Greetings Sentinels,

As we enter the holiday season, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has stayed with us, supported us, and continued to believe in Chrono Odyssey. Your enthusiasm and dedication have been a true gift to our team, inspiring us to push forward to ever greater heights.

We know many of you are eager to see new updates and visible progress. We feel your excitement, and we’re committed to meeting those expectations while taking the time necessary to ensure we build everything with care, intention, and quality in mind.

When we look back at the Closed Beta Test held in June, it offered meaningful insights into both our progress and the challenges ahead. The test yielded an incredible amount of feedback, with many positive impressions as well as valuable critiques that helped pinpoint where we truly needed to grow. Every piece of feedback was carefully reviewed and taken to heart.

Since then, the team has been working tirelessly to make fundamental improvements across multiple core areas of the game. These changes require time, but they are essential to building the quality we envision for Chrono Odyssey.

Please note that all the features and systems mentioned here are still a work in progress, and further adjustments will continue.

One of the most significant updates is our new lighting system, which offers far greater freedom and control when shaping the mood of each area. Some areas now appear clearer, while others lean into a darker, more atmospheric tone that fits the cosmic horror identity of Chrono Odyssey. 

Clouds now react more naturally to sunlight, the new wind system is simpler and easier to work with, and fog is fully integrated into the environment for a more cohesive and immersive visual experience. Altogether, these improvements create richer and more realistic visuals while maintaining stable overall performance. Following additional polishing, we will share a closer look through a dedicated video at a later date.

The rendering improvements address several visual inconsistencies and help surfaces and materials appear more natural. Character rendering, including equipment and hair, has also been optimized. These changes reduce GPU load and improve performance without compromising the game’s overall visual quality.

We’ve made adjustments to monster attack hitboxes so they more accurately align with what players see on screen.

For the Thousandfold Piercer, attacks that previously registered as hits outside of their visual effects have been corrected. Attacks that once relied on a single hitbox have been updated to use multiple hitboxes that better follow the animation, making dodge timing clearer and more reliable.

For the Optio Brute, AOE attacks now deal damage exactly where their visual effects appear. Its attacks have been reworked with multiple hitboxes, reducing confusion and making enemy attack patterns easier to read and react to during combat.

The lock-on mechanism has been refined to improve visibility and mitigate instances where camera angles could feel obstructive or visually off-putting during combat. 

Previously, targeting enemies with a higher lock-on socket position would result in an awkward, low-angle upward tilt. The overall camera angle has now been raised, better adapting to the distance between the player and the designated target.

These changes keep enemies within frame more consistently to improve target readability and combat clarity.

In addition to the changes outlined above, we have also completed several optimization improvements that may be less noticeable at a glance but contribute to overall performance stability.

We removed unnecessary StaticMesh and material rendering passes, as well as redundant calculations, reducing shader calls per frame by approximately 40%. We also cleaned up unused materials, textures, and resource references, lowering average memory usage by about 20%. In tandem, we refined environment and landscape streaming logic to reduce unnecessary load and unload events and to stabilize memory usage during streaming. As a result of these optimizations, GPU usage fluctuations during long play sessions have been reduced, leading to more stable overall frame performance.

We are also in the final stages of polishing some improvements related to Combat, Quality of Life Changes, and other Visual Improvements, which we look forward to sharing in more detail in the upcoming Developer's Notes.

All of these updates reflect steady, ongoing progress toward refining the overall experience. While there is still work ahead, each improvement brings the game closer to the standard we are aiming for. 

We deeply appreciate everyone who continues to support and wait for our dream game to come to life. Your feedback and patience remain invaluable as we move forward. We will keep you updated with more progress in the coming months. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out the Chrono Odyssey Official X and Discord for plenty of mini-updates and behind-the-scenes content.

Until then, wishing you a warm and joyful holiday season,

The Chrono Odyssey Development Team

Hello, this is the Chrono Odyssey Development Team.

As a continuation of Part 1, this follow-up developer note will cover additional areas we’re actively working to improve. What we’ll be addressing are:

• Combat Systems (2/2)

• Content & Open World

• Progression & Gameplay Flexibility

• Technical Stability

• Art (Design & Animations)

• UI & UX

• Balance

• Social Features

• In-game Guidance

• Sound

• Narrative

Before we dive into the details, we’d like to once again thank everyone who joined the recent closed beta and took the time to share their feedback.

As always, your insights and suggestions are deeply appreciated, as they play a pivotal role in refining Chrono Odyssey and shaping the journey ahead.

1. Controls

2. Hit Feedback

3. Damage Feedback

4. Skill

5. Class

6. Weapon Swap

7. Balance

8. Camera & FOV

9. Enemy AI

10. Difficulty

11. PvP

\[Issues]

• Long recovery frames made it difficult to input new commands during ongoing animations.

