Unreal Engine 5

Originally posted on Steam on December 11, 2023. We are catching up on the backlog and will eventually post the devblogs here as they are published.

Disclaimer: Features discussed in this post reflect what is currently under development and not necessarily what will be shipping with the next test. Anything mentioned below may change at any time due to the experimental nature of Pre-Alpha development. Nothing mentioned here should be taken as a promised feature or addition to the eventual game.

MAJOR PVP TEST DEC 15

The next major PvP test will be happening on December 15th. If you haven't signed up for test access and want to participate, please head to the Anvil Empires store page to sign up. Note that testers are selected at random by Steam. Many additions and tweaks have been made since the last Major Test. Below are highlights of some of the more significant changes.

HOUSE INTERIORS

All houses now have interior spaces whereas they were previously closed off. Instead of claiming a House directly, a Bed must now be placed and claimed instead. Storage Chests, Ovens, and other structures can also be built inside Houses.

While a fixed House can be built for convenience, players can also build modular houses with custom designs. Modular houses are made up of parts that can be snapped together and can have larger interiors. Below is an example of a Modular House.

ANIMAL ROPE

Animals can now be leashed with Animal Rope, allowing them to be guided along a path on foot. Leashed animals can also be tied to trees to prevent them from wandering off on their own.

Animal Rope can also be used to chain together multiple Donkeys, which allows for even more equipment and provisions to be transported across long distances.

ANIMAL SADDLES

Before bred animals can become useful, they must be equipped with a Saddle. There are three different types of Saddles that can be produced.

PACK SADDLE

This type of Saddle is used on Donkeys to transport items. Up to 6 stackable items can be stored on a Pack Saddle equipped Donkey. Large items are not supported.

MILL HARNESS

Donkeys can be equipped with a Mill Harness, enabling them to be used to generate power on an Animal Mill. Generating power this way is an alternative to water based technologies like Water Wheels.

BASIC SADDLE

Before Horses can be mounted, a Basic Saddle must be used. Basic Saddles also include 3 stackable slots for item storage.

MARKETPLACE SHOPS

Players can now build Marketplace Shops, which allows them to put items up for sale for Silver. Silver in turn can be used for buying items from other players or Merchants, and paying Homestead taxes. Marketplace ownership can be shared with other players that are part of the same Homestead.

The contents of Marketplace Shops can also be visible on the world map, enabling trade to occur over long distances.

NEW WORLD MAP

The world has been expanded once again since the last test, doubling in size. The map now consists of 6 regions. In addition to the increase in territory size, the contents of the map have been tweaked with bug fixes and other improvements to improve overall gameplay.

Be sure to add Anvil Empires to your wish list on Steam. If you want to join the community, head over the to official Discord server or Subreddit.