Hello everyone!
This dev blog entry has been long overdue and it is also going to be the last one for this year. A lot of things happened during the last two months and we are blown away by the support we have received!
The Drake
This might be old news for some of you, who joined our Discord 2 months ago or earlier, but we confirmed a new playable species: The Drake.
It is not part of our roster of main characters, but like we mentioned in the past, we want even the smaller creatures to be playable, as long as they are not throwing everything out of balance.
A short description of the Drakes: “Drakes will mostly move in packs and attack everything that enters their territory, but there have been indications, that they have also been used by the local Ka’Sai (dragon people) for hunting purposes. Their bodies are covered in larger plates and have underdeveloped membranes behind the front legs, which hint at their relation to the larger dragons. “
Their status of being secondary characters may or may not change later at some point.
Nothing is final for now, so they might end up playing a more important role in the distant future.
Male Ka’Sai Model
The male Ka’Sai model has been completed and is currently undergoing texture work.
If we get to add these as playable creatures, they will have a similar leveling, clan and crafting system like our dragons or even end up being way more complex, but how much will depend on the support of our community and the crowdfunding campaigns.
These characters will also come with different horn shapes, tail tips, patterns and colors.
The European Dragon
The European Dragon finally received its animations and we started working on the new (basic) movement code, which is a lot easier now, since we have more of them available now. As soon as the pattern/texture is finished we will also start working on the shader that allows players to choose their own colors. The dragon will have only one pattern for a while, because we want to makes sure everything works like it is supposed to, before we add more.
We also gave it two different horn shapes and a voice!
The call or roar is not final and can change several times during the development of the game.
The horns and other customizable body parts will stay or be brought back if our dragons happen to undergo a visual rework during the development. That does not mean, they might end up looking completely different to the concepts though! We will definitely stick to the general shapes, but there is always room for improvement. Instead we are considering adding different body shapes the player can choose from e.g. with larger scales and or plates, horns, etc.
Interactive Environment & New Material
A newer addition to the game is the interactive foliage or in this case: Mushrooms, which are heavily inspired by foxfire and start to glow as soon as a player or NPC is getting close to them. These will mainly be found in caves and light up your way or warn you that someone or something has been passing through recently.
This mechanic will be used in different ways, but we will tell you more about it, once we have new things to show!
A new, rare material has been added: Viridite! (named by our dark Discord overlord Smok)
It will mainly be found in deeper locations and can be used for upgrades and the creation of new items, but details will remain a secret for now, because we don’t want to spoil everything!
You thought we are done with the eggs…
…we weren’t, but now we are! At least with the nests of the main characters.
The Behemoth and the Wyvern nests got some love from us and are also getting a more scientific explanation right now in terms of writing.
We made sure the eggs and nests look completely different from each other and tell their own unique story, which you get to figure out in-game.
Their look will also affect the creation of them later down the road. This means players will need certain materials to build them and to be able to successfully hatch a dragon, because each egg will have special needs.
As mentioned at the beginning, this is the last dev blog for this year and we will be back in January. The development will continue, but we will take a few steps back and enjoy the last few weeks of 2019.
That being said, we wish you awesome and happy holidays, get lots of presents (especially dragon-themed!) and a happy new year!!
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Follow the development on Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/Bhx4F8M
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/draconiagame