• Certain motions remained unresponsive even after visual completion.

• Weapon swapping and other combat actions suffered from input buffering, resulting in delayed response.

• Some content felt sluggish due to latency issues.

• UI interactions lacked clear visual feedback, making it hard to confirm whether an input was registered.

\[Our Plan]

• We’ll be adjusting the interruption timing for movement, attack, and skill animations to improve responsiveness.

• The buffering window for inputs will be significantly reduced to prevent unintended actions from being triggered.

• Colors and effects across all interactions will be adjusted, and a unified UI kit will be introduced to improve clarity and visual feedback.

• A system-level feedback cue will be added when players attempt to cancel out a non-interruptible action.

• To further improve input responsiveness, we’ll be reviewing client-server packet transmission and optimizing network performance.

\[Issues]

• The current UI was not specifically designed with either control scheme in mind, resulting in inconsistent and uncomfortable experiences across both setups.

• Many in-game interactions were developed around controller input, making keyboard & mouse controls feel unintuitive.

  Controller users experienced difficulties with ranged targeting, and lacked access to fine-tuned settings such sensitivity adjustment, vibration/haptic feedback, accessibility options, and overall responsiveness.

\[Our Plan]

• Keyboard & Mouse

  • UX will be optimized specifically for keyboard & mouse environments.

  • Hold interactions, which are commonly used for controller inputs, will be minimized or removed.

• Controller

  • UX will be optimized specifically for controller environments.

  • UI pages with inconvenient key mapping (e.g., Inventory) will be redesigned for better navigation.

  • Preset options inspired by Soulslike and MMORPG control schemes will also be added.

• Universal Improvements

  • UI navigation depth will be minimized, and essential functions will be reassigned to more accessible buttons.

  • To support more personalized control experiences, custom key mapping options and various input settings such as sensitivity scaling and input inversion will be enhanced.

  • We’ll be improving the lock-on feature to reduce control inconsistencies during combat for a more seamless experience.

  • Skills will now consistently target locked-on enemies, rather than firing based on the current camera direction.

\[Issues]

• Monsters had excessively high stagger thresholds, resulting in weak hit reactions and reduced sense of impact.

• Crowd control effects had extremely short durations, making it difficult to take advantage of said effects during combat.

• It was often hard to measure the correct distance needed to land attacks.

\[Our Plan]

• Hit reactions will occur more frequently, and knockback effects will be added to make hits easier to recognize.

  • Enemy attack patterns will be adjusted to allow for varied player responses such as parrying, countering, blocking, and dodging, adding more depth to combat.

  • The same reactive effects will be applied to enemy attacks, enhancing the sense of impact and increasing combat tension.

• All enemy hit reactions will be reviewed to identify missing animations, which will be implemented as needed.

• Hit reaction behaviors will be standardized across monster types to support experience-based learning and improve clarity in encounters.

• Damage floaters and HP bar animations will be enhanced to make successful hits more noticeable.

• CC durations will be increased to 2-4 seconds, making successful crowd control effects more apparent and allowing more opportunities for follow-up attacks.

\[Issues]

• Damage feedback often felt weak, reducing the sense of impact when taking hits.

• Incoming damage often went unnoticed when players were interacting with menus.

• Misaligned hitboxes and network latency caused outcomes that didn’t match what was displayed on screen.

\[Our Plan]

• Damage notifications will be improved to ensure players recognize incoming damage, even while using the in-game menu.

• Enemy attack motions, visual effects, and hitboxes will be aligned to improve clarity.

• Client-server response times will be optimized to minimize hit and damage timing delays.

• New hit reaction animations will be added based on the type of enemy attack, improving the visibility of effects like stagger and knockback.

• Sound and camera effects will be enhanced to improve the sense of impact.

• Baseline hit animations will be refined so that attacks produce a consistent and noticeable visual reaction.

\[Issues]

• Skill chaining felt difficult to execute due to lack of synergy between abilities.

• Passive skill enhancements were often more efficient, reducing incentive to use active skill combos.

\[Our Plan]

• The skill system will be refined to support a wider range of playstyles, even within the same class or weapon.

• Each weapon will support four distinct combat styles, allowing players to create builds based on their progression path.

• Skill synergies will not be limited to a single weapon. Skills across different weapons will link together, opening up various combinations.

• We will continue to develop skill chaining and progression systems over time, reinforcing a structure that’s easy to grasp yet hard to master.

\[Issues]

• Some skill descriptions were too long and hard to understand.

• It was unclear which effects corresponded to each buff icon.

• Buffs and debuffs had visibility issues, and it was hard to track their duration.

