The Aurora development cycle of my game Goldanniyatech began in and will probably finish around the end of 2026, driven by a crystal-clear objective: preparing the release of the free demo and the first Early Access version.
This was an important step to move from a set of previous prototypes and experimentations explained in my Genesis Update article, into a full-fledged game in production.
Benchmark Demo
I released a Benchmark Demo that I want to progressively turn into a full Gameplay Demo.
Early Access Release Date
I plan on releasing the Early Access at the end of 2026, first on the Epic Games Store.
The Aurora Update is focused on creating the core systems, such as the playable characters, the city (and its amusement park), the monsters combat system and quests.
Charlotte, the first Playable Character, has been heavily refined.
Two Playable Characters are planned for my demo: Charlotte and her brother Max. Each character features distinct gameplay mechanics and abilities.
I’ve also implemented an Outfit System that allows full outfit changes (not individual clothing items). For now, Charlotte will have two (possibly more) outfits available, helping me to test and refine the system ☺️.
While cosmetic features are cool, my current priority is expanding the roster of playable characters, which means more gameplay variety 😎.
Charlotte
Charlotte is an undercover psychic who officially works as a magician and an illusionist specialist.
Creatures are enemies in Golden. In fact, I differenciate between animals, which are either neutral or kind for players, and creatures (or monsters), which are enemies to fight.
Oddly enough, the main creature where I make the most tests is… A Halloween pumpkin 🎃. Probably because it was the first monster I’ve made in october 2018 for Golden.
Without going into too much detail for now, my game features multiple highly replayable quests.
Quest Collectibles
For every single Quest, each playable character has unique collectibles to discover and collect.
For instance, Charlotte has to gather ancient mystical books.
For the Aurora update, my main focus is Golden Avenue, which marks the starting point of the game. Thus, I worked on several shops and buildings at the same time, although some might be still closed for the demo and updated later.
Goldanniyatech Castle
The is the main castle, which will be extremely important for gameplay and progression. More about that in the following months!
I heavily simplified the design, with the goal of keeping the main walls almost entirely white and removing both blue and gold parts,
so the main menu remains more readable.
Supermarket
Beauty Care
The store might not be open for the demo or the initial Early Access release, but its interior will likely be well fully modeled by then.
Ice Cream Shop
I’ve made a small Ice Cream Shop that may help enhance certain abilities for a specific playable hero.
It’s quite a small place, but modeling it was a great opportunity to experiment with lightweight interiors.
Train Station
The Train Station is a key location in one of the earliest quests in my game. I really want it to be the largest station in my virtual universe 😅, so it may remain a work in progress for quite some time, even long after the quest is fully implemented and finalized.
NPC Vehicles & Transport
Amber Car
The Amber Car is a vintage-inspired model I’ve been wanting to design for a long time. I’m genuinely happy with how it turned out, as it really looks like a true collector’s car 😄.
Azure SUV
The goal with the Azure SUV was clearly to create a modern yet stylish SUV.
Wanderer Tramway
Electric Scooter
I really wanted to add a large variety of vehicles, including electric scooters.
I will work on the texturing process much later 😅, though! I want to finalize the model first and ensure it’s ready for displaying in my world, something that might require additional modeling tweaks! And trust me, fixing textures after making modeling adjustments is an absolute nightmare 😂!
Raptor Truck
This Raptor Truck is the first in a series of seven distinct trucks.
I tried multiple modeling workflows in Blender, ending up remodeling and refining the character multiple times to search for the most scalable system for having lot of characters, including changing some stuff (from T-pose to A-pose, hair and eyes method, etc.).
Animation
I also remade core animations (idle, walk, run, talk) and contextual animations (drive, etc.) with my custom rig/ armature in Blender. My goal was more than just polishing Charlotte’s model: it was about creating a scalable animation workflow for easily making lot of animations in Blender ☺️.
Blender’s animation system is both complex and well crafted. I know they’re planning to revamp the animation system too, for the Animation 2025 project, and I’m really looking forward to it. It might help me to improve my workflow. Only time will tell 😃.
Gameplay Scripting
To bring her to life in Unreal Engine, I rebuilt her movement and combat systems multiple times using Blueprints. I leave C++ optimization for systems that will be battle-tested, possibly after releasing the demo.
I also tried to run multiple tests for the user interface and character clothes customization. My goal was to decide whether to use individual piece of clothes or full outfits. I ended up deciding full outfits, as making individual piece of clothes would be too complicated and not scalable enough from a technical standpoint. It will slow me down without benefits on the most important side of the game: its gameplay.
