Lionhearts News

Welcome once more to the weekly Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5.


Week 7 of Lionhearts Demo development again brought us some great technical and creative advancements, particularly as we begin laying foundational systems for scalability and shift focus towards visuals.



On the programming side, shared functionality between Player and NPC controllers is now being moved to C++ in preparation for MMO framework.


Work also began on a new inventory system, complete with drag-and-drop item functionality and stacking, while combat effects like parry stuns and directional animations received further polish. A new audio manager was also created to handle sounds in game!



Early prototypes for the Shadow system, including Shadow "possession" and spawning, have been implemented.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFaKfF5thaM

Some 3D animations were reworked with full-body motion, all one-handed weapon swings are now blocked out and awaiting further polish.



Level design efforts have shifted toward the Jerusalem Siege map to showcase what a siege in Lionhearts will look like.

The 3D art team continued their work across multiple bulk asset orders, including more foliage like trees, more agricultural assets, and military assets.



In Game Design, the Guild system and trade economy have been further detailed with new job types and deeper progression systems.



The cinematic trailer first draft has been completed and reviewed for revisions. Followers should expect to see it within a few weeks!



On the 2D art/UI side, icon production for the favor tree resumed, with some trade tree icons in progress.



Lastly and importantly, the Kickstarter backer tier rewards have been completed and are available for full detailed view on our website! There are some awesome rewards - please let us know if you have feedback or which tier you intend to donate to! The website continues to be updated with the most relevant information on Lionhearts!



Thanks for reading, and please remember to join us again next week as we move into Week 8.



Please join us on our Discord server for forum posting, where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community!


To support this project, please follow our Kickstarter campaign, which will be launching soon!


Our Steam Page is also up and now localized to many languages, be sure to wishlist it!


Written by Credenzio Studios Staff

Repost from April 4th:

Welcome again to the weekly development log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project on Steam created using Unreal Engine 5. This blog post has been posted on our brand-new website www.playlionhearts.com which launches today alongside this post. This website includes the most comprehensive info on the Lionhearts project, and we recommend you check it out!

Week 6 of Lionhearts Demo development focused heavily on polishing and finalizing systems to provide and showcase new marketing material.



The favor tree saw major progress, namely modular branches, zoom functionality, a dynamic node system, tooltips, and opening/closing menu functionality all being added, bringing it much closer to a presentable state.



Combat polish continued with improvements to attack charging and the implementation of a new weapon system allowing for the equipping and unequipping of different weapon types. NPC combat saw continued polish and some bug fixes as well.



Several core attack animations were also blocked out, including the right to left weapon swing, the overhead swing, and the thrust animations.



On the level design front, the vertical slice is nearly complete, with only foliage assets left to be completed. A UE5 texture bug briefly stifled progress but this was resolved by the team.

All ongoing 3D asset production has continued, including foliage assets, agricultural assets, and some military assets in progress.



Further game design documentation was detailed to cover systems for property acquisition and management, plus how items will be handled in stockpiles.

Meanwhile, the 2D art pipeline slowed due to delays. Some new graphics were created to support further marketing efforts.



As we move into Week 7, we're shifting our focus toward visuals/presentation to strengthen marketing material for the project.



Please join us on our Discord server for forum posting, where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community!


To support this project, please follow our Kickstarter campaign, which will be launching soon!


Written by Credenzio Studios Staff

Repost from Mar 31st:

Welcome to the first Development Log for Lionhearts, an up-and-coming project created with Unreal Engine 5.


Week 5 of the Lionhearts Gameplay Demo development brought us major progress across multiple areas!


We've made many new combat improvements which includes a refined tab-targeting system, more dynamic NPC behavior with blocking, parrying, and directional attacks, and additional combat moves integrated into the Gameplay Ability System. Weapon charging was improved, and work has begun on a structured weapon system to organize weapons and define different weapon stats.


The initial generation of individual skill trees for the favor system was completed, with further polish underway while awaiting UI integration. UI work is ongoing, with a high-resolution "favor tree" background provided, and some favor tree UI icons remain in progress.



The level design team is finalizing a visual demo map, serving as a proof of concept for the artistic style and atmosphere envisioned for Lionhearts. Additionally, all map blockouts are finished for our playable gameplay demo.


On the 3D animation side, a preliminary Templar knight rig is ready, and a short sword swing preview animation has been completed.



Several 3D art assets were finalized, including landscape textures and props such as tents.


Documentation for "trade tree" progression was expanded, detailing mechanics for resource extraction, refining, crafting, and guild management.


With these advancements, the demo is shaping up well as we move into Week 6.


Please join us on our Discord server for forum posting, where you can ask questions and participate in our growing community!


To support this project, please follow our Kickstarter campaign, which will be launching soon!


Written by Credenzio Studios Staff