• The Chronotector's Summon ability lacked in-game guidance.

\[Our Plan]

• Skill descriptions will be refined, with videos added to active skills for better clarity.

• The HUD for buffs and debuffs will be redesigned to improve visibility, with new effects added when buffs or debuffs are applied for better player awareness.

• Summon UI will be updated to display specter types, backstories, abilities, and enhancement details.

\[Issues]

• All classes currently share similar roles (tank/healer/DPS), lacking distinct identity.

• Ranged classes are easier to play compared to melee classes.

• Monster AI does not pose a meaningful threat to ranged classes.

• There are significant balance discrepancies between the three weapons available for each class.

\[Our Plan]

• Monster AI will be improved to ensure monsters respond more effectively to ranged attacks.

• Introduction of the Matrix system (skill tree nodes)

  • The Matrix will allow players to choose specific roles for each weapon, reinforcing  combat style identity.

  • Even when using the same weapon, players will be able to choose from four distinct styles based on their progression path.

  • Based on progression paths, the same skill may deliver a different combat experience.

  • With the introduction of the Matrix system, all classes will be re-evaluated for combat balance.

\[Issues]

• Weapon swaps often felt delayed, occurring only after skill animations ended.

• Pressing the weapon swap key multiple times could queue several inputs, often causing the wrong weapon to be equipped.

• When swapping weapons during combat, it was often difficult to recognize which weapon was currently in use.

\[Our Plan]

• Skill recovery times will be reduced to allow smoother weapon swaps during ongoing skill animations.

• The buffer window for weapon swaps will be shortened to less than 1 second so that swaps feel more responsive.

• A short cooldown will be applied to swaps, preventing unintended double swaps.

• HUD design for equipped weapons will be enhanced to improve visibility during combat.

• Visual and HUD effects will be added to make transitions more noticeable.

\[Issues]

• Combat patterns focus too heavily on dodging and attacking, making encounters feel simplistic and repetitive.

• All classes offered a similar combat experience, weakening class identity and variety.

• Lack of proper hit and damage feedback made all encounters feel similar.

• Awkward enemy AI and animations disrupted combat pacing and broke immersion.

\[Our Plan]

• Enemy AI will be adjusted to react to player movement, rather than solely following priority-based action sequences.

• Wind-up animations for enemy skills that inflict knockbacks, stuns, and knockdowns will be improved to better signal danger and allow players to respond accordingly.

• The Matrix system will introduce various combat styles, even for players using the same weapon.

• Through the Matrix system, players will be able to create and combine various builds that match their preference.

\[Issues]

• Combat difficulty felt unintentionally high due to unclear attack telegraphs, making it difficult to time dodges or attacks.

\[Our Plan]

• Monsters with subtle pre-attack motions will have more noticeable animations to make it easier for players to anticipate incoming attacks.

• FOV and sensitivity settings will be improved to give players a clearer view of enemy movement.

• Patterns with wide hitboxes or long tracking sequences will be adjusted, making it easier to dodge or block incoming attacks.

• Players will no longer be instantly defeated by bosses unless they’re significantly underleveled.

\[Issues]

• The camera zoomed in too close to the character near walls or certain environments, hindering visibility.

• Vertical camera shaking hindered gameplay experience, especially when traversing uneven terrain.

• Locking onto large monsters fixed the camera at an upward angle, limiting visibility during combat.

• In certain situations, the camera tracked too slowly, causing it to fall behind the attack direction.

\[Our Plan]

• Objects between the character and camera will turn transparent to maintain clear visibility.

• Camera movement will be smoothed out to reduce excessive screen shaking.

• Lock-on positions will be adjusted based on monster type to ensure camera angles are better suited for combat.

• Attacks and skills will now directly target the locked-on enemy, rather than following the camera’s facing direction.

\[Issues]

• Aggro detection and response times were too slow, reducing combat tension and immersion.

• Enemies often failed to react immediately after taking damage or spotting a player.

• Enemies sometimes stopped acting mid-combat, breaking the flow of battle.

• AI behavior was overly simple and predictable.

• Some enemies would get stuck in walls or fail to navigate terrain properly.

\[Our Plan]

• Monsters will now calculate target distance instantly, rather than pausing before entering combat.

• Aggro detection range will be increased.

• Enemy attack behavior will adjust depending on the player’s distance.

• Additional crowd control abilities will be added to diversify enemy patterns.

• In accordance with the changes above, enemies will have clearer wind-up animations to ensure players can respond appropriately.

• Monsters that get stuck in terrain will automatically reset their position.

\[Issues]

• Players encountered sharp difficulty spikes when entering certain content too early.

• Lack of guidance on recommended levels or clear progression paths caused players to give up.

