Category: Patreon

Development Roadmap for Cursed Crown!

Good morning, everyone! I gave myself the task to try to develop a roadmap for the features I have planned for Cursed Crown between now and when I release. After mocking up a few designs, I settled on what I’ve attached to this post. Let’s break it down.

Version 0.5.0: The Modernization Update

In this update, I plan to make the final updates to the tool versions I intend to use, barring anything unforeseen such as critical security fixes or similar. What I need to get done here is updating the Unreal Engine from version 5.6 to version 5.7. With that update, I’ll be forced to update the framework plugin I’m using, ACFU, to its most up-to-date version. Either one of these updates would be pretty benign on its own, but the last time I had to update both simultaneously, there were issues that arose that caused the upgrade to take weeks instead of hours.

Why do this update? Having the most up-to-date version of the tools allows me to make use of the most poweful and feature-rich versions while making sure that any security updates are also included. This update will also signify the final time I do this during the development cycle prior to the full release. If the game is popular enough and there is enough demand or compelling reason to do so, it’s possible I could upgrade again post-release. But that’s definitely not going to be decided untl the time comes.

Vesion 0.6.0: AI and Enemies

During the last large Unreal Engine and ACFU update, the AI I had written broke. I wasn’t able to solve it in a timely manner and simply removed the few enemies that were peppered into the testing landscape. Now that the game is larger and the tools will be updated to their final versions, it’s time to add the AI back in.

Why do this update? This one should be obvious, but in case it’s not: the world is pretty boring without any enemies to fight. Even during testing prior to a version build, it feels to even me that the world is barren. This needs fixing.

Version 0.7.0: Early Access

I want to get the game into Steam Early Access in a timely manner so people can test it and generate some hype.

Why do this update? It’s a necessary step toward releasing the game. I want to do it early so there’s enough time for people to get an idea of what will be included, but not so early that it doesn’t actually represent the game’s final vision. Version 0.7.0 seems like a reasonable point in development.

Version 0.8.0: The Flora and Fauna Update

Once the development of the game reaches a state where it’s able to be started, played, and completed, I want to make it “prettier.” I expect that the minimum viable product (MVP) includes all the planned dungeons and bosses to let the player reach credits and feel satisfied. But if I progress with my current plans, the world may still feel barren. The plan for this update is to break the overworld into a grid of 8×8 or 10×10 sections and spend time hand-tweaking each section to include more flora and fauna. (Hence the version title!) My intention is to also include things like birds or rabbits that you can stumble upon as you travel and will act realistically, running or flying away when they spot you.

Why do this update? The world of Valerath lives in my head. I want to do it justice, and the barren “desert” devoid of life that I’ve been creating doesn’t really represent the vibrancy that should exist.

Version 1.0.0: The Full Release

This release will be the full vision of the game. All the NPCs, dungeons, caves, and monsters will be here and woring.

Why do this update? This is what it all culminates in. Without this update, there is no reason for any of the releases leading up to it.

The Future

Now, what you see here is a set of guide posts. It shouldn’t be expected to represent all the development that will be done between now and the game’s release. Having 0.5.0 lead immediately into 0.6.0 isn’t realistic and you should expect to see 0.5.1, 0.5.2, and any other intermediate steps between. Also, remember that as a single person making all this, plans can, and very well may, change. I will try to keep to the plans, but I’ll make sure everyone is updated when they change.

Thank you all for sticking with me through this. The future looks bright, but long. As we keep marching forward, keep on gaming!

Download the 0.4.3 beta test build here: https://www.6fpsnetwork.com/download/cursed-crown-beta-0-4-3-20260523-patreon-download/

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Hello everyone! It’s that time again: release time! Today, I present version 0.4.3 for your testing and assessment. I wanted to have it put last weekend, but I made the build and during preliminary testing I discovered a couple issues that I wanted to correct before publishing.

New things to look out for:

• New mini dungeon: Refuge of the Condemned.

• Optimizations in the crafting ingredient harvesting and saving systems.

