Primeval News

Hello again everyone, after this month's previous update I've continued to get a lot done with the game. I'm still working through the high-priority list I made and still have more to do with it after this update as well.


[h2]Abilities:[/h2]

• Venomous Bite, a new ability has been added to the game. This ability is available for the troodon, dilophosaurus, and titanoboa. It inflicts toxins into its target. The older the creature is the more toxins it inflicts with its bite. Toxins up to 100% slow health regeneration and any toxins over 100% will cause the sufferer to slowly take damaage instead of regenerate health.
  
• Deadly Bite, a new ability has been added to the game. This ability deals a low amount of damage and 5x the normal amount of bleed damage. Spinosaurus, Megalodon Tylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sarcosuchus, Acrocanthosaurus, Allosaurus, Daspletosaurus, Dunkleosteus, Ceratosaurus ,Kryptops, Dimetrodon, and Deinonychus.
  
• Abilities in the tab menu now have a basic tooltip with info about the hovered ability.
  
• The player can no longer use abilities if the options window is open or if the gameplay menu is open.
  

[h2]Maps:[/h2]

• The huge Pangaea map has been fixed and re-enabled. It is 16 times larger than any of the other maps and will have a total of 32 biomes when finished. With this map working again I can focus more time into developing a single landscape and biomes to one day replace the other maps.
  
• The Savage Lands map has had a lot of its grass and plants replaced with new Megascans models that have LODs to help with performance. The savage lands map vegetation changes work with the Pangaea map and its biomes carry over to it.
  
• Increased the world bounds of the Pangaea map so your flyers could fly three times higher than previously before getting stuck.
  
• Added 20 new weather types across all of the maps.
  

[h2]Options:[/h2]

• Added a new save file for the spawning options, where you can change how many dinosaurs of each type spawn on any map. The file is named "Options_Spawning.iop" and it is generated after launching the game for the first time after this update. It is saved in the game's save file directory usually located at "C:/Users/*Username*/LocalLow/Exhibyte/Primeval/". The part of the file you want to change is where it says Dino_Terrestrial=0.5 and so on, change the 0.5 to whatever percentage you want for that spawn type. 0.01 is 1% so 0.5 would be 50% and 2.0 would be 200% and so on. Save the file and then launch the game to have these new values take affect. Spawning too many creatures can have a negative impact on your game's performance. The default values are a good starting point for most users for performance and quantity of creatures. Total value cannot exceed 5.0
  
• The weather sounds can now be turned down with the ambience slider in the volume settings.
  

[h2]Improvements:[/h2]

• Switched the game's rendering API from DirectX11 to DirectX12 so the CPU could offload some of its workload to the GPU.
  
• Turning has been slightly redesigned for a more realistic experience.
  
• Creature AI can now suffer from toxins.
  
• Enabled the Spine Animator component for most creatures so now they'll bend at their midsection while turning. Some creature models, mostly the oldest ones, were not compatible with this feature.
  
• Enabled the spine animator and tail animator for all AI creatures if that species has that feature enabled. This was done to make the AI feel more alive.
  
• Creature AI can now distance themselves away from their target while in combat to add more depth to the encounter.
  
• Creature AI can now stand idle and either play their call sound or play one of their idle animations.
  
• The wound decal system has been reactivated for creatures.
  
• Creature AI carnivores will no longer spawn near to larger carnivores unless they are a scavenger or hunt in packs with the larger creature.
  
• Now the player doesn't have to be so close to the water source in order to take a drink.
  

[h2]Adjustments:[/h2]

• Pressing the escape key no longer cancels auto-eat or auto-drink modes. You can still cancel it by pressing left-click or right-click.
  
• Creature AI that start to flee now clear their aggro list.
  

[h2]Fixes:[/h2]

• Fixed, the player's creatures can now again evolve the damage trait by attacking wild creatures.
  
• Fixed, the player's creatures now damage wild creatures at the correct time during an attack.
  
• Fixed, the player can once again initiate auto-eat and auto-drink modes the first time they try.
  
• Fixed, the player can no longer control their dinosaur's actions while typing into the chat box, which is accessed by pressing the enter key and closed by pressing the enter key again.
  
• Fixed a problem where if the player was typing into the chat input field and then clicked away from the chat input box the player's dinosaur controls could get locked until the input field gained focus again and was canceled by pressing the enter key.
  
• Fixed, the chat log no longer scrolls from the user pressing the movement keys.
  
• Fixed a lot of problems with chat mode including situations where you could get stuck in typing mode and not be able to control your creature.
  
• Fixed a glitch where if you breached from the water onto land you'd get stuck and would only be able to move forward.
  
• Fixed a glitch where aquatic AI creatures weren't chasing their target.
  