• The game’s non-linear design contributed to uneven difficulty jumps.

\[Our Plan]

• First Chrono Gate (Thousandfold Piercer)

  • Players will now reach the first Chrono Gate around level 5 instead of level 3.

    • Additional progression paths will be introduced before entering the first Chrono Gate.

  • Players will have the option to enter the first Chrono Gate alongside an NPC for support.

• Solo/Party Content

  • Solo and party content will have clearer rules and revised patterns.

    • Solo content such as Chrono Gates, Labyrinths, and Trials will be redesigned with deeper, technical combat rather than fighting enemy mobs

    • Party content such as Expedition and Time Portals will feature varied mission objectives that emphasize strategic, role-based gameplay.

• Others

  • Core content will now include guidance for recommended party size, level range, and gear score.

\[Issues]

• UI elements such as notifications, buffs, and damage numbers frequently covered the screen.

• Overly bright visual effects made it difficult to distinguish between ally and enemy skills.

• Screen shake, excessive brightness, and overlapping effects hindered combat visibility.

• Many skill effects appeared too similar and hard to distinguish.

\[Our Plan]

• HUD will be redesigned to improve visibility of skill cooldowns and resource indicators.

• Glow effects will be reduced, and combat visuals will be refined to ensure character motions are more visible.

• Players will now have the option to toggle combat visuals.

\[Issues]

• It was difficult to recognize duel zones due to the lack of clear visual boundaries.

\[Our Plan]

• A visual barrier will be added to indicate the boundaries of the duel zone.

• A warning notification will appear when a player nears the edge of the zone.

• A result pop-up will be added at the end of each duel.

1. World

2. Region Structure

3. Navigation

4. Interactions

5. Exploration Rewards

6. Local Quests

7. Dungeons

8. Open World Content

\[Issues]

• Low content density and a lack of regional distinction led to underutilized areas and reduced immersion.

\[Our Plan]

• We’ll be increasing content density throughout the world and introducing new exploration elements, such as themed caves and diverse exploration routes.

• To help players navigate through the world more easily, we’ll be adding landmarks to complex or hard-to-navigate areas.

• Gathering materials such as herbs and ores will have clearer textures to make them easier to locate.

• We’ll be adding scenic viewpoints that reveal breathtaking landscapes as players turn corners or reach elevated terrain.

• Guidance elements will be added to travel paths to help players discover core content such as Chrono Gates.

\[Issues]

• Despite the expansive open world, terrain textures felt repetitive and underwhelming.

• Environmental details lacked polish, creating a noticeable gap between what was shown in trailers.

\[Our Plan]

• Region-specific features such as swamps, misty forests, wildflower fields, and grasslands will be further enhanced to strengthen visual identity.

• A dynamic grass system will be implemented, and the wind system will be improved to create immersive environmental interactions based on player movement.

\[Issues]

• Players often got lost due to unintuitive pathing in certain regions.

• Many players were unaware of the inn return feature and ended up running back to settlements.

\[Our Plan]

• Additional routes will be added to areas that require frequent backtracking.

• The inn return feature will receive improved guidance and visibility.

\[Issues]

• The lack of terrain and altitude indicators made it difficult for players to navigate the world map.

• The compass provided limited directional guidance, making it difficult for players to locate objectives even when nearby.

\[Our Plan]

• The compass will now include altitude indicators, using up/down arrows to reflect the location of the objective.

• Areas will be visually differentiated so that players can better identify points of interest.

  • What is a Point of Interest (POI)?

    • A POI is a visually distinct area—such as striking structures, lights, or objects—that catch players’ attention from a distance. These locations often lead to hidden rewards or special events.

• Explored and unexplored content will be clearly marked on the World Map to help track exploration progress.

• We’ll be enhancing the quest tracker to provide better guidance. However, for certain quests, guidance will only extend to a general area to encourage exploration.

• Players will be able to place additional custom markers and use a new memo feature to track important locations or mark resource collection points.

• Inconsistencies between terrain and the World Map will be corrected.

\[Issues]

• POIs often lacked meaningful content or rewards, which led to a disappointing experience.

\[Our Plan]

• We’ll be introducing hidden caves, narrative encounters, and gathering opportunities to POIs to make exploration more rewarding.

\[Issues]

• It was difficult to distinguish climbable terrain due to a lack of visual cues.

• Players often wasted time attempting to climb non-traversable terrain.

\[Our Plan]

• Non-traversable terrain will now feature distinct visual elements, such as rocks and cliffs at least twice the height of the player, to clearly indicate areas that cannot be climbed.

\[Issues]

• It was difficult to tell if gathering was successful due to a lack of clear visual feedback.

