Hello, everyone! We are back again with a Dev Blog to summarize what’s coming up in the recent development cycle. While the roll out of TLCs continues, we also have a few new features releasing in the near future like improved Quests, the first implementation of Metrics, and audio updates to bring older sounds up to our current standard.

Dinosaur TLCs

We have several upcoming TLCs in the works, as well as some new dinosaurs under development. For many of these TLCs, we are doing large and comprehensive art improvements for them. This can include a new model and textures, new animations, refreshed skins, and even new capabilities.

We aren't going to give an exact roadmap for when each dinosaur TLC will be released, because there are bound to be unexpected delays or schedule changes, however we are going to continue with our already established frequency of TLC releases. We will let you know when they are released with our update videos and game patches!

Trophies

Trophies have returned with brand new models after a brief hiatus while we worked on fixing bug issues and exploits. This includes more Trophies specific to each defeated dinosaur, like the Tyrannosaurus skull, Barsboldia Femur, Anodontosaurus Tail Club, Eotriceratops Horns, and more. In the future we are interested in having a unique trophy item for each species of dinosaur, making them even more of a show off than they currently are.

Improved Quests

We have many quest improvements we are continuing to work on, and we are aiming to implement many quality of life improvements and new quest systems. This also includes new art and improvements to the way quests are interacted with on the map. This will be especially noticeable on Riparia as we improve the placement and logic of quest items based on community feedback and playtesting.

We have been working on new quest item art, such as Shark Eggs, Shark Jaws, and Shark Teeth. There's also Windblown Rock formations, Algae Clumps, Mosquito Swarms, and Snagged Fur, and even more that we have been adding over time through previous patches. Our goal is for each area to have unique quest items to interact with, making each area distinct from each other. With this next upcoming patch Coastal Bluffs on the Riparia map will be getting a bit of extra attention with the quest updates, expanding the amount of underwater caves to make aquatic questing more enjoyable with new places to explore.

Flyers will also get a new set of quests to stretch their wings. Waypoints will appear in the sky beckoning flyers to travel between the points similar to the crunchy seaweed quest. A larger version of the quest will even have you travelling across the map pushing you to explore on long-distance journeys.

Metrics

As some may have seen, we are close to releasing our first iteration of our Metrics system. This will track many different kinds of player activities, from killing critters, to taking fall damage, to completing quests, to even purchasing home cave upgrades. We did some public testing of this system in March and it’s nearly ready to ship.

This is only the first pass at Metrics, primarily aimed at ensuring the entire system is functioning correctly at scale. For this first release there will be a handful of Triumphs that can be completed to earn exclusive skins. There will be at least 1 Triumph to earn per dinosaur species: growing to adulthood. Upon reaching an adult with any character, you will complete the Triumph, allowing you to open the Metrics menu and claim a unique skin for reaching adulthood. In the future, there will be even more item rewards for completing different types of triumphs, such as home cave decorations, emotes, player icons, and more!

What is great about the Metrics system is this newly unlocked skin isn't just tied to the server you are playing on- it's actually added to your Alderon Games account, and you'll be able to access it anywhere, even on community servers.

Community Server Metrics

Speaking of community servers, currently with this first iteration of Metrics and Triumphs, they are only earnable on Official servers. That means, for example, in order to earn the Adult Growth Triumph Skin for the Miragaia, you must grow it to adulthood on an official server. However, we understand that there are some players who prefer to play on Community servers, and we have already begun to implement a system for community servers to have their own local Triumph and Metrics database, allowing players to still unlock skins and see their metrics on that community server specifically. However, for this first Metrics release, we will not have this system implemented yet. We will keep you updated on when this system is ready for Community servers to use!

Audio

There are a number of upcoming audio improvements that we are working on, addressing both player feedback and rough edges. We will be tackling areas ranging from improving existing sounds, fixing technical issues with current ones, and revisiting some of our dinosaur calls.

Some things we are nearly finished adjusting are polishing the Herbivore eating and interaction sounds, such as improving the way they sound and also fixing how far their audio cues reach.

