Progress Update for 1/8/25

Hello, visionaries and adventurers! It’s time to reflect on an incredible month of development for the MMO project. While the holidays brought their share of distractions, the past four weeks have been nothing short of transformative. Here’s where we’ve been and where we’re heading:

A Month of Reinvention and Learning
The theme of this milestone has been rethinking, refining, and reimagining. The Gameplay Ability System (GAS) has demanded a full-scale overhaul, but that challenge has brought with it a wealth of learning opportunities and the promise of a more robust foundation.

We’ve dived deep into:

• GAS Attribute Initialization: Created effects to initialize gameplay attributes at character start, setting a strong baseline for progression systems.
• Data Table Consistency: Resolved discrepancies between gametags and names in the Talent Data Table, ensuring data flows smoothly across systems.
• BPI Functions and Delegates: After realizing the limitations of BPI Functions and Events, we embraced Delegates to establish more scalable and efficient communication between components.

Challenges Embraced, Lessons Learned
This detour into GAS and related systems has felt like navigating a labyrinth, but each twist and turn has been a step closer to clarity. Compiler errors and runtime bugs were met head-on, and through persistence, the game is now compiling cleanly—a major milestone in its own right.

Even better, this process has led to meaningful improvements in key systems:

• Character Creation and Select: A fresh perspective on how these two systems interact has emerged, resulting in a design that is more intuitive, modular, and scalable for future expansion.
• Blueprint Cleanup: Refining Events and Functions across the board has paved the way for smoother development workflows and fewer debugging headaches.

Looking Ahead: The Light Beyond the Detour
As we exit this detour, the horizon is filled with opportunity:

• Back to Character Creation: It’s time to finalize talent selection and bring this feature to life in the most polished way possible.
• Gameplay Mechanics: Once Character Creation is solid, it’s time to implement the first gameplay mechanic—the Melee Weapons talent. This will be the first tangible step toward the rich, tactical combat the IP is known for.
• Expanding the World: With these foundational systems solidified, world-building can begin anew, laying the groundwork for a vibrant MMO experience.

Final Thoughts
As Steve Jobs once said, “Real artists ship.” While shipping may still be on the horizon, these foundational updates are what make the difference between an MMO that works and one that thrives. It’s a slow crawl now, but soon enough, we’ll be sprinting forward.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Here’s to the magic, the grind, and the vision that drives us forward!