• Gathering effects were too plain, making the overall process tedious.

\[Our Plan]

• Gathering animations, effects, and sounds will be enhanced to make the process more rewarding.

• Visual and sound effects for material disappearance upon successful gathering will be enhanced.

\[Issues]

• Interactive elements could only be triggered from specific positions, hindering gameplay experience.

\[Our Plan]

• We’ll be enhancing interaction responsiveness and methods to deliver a more intuitive and immersive experience.

  • All navigation data tied to interaction positioning will be thoroughly reviewed to ensure smoother and more accurate position alignment during interactions.

  • Interactive objects will now use short-press interactions, reducing unnecessary delays.

\[Issues]

• Exploration lacked meaningful ties to core content, which led to a weaker sense of purpose.

• Rewards were not compelling enough, making exploration feel inefficient and less engaging.

\[Our Plan]

• New Dynamic Quests and Chain Quests will be introduced, unlocked exclusively through exploring specific areas.

• Hidden rewards will be added to strengthen the purpose of exploration.

• Rare achievements and titles exclusive to exploration will be introduced.

\[Issues]

• The value of rewards often felt underwhelming compared to content difficulty, diminishing the intended loop of challenge, reward, and progression.

• The drop rates of high-value items were too low, making content feel more tiring than motivating.

• Progression was heavily reliant on life skills, which reduced the appeal of exploration, combat, and co-op activities, especially in early stages of the game.

\[Our Plan]

• The progression structure will be refined to ensure players can progress through a variety of content, including world exploration.

  • Each type of content will feature distinct progression mechanics designed to boost motivation and encourage participation.

\[Issues]

• Local quests feel overly repetitive, making the overall gameplay experience less engaging.

\[Our Plan]

• Beyond the main questline, we’re adding meaningful events tailored to each region, along with quests that feature unique, memorable characters.

• We’re also reworking certain quests so that player choices influence how they progress and conclude, aiming to create a more varied and dynamic experience.

\[Issues]

• Rewards for local quests were underwhelming, making players less motivated to engage with them.

\[Our Plan]

• To improve the overall value of questing, we’re planning to boost the value of local quest rewards.

  • We’ll be adding lore-related items, rare materials, and equipment that directly contribute to character growth.

  • There will also be exclusive accomplishments, titles, skins, and other collectibles that can only be earned through local quests.

• Players will be able to choose from a pool of rewards upon completing a quest.

  • This will allow players to select what best fits their playstyle and preferences.

\[Issues]

• The current dungeon experience leans too heavily on combat, whether in solo or party play.

• While solo dungeons received positive feedback, the overall experience still lacked depth and polish.

\[Our Plan]

• \[Expedition Dungeons]

  • We’re introducing randomized gimmicks to make each run feel unique.

  • Depending on the path you take, you’ll encounter different bosses, treasure chests, and other events for a more dynamic experience.

  • To encourage replayability, additional rewards will be granted when completing the same dungeon multiple times.

• \[Trials]

  • We’re enhancing the overall atmosphere of Trials and layout variety across chambers to make the experience feel more distinct.

  • A new card system is on the way, offering buffs and debuffs that introduce a strategic, rogue-lite element to each run.

• \[Labyrinths]

  • More revival points will be added, allowing players to restart from the middle instead of going back to the entrance.

  • Levers will be replaced with platform-style buttons to keep gameplay flow smooth and uninterrupted.

• \[Time Portals]

  • Each run will include varied combat setups and new gimmicks to keep the experience fresh.

• \[Chrono Gates]

  • To support replayability, we’ll be adding new accomplishments and a variety of exclusive rewards.

\[Issues]

• There were difficulties understanding what was happening on screen during large-scale battles.

• During field boss fights in particular, skill effects often caused major visibility issues.

\[Our Plan]

• We will be introducing a toggle option that allows players to show or hide other players’ skill effects for better visual clarity.

• Additionally, certain class skills with disruptive visuals will be adjusted to reduce clutter during combat.

\[Issues]

• Some high-difficulty content, like field bosses, often felt unrewarding relative to the amount of effort required.

• On top of that, the lack of clear notifications made it hard to tell when or if rewards had been received.

\[Our Plan]

• Field bosses will now drop unique, boss-specific gear, making them feel more meaningful and worth the challenge.

• Players who contribute to the fight will also see clear visual and audio feedback when receiving rewards, improving the overall sense of progression.

1. Stats & Progression

2. Gear

3. Enhancements & Crafting System

4. Gear & Skill Presets

5. Gathering & Crafting

\[Issues]

• The lack of clear explanations for each stat led to confusion about their actual impact.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re adding detailed descriptions for stats and updating the UI so players can clearly see what benefits they gain.

\[Issues]

• The EXP curve beyond level 10 made leveling feel unnecessarily slow.

