What happened?

Hello there. During the previous month, it was done a study, essentially about a main topic: Chunk Downloader

What's a 'Chunk Downloader'?

Chunk Downloader is a feature in Unreal Engine that enables the game to auto-update, without the need to download the whole game each time that there is a new update. It had cost some time to investigate about the technical details and running some tests in one server. Everything seems to be working as expected, but with only with future updates, we will have 100% sure.

I needed to create a small script to auto-generate a BuildManifest file for this feature. Basically, it's a list with all the files info that the player's game will need to read to know if there is or not, some changed/new content to update. I will publish it on GitHub once I make a small documentation for it.

I also tested a few packaging configurations. The first scenario is only using .pak files (which is the default, fewer files to handle but higher disk size). The second scenario is using .utoc/.ucas container files (more files to download, but less disk size in total). This last one seems optimized and improved, but I would like to learn more about it before implement it.

Alpha Tests

A first, initial, and, very basic build with only a few features enabled was released (v0.0.0.1). The game is not ready for public demos yet, since everything stills WIP. I plan to only publish the demo page when it starts looking as a real game and not a prototype.

What's next?

I plan to:

• Improve UI ingame. 
• Update characters and remove manequins.
• Enable Building Component (with one/two options only)

Final Notes

I'm not sure if I will have content to share with you in the next time, to be honest. The game is ongoing slowly, and I really would like to make every single feature perfectly in one time. But that's not possible, unfortunately.

Probably, I will have a few pictures/videos to share, next time.

Don't forget to follow me, here or on any other platform, to stay updated.

Thank you!