Captains Log Stardate: 03.18.21 11:50am — @ZSG
I'm experiencing this strange phenomena as of late; about two or three times a day, our progress really hits me. I have to pause for a moment and collect myself. It's an unfamiliar sensation, and the entire experience as a collective is still quite surreal to me. This is real. We're doing this. When we started this project months ago, we were half-serious about SPECTRE. The bare minimum was planned out, and we were just kindof making progress at a more casual, relaxed pace. That seems like a lifetime ago compared to the current state of SPECTRE. So much has changed since then, and I think the biggest impact came from the project's reception since our announcement. Having a community of enthusiasts supporting us and being actively involved with the project really gave us that push to kick things into high gear. SPECTRE has become this all-consuming entity. Everything somehow circles back to SPECTRE. For the first time in my life, I've started taking pictures of anything that sparks inspiration.
This collection of photos ranges from light reflecting off of a surface just right, to the distribution of trees in a forest, to textures and surfaces, and even just the layout of a well-arranged room. These, in turn, become a sort of guide for elements included in our maps. Art imitating life.
In technical news, Fred and I tossed around the idea of upgrading to the newest version of the Unreal Engine to take advantage of all of the incredible new features built in. Because this could potentially break everything, we're in the process of backing up SPECTRE (a few times in a few locations) to ensure we don't inadvertently kill the entire project. If you don't hear from us by tomorrow, we're probably too busy crying to socialize.
I'll leave you with a picture of trees I took while on a drive. I really liked the volumetric fog caused by the high humidity and warmer temperatures. I actually used this image to... You'll see.
- Jord