• Fixed a glitch where aquatic AI creatures weren't turning towards their target while chasing them.
  
• Fixed a glitch where aquatic AI creatures would get stuck at the surface of the water or the sea floor while fleeing.
  
• Fixed a glitch where aquatic AI creatures would spin out of control while attempting to flee.
  
• Fixed a glitch where if a swimming AI creature died rotated it would sink in a sideways direction.
  
• There is now a safety check, that if the player's creature falls under the terrain a certain distance their creature will be put back on the terrain's surface. This was useful for the Pangaea map because terrains are loaded in when within range and loading can have a short delay.
  
• Fixed a glitch where creature AI that were swimming and chasing something onto the land were falling under the terrain and disappearing.
  
• Precise movement was fixed for acrocanthosaurus.
  
• Fixed a problem with sunstones, now they'll give the correct amount of sunstone intensity to nearby creatures. Sunstone intensity still amplifies your growth rate, the higher the value the higher your growth rate goes and resting while under its affects are twice as affective.
  
• Fixed some problems with smelling now it should be working properly again for smelling other creatures. Also made carnivores able to smell creature corpses from the same distance they can smell live creatures and made carnivores able to smell carcasses that same distance as well. Herbivores can't smell creatures as far away as a carnivore can. There are still the different ranks of smelling that affect how far away your creature can smell something.
  
• Fixed a problem where creature AI wouldn't play their walking animation sometimes if they were walking.
  
• Fixed a couple of problems with overhead foodbars.
  
• Fixed a glitch where the player's creature could get stuck and not be able to move.
  
• Fixed a glitch where food that was picked up in a dinosaur's mouth was not visible due to its size being smaller than intended.
  
• Fixed a glitch where the creatures you picked up and dropped would have an extra corpsebar.
  
• Fixed, now creatures you pick up will have their corpsebar hidden.
  

Hello everyone, this month I've been able to get a lot done on the game. I decided to take a step back and make a list of the most important things to get done. I've been working through that list and have been thinking about what would be best for the gameplay and longevity of the game. In some cases this meant changing how some things work but I think it will all be for the best.


[h2]New Features:[/h2]

• Player Abilities, unlock up to 3 different slots for swappable attacks and abilities. The first slot is unlocked automatically upon hatching, the second slot unlocks when reaching the sub-adult growth stage, and the third slot unlocks when reaching the adult growth stage. The attacks and abilities pool is very limited for now, more will be added in the future for the different species and different types of gameplay. Eventually you'll be able to spend evolution points to unlock more attacks and abilities, and this progress will be saved for each of your creatures.
  
• Added an XeSS-Upscaler to the game, which can improve FPS by more than 100% in some cases.
  

[h2]Improvements:[/h2]

• Upgraded the project from Unity 2022.3 to Unity 6.
  
• Permadeath Mode or Hardcore mode has been removed from the game. Every time one of your creatures builds a nest that species gains a nest point. When your creatures die, in order to play them again you need to have at least 1 nest point because it costs 1 nest point to revive that creature and play them again.
  
• Redesigned gameplay HUD.
  
• Now, when your creature grows to the next growth stage, if you are showing overhead health-bars/food-bars they will refresh, just in case your diet changes and you need to see different bars.
  
• Now, the tab menu is opened with the tab key and if you press the tab key again it will cycle through the different tabs. You need to close the tab menu with the escape key now.
  
• Weather randomization has been enabled for all maps.
  
• Adjusted all LOD Groups for all creature species so they'll look better closer to the camera.
  

[h2]Adjustments:[/h2]

• The player's creatures can no longer be elder growth stage. If any of your creatures are elders they will be converted into adults upon them entering the game. The elder growth stage can no longer be reached by players. It is reserved for the AI for now. Your creatures can still continue getting larger after becoming an adult.
  
• Gave all creatures 10x more stamina to be able to sprint longer.
  
• Bulkier herbivores can now sprint at 4x their walk speed, up from 3x.
  
• All creatures walk, run, and sprint 1.5x as fast now.
  
• Creature speed after adult size 1.0 now scales based on their larger size.
  
• Made flying creatures able to fly faster. You still need to hold shift and press the spacebar multiple times to fly faster.
  
• Creatures will now get hungry and thirsty less often. Adults every 60 seconds, sub-adults every 45 seconds, juveniles every 30 seconds, and hatchlings every 15 seconds. Every time they get hungry they lose 1% of their total food or thirst.
  
• Creature AI are once again getting hungry and thirsty and will lose health when starving or dehydrated and can eventually die from those conditions.
  
• Creature AI carnivores will only hunt if their food is below 75%.
  
• When attacked, carnivore AI will flee if below 30% max health.
  