You shouldn’t notice any functional differences in the harvesting and creating, by design, but behind the scenes it’s a bit easier for me to maintain and add new ingredients and recipes for. The saving system is a bit of a different story. Functionally it’s working perfectly as intended, but it’s slower than I want it to be. But let’s make a deal: if you forgive it for now, I’ll make sure it’s a system that I continue to revisit and optimize. Okay?

Refuge of the Condemned is a new mini dungeon available right now. You can find a pre-unlocked fast travel point that you can warp directly to from the starting position. The structure, lighting, and details for the dungeon are set, but the sky atmosphere lighting does make it look a bit weird. I’ve added that as an issue to address soon.

I’m noticing as I play and test new builds that the world feels… well, empty. And I guess that’s because it is, isn’t it? I’m going to start focusing on rebuilding the AI for enemies and get some of them back in the game and start repopulating the areas. I also have a plan for how to further flesh out the world throughout development, but more on that as details are finalized on my end.

Once the upload of the new build is finished, I’ll put up some download links here and in Discord. You can always find updates on the Discord server or at 6fpsNetwork.com, but news and updates related to Cursed Crown will always be found here as well. Unfortunately, I can at least guarantee that there won’t be any more CC dev this weekend as one of my open sourced projects has a couple new issues that popped up recently and they need addressing, and, holiday weekend or not, I have to do some work for my nine-to-five as well. In the meantime, though, be sure to download the new build and take a look. Leave any feedback you can come up with here or on Discord. And most importantly, have yourself a great weekend, whether you have a holiday or not wherever you are. Keep on gaming, everyone!

Hello again, everyone! I hope you’re all having an excellent weekend!

I want to start off by letting everyone know that I have a web site that I try to keep updated with all the most recent information available for The Cursed Crown, contact information, and any other projects that I’ve made public. If you’re not aware of the site, it’s https://www.6fpsnetwork.com. Any news for The Cursed Crown can be found there, but will always be posted here first, so if you only check one place, Patreon is the place to be!

This weekend I spent some time doing some much-needed updating to my main web site. It was up-to-date with information, but its design looked more like something you would find on Geocities in the early 2000’s and I wanted to change that. I consulted a friend who built and manages his own web site (a rather successful and elegant one, if I may say so) and got his feedback. I set to work updating what I had and began to add new projects and pages to try to build things out as a bit of a portfolio. I’m not a web developer, but I know how to make what I’ve designed come out on the page, so it was mostly just a matter of figuring out what a modern web site needed to look like and how to structure it before I could get everything going. It’s not totally finished yet, but It’s a lot better than where it started last week.

If you take a look at the site and find anything that seems off or just want to provide some feedback, be sure to get in touch here, there, on Discord, or wherever! I’m always interested in helpful criticisms.

Unfortunately, that means that my development time for The Cursed Crown suffered this weekend. While I’m satisfied with the amount of work I got done this week, it wasn’t necessarily in the place you all might have wanted it to be. For that, I apologize, and I’ll make it up to you all this coming week!

Thanks for sticking with me on this journey of development and learning. Until next time, keep on gaming!

Good afternoon everyone! I don’t have a new build this week as I’m still in the middle of development of new features. But I wanted to give everyone an update on some of the progress I’ve been making in an effort to keep you all as up to date as possible.

Here is a short preview of the new mini dungeon that I’ve been working on for a bit now. I hope it demonstrates some good progress in my level building skills. I know that the El’Mi Ruins are pretty basic in design compared to this. Building this cave also felt like a smoother process, if that makes sense. Of course, I’ll be revisiting these maps as the game progresses. I’ll add some new additions in and I’ll have to place enemies and pickups as they’re ready for use as well. So expect more in the weeks to come. For now, though, thanks for tuning in and keep on gaming!

Download the 0.4.0 beta test build here: https://www.6fpsnetwork.com/download/cursed-crown-beta-0-4-0-20260215-patreon-download/

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It was exactly one year ago today that I released the 0.3.0 version of The Cursed Crown, marking the end of the tech demo phase and the beginning of the beta phase. Honestly, it’s been a rough journey filled with a lot of progress and just as many setbacks. Today, I’d like to present you with the 0.4.0 beta release. There are a lot of little updates here and there (the git commit was for 11,185 files), but here are the most important changes:

• General terrain updates. More decorations and foliage added. Specific note: El’Mi Ruins Vicinity with associated fast travel point.