• After the second Chrono Gate, many players weren’t sure how to progress or where to head next.

\[Our Plan]

• We will be significantly reducing the EXP cost after level 10 to smooth out the progression flow.

• Following the second Chrono Gate, new guides will help players stay on track and engaged.

\[Issues]

• Repetitive farming loops caused the game to feel stale over time.

• Core content like dungeons lacked replayability, with each run offering little variation in encounters or patterns.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re planning to increase incentives for exploring the open world, encouraging players to challenge themselves with a wider range of content.

  • Players will be able to obtain unique gear in the open world that includes additional passive effects. This will offer new goals and motivations for gear farming.

  • Beyond gear, rewards like Elixir Chests, Chronotector Enhancement Points, and Matrix Points will also be obtainable through open-world activities.

• We’re also introducing an alternative path where players can trade in a set amount of collected materials for a specific item of their choice.

\[Issues]

• Due to the constraints of the closed beta test, players didn’t have many opportunities to experiment with different gear setups.

• Some gear felt underwhelming or lacked a clear purpose.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re working to make stat increases feel more impactful by diversifying builds and highlighting each one’s strengths.

• Unique gear will be rebalanced to support a wider variety of progression styles and builds.

• Monsters will now drop exclusive gear with passive effects designed to encourage build experimentation and diversity.

• We’ll also be adding a toggle option to hide headgear or cloaks, allowing players to keep their stats while customizing character appearance.

\[Issues]

• Obtaining enhancement materials with Gold and having a 100% success rate made the overall experience less exciting.

\[Our Plan]

• Instead of making it a repetitive process, enhancement materials will be given out as a one-time reward.

• Players will now be able to find enhancement materials by exploring the world.

\[Issues]

• The crafting interface lacked proper guidance, making it difficult for players to understand how the system worked or which materials were required.

• Crafting levels and their effects weren’t clearly explained.

• It was also hard to tell what each material was used for, which made crafting outcomes feel unintuitive.

• Additionally, the item list wasn’t sorted in a meaningful way, forcing players to scroll through long lists just to find relevant recipes.

\[Our Plan]

• To better explain the benefits of higher crafting levels, we’re adding a dedicated page or interface section that breaks down their effects.

• A new bookmark feature will let players track required materials for specific items, making it easier to follow the crafting process step by step.

• We’re also improving the interface so it prioritizes recipes relevant to the player’s class and level, improving overall usability.

\[Issues]

• Without a preset system, players had to manually swap out gear and skills every time they wanted to change builds, which was time-consuming and inconvenient.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re introducing gear and skill presets, allowing players to quickly switch between different playstyles.

\[Issues]

• Crafting results often felt underwhelming compared to the value of the materials consumed.

• Gathering felt overly repetitive, making the overall experience feel tedious over time.

\[Our Plan]

• The gear crafting UI will be updated to better reflect potential outcomes.

• Both the UI and visual effects for gathering and crafting will now reflect character progression and new life skills.

• We’re also improving gathering animations and related visuals for a more satisfying experience.

• Additionally, gathering will now have a chance to yield higher-grade materials and larger quantities.

1. Bugs

2. Performance

3. World Optimization

During the closed beta test, we identified a wide range of areas that need improvement, including combat systems, character animations, UI/UX, map navigation, quest progression, party mechanics, and more. We’re actively reviewing all reported bugs and feedback, and many of the issues are already being tested and addressed. We truly appreciate everyone who took the time to share their thoughts. Your feedback is helping us build a more polished and stable experience for the next test.

\[Issues]

• Unstable frame rates during combat made the game feel less responsive than it actually was.

• Certain skills and visual effects caused noticeable frame drops.

• Additional frame drops occurred when large groups of players gathered, such as in party or raid content.

• Frame drops led to delayed skill inputs and reduced responsiveness.

• Network delays further impacted character movement, skill casting, hit reactions, and hitbox accuracy.

• Timing, distance calculations, and collision detection were also affected, making combat feel sluggish and inconsistent.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re conducting a full review of background loading processes, especially those triggered during combat, to reduce frame drops.

• The number of skill effects spawned will be adjusted to improve performance during combat.

• We’re also analyzing and optimizing tasks that are delayed within each frame to improve the consistency and timing of server-side processing.

• To reduce network-related delays, smaller zones and certain types of combat content will be migrated to dedicated servers for more stable performance.

\[Issues]

• During combat, a sudden increase in visual effects caused a significant drop in performance.

\[Our Plan]

• Transition to GPU-Based Parallel Processing

  • Particle and effect calculations, including position, movement, and collision, will be offloaded from the CPU to GPU-based parallel processing. This transition reduces CPU load, ensures more stable frame rates, and frees up system resources for smoother gameplay.