This also includes cleaning up Critter audio, making new critter sounds, and adjusting a lot of volume balance both close and far- making it so critter calls and grunts travel less far and are less distracting.

Another upcoming adjustment is the addition of "Tundra" footstep sounds. While there's currently no plans for snowy maps in the Path of Titans base game, we have noticed there are a lot of community created mod maps with snowy ground. This update will add support for snowy footstep sounds to play when all base game dinosaurs are walking on that material, and overall give better support for modders to create unconventional map biomes.

We are also working on a "Canyon" soundscape that will play on certain areas of base game maps like Gondwa, and Riparia, with an emphasis on whistling winds, falling rocks, and other rugged terrain sound effects. Currently many mountain and rocky areas of our maps are just using a desert theme, but we feel it's not quite accurate to the environment theme we are trying to convey. With the Canyon soundscape, it will help make certain areas that aren't quite deserts, but still have a rocky, bleak atmosphere to them, really stand out!

Some further audio improvements coming soon are fixes to baby dinosaur calls. There are a handful of baby dinosaur calls right now that don't line up well with their adult sounds, creating awkward transition periods when growing where calls may seem to play twice, or not blend properly. This is all being addressed over time, and we aim to have the first pass of these fixes done in the next few upcoming patches. We will keep you updated on exactly which dinosaur calls have been fixed up in patch notes, as usual!

Virtual Keyboard

We are adding support for a custom virtual keyboard, which will allow players on gaming devices such as the Steam Deck or any of the Windows handhelds to input into a text field by pressing 'A'. It will also be active on PC when using a controller, which will provide players with a good alternative to pulling out the keyboard whenever they wish to chat with friends or input text into the UI.

Streamer Mode

To allow players and content creators to hide sensitive information while streaming or recording, we’re adding a new Streamer Mode option. When enabled, Streamer Mode will hide details such as player names, Alderon IDs, server names, invite codes, chat names, group names, and server connection information. This helps prevent accidentally showing information you may not want visible on-stream, and makes it harder for others to track down which server you are playing on. You’ll be able to find this option in Settings > Gameplay > General. Just remember to turn it back off when you’re done streaming!

DLSS, FSR, and XeSS

We’re also adding support for modern upscaling options, including DLSS, FSR, and XeSS. These technologies can render the game at a lower internal resolution and then reconstruct the final image, which can improve performance while helping maintain image quality. The exact results will depend on your hardware, resolution, and the quality mode you choose, but these options should give many players more flexibility when balancing visuals and performance. They can also provide an alternative to our existing anti-aliasing options, especially for players who experience blur or ghosting with temporal anti-aliasing.

Self-Hosting and NAT Punch-Through

We have also been working on improvements for players that want to host their own servers.

Currently, if a player wants to host their own server, they must download our dedicated server software and run a dedicated server on their machine, in addition to forwarding their ports, and other things that are quite complex for the average player. This also is exclusively only an option for players on PC or Linux, and console players are unable to host servers.

With server self-hosting and NAT punch-through we are hoping to make server hosting much more accessible. Our ultimate goal is for a player to be able to begin a game in singleplayer, and simply click “invite friend” and have anyone from their friends list seamlessly join their game and begin playing. This will work with cross-play, allowing small groups of friends from different platforms to join the same game and play together without having to play on an official or community server. Hosting a server this way will work with all the same features as any other dedicated server, such as using mods, custom maps, creator mode, game modes, and anything else.

We aim to allow as many platforms as possible to host their own servers, however, due to the extra load and memory that hosting on your device causes, it’s possible low end devices such as weaker mobile phones will not be able to reliably host a server.

Upon loading up a server, you will have an option to use local save data that will save all your session info onto your device, or you can choose to save data remotely on the Alderon Games servers. By saving remotely, you and your friends can play together with all your characters even if you change devices or uninstall the game. We will keep you updated as this feature continues to be developed!

That wraps up this Dev Blog! We wanted to let you know that the Eternal Skin Pack is out, and purchases like these help us continue development and updates to Path of Titans. If you are interested, you can check out the in-game store, or visit our site here: https://alderongames.com/store/path-of-titans/coins/bundles Thanks for reading, we look forward to seeing you soon!