Day of Dragons News

Hello everyone!

The first update of the 1.0 Soft Release is almost here! The 1.0.0 update will be our biggest update ever with loads of new content for players to enjoy. To celebrate, we will be counting down the days by going over a new feature, big or small, each day before the release on February 17th. Check back here daily to see the next countdown post!

[h2]1 Day to Release![/h2]
[h3]Dominant and Recessive Genes[/h3]



Our final countdown feature will be the new genetics system. Players will now have two sets of genes for stats and skins, a dominant and a recessive. The dominant will be your dragon's phenotypic trait (your dragon's true stats and visible skin) and the recessive will be a hidden set that you can pass down to your offspring. If you unlock the "Dominant" skill on your Mutations Tree, you will be able to view your recessive genes.

It's been a long road, but the start of the 1.0 soft release is just around the corner. We can't tell you how much we appreciate all of your support during this journey. The 1.0 Updates will be just the start of what is to come and we can't wait to see you all in 1.0.0.




[h2]2 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]Interactive Water[/h3]



We are getting really close to the 1.0.0 update! Our second to last countdown feature will be our new interactive water. The water surface will be able to interact with players as they swim. As this is a new feature we are try, it is still in the works but the first version will be available to play with on the 17th!




[h2]3 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]Inventory and Pearls[/h3]



Yesterday we showed off the new Character Panel UI. Today's feature is another part of the new UI, the inventory system. The 1.0.0 update will feature the first part of our new inventory system coming to the game. Players with exclusive or unlockable skins will have pearls in their inventory that can add a cosmetic overlay to the dragons. These overlays will not able to be passed on through breeding.

In future updates, we will add the rest of the pearl system which allows AI and dragons to drop pearls upon death that can boost your dragon's stats.





[h2]4 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]New Character Panel UI[/h3]



The Character Panel in the 1.0.0 update has gotten a new makeover! The new UI will now have tabs players can click on to display the different information. These different tabs will include the information found in Legacy as well as some new information. Players will now be able to see their lineage on the genetics panel all the way back to their grandparents as well as the new environment panel.






[h2]5 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]The Biolumin[/h3]



The second dragon included in the 1.0.0 update will be the Biolumin Dragon. This Class 2 dragon is the first of our Kickstarter dragons to join the game. It is a cosmetic dragon, meaning its attack does no damage. To make up for its lack of attack, the Bio will be the fastest flier in the game and is also poisonous to eat. The Bio will be a nectarivore, meaning it eats flower nectar as its main food source.

The Biolumin's special ability (Q) is called Glow. It can turn on and off its natural bioluminescence at will and also can make other dragon's glow using its breath "attack". It is also our first dragon to be able to truly hover and can control its hover to move in all directions.

Backers who pledged for the Bioluminescent Dragon reward in our 2019 Kickstarter and other owners of the Bio DLC key will be able to spawn as this dragon at any time. Other players will be able to access this dragon if nested in by another player.

(screenshots by our testing community)




[h2]6 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]Stamina Exhaustion[/h3]



In addition to the new Second Wind that allows players to fill up an additional stamina bar to extend their flight, we have also added a Stamina Exhaustion mechanic. If a player completely runs out of stam, their stamina bar will become capped at a lower amount. With each time the stamina bar is completely emptied, the cap will grow larger. Players will need to sleep to remove the cap on their stam.





[h2]7 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]Forgotten Forest Map[/h3]



The 1.0.0 update will be introducing the new Forgotten Forest map. Except the height map, the Forgotten Forest has been completely redone. Players will be able to explore landmarks inspired by the legacy map as well as discover completely new locations.

This new map will have more spawn locations for hatchlings and include features such as waterfalls and caves. With each update, we will work to polish and add more features to the map.





[h2]8 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]Second Wind[/h3]



Yesterday, we announced the addition of clouds that players could fly through. Some of you may have been wondering if you'd have enough stam to make it to them and stay in them long enough to enjoy them. Well, that's where today's feature comes into play!

Second Wind will be a new feature coming in the 1.0.0 update. When a player is laying down, a second stamina bar (the Second Wind bar) will start to fill under the main one. Once in flight, the Second Wind bar will begin to fill the main stamina bar when it gets low, giving players an extra boost of energy.