• Simplify and Optimize Shader Structure

  • Shader logic will be streamlined by minimizing conditional branches and evaluation steps. Shaders will also be separated by function to minimize bottlenecks and improve performance.

  • We will also limit over-sampling in areas with small or barely visible pixels, increasing rendering efficiency.

• Implement Distance-Based Level of Detail (LOD)

  • Visual effects will now scale based on camera distance and pixel density. Effects closer to the player will retain high quality, while distant effects will be rendered more efficiently to boost overall performance.

• Optimize Effect Textures

  • Texture resolution will be adjusted to reduce memory usage and improve sampling efficiency.

  • This will lower the overall rendering cost of effects while maintaining visual stability.

\[Issues]

• Stuttering occurred due to delays in server-client synchronization.

• Frame drops occurred upon loading new areas.

• Real-time loading of world resources led to noticeable stuttering for some players.

\[Our Plan]

• We are optimizing server transitions to improve performance when crossing areas.

• Client-side spawn logic will be refined during synchronization phases to streamline world resource loading.

• Map data will be optimized and transferred more efficiently during area transitions to minimize frame drops.

• We’re also optimizing world resources to reduce interruptions while moving between areas.

1. Visual Style

2. Character Animations

\[Issues]

• The current UI feels generic and lacks identity, coming across as too similar to other games.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re revamping the UI with distinct patterns, color palettes, and animations tailored specifically to Chrono Odyssey’s visual style.

\[Issues]

• Movement animations often felt disconnected, especially during sharp turns or rapid direction changes.

• Sprinting and sprint-jumping caused noticeable breaks in animation flow.

• Characters appeared to slide unnaturally due to excessive inertia at high speeds.

\[Our Plan]

• Re-syncing Animations

  • Character animations will be re-synchronized to reflect movement speed and direction more accurately.

  • We’re refining transition rules between skills and hit reactions by defining more precise conditions and tightening blend timings, ensuring smoother transitions.

  • Misalignments between animation and actual movement direction will also be addressed.

• Animation Lock Adjustments

  • Animation locks that previously limited control, especially when returning to idle states, will be reduced.

  • These adjustments will allow players to regain control more quickly and fluidly.

• Character movement speed will be adjusted to improve responsiveness.

• Inertia will be either reduced or removed to prevent overextension when stopping from high speeds.

• We’re reworking animations to resolve issues where characters appeared desynced during sudden direction changes.

  • By removing Distance Matching from regular movement and improving Pivot behavior, we aim to ensure that animation direction aligns accurately with player input.

    • What is Distance Matching?

      • Distance Matching is a technique that aligns the distance shown in an animation with the character’s actual in-game movement. While it enhances visual realism, it can interfere with responsiveness, especially during skill usage, terrain shifts, sharp direction changes, or real-time player input. We're removing this system from general movement to provide players with more direct, responsive control.

    • What are Pivots?

      • Pivots are rotational animations triggered when a character changes direction in place. Refining pivot responsiveness helps eliminate awkward spins or sliding, making character movement feel more grounded and realistic.

1. HUD

2. Menu Structure

3. Quest Navigation

4. Tutorial

\[Issues]

• The HUD was too large, often blocking important areas of the screen during combat.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re reviewing HUD scaling and layout adjustments to reduce screen obstruction.

• Notification priorities, such as level-up pop-ups, will be rebalanced. The size and design of HUD elements will also be refined to minimize visual interference during gameplay.

\[Issues]

• HP, buffs, and cooldown indicators were too small in proportion to the rest of the HUD, making them hard to track during gameplay.

\[Our Plan]

• The visibility of HP, buffs, and cooldown indicators will be revised for better visibility.

• The stamina gauge will be reworked in terms of color, size, and placement to improve clarity.

  • The stamina gauge will remain visible even when the HUD is hidden.

• Buff icons will be resized and repositioned to match the updated HUD layout.

• Buff and debuff effects (FX) will be adjusted to make them easier to notice during gameplay.

\[Issues]

• The menu was difficult to navigate due to lack of guidance or proper tutorial.

• Important features were buried too deep within the menu, making them hard to find.

\[Our Plan]

• The overall menu layout will be reorganized for easier access and usability.

• Menu categories will be reworked to better reflect their purpose.

• A tutorial will be added to help players understand the function of each category and navigate the menu more effectively.

\[Issues]

• Quest markers lacked visibility and accuracy, making it difficult for players to track and progress through quests.

\[Our Plan]

• The color scheme of quest markers will be adjusted to improve visibility.

• All active quests will now have their markers displayed on the World Map for easier navigation.

\[Issues]

• Many players had difficulty understanding the game’s systems and content.

