Welcome to our July development update! We're excited to share with you the latest progress on our ongoing projects. This month, we have significant updates across the Pixelmon ecosystem, including full-body trainer updates, product side improvements, Hunting Grounds and Arena advancements, lore developments, and much more.
Product Side
In our continuous efforts to enhance the player experience, our team has been diligently working on various product-side developments. Here are the key highlights:
- Rollout for Mobile Party Quest: Optimising Party Quest gameplay and interface for mobile devices. Prepare for an immersive experience on the go!
- Badges Infrastructure Development: Exciting new game-fi elements are being implemented as we flesh out the badge’s infrastructure. Stay tuned for updates on this front.
- New Trainer Art Render & Rollout: Addition of full body trainers to OpenSea. These offer a better representation of in-game characters, showcasing all traits more clearly for potential buyers and current owners.
- Continued Work on Two {Redacted} Deliverables: Our team is working diligently on 2 {Redacted} deliverables, ensuring that future releases will bring new life to the community.
- Continued Development on the Hub: Continuous improvements to enhance the overall user experience.
- Renaming of the Pixelmon ??? to 'Huh?': To alleviate strain on the development team and prevent potential future issues, we have decided to rename the Pixelmon ??? to 'Huh?' This change will provide a smoother development process and has received positive feedback from our community. Find out more about this Pixelmon on its zoology page here.
Ecosystem Updates
We're thrilled about the overwhelming positive response to Party Quest. With over 70% of total NFTs staked, totaling more than 11,000 NFTs, Party Quest is already a hit among our community. We'll continue to closely monitor its success and gather feedback for further improvements.
Hunting Grounds
The Hunting Grounds project is making steady progress, with developments in design, development, and art. Here's what's been happening:
Design
- Focusing on the Combat Preparation phase and Power Ups.
- Continued level design polishing for HG001 and brainstorming proposals for HG002B and HG003.
- RnD for landmass features in Unreal to enhance terrain realism.
Development
- Iterations on the Direct Control mode in the combat gameplay to elevate the player experience.
- Defined collision profiles to improve climbing and prevent camera issues with objects in the scene.
- Enhancements on the Pixelmon Wandering Behaviours and Trainer freefall feature.
- Debug tools and crash fixes for a smoother gaming experience.
- Team remains dedicated to development even amidst holiday periods.
Art
- Environment artists are diligently dressing HG001, bringing the hunting grounds to life.
- Tech Art team working on PCG RnD, character customisation tool improvements, and project cleanup.
- New character designs in progress —Florasaur, Sharmen rework, Grailon Rework, Piu Piu, Shelker, Fourticles, Octopod, and upcoming Pixelmons.
- Concept art exploration for the massive tree, hairstyles, tattoos, runes, climbing walls, and the mesmerising Loadstone Island birds eye map.
Arena
The Arena development is progressing with continuous improvements. At the end of the month, a Townhall planned in our Discord will go into further detail about these improvements.
Patch Notes
- Disabled QR code authentication for improved security.
- Updated default camera values for better visual experience.
- Players can now toggle between Auto Lock Mode and Manual Lock Mode for the camera.
- Added a slider to adjust the camera lock radius from enemies.
- Added shortcut to camera settings in Options Menu.
- Minor bug fixes.
- Addition of new key team members is propelling the Arena project forward.
- Actively working with closed community testing groups to gather feedback and fix bugs, releasing new builds weekly.
Lore
We believe that a captivating game world requires deep and rich lore. Here are some exciting developments in that regard:
- We're making progress on the maps, moving from monochromatic drafts to vibrant colour versions.
- Crafting detailed lore entries for every named location on the map, providing history, origin, and significance to enrich the game world.
- Continuation of short story development and fleshing out the lore for the overall Pixelmon universe.
Conclusion
As we look forward to the future, we're excited to announce that an engaging Townhall event is scheduled for early August in our Discord. During the Townhall, we'll delve deeper into Arena development progress, providing insights into our recent changes and showcasing captivating gameplay footage. It will be a fantastic opportunity for our community to get an exclusive look at what's been happening behind the scenes and ask questions directly to the development team.
Stay tuned for more details on the Townhall event, as we'll be sharing the schedule and how you can participate on our Discord and Twitter, plus subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest news and updates.