[h2]9 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]Flying in the Clouds[/h3]



The first part of our new weather system will be coming in 1.0.0 with clouds! Players will be able to fly through the clouds and even over them. The formation of the clouds will be determined by the current weather (coming in 1.0.1) and players can escape severe weather events by flying above them.

PvP players will be able to utilize this feature to escape into the clouds if being chased to lose their pursuers.





[h2]10 Days to Release![/h2]
[h3]The Inferno Ravager[/h3]



Let's start off with a BIG one. The Inferno Ravager will be one of two dragons joining the world in the 1.0.0 update! The Inferno will be our game's first wyvern species (two wings & two legs) and has fire as its bile element. It will join the Shadow Scale and Flame Stalker as our third starter dragon, which means it will be automatically unlocked for all players.

The Inferno's special ability (Q) will be the Flame Cloak which allows players to light themselves on fire, burning anything that gets too close.

(screenshots by our testing community)



Come back tomorrow to see a sneak peek of another feature coming in 1.0.0!






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Hello, everyone!



Earlier this year, we posted an announcement in our official discord stating the 1.0 update may be delayed due to unavoidable health issues this year. WIthin the entire development team, there has been multiple health related incidents that could not be avoided. It wasn't a great year for us health wise and we had to spend a lot of time recovering.
Because of these delays, we aren't able to confidently fit everything we wanted into the 1.0 update. Life happens unfortunately, and with each passing day, this appeared more inevitable. We want to deliver 1.0 in the quality our community deserves and not deliver a rushed, buggy product. You, our community members, are awesome and you deserve the update to be just as amazing.

However...

[h3]1.0 will still be released on February 17th as promised![/h3]

But, it will be a soft release, meaning that it will be released over several updates. The first update will be 1.0.0 and will still be our largest update to date! We will be introducing two new dragons into the game. These two will be the free starter dragon, the Inferno Ravager, and the Kickstarter dragon, the Biolumin (available to all through nesting). We will also be adding our new and improved Forgotten Forest map which has been completely remastered with new locations and landmarks to explore.
After this initial update, we will be releasing the rest of the content intended for 1.0 in two to four week intervals.

We greatly apologize for the delay. We know some of you will be upset with this decision. Please believe us when we say we didn't want to, but it is what is best for the health of the game and developers.

Legacy Branch Only

• Made some adjustments to the new AntiCheat, it should no longer kick players who hatch from eggs, Alt-Tab, or use Sandboxie.
  
• Re-enabled the ability for servers to AlwaysShowPlayerTags and added a method to prevent one of the common player tag hacks
  

This update applies to the Day of Dragons Legacy Branch ONLY.

Community Servers who wish to stay on Day of Dragons Legacy Branch will need to update their servers to the Legacy Branch.

Players who wish/need to stay on the Legacy Beta version will need to switch over to the Legacy Branch of Day of Dragons. To do this, you must right click Day of Dragons Properties in your Steam Library, then click the Betas tab, then change the branch to Legacy.

• All DLC's and Exclusives have been unlocked for all players including Acid Spitter Drake, Kickstarter White, Grey, & Black skins, Patreon Crimson & Gold skins, Shimmer skin effect, Patreon Jellyflies effect ONLY ON LEGACY BRANCH! This does not apply or effect the main branch and Update 1.0. Exclusives will still be exclusive in Update 1.0, but have been unlocked in the old Legacy Beta for players who cannot run the updated release version.
  
• Granted Legacy Developer /slash commands to all Admins of both Official/Community servers
  
• Updated /help list command to display new Admin commands listed above
  
• Added AntiCheat methods to kick players using speedhacks which will also notify online admins and print to log the player kicked
  

Welcome back to another Dev Blog!

It's been a few months since our last update. A lot has happened in that time. Those of you who are active in our discord server already know, but our Lead Developer, Jon, had a serious accident in August leading to multiple broken ribs and a punctured lung. After multiple hospital visits and some close calls, he is finally able to get back to work. While he is not yet completely healed, he is well enough to begin working on the game once more.

Due to the accident, we have had to delay the release of the 1.0 update. However, we now have an definitive release date!

