We're working on detailing the male head of the Tidal Shock. Males will have whiskers and horns, while females will have more ribbon fins.
2023-10-17 15:22:05 +0000 UTC View Post
We are currently working on this aquatic AI creature for the future aquatic update. This squid inspired creature will be a main food source for the Tidal Shock.
We had originally planned to use it as a sea leviathan, but decided it would work better as a standard AI creature instead.
Here is your weekly update on the Forgotten Forest map reworking!
This week we are moving from the river area and into the center. Here is a look at the updated landmark known as "Big Rock".
Here is the latest concept for the Fireclaw Behemoth rework. The old design looked cool, but had some issues we needed to fix, such as the extremely thick armor, body proportions, arm joints, short neck, etc. Our newest concept artist, Karta, took on the challenge and did not disappoint! We will probably make a few more tweaks but are very happy with the makeover Karta did for the Fireclaw.
The Fireclaw will be a DLC that will release alongside the Icehorn.
Let us know what you think in the comments!
We are working on upgrading the chats for all of the dragons.
Currently, the chat animation simply opens and closes its mouth, with no other movement to the head or body. This was an easy way to get the chat working, but we are now polishing the animations and adding more movements to the models.
What do you think?
Here are the new dynamic idles for the Brood Watcher and Biolumin dragons!
Enjoy~
That corpse too big to carry?
No worries! In 1.0, you will be able to tear off chunks of meat from corpses and carcasses to more easily carry food.
Here is your weekly update on the Forgotten Forest map! Echo has finished the river cave and has created a new landmark for you all to explore.
Enjoy~
Here is the new, more dynamic idle for the Flame Stalker.
Enjoy~
Here is the Regurgitation animation for the Inferno Ravager! This animation will be used for when removing items from your inventory.
Enjoy~
This month adds 2 new pages to our Legends of Jrakhon comic. We've also attached some concept art that we hope you will all enjoy featuring designs of Jrakha, the Jrakhonqueen (later known as the Dragonqueen). Thank you for making this comic possible by being our Patreon!
2023-10-01 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone, it's been a hot minute since I wrote one of these, but now that I'm feeling better and back to coding, I wanted to talk about the new inventory system and the items players will be collecting, Dragon Pearls. This is something I've wanted to add to the game for a long time and am now able to finally do it. I'm currently building my own unique inventory and loot system with the help of Ztarli designing our UI.
So let's first talk about the dragon pearls. These are items you find in the world via AI loot, quest rewards, or exploration finds. Once you acquire one, it goes into your inventory (if you have enough available space). How much space you have is determined by your creature class and the size of the pearl.
There are 3 types of dragon pearls, Modifier Pearls, Cosmetic Pearls, and Skin Pearls.
Cosmetic pearls grant you a cosmetic effect, such as jelly flies that activates when resting or sleeping. These take up 0 space in your inventory.
Skin pearls are overlays that can be worn over your real skin, the Sandslayer Skin or Creator Skin are good examples. These also take up 0 space in your inventory. However, as with Cosmetic pearls, Skin pearls are Unique items and you can only have 1 of each skin in your inventory. They are also bind on equip, so once you equip them, they can not be dropped (traded/looted).
Modifier pearls enhance 1-2 stats, depending on the pearl quality. Quality levels are Lesser, Greater, and Ancient. Lesser pearls are the most common and grant a single stat buff of 1-3% and use 1 space, Greater pearls are uncommon and grant a single stat buff of 3-7% and take up 2 spaces, and finally Ancient pearls are rare and grant two stat buffs, a lesser buff and a greater buff and take up 3 spaces. With ancient pearls, if both buffs on the pearl enhance the same modifier, it is possible to enhance a single stat by a maximum of 10%, otherwise, it will enhance two stats, one by up to 7% and the other by up to 3%.
How many pearls you can carry is determined by your creature class level. A Flame Stalker is Class 5, so has a total of 5 spaces for pearls, plus the equipped space which can hold up to an Ancient pearl. The Zygovo, however, is a Class 1, so can only hold a lesser pearl and can only equip lesser pearls. The Biolumin is a Class 2, it can carry two lesser pearls, or one greater pearl, and it can equip up to a greater pearl, but not an ancient, as Ancient Pearls require a class 3 or higher dragon. The Acid Spitter, being Class 3, can equip the ancient pearl, and has room for a single Ancient pearl to swap out, or three lesser pearls, or one lesser and one greater. Alpha dragons get one extra slot, so an Alpha Acid Spitter (full grown Elder) can equip an Ancient pearl + carry an ancient pearl + carry a lesser pearl.
Going in to Update 1.0, the dragon with the most inventory space will be the Brood Watcher, and will no doubt be used by groups to carry extra loot to disperse to friends or clanmates.
