Dinolords News

Nearly two years ago now, Dinolords was announced with one of the all-time great videogame trailers. 55 seconds of seemingly straightforward, medieval strategy and city-building, suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a viking riding a T rex while heavy metal music plays...
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[p]It's summer, the sun is out for the three days of summer we get in Denmark, and a bunch of different things are happening in Dinolords. [/p][p]This month we are revisiting and expanding a little on the subject of basebuilding, we are looking at some more cool art, and then we are scratching the surface on defensive gameplay and what elements are going to have a big impact on the battlefield.[/p][p]So get comfy, maybe have a mug of mead, and come along in this edition of Dinolords Monthly.[/p][p][/p][h2]Expanding Basebuilding[/h2][p]A couple episodes ago, we looked at how basebuilding got streamlined and made a lot more direct than it initially was, by removing intermediary steps and opaque resource refinement that made it unclear where your resources had gone when you wanted to use them on something else.[/p][p]And that really worked; we discovered a core set of buildings that makes for a basic base, sort of "jack of all trades master of none". And now we are about to start opening up how that can then be specialized and made more interesting by upgrades and alterations to that core set.[/p][p]We always wanted to infuse more dinosaur-energy into the project as we do believe it is very much a case of "more is more". We also like to think that having, or at least attempting to, domesticate dinosaurs would influence many facets of the world, just like how the livestock of our timeline has affected us. And one of those would be improved/upgraded versions of some of the buildings in the game, starting out with the lumbercamp![/p][p]I am not quite sure if it's all because of the 90s "Dinosaurs" sitcom tv-show, but almost universally everyone has an idea about the Triceratops being the perfect beast to help with lumberyard work. So we are currently working on the first dinosaur-infused building, which is an upgraded lumbercamp with a great Triceratops pulling out trees by the root and bringing them back to camp, accompanied by a rider sitting on a special saddle with logging-truck-esque accoutrements to help lug the logs.[/p][p]And how would a hunter work if they got assisted by an apex predator - I imagine the biggest challenge would be to avoid the dinosaur eating the prey before you get to it yourself. Or maybe a Sauropod or Plateosaurus could assist farmers in reaching and picking fruit from trees with some sort of clever saddle-contraption![/p][p]It's so quick to form ideas and images of how this could look, and we hope we can bring it all to life, at least in a digital version.[/p][p][/p][h2]Art Showcase[/h2][p]We have done it before and we will keep doing it because the art is just too cool to keep internal. So here is a showcase of some of the assets currently making their way into the project![/p][p][/p][p]Different footprints for different dinosaurs![/p][p][/p][p]Some new dinosaur-inspired buildings, blacksmith, armorsmith and fletcher now all looking absolutely amazing![/p][p][/p][h2]Defenses[/h2][p]This is a big subject for us, and it is ever-developing as we discover and explore new ideas, but one thing was set from the beginning: We want the act of defending your base to be interesting and engaging.[/p][p]Working towards that goal has led us far and wide in search of things we could add to the game that would contribute towards making defenses more than just palisades and walls, and in this segment we are going to have a look at some of the ideas we have been toying with. Do note that this is not finalized, and not a guarantee that these will be in the game and if they are, they might not be implemented in the exact way described, but they are indicative of some of the overarching thoughts we are putting into defensive gameplay.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Starting out with arguably the coolest of the bunch; the Ptero-tower! A tower that houses one or more flying dinosaurs that fly out and attack enemy units. We are playing around with them having the ability to pick up units and drop them from high up, causing damage but also potentially dropping them into dangerous territory (maybe this can work with some of the other structures outlined below, who knows?). A potential upgrade could be having the dinosaurs drop exploding clay pot bombs for ultimate carnage on the battlefield![/p][p][/p][p]Next up is a net-throwing tower, with the ability to immobilize even the fastest units at range, allowing for your other units to get in a good hit! Generally, controlling movement of the enemy (aka Crowd Control) is super powerful in a game where a lot of the combat is oriented towards positional advantage and dodging strikes left and right. It could be some sort of big ballista where the bolts are a sort of bola-esque net, prioritizing big and fast units.[/p][p]We are also playing around with the idea of allowing better control of the ground itself around your base, one of them is an upgrade for buildings that lays down cobblestone around them, increasing movement speed within your walls. And perhaps this could be upgraded further, making it impossible for certain dinosaurs to dig underneath, thereby protecting your base from nasty surprises.[/p][p]Going further than that, moats around your walls would put a hard stop to heavy armored units that would just sink and drown, or even some hidden spike pit traps. Those might be a great place for a flying dinosaur to drop an enemy into, come to think of it.[/p][p]Some of these are still at early idea-stages, but some of them are returning favourites that keep popping up at regular intervals in the form of "hey, wouldn't it be cool if you could place moats?". And yeah, that would be pretty cool, we think![/p][p][/p][h2]That's all, folks[/h2][p]And just like that, we have reached the end of this edition of Dinolords Monthly![/p][p]As always, a big thank you to everyone following along.[/p][p]Catch you next month![/p][p]-panxter[/p]

