Woah, June came and went faster than a Epidexipteryx can eat a Cerambycinus beetle. We are just in the tail end of a big heatwave here in Denmark, and it seems most of Europe has been feeling pretty hot over the last week - I hope everyone is doing all right and remember to drink water.
This month, we are talking about a certain kind of fog, and looking at some of the new things that have made their way into the game, so strap in and let's go!
Okay, it's time for one of the big ones: Fog of War! And how it works in Dinolords!
Since pretty early on, we knew we would eventually have to tackle this one, since fog of war is such a ubiquitous part of RTS and ARPG games, but with so many different specifics in various implementations, it would also be yet another area where we would have to do some exploring to figure out exactly how it works in the hybrid space between the two genres.
For Dinolords, fog of war will have 3 different states: unexplored, explored and visible. Starting a map, the entire thing is unexplored. This is shown by both the minimap and in-world being darkened significantly and you are not able to see what lies within that darkness.
As you move around, the area surrounding you, your town hall, or your Wingsight, will be actively visible and change whatever you pass through from unexplored to explored. An area being explored is reflected on the minimap and in-world by being less dark than unexplored, but units are not visible, and buildings and structures are visible but not updated - that means you can not see if a base is expanded or destroyed on the other side of the map, if that area is explored, unless you get active vision on that area again.
As you move out of an area and it leaves your field of view, it goes from being part of your active vision and back to being just explored space. As you can see in the gif above, dense tree lines, cliffs and other structures can act as blockers for your vision, making an area inactive even though it is still on your screen. We found that this hugely affect the vibes of a map as you move around, you never know what lies around a corner, and it allows for some great surprises if the enemy manages to sneak up on your blind spot. And inversely, chopping your way through a forest like a Trojan lumberjack allows you to quickly funnel in from outside the enemy's awareness, and who doesn't love a well executed surprise attack? Well, come to think of it, I guess the Trojans didn't..
Furthermore, Wingsight can be used as a spotlight you can move around relatively swiftly, turning inactive, explored areas into active vision - but with the caveat that it cannot be used to explore the unexplored. This strikes a cool balance where Wingsight is a powerful and effective tool that helps you gain a quick overview of the land, but without it becoming a crutch you stay in, and without it becoming a mandatory fly-over the entire map every time you start a level which would be pretty boring.
And lastly, units or certain structures may provide active vision to the surrounding area, allowing for strategic deployment and a way to set up a sort of warning-system where you can see if enemies are approaching from a certain direction if you have an outpost there. Lighting the beacons of Gondor, anyone?
Martin and Elisa have been busy at work really honing in on making the levels feel alive and exploring how the environment can help tell a story. The result is that the levels have really taken a massive step up in terms of decoration and all sorts of things you can come across as you are out exploring.
Here are a few before-and-after examples of how that looks, starting out with a small fishing settlement:
"This used to be such a lovely neighborhood!"
Really upping the dial for density, this small fishing village now also has a story to tell of when the Vikings arrived and probably did some polite pillaging. I am sure they were completely level-headed and reasonable in their approach!
Something as simple as a split in a river can become much more interesting once elements like a watermill are added. It looks so serene now, would be a shame if someone was to wade a T-rex through there.
From another angle, the old ruins of a former castle, I wonder what grand war-plans were laid in here that lead to it ending up in that state?
Deinonychus indeed do choose the darndest locations for their nests. I hope the villagers that used to live here moved out before their arrival, although the bloodstains tell a different story.
For the final section of this Monthly, I have something quite special. Our concept artist Lina has been busy exploring how animal husbandry might look in a world where dinosaurs are present.
How does everyday life look for a viking who has a herd of compsognathus (a herd? that doesn't sound quite right. Maybe a flock? Or a murder of compsognathus? Let me know what your best bet is for what a group of compsognathus would be called!), or how does travel look like with an ankylosaurus?
The result are these super atmospheric sketches, have a look:
That was all for this month's edition of Dinolords Monthly.
As always, thank you for following the development, we truly appreciate all the interactions and feedback we get from all of you, and I am always excited to share new things in this format.
Catch you all in the next one!
-panxter