This past week we’ve been generally going through and fixing bugs and polishing the features we currently have implemented, as well as adding new features such as varied herbivore diets and more dinosaur calls.
##Edible Foliage
While the life of a carnivore lends itself well to creating a fun gameplay loop of risking your own safety in a hunt to be able to feed yourself, herbivore lifestyle can be somewhat simpler. If food is all around you it is easy to keep yourself fed and basically has no risk involved. We are changing this common formula by turning edible plants into a big part of herbivore gameplay.
There will be a large variety of plants that can be eaten, with some edible items that might not be obvious at first glance. Things like berry bushes and fruit are very clearly edible, and will have bright colours so they stand out from the rest of the green plants in the forests. However, other things like edible roots and mushrooms will be harder to find, but will also reward you for searching them out by applying temporary stat buffs or healing properties.
You will also have to watch out for rotten or poisonous food that will apply a debuff to your dinosaur when eaten, so you can’t simply wander around eating everything in sight. Certain dinosaurs will also be able to stomach what others might not be able to, so food competition will be spread relatively evenly across all species.
Some quests might send you out to collect these rare food items, or you may decide to seek them out on your own time to buff yourself in preparation for a tough fight or long migration. The possibilities will be quite diverse, and will give herbivores a tactical edge over carnivores if they manage to eat the correct foods when they find themselves being hunted.
##Dinosaur Sounds
Our sound designer has been crafting more dinosaur calls for our ten dinosaurs this past week. They have been pulling inspiration from modern day animals but giving them all distinctive tones and moods so that they can be distinguished from one another. You may be able to recognise sounds from penguins, parrots, vultures, bulls, camels, and many other animals in our dinosaur calls! Here are a few calls from our Allosaurus, Camptosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Styracosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Daspletosaurus.