[p]It is the end of June, which means two things: [/p]

1. [p]We are now halfway through the year, and halfway to Christmas.[/p]
2. [p]It is time for another edition of Dinolords Monthly![/p]

[p]This time we are presenting a new, much requested, feature that makes traversing the lands much faster, we are taking a trip down memory lane looking at some old screenshots of prototypes of the game, and collectively laughing at some of the many ways game development can present unforeseen bugs when you least expect it.[/p][p]So saddle up, and let's get this edition of Dinolords Monthly rolling![/p][p][/p][h2]Mounts[/h2][p][/p][p]"Oh Lord, he comin'!"[/p][p]Yes, we heard each and every one of you, and we have all agreed right from the start. It has been the second most asked question after "Do you also get access to dinosaurs as the British", and was closely followed by "Can you pet the dinosaurs?".[/p][p]So we are hard at work adding mountable dinosaurs into the game, first up, as pictured above, is the Utahraptor, complete with saddle and barding.[/p][p]Traversing the land just became a lot more convenient (and much more menacing) when you can do it from the back of a cool raptor. You can also still fight and use abilities, build your base, queue unit production etc., all the same things you can do on foot, only you look about 2700% cooler while doing it![/p][p]We have a few extra ideas brewing on what different mounts can allow you to do - we heard the raptor is really acrobatic with those strong legs being able to jump quite far![/p][p][/p][h2]Looking Back[/h2][p]So much has happened over the last two years, we wanted to show a couple screenshots of how the game has progressed since then.[/p][p]It is sometimes good to look back and reflect, sometimes you rediscover good things, and sometimes it can help confirm changes in directions that has compounded during development.[/p][p]Dialing back the clocks to December 2022 when the first prototypes were rapidly iterated through, the game shared elements in spirit, but looked and felt vastly different: here is a screenshot of an early prototype with production buildings making resources, hovering circle timer and all. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]At this stage, dinosaurs had not even been introduced to the concept, and it was much more a straight up medieval castle-sim with heavy inspiration from Stronghold. You managed production chains and saw a little city grow, but no real gameplay goal or challenge except balancing different productions in a game of spinning plates.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]These cute little houses look so quaint! You can also see an early version of grass here, right from the get-go, we wanted to hone in on the visual style of the game, paying tribute to classic titles we all remember fondly, like Age of Empires and beforementioned Stronghold, while also looking fresh. It has very much been an iterative process, but it sure is fun to see these old models again.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]And here, from spring 2023, we are starting to see some recognizable faces, although they have all gotten some major facelifts since then, there's a stockpile, a town hall, a quarry and a lumber camp. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]And finally, a screenshot without UI taken fresh from the press this morning showing the current look of the game. Still very much in progress, but it is fun to compare where we started with where the project is in its' current state.[/p][p][/p][h2]Making games is fun[/h2][p]We love making games, even when we sometimes hate making games. Sometimes, everything works out better than expected, and other times nothing works quite right.[/p][p]It has been a while since we last had a segment of funny mishaps and bugs, so here's a little montage of things that have gone wrong.[/p][p][/p][p]This guy clearly ate something he shouldnt have. Although, he is absolutely primed and ready for a dino rave at the Paleo Club now.[/p][p][/p][p]When you make towers a little too cheap and a certain 3D artist on the team is keen to break the game, this happens.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]That's one way of getting your 10.000 steps a day...[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Who even needs an ox to pull the cart? Bonus is it brings a crows of onlookers! [/p][p][/p][h2]Until Next Time[/h2][p]That's all for this edition of Dinolords Monthly, as always, thank you all so much for following along on how Dinolords is shaping up. [/p][p]We hope these posts helps provide an insight in our process and what is currently going on, and as always if you have any questions or comments, feel free to let us know - we try to reply to everyone. You can also find us over on the discord server, where the conversation is slightly more informal.[/p][p]Have a great summer, everyone! See you next month, and remember sunscreen and to drink some water![/p][p]-panxter[/p]

[p]With a slight delay, we finally thawed this edition of Dinolords Monthly from the ice slab it was delivered in. I wonder if they will ever hear about regular envelopes, or if they will keep sending these updates in massive frozen chunks of glacial ice.[/p][p]This month, we will be looking at some of the exciting new biomes that are making their way into the game, along with some new art and 3D as well as having a look at some building-related developments that are currently in full swing.[/p][p][/p][h2]Dinosaurs[/h2][p]If it is not already very clear, we really like dinosaurs. I mean, we probably wouldn't be making a game like Dinolords if we didn't. But there is just one little problem: it has been a little difficult to quickly see if a stray Deinonychus on the battlefