Lionhearts News

[p]Welcome once again to the weekly Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5.[/p][p][/p][p]Lionhearts: Melee is being polished at an impressive rate, with major improvements being made.[/p][p][/p][p]On top of this, we also added guard-break reaction animation and the corresponding VFX. Flytext size for damage has been reduced to increase immersion. Favor tree icons resolutions has been fixed, making them appear much clearer.[/p][p][/p][p]The crosshair for blocking and parrying has been polished. VFX for arrows via arrow trails has also been added. Bots/NPCs can now also effectively use their shields to block.[/p][p][/p][p]On the 3d front, landscape and textures received massive visual improvements. The windmill blades were also redone to be more realistic and look cleaner.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Several bug fixes were also prioritized this week, including: [/p]

• [p]Fixing NPCs not being able to run[/p]
• [p]Fixing NPCs not using stamina.[/p]
• [p]Fixing best-of-three breaking after the first match (turning into best-of-one)[/p]
• [p]Fixing the loadout display mannequin breaking when equipping a bow[/p]
• [p]Fixing players on the same team spawning inside of each other[/p]
• [p]Fixing block defense not decreasing for other players[/p]
• [p]Fixing NPCs not ragdolling[/p]
• [p]Fixing ragdolls not replicating for all players[/p]
• [p]Fixing an issue where players wouldn't respawn after a match[/p]
• [p]Fixing NPC sight perception[/p]
• [p]Fixing shield animation and shield offset[/p]
• [p]Fixing the clashing mechanic, weapons now bounce back when clashing[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, our Kickstarter campaign is now accepting late pledges! Even if you only have a few bucks to spare, it helps us more than you know![/p][p][/p][p]Reminder: We have begun handing out Discord rewards to Kickstarter backers, such as roles and other special permissions. Check your Kickstarter messages if you're a backer for info on how to claim these rewards![/p][p][/p][p]Please join us on our Discord server where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community![/p][p][/p][p]Be sure to wishlist the game on our Steam Page, too![/p]

[p]Welcome once again to the weekly Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5.
[/p][p]Lionhearts: Melee is closer than ever to launch, with final touches on polish and combat being made. Playtesting and quality assurance for PvP has begun, allowing more refined improvements.
[/p][p]Work on visual effects (Niagara) has also been started, with effects for parries, blocks, blood spurts, shield splintering, bow arrow tracers and more being completed.[/p][p][/p][p]Several key fixes were also made, improving movement and functionality of combat specifically.
[/p][p]Firstly, characters will now rotate mid swing, allowing for more accuracy and precision during engagements.[/p][p][/p][p]Weapons additionally now will bounce off of solid objects, including opposing players and bot's swords when attacking from the same direction (clashing)
[/p][p]Combat NPC bots are also much further along, with improved behavior dynamics for detecting enemies and engaging with players.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Ultra dynamic lighting has been added, allowing the meshes and world to blend much better than before, and significantly improving the aesthetics of the tournament grounds.[/p][p][/p][p]Improvements to the equipment UI have been made, and new renders for the outfits have been added.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, our Kickstarter campaign is now accepting late pledges! Even if you only have a few bucks to spare, it helps us more than you know!
[/p][p]Reminder: We have begun handing out Discord rewards to Kickstarter backers, such as roles and other special permissions. Check your Kickstarter messages if you're a backer for info on how to claim these rewards![/p][p][/p][p]Please join us on our Discord server where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community!
[/p][p]Be sure to wishlist the game on our Steam Page, too![/p]

