Fairy

(Working title)

About the project

Full disclosure - first and foremost, this is a pet project of mine that I'm working on in my spare time. It is very, very likely NOT intended to be a commercial product at any point in future.

I work commercially as Unreal Engine 5 gameplay programmer/generalist, however probably like a lot of people in the industry, what I'm working on professionally is not exactly aligned with my personal interests (please do not read too deep into that statement, I'm certain that everyone in the industry has a pet project or an idea of such that they'd rather be doing but it doesn't imply active negative emotions or attitude associated with their commercial projects).

Either way, this is my way of both bouncing back creatively as well as keeping my skills and knowledge of UE in a good shape. I've wanted to work on something that aligns with my personal interests and is achievable in terms of short and long term goals. Which in essence translated to a project on an engine I am familiar with (UE5), genres and mechanics that I enjoy (souls likes, Dark Messiah/Warhammer Vermintide 2 inspired combat, immersive sim elements like Deus Ex or Arx Fatalis) held together by a non-stylized retro era visuals as that style allows me to quickly iterate on asset work even by myself (although my 2d/3d skills are miserable at best).

Speaking about content, full disclosure - this project DOES use generative AI and will very likely continue to do so for a very long time as simply put it easily allows me to generate a lot of placeholder or low tier unimportant clutter which is nice to have but not essential. Is it good quality? No. Can I do better personally? Very likely no. But let's be real for a moment, it is a free pet project. I do not expect any financial compensation for this nor it is my full time work project. At the moment i think this approach is fair and serves its purpose well. Under different circumstances i would gladly phase such content out in favor of actual voicework and 2d/3d assets but it is not going to happen anytime soon.

Other assets are either made by myself (very easy to spot) or are CC0 assets from places like opengameart. Select few assets are contributed by kind friends for symbolic compensation.

Tech

Project is based on Unreal Engine 5 (currently 5.5.1). It is targeting 64 bit Windows machines with DX12/SM6 support (with possible fallback to SM5 DX11) with no plans for any other platforms (maybe besides Steam Deck support via proton but that pretty much only involves including gamepad support eventually)

Given its retro aesthetic, it does not utilize majority of technology UE offers, however Lumen is still utilized for Global Illumination and Distance Field shadowing is used for static objects, giving it an aesthetic similar to an old game called Nocturne.

Similarly, borrowing from early Immersive Sims, a lot of attention is paid to audio layer. Project utilizes Steam Audio implementation to delive real time raytraced audio simulation of spatialization, attenuation, occlusion, reverbs and pathing of sounds along with accurate surface properties of objects.

Levels are intented to be large pieces that interconnect with each other at defined spots, similar to FROM games, with fast travel system being similar to portals used in Soul Reaver 1.

As a point of personal (and professional) importance, the project is nearly entirely based on C++, leaving very little to the blueprints layer. However, as a nod to modding community, the assets are both unpacked and unencrypted allowing for easy swaps/alterations for anyone with minimal UE experience. Whilst logic layer does not currently have any intentional modding layer, it still should be freely modifiable using tools like UE4SS.

Lore? Plot?

I have couple of ideas bouncing around in my head but at this stage of the project they're largely irrelevant. The core idea is largely borrowed from games like Kings Field series or Lunacid to have events of the game take place in enclosed space like tower/well/cavern to justify smaller spaces, less asset variety, etc. Although if possible, it's not impossible for such place to somehow contain a slice of supposedly outdoors area.

Plans

Frankly? There is no real plan but I hope there will be one eventually, whether just for myself or for a bigger or smaller crowd, I fully intend to carry on with the project for as long as I can. I am sharing it on this website for progress tracking purposes and in hope that few more folks will enjoy it along the way and eventually perhaps it can grow to be something bigger (not strictly in a commercial product sense but I'd be more than happy to accept help in fields that I'm not profficient in). Whether that happens or not, I'll continue updating the project at my own pace. My philosophy is that as long as I keep working on anything that I currently feel like working on, progress is being made. It's not efficient or ordered in project management sense but it is progress nevertheless.

What is currently included?

• A single test level with all the mechanics/gimmicks.
• Player movement mechanics (dodging, vaulting/climbing, footing/balance mechanic, swimming, rope climbing/swinging, ladder movement)
• Basic UI system (menus/submenus/popups)
• Inventory system (items, equipment, usage, dropping/discarding, etc.)
• Immersive Sim'esque object interactions - carrying objects, objects health/breakage and associated visual effects along with loot table item spawns.
• Rudimentary dialogue system (currently based on node graph, may be migrated to flow graph in the future for greater flexibility)
• Basics of Health/Stamina/Mana system.
• Online backend allowing people to read and leave online messages using the glyph stone, akin to all core FROM souls games (so don't get freaked out that the game tries to get online access)
• Seamless portal mechanic.

What should arrive soon™?

In no particular order:

• Some sort of functional placeholder for player mesh(es), including animations
• Player related bits of combat mechanics (primarily weapons)
• Proper settings menu

What should arrive eventually?

• Actual NPCs both friendly and hostile
• Further UI polish
• Serialization system for saves
• Gamepad support

Medium term goal?

Probably to make a "vertical" slice in a form of a separate tutorial level that's entirely feature complete - has all proper assets, flow and voicework to guide the player through all of the existing mechanics.

Long term goal?

Likely to build upon tutorial and make at least a bit of the "proper" game world, likely introductory segment along with "hub" area and one or two explorable interconnected levels. Of course that goal is harder by an order of magnitude, largely due to asset constraints as by that point core tech and mechanics would already be in place so majority of the work would be related to sourcing assets and level design work.

And then?

No clue honestly, probably entering absolute free fall. Kitchen sinking ideas as long as it holds my interest or if the project builds any community around it - deciding where to go next based on feedback. No matter how it turns out to be, it is very unlikely for me to turn this into day job/full time/commercial kind of project so I don't expect any rapid developments backed by substantial amounts of money. However if there was enough interest, it could be a free, very long term project backed by voluntary contributions.

Final words

I provide the project as-is, with no promises whatsoever towards anyone downloading it nor my own personal expectations of any sorts. Whether one person downloads it or somehow one thousand people do - I'm always happy to hear your opinions. You can catch me on Steam or Discord under same nickname as here, regardless of where and how You decide to leave your feedback, if it reaches me, I'll read it. I cannot make any promises as to whether or how I will act upon it but at the very least I will read it.