The Loot system is being designed in such a way as to force players to choose what they carry and what they trade or drop. Dropped pearls will linger for 5 minutes before poofing and while dropped, can be picked up by anyone with the inventory space to carry them. It's also important to note, that Modifier Pearls are lootable, when a dragon dies, the modifier pearls in their inventory can be looted by other players, the loot, however, does not appear on the ground until the corpse has turned into a gore pile, so players will have to feed to loot.
Pearls that are bound to the player do not drop and are not lootable. If a player looted a skin pearl and did not equip it, then that can be looted. If it has been equipped (bound on equip) then it cannot be looted. DLC items such as the Jellyflies and Creator Skin can never be looted from other players and are always in your inventory on every dragon you create. Skin drops such as the Sandslayer skin can be looted if not equipped, and can also be traded (if not equipped). Technically, you could trade the skin to a friend who could hold it for you to log in your other dragon, then trade it to that dragon who can equip and wear the skin. This is designed in a way to allow players to trade skins for Ancient Pearls or Cosmetics and create a sort of economy in the game where Pearls are the currency, and things such as Skins, Cosmetics, other Modifiers, and even Nesting or Hunting Mercenaries are the goods.
I hope you all enjoyed this Lore Blog and I hope you are all excited about the new Loot and Inventory system coming in Update 1.0. It is going to be a game changer by providing players with an endless gameplay loop of trying to acquire better or different Dragon Pearls.
Until next time,
- Jonathan "Super Rhino" Slabaugh
2023-09-30 02:57:20 +0000 UTC View Post
The Forgotten Forest isn't just one giant forest biome. Instead, it is a temperate rainforest ecosystem which includes multiple types of micro biomes that you would find in areas with temperate climates. We plan to include multiple forests (coniferous, temperate, redwoods, birch), grasslands/meadows, snow caps (on mountain region), and wetlands. There might even be some volcanic activity that fire bile dragons can call home.
Here is our work on a meadow clearing located in the river area of the Forgotten Forest map.
Here is a sneaky Singe Crest for you!
Enjoy~
The Micro Zygovo's rig is complete! We are now working on the weight painting which can take quite a while with all those feathers.
2023-09-26 21:45:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Sneaking up on a swamp snapper to attack it from behind may be dangerous. They will have the ability to quickly turn and attack behind themselves.
Enjoy this updated and polished swamp snapper attack animation~
Here is the Blitz Striker's laughter emote.
Enjoy~
Here is the some of the flight animations for the Singe Crest!
Enjoy~
Continuing our work on the river area of the Forgotten Forest Map, we are now working on the river cave.
Check out what we have created so far.
We are working on updating the dragon idle animations to include more dynamic movement to bring more life to the dragons.
Here is an example of the Shadow Scale's new idle animation.
Today is a look at the early concepts for the Sea Slayer Worm, a Terror Class boss found in the deepest darkest parts of the Sea biome. The Sea Slayer will drop unique Slayer pearls as loot for those strong enough to defeat it. Let us know which design is your favorite in the comments below!
2023-09-18 16:12:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is another screenshot from an updated area of the Forgotten Forest map!
Enjoy~
Here is the mating display for the Brood Watcher!
Enjoy~
Here are some quick concept animations for the Singe Crest's idle pose and walking animation.
Please note that they are not finished and are made to test this posture for the dragon.
As stated in an early Dev Blog, we will not be using the Mega Map for the 1.0 update. Instead, we will be refurnishing the Forgotten Forest map that players are playing on now in the Legacy branch.
The first area we will be working on is the river area. Echo has given the waterfall start to the river a makeover.
This month adds 2 new pages to our Legends of Jrakhon comic. Jrakhon and his band have arrived home at the Flaming Falls, this is the home of the Jrakhonking and we wanted it to be epic. These 2 pages are wordless, we imagine music playing while these scenes are taking place. We've also added several concepts of the Meeting Spire, Flaming Falls, Stones of Fire, and a little map. Special thanks to Georgina for getting these 2 pages done even with Jon being in and out of the hospital most of the month.
Please let us know what you think in the comments and as always, thank you all for supporting our Patreon! We really really appreciate you! You all are the best!
2023-09-01 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is Brood Watcher's eating animation.
Unlike mammalian herbivores, the Brood Watcher doesn't have teeth designed for chewing. Instead, she uses her tongue to help her take off chucks of vegetation and swallows them whole.
Here is the Blitz Striker's Challenge Emote!
Enjoy!
We also apologize for the delay in posts in the last few weeks. We are currently working on projects that take a bit of time before we can show them off. Thank you for your patience and we hope to get back to posting every weekday soon.
We've narrowed down the head/fin shapes and pattern. Now its time to pinpoint the coloration and add horns.
Which are your favorites?
Here is a WIP of the Brood Watcher's Bio Glow effect which it will get if spit on by a Biolumin.
Enjoy~