• When attacked, non-carnivore AI will flee if below 30% max health unless it is a defensive creature, then they will flee if below 15% max health.
  
• When looking for a target to attack, carnivore AI will not attack if they are below 60% max health.
  
• When looking for a target to attack, non-carnivore AI will not attack if they are below 60% max health unless it is a defensive creature, then they will not attack if they are below 30% max health.
  
• Creature AI can now regenerate health over time.
  
• Now, when a creature attacks another creature, the attacker will gain more interest in their target. This is so when a new target comes into range the attacker will not switch to the new target until it is done with the first target.
  
• Players can now hurt their own species by attacking them.
  
• Item quantity text is now larger.
  
• Increased the volume of the ambient sound manager.
  
• Removed the Task Reward "Level Reduction".
  
• Made jumping for aerial creatures resemble takeoff and soaring, you'll still need to jump once in the air to start flying.
  

[h2]Fixes:[/h2]

• Creatures no longer fly high above the water when swimming.
  
• Player nests are now being built at the player creature's location.
  
• Footstep sounds are once again working for the player and other creatures.
  
• Fixed a glitch where you couldn't click the "Continue" button after selecting a creature from your creature list.
  
• Creatures are no longer increasing their flesh toxicity while they are alive, only after they die.
  
• Dead creatures are once again showing their corpse-bar.
  
• The rocks and bones in the Great Sands map are no longer glossy.
  
• Creatures will now flee from or defend against other creatures.
  
• Creatures will now attack their attacker if not fleeing.
  
• Attack and kill tasks are once again working for the player.
  
• Some creatures weren't registering as the proper food type, "Fish, Meat, Insect".
  
• Smaller creatures that just spawn into the game should no longer appear to be floating in the air until you get close to them.
  
• Creatures should no longer sink through rocks when standing on them while also standing above water.
  

Hello, my health still hasn't gotten much better so I wasn't able to do much with Primeval development this month. I was able to get a little done though.

Now available is a more realistic looking lighting/sky/weather system.

Hello, I'd like to first give a brief update on what's been going on and why its been taking so long to get updates released this last two months. I've been having some health problems and its been keeping me from using the computer much, so i haven't been able to get much done. My health is getting a little bit better sometimes so I've been able to make a little progress with the update and have decided to release it before the dinosaur/critter functionality is complete, that way people on the main branch of the game can get these updates without having to wait an excessive amount of time to get them because there are a few fixes in there as well.

• Critters have been added to the game. They are a lightweight version of creatures but do not need to process nearly as much as a normal creature, so more of them can be in the area around the player without causing much performance loss.
  
• The first critters that have been added to the game are aquatic, 4 different species of fish to help liven up the ocean and lakes.
  
• All AI creatures have been converted into critters at runtime to allow a lot more of them to be in the game and in view of the camera.
  
• More work will be done with critters to get them to eat, sit, sleep, idle, and form packs.
  
• The iguanodon now has a new model, 6 new skin textures, and new animations.
  
• Added a new velociraptor model, textures, and animations, and changed the previous velociraptor into the the deinonychus species.
  
• Creature now get loaded into view depending on their size and distance from the camera, so smaller creatures are only loaded closer to the camera where as larger creatures can be loaded further away from the camera. This improves game performance.
  
• More adjustments have been made to the Savage Lands map and its plants and biomes.
  
• All ground textures on the Savage Lands map have been replaced with new, higher-quality textures.
  
• The big Pangaea map stopped working and won't load so its getting disabled until I can fix it so players don't get stuck trying to load it.
  
• Your previously "huge" creatures, after Elder size 1.1 have been restored, and unlimited growth now shows on your creatures at 100% instead of 5%. I thought about this subject more and decided its a good thing that can keep players enjoying the game after reaching elder status, and if players want to bring their huge creatures into a multiplayer game (when multiplayer goes live), that's fine too. Groups of players could potentially have to form to take down an extremely large and dangerous player. Growth does slow down after reaching elder status, and it slows down to 1% of its normal rate passively and from eating. Lets try this rate for a little while and see how long it takes you to grow to massive proportions. If it takes too long to get much bigger I'll tune that number higher and we can try that. I may have to get more advanced with this rate, and maybe make it scale based on your size, so the bigger you get the lower this rate goes, but that's up for testing if this doesn't work.
  
• Elder creatures now have faster movement after growing past their initial elder growth size of 1.1.
  
• The player will no longer get stuck on rocks while swimming underwater.
  
• Seashells have been added as decoration to the beaches and underwater.
  
• Grass has been added as decoration in the ocean, lakes, and streams.
  
• Flying creatures can once again fly.
  
• Fixed a glitch where the evolution window wasn't working properly.
  
• Fixed a glitch where aquatic AI creatures were not spawning.