Today marks the release of the very first alpha dev version of The Island 3D, less than two weeks after completing my formation! Available for for all tiers of subscribers, it lets you test and see the progress made thus far. The current state of the game consists of a test level where a high-resolution 3D naked representation of Olivia can move around freely, fully animated, and chop wood, mine rocks, and gather berries from bushes. 

This version constitutes about 15% of what I call "The foundation." It includes the primitives HUDs, the inventory system framework, the player hotbar, two equippable items (a stone pickaxe and a stone hatchet), as well as the harvesting system framework, including the chopping/mining and bush gathering animations. The next step will cover the crafting system framework and the player stats. 

Meanwhile we are in the process of producing a rough estimate of the adult content that the game will include. As the main foundation takes shape, it will be easier to visualize how to translate adult mechanics and gameplay into the world and the story.

You can download this version of the game on our Discord.

https://discord.gg/DH6F3uCeXM

The game development process is progressing smoothly, much faster than expected. UE5 is powerful and more complex than RPGMV, but with the help of the books I bought, the UE5 community, and the Udemy online courses I purchased, learning how to use it and develop using C++ and blueprints has allowed me to create and deliver some of the project's key milestones quickly.

I will start releasing alpha versions of the game for subscribers in the following days to test the features I am adding to the game.

As I work on programming features such as the inventory system, the necessary UI and HUDs, crafting and gathering functions, and everything constituting the game's foundation, we've been reviewing the entire adult theme framework. With the power of Unreal Engine 5, we can significantly improve many features related to Olivia, such as giving her meaningful stats, skills, and a level-up system, as well as fully animated xxx interactions within the game and much more. This "list" of features is currently under internal review and testing, and we will be sharing more details with all of you in the following days!

Having completed the beginner's course for Unreal Engine 5, I have wrapped up the tech demo I've been working on during these lessons. For this tech demo, I chose to use a top-down view to create a gauntlet-style game in which you play as a woman defending herself with a laser rifle against a horde of feral men rushing her. This tech demo allowed me to understand how to create basic AI that will hunt and attack the player, how to animate the pawns on the map using blending animations and making them smooth. It also helped me understand level design using the UE5 editor, add sound assets to different elements of the game, and manage various game objects such as the gun and projectiles. This mini-game , proof of my initiation to UE5 ,is now available for download in the project's Discord.

With this behind me, I can now focus entirely on working on the next steps. First, I would like to establish the roadmap for adult content and then continue working on the new version of the Island conceived with UE5. The development roadmap, representing the work to establish the solid game foundation I need for the vision I have for the game, is available on the new UE5 The Island Roadmap channel. To help me with all this, I have invested in two extensive and filled with information 700+ page books on UE5 programming and animations so I can further educate myself. 

Finally, with the help of Milcholiker, who put me in touch with one of his Daz3D Guru friends, we managed to port the HS Olivia representation to amazing Daz3D models. This 3D model of Olivia will be used with the Unreal 5 version of the game. Rest assured, in the game, she will lose the bikini.

My UE5 learning process is going exceptionally well! I am on the verge of releasing the first version of my first UE5 project, which consists of a gauntlet top-down shooter game where Olivia has to survive wave after wave of feral roamers rushing her inside a ruined temple room. While technically quite simple, this project as a learning process benchmark has helped me understand all aspects of the editor I will need to port The Island game to the incredibly beautiful world of UE5. Speaking of which, I have started identifying assets I will need, starting with the introduction part of the game (the Yacht). We also have a version 1.0 of the new Olivia for Unreal 5 made entirely from scratch in Daz3D (images are coming soon). 

As you may have noticed, I skipped the last weekly digest. I was engrossed in a coding spree with UE5. So far, things are going well. As you might know, I'm working on a small project to familiarize myself with the engine, and it's progressing nicely! Starting from scratch, I've created a map (level) that represents a temple or underground area, developed numerous blueprints for game logic, and designed Olivia’s geometry and her movement around the map. I chose to start from scratch rather than using a project template to fully understand how the engine works. My next goals include adding feral roamers to the game, applying animations, introducing projectile logic, a weapon, managing damage, and the game over scenario, among other things. I estimate I'm about halfway through this side project. My goal is to create a fully functional game before delving into the more complex survival game logic I've prototyped based on the current RPGMV game. The skills I'm acquiring from this will be beneficial for the main game. Additionally, we've been working on transitioning the Olivia model from the RPGMV game to Daz3D. The results are impressive and I'll share images of her very soon!

Progress with getting started on the GDE is going well. The lessons learned in the online courses are proving beneficial, and I'm starting to grasp the nuances of Unreal 5's level editor. I have come across several free and some paid graphics assets that I would like to integrate into the game; they looks amazing! Soon, I will start consultations with members of the Discord to help with Olivia's basic appearance. Ultimately, I aim to incorporate a system to customize the character at the beginning of the game, a feature I am eagerly anticipating. If everything goes according to plan, I should have a basic proof of concept to present to subscribers, featuring a small level in the jungle, very soon.