Devlog #38 - April 2021
Welcome to April’s Development Update!
In this shorter blog post we’ll be covering the usual; what our team’s been up to and what the community can expect to see in the future! Most of our work in April was done on the game’s backend, so there’s not much to visually cover this month.
Aviary Interior by Warpath.
After pushing our last update to the alpha, our main priority was upgrading our engine version, source control service and fixing all the lovely issues that can occur as a result of that.
Despite the expected and partial setback, a lot of exciting content started production in April. Art highlights include new music, vegetation assets, 3D building sketches, dinosaur sculpting and extra types of idle animations for the animals (e.g. sniffing and scratching).
As part of the on-going effort to improve our modular system, the grid is now super reliable! This should address a lot of the problems users experienced in alpha. Similarly, the backend for material switching and recoloring was rebuilt to allow for the new UI features. Check it out!
As you can see, it’s now possible to mass-select a building and change all swappable materials on the fly. This functionality is expected to apply to object recoloring, though we’ll save the details for a later date when that’s implemented.
On the management side of things, we started with exhibit data. This provides us with a jumping off point to start figuring out the calculations for things like animal needs and their overall welfare. Exhibits and how they’re scored are very much the driving force behind our management simulation, influencing everything from guest spawns to the park economy and rating. How you build and optimise your paddocks in Prehistoric Kingdom is a central component in ensuring your success as a player.
Music
This month we’ve got two work-in-progress samples from the game’s soundtrack to tease you with! Though there’s currently 11 minutes of goodness behind the scenes, we wanted to give everyone a small taste of what’s to come.
Below you can find two types of tracks. One that we’ve internally dubbed as “working” music, and the other that plays inside the Animal Nursery. There’s a whole selection of music being written for specific scenes within the game, and we cannot wait for you to hear more.
Since we’re writing for an adaptive music system, what you’re hearing is the full mix (e.g. everything together). In-game this is split into different layers, allowing us to control the intensity of the music depending on player context and game rules.
The completed soundtrack will be purchasable (and delivered to eligible backers) once the body of work has been finished post Early Access launch.
Foliage Showcase
Wetlands received its final few foliage items, introducing new ground plants to help bring your swampy desires to life. Horsetails, arrow arum, new reeds and the decorative pickerelweed all assist in filling out the marshy plains.
Our tall trees weren’t forgotten, though! The swamp cypress has been reworked from the ground up, adding four unique variants to the roster in the process.
Updated Wetland plants (papyrus not shown as it remains unchanged).
Cypress knees will also be available as a modular item for players who wish to take their wetland forests to the next level.
Animal Showcase
What creature would most definitely beat you in a thumb wrestle? The Iguanodon of course! Returning to the kingdom with a brand new look, this take on the classic dinosaur was inspired by a variety of real-world reptiles, incorporating a more retro and armoured appearance.
As you can probably guess, we’ve been experimenting with atmospheric effects and different types of weather, too. At this stage it’s something the team are hoping to include in some capacity for Beta and/or Early Access.
Eating Preview
Before we conclude this month’s devlog, the team would like to briefly showcase the eating animation and temporary foley sounds for the T. rex. Details like adding visible chunks of meat are still on our to-do list, but we figured the community would still like to see it regardless.
With a seasoned bite like that, the steaks of owning a Tyrannosaur must be pretty high, no?
Beta Animals Confirmed So Far
Recently, we confirmed three new animal species coming to Beta on our official Discord server.
The Woolly Mammoth, Pachyrhinosaurus and Torvosaurus will all make an appearance alongside the other creatures found in Alpha. There are a few more announcements to be made regarding the Beta roster, so stay tuned for future updates!
…
Soon.
Created by Evolution Square.
Created by Hiysta.
Created by Rudi Rennkamel.
Thank you for reading April’s devlog!
We would once again like to take the time to thank everyone for their support during Alpha. With Beta on the horizon, we hope that the community is looking forward to a wealth of improvements and new content to play with. More info will be coming next month!
Until next time,
- The PK Team