• Fast travel points at general locations around the overworld island. All currently unlocked for beta testing.

• First major dungeon added: El’Mi Ruins. The initial blockout is complete. As development progresses, decoration, lighting, pickups, and enemies will be added to the ruins to flesh the dungeon out.

• Crafting system implemented. Initial crafting ingredients and recipes are added as well as the crafting table where the crafting can be done. Harvest points have been implemented for the first things that can be gathered in game. These are not currently spread around the world, but there is a temporary station near the initial overworld spawn point where you can test the functionality out. Look for the pink crystal! The art for the crafting “table” itself will be updated as development progresses.

• Updated Unreal to version 5.6.1 and ACFU to version 4.0. This is what took much of my time initially, as quite a few errors popped up and had to be dealt with.

• Behind the scenes things to keep documentation going smoothly and make sure proper design and planning is being done. As things progress further in development, there’s less and less room for sloppy, unplanned development.

Known Issues

• AI enemies have been removed due to issues with upgrading Unreal Engine and ACFU. They will be added back in when they can be fixed.

Hello everyone! Now that the holidays are over and everything is probably back into their normal rhythm, I wanted to give a new update for the new year. If you’re just looking for the roadmap, skip ahead a bit!

First, let me say that I’m sorry that the updates have been going slowly. That’s entirely my fault and it comes down to not making the progress that I was originally hoping to make. When I first started implementing things, I was adding them rapidly There wasn’t much in the game yet, so there wasn’t really anything that could break if created or changed other things. But now that the codebase is getting larger, I have to check a lot more to ensure that there are no unintended side effects when adding new things to the game. Also, I’ll just flatly admit that it’s a lot harder building levels in Unreal than it was “back in the day” with id Tech 2 or Build. I’m learning a lot about how to speed up the process as I go, but it’s still going slowly for now.

That being said, here’s what is currently working in the game: character and movement, bonfire-like save spots, fast travel teleportation, crafting, in-world ingredient harvesting (farming system planned for later, but not confirmed), NPCs, and a mostly-empty world map. There are obviously the othe basics like multiple types of doors, keys for locked versions of the same, item pickups, weapons, etc., but most of them don’t warrant their own mention since they are features that need to be there and aren’t anything special. I’m also around 50% through the base (read: undecorated at this point) level building of the El’Mi Ruins, an old Elven magic research area underground. There may be something worthwhile to find there and additional discoveries for the observant.

Now, what you’ve really come here for: the roadmap for the next minor version, 0.4.0.

• Finish El’Mi Ruins blockout. (It’ll be discoverable and explorable, but may not be entirely decorated in its final form.)

• Update Unreal Engine to 5.7 and ACFU to 4.2. (Final updates. This will lock in the final version of the tools that will be used for the game’s development and release.)

• Finish implementing the base harvestable crops and add some throughout the overworld. (I won’t just randomly place these. They’ll be hand-placed to ensure there arn’t too many of them and they’re in reasonable places. Different materials will be found in different areas.)

The biggest variable will be the updates to Unreal Engine and ACFU. I can’t predict how much will break in the update and require fixing. Honestly, that’s my logic behind not updating any more after this set of patches. I only want to grab these in particular for a couple really interesting features. (Specifically, the voxel LODs for foliage. It should do some amazing things for long-distance rendering. Good job, Epic. 😘) Unfortunately, there is a significant chance that the updates to the Unreal Engine and ACFU will come with a lot of breakage in existing blueprints and code, forcing me to expend time and energy just getting back to where we are right now.

All things considered, I promise that I’m still making progress and I will do my best to make more regular updates for everyone here and on the Discord server. If you’ve got any thoughts, questions, or suggestions on the development of The Cursed Crown, stop by and chat with us. Thank you to everyone for sticking with me on this long road. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and I hope this is the start of a glorious and fruitful year for all of you!

Download the 0.3.3 beta test build here: https://www.6fpsnetwork.com/download/cursed-crown-beta-0-3-3-20250719-patreon-download/

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