[p]Welcome once again to the weekly Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5.[/p][p][/p][p]This week, development continued to move forward with a strong focus on combat polish and expanding playable content.[/p][p][/p][p]Firstly, the programming team improved combat feedback by replacing attack and block grunt sounds, while stamina costs were added to attacks to better pace engagements.[/p][p][/p][p]Work on NPCs also progressed, with fixes to bots spawning incorrectly and the addition of a dedicated PvE bots gamemode.[/p][p][/p][p]Weapon polish continued across the board, with improvements to bow handling and a new crosshair implemented, alongside refinements to spear functionality and animation quirks.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Also, new outfit 3D renders were created for the outfit selector/toolbar.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, on the game design team, the game world continued to take shape with the creation of the Jerusalem duchy map. This layout includes historically informed fiefs and resource locations, grounded in research to ensure both authenticity and strong gameplay foundations.[/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, our Kickstarter campaign is now accepting late pledges! Even if you only have a few bucks to spare, it helps us more than you know![/p][p][/p][p]Reminder: We have begun handing out Discord rewards to Kickstarter backers, such as roles and other special permissions. Check your Kickstarter messages if you're a backer for info on how to claim these rewards![/p][p][/p][p]Please join us on our Discord server where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community![/p][p][/p][p]Be sure to wishlist the game on our Steam Page, too![/p]

[p]Welcome once again to the weekly Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5.[/p][p][/p][p]To preface this week let us just say: we're so sorry for the lack of updates these past few weeks! We've been very busy trying to get Lionhearts: Mêlée, our combat demo, finished ASAP for all of our supporters out there.[/p][p][/p][p]Over the last three weeks, the team has made significant strides across both technical and art development on Lionhearts.[/p][p][/p][p]A major focus of our programming team during this time has been improving the clarity and usability of the game's UI and HUD elements, with notable upgrades to alert messages, damage indicators, the Favor Tree, and main menu navigation. These changes greatly improve readability and minute-to-minute feedback during gameplay.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Additionally, a critical issue that prevented combat from properly replicating across all clients has been resolved. This bug was the primary cause behind delays to the Melee demo for backers, and its fix marks a major milestone toward a stable multiplayer experience.[/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, the 3D animation team continued combat animations for the one-handed sword. Some of the animations were revisited, with clearer directional telegraphs implemented to better communicate incoming attacks. While most historically accurate animations were ultimately scrapped for now in favor of better gameplay readability, the team plans to revisit a more refined balance between realism and mechanical clarity in the future.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Finally, several new team members have been onboarded over this period, which should significantly accelerate development pace moving forward.[/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, our Kickstarter campaign is now accepting late pledges! Even if you only have a few bucks to spare, it helps us more than you know![/p][p][/p][p]Reminder: We have begun handing out Discord rewards to Kickstarter backers, such as roles and other special permissions. Check your Kickstarter messages if you're a backer for info on how to claim these rewards![/p][p][/p][p]Please join us on our Discord server where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community![/p][p][/p][p]Be sure to wishlist the game on our Steam Page, too![/p]

[p]Welcome once again to the weekly Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5.[/p][p][/p][p]This week, the programming team focused primarily on stabilizing and adapting combat NPCs to the new BaseCharacter framework introduced earlier in development.[/p][p][/p][p]Significant progress was made resolving long-standing AI issues, NPCs now properly die and play their death animations, correctly equip their weapons, and reliably sense, track, and follow player characters during combat. With these fixes in place, NPC functionality is nearing completion.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Alongside AI work, programming continued on general combat polish. Efforts were made to finalize the Bow drawback animation, though progress is currently blocked by issues related to the Bow model itself.[/p][p][/p][p]Additional improvements included adding new arming sword block pose animations and tracking down several fatal error crashes, improving overall stability as the project moves forward.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]If you haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet, our Kickstarter campaign is now accepting late pledges! Even if you only have a few bucks to spare, it helps us more than you know![/p][p][/p][p]Reminder: We have begun handing out Discord rewards to Kickstarter backers, such as roles and other special permissions. Check your Kickstarter messages if you're a backer for info on how to claim these rewards![/p][p][/p][p]Please join us on our Discord server where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community![/p][p][/p][p]Be sure to wishlist the game on our Steam Page, too![/p]