• Early-game guides that appeared as pop-ups couldn’t be viewed again later.

\[Our Plan]

• The tutorial will be improved to provide clearer guidance, especially during the early stages of the game.

• A new guide tab will be added, allowing players to revisit tutorials for core systems and content at any time.

• After reaching the first Chrono Gate (Thousandfold Piercer), a progression guide will appear to help players navigate the next steps more smoothly.

1. Currency

\[Issues]

• Players often acquired Gold without clear guidance on how or where to use it.

• The overall structure for earning and spending Gold was underdeveloped, making it difficult to use currency effectively.

\[Our Plan]

• Gold rewards from Epic Quests will be increased to ensure players have enough during the early stages of the game.

• Guidance will be added for content like Bounty Hunting, Local Quests, and Time Portals, where players can earn larger amounts of Gold.

\[Issues]

• The Gold value of loot was too low, making players feel that rewards were meaningless or not worth collecting.

\[Our Plan]

• We’re reviewing item values and adjusting prices so that loot can serve as a reliable source of Gold income.

1. Party

2. Communication

\[Issues]

• The party system was not intuitive, making it difficult for players to understand or use its features effectively.

\[Our Plan]

• Social features will be expanded to chat lists and the player interaction UI.

  • Party invites, guild invites, and friend requests will be accessible through both the player menu and chat windows.

• The UX for friend, party, and guild interfaces will be improved to reduce unnecessary steps.

• The search and result windows for friend, party, and guild menus will be reworked for better clarity.

  • Sorting options will be added to social and search UIs.

\[Issues]

• The party UI and system guidance were lacking, making it difficult for players to coordinate effectively.

\[Our Plan]

• A notification system will be introduced to help party members share their status more easily.

  • Notification types will include danger alerts, location pings, and wait pings.

  • Notifications will appear through chat messages, sound cues, and compass markers.

• When a party member is in danger, an alert will be sent to all other members to improve group responsiveness.

\[Issues]

• Closing a chat tab would always default the window back to global chat, disrupting player experience.

\[Our Plan]

• Closing a tab will now return players to the previously used chat, rather than defaulting to global.

• Drafted messages will no longer be deleted when switching between tabs.

• Chat tabs such as global, party, and others will be visually distinguished using different colors.

1. Guides

\[Issues]

• There was a lack of detailed guidance for core systems and content, making it difficult for players to understand progression and mechanics.

\[Our Plan]

• New guides will be added to support players during the early game and provide detailed explanations for various content and progression systems.

  • Early Game

    • Combat tutorials will be added, covering weapon swapping and related controls.

    • Control guides and system tutorials will be included to help players understand core mechanics.

  • Core Content

    • After reaching the first Chrono Gate (Thousandfold Piercer), progression guides will be introduced to help players navigate the game.

    • Key content for earning Gold, including Bounty Hunting, Local Quests, and Time Portals, will have dedicated guides.

  • Quests

    • Quest tracking will be improved to help players locate objectives more easily. (For exploration-focused quests, guidance will be limited to maintain a sense of discovery while still offering helpful direction.)

  • Other

    • A new guide system will allow players to revisit past tutorials at any time.

    • Additional guidance will be added for returning to inns. Also, visibility of the inn function will be improved for better accessibility.

In addition to the improvements mentioned above, we're refining the overall sound design of the game to enhance gameplay experience. This includes new sound effects, updated BGMs, and improved synchronization. Feedback from the closed beta test will also be incorporated into these changes.

\[Issues]

• Some weapons lacked audio that matched their visuals. Ranged weapons, in particular, felt weak when hitting targets, and the sound was often too quiet at long distances.

• The BGM feels repetitive and lacks variety across different gameplay situations.

\[Our Plan]

• Weapon sounds will be adjusted to better reflect their visuals and sense of weight. A new firing sound will be added for crossbows to give them a more distinct presence.

• The attenuation effect for ranged weapons will be refined so that hits are clearly audible, even at longer distances.

• BGM delay times will be adjusted to improve flow between scenes.

• More varied music tracks will be introduced, with BGMs assigned to smaller areas to allow for a broader range of music.

The narrative of Chrono Odyssey is currently undergoing a complete overhaul. Our goal is to deliver a story that allows players to become more deeply immersed in the world and its lore.

We are committed to improving Chrono Odyssey through ongoing communication with our players. We’ll continue to share updates on development progress and upcoming improvements through our official Discord and X channels, so stay tuned.

• Chrono Odyssey Official Discord[discord.gg]

• Chrono Odyssey Official X (Twitter)[www.x.com]

We sincerely appreciate your continued interest and feedback.

- The Chrono Odyssey Development Team