In the beginning of the month we updated the engine, which involved dealing with some issues that took some time to figure out. Throughout the month I also dealt with bug fixes as usual, this time mainly related to elders and the rex. We have also changed the carnotaurus's charge attack around a bit; you will now have to press LMB to attack while charging instead of it being done automatically on contact.
The main feature I worked on this month was spearing for the pteranodon. The ability is now functional including animations and visual effects. You can spearfish or catch clams hiding under the mud that require breaking open on rocky surfaces.
This month we have wrapped up all the tyrannosaurus vocalisations, knocking out the remaining juvenile sounds in addition to sparring. Next the team all have moved onto concepting the vocalisations for the Austro and Kentro suite of vocals, while I have worked on the allosaurus.
I have worked hard on maintaining the elements of Allosaurus calls that are the most revered by the community. Although the breath and underlayers are new, the broadcast’s core design is unchanged other than aiming to reduce the amount of noise and bring in more of the high frequencies lost in the original. The attract call maintains the passive high whine from legacy but fills out the frequency spectrum with additional layers that conform to the original intent. The generic social call is also similar to the original design but I've brought out more recognisable tonality in the sound so it is not so dominant in the breathy elements. The danger is a completely new design that conveys the distinct scream and warble of the legacy design, using the original audio profile as the foundation that is created with new source sounds. The threaten call is the only significant departure from its original calls combining low elephant bull trumpets, trilling baboons screams and wildcat hisses and spouts for a more threatening and bellowing roar with a sharper edge.
I have also designed the juvenile calls, slightly deviating from the legacy juvenile sounds (apart from the broadcast) to create more cohesive counterparts to the adult vocalisations.
I’ll be continuing on with the rest of the vocalisations for Allosaurus, which the others will join me on once completing the calls they are working on.
July has been for rigging. Lots of rigging. With the animation team working on the other Dinosaurs, I’ve been getting the next few Dinosaurs ready for animation. Avaceratops has an updated rig now, as well as juvenile morphs. But best of all, Camarasaurus is rigged now. It’s a pretty fancy setup with lots of gizmos for the animation team to work with. Including a soft body system to make those muscles jiggle. Have a look at this test cycle in action: Next month is going to be even more interesting as I move on to the next guy. Look to the skies.
The QA team has been focused almost entirely on the Tyrannosaurus ahead of its upcoming release.
Its had a few problems that have ranged from simple, such as its head deforming when turning, to more serious ones, such as a server crash caused by using its crush ability while falling. There was also an interesting way to get out of a tyrannosaurus crush with the press of a specific, allowing a player to stand up and escape from the jaws of the Tyrannosaurus Crush as if nothing had happened – which, I think you’ll agree, would make for a rather lackluster ability for everyone involved.
In other news, work continues on the much-anticipated Elder System, which already has functionality for growing to elder, dying of old age (which is initiated by the player and not automatic), and passing your mutations onto your next life. These mutations will scale in strength each time the player repeats this cycle until they reach a cap. An Elder in its prime, with the ability to select a fourth mutation:
The Replication Screen unlocked at the end of a lifecycle:
The Replication UI, with previously selected mutations shown on the left:
A fresh spawn juvenile with mutations from a previous life: The Isle has always been a game where players make their own fun, with no set objectives. You eat, drink, sleep, grow, nest, etc. but ultimately, you end up in the same place: a fully grown dinosaur that either goes down swinging or finds the nearest mountain to throw itself off, ready to join its friends as a different species. With the Elder System, there’s always a goal to work toward: Who can create the strongest dinosaur? Who can replicate each species to hit the mutation caps? Who can build the largest family by prioritizing nesting mutations? I’m excited to see how this changes the dynamic of the game and all the possibilities it brings. We may even be able to tie this into other potential systems. Last but not least, I’ve expanded my team of QA volunteers by bringing on 7 additional testers. They've hit the ground running and have already contributed to 34 (and counting) unique bug reports within just a few days of joining!
Updating to 5.6 had us against the ropes this month but we’re bouncing back. Those sorts of updates always shake the table but we’ve gotten most of it back in place. Aside from that, our animation time has been dominated by the tyrannosaurus which should be in a good place to make its legitimate debut. During this time it has had features added to help address issues in testing to make sure the adult is exceptionally formidable. The tyrannosaurus takes a long time to reach its true potential but if/when it does, we want it to be a force of nature. It can spar, has a devastating crushing bite, can gap close surprisingly well if it gets within ambush range and can take most animals off their feet with a quick swing of its powerful head. Be very aware of your surroundings when the rex lands, which should be right around the corner followed by allosaurus. Aside from that there’s been touching up of old buggy animations and more work for the baryonyx, avaceratops, oviraptor and pteranodon.The fishing mechanic is in testing which is fun. The pteranodon has needed love. New flight mechanics will be following which we really want to get right. We were pressed for time with the pteranodon and deinosuchus implementation way back when, so we had to make concessions that we no longer have to, so we really want to improve flight and swimming experiences. We’ve got more semi-aquatics and a massive flyer on the way which makes this necessary. Speaking of massive, the camarasaurus is going to be entering the animation pipeline real soon as you may have seen. The goal with this animal is to give you a true sauropod experience. Tail whips, kicks, stomps, tramples, and neck swings all contained within what should be one of the most chill playables we’ve put out to date. Players that enjoy a slower, observers pace with the might of a titan will hopefully find their niche with it. Sauropods grow rapidly to a point and then become walking fortresses but even the mightiest of strongholds can fall. Danger is ever present for every creature in The Isle no matter their size. That’s all for now. Here’s a small amount of what we’ve been working on.