[h3]Day of Dragons will be releasing Saturday, February 17th, 2024![/h3]

The release will include four new playable dragons, one new playable elemental, new AI, the new skin crafting/nesting system, updated UI, game features, a new dragon pearl loot and inventory system creating a player economy, new game modes such as CvC and DvE, anti-hacking variable encryption, new emotes, new animations, new skins, new eldering mechanic, new maps, new UE5 engine features such as Lumen lighting, updated dragon models and textures, new/updated sfx, and much more.

We are very excited and we hope you are, too! Now let's see some of the awesome stuff we have been working on these last few months...


[h2]New UI and Systems[/h2]



Coming in the 1.0 update will be a new Character Panel UI design. This new design, shown as a early work-in-progress in the image above, will use tabs at the left side of your screen to open different information boxes. These boxes will contain the important information you can find in the current Character Panel, as well as additional information such as nesting and your new inventory.



We are currently working on crafting the inventory system for Day of Dragons. "An inventory system?" you say. "But dragon's don't have purses, silly developers," you say. Well, dragons don't need purses to carry their loot. They already have a built in one. Our dragons have an extra organ known as a crop that is used to store useful items such as dragon pearls.

Dragon pearls, as depicted in the above image, will be a new feature to the game. Players will be able to loot these from aggressive AI and player carcasses and equip them onto their characters. These pearls will have a variety of benefits, including stat boosting or cosmetic effects. Unless the pearl is from an exclusive cosmetic (i.e. from Patreon rewards packs), you will drop the pearls and your inventory once your dragon dies and other dragons will be able to loot your carcass.

Players will also be able to trade or drop pearls at will. And if you are wondering how, it is probably exactly as you would expect. With the new pearls, we will also be adding the regurgitation animation for each dragon.

Flame Stalker Regurgitation Animation



[h2]Animation And VFX Update[/h2]

Brood Watcher Mating Display

Our sixth dragon's animation set is completed! The Brood Watcher will be joining the Biolumin and the Blitz Striker as the new dragons coming in the 1.0 update. With the Brood Watcher will come major updates to the nesting system as well as skin crafting which we will talk about in more detail in a future dev blog. The Brood Watcher will function as a caretaker to young dragons and will be able to carry and incubate eggs in their throat pouches.

With the overall animation sets for the six dragons and first elemental that will appear in 1.0 completed, our animation and vfx teams are working on polishing content and looking ahead. Some of our animation team is already moved to working on content found in our next update. Check out some of the content and when it is to be expected below.

Update Biolumin Bile Attack VFX (1.0)

Feathered Zygovo Rig (1.2)

Singe Crest Flight Animation (1.1)

Polished Swamp Snapper Turn-and-Bite Animation (1.0 or following patch)

Shadow Scale Dynamic Idle (1.0)

Flame Stalker Dynamic Idle (1.0)




[h2]Welcome back to the Forgotten Forest[/h2]



We have a new developer who has joined the team! Echo will be our Level Designer and has already begun work on the map that will be featured in the 1.0 update.

With the delay of the Mega Map, we have turned our focus to the Forgotten Forest map that is currently in the game. We will be starting from scratch and redoing the entire map for the 1.0 update. The update map will feature new landmarks, micro biomes and more. Echo has already begun working on the river section of the map and has created some beautiful new areas for our players to explore.

The Forgotten Forest iwon't just be one giant forest biome. Instead, it is a temperate rainforest ecosystem which includes multiple types of micro biomes that you would find in areas with temperate climates. We plan to include multiple forests (coniferous, temperate, redwoods, birch), grasslands/meadows, snow caps (on mountain region), and wetlands. There might even be some volcanic activity that fire bile dragons can call home.

We can't wait to explore this new environment with you all!








[h2]Dev Q&A Livestream[/h2]


Our next Q&A livestream has not yet scheduled. Stay tuned and watch for updates to find out when the next one will be!



[h2]From the Community[/h2]


Each blog post, we pick some of our favorite screenshots and artwork posted by the community to showcase here. Want a chance for your submission to be showcased on our next blog? Post it in the appropriate channels on our discord!

[h3]Some of our favorite recent screenshots...[/h3]

by nicknetted

by lusewing

by birishlove



[h3]Some of our favorite artwork from the community...[/h3]

by optimisticp08

by mykamila

by kemikel


Thanks for reading!

~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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