. If someone made a very cool looking mountain, he can export it and make it a brush, then just paint it into the world. Beyond the general editor itself will be the Story Editor, which we’ll show at a later date. Once the world is done, the player can export it and compress it to share with everyone else. We’re thinking of doing a world bounce system where you can go from one world to another in multiplayer as long as they’re on different servers.
Next, we’re also adding in a tutorial level onboard the Epiphany called the Training Room, it’s like a holographic deck. It’ll actually be the first scene for new players (before the opening cutscene). We’ll have a fairly comprehensive set of tutorials for this feature, but don’t expect many of them to be in when a0.9 rolls around, we’ll add to it as we go. You’ll also be able to directly access this room through the Main Menu. Since the asset itself is done, we might just push this out in a0.85, or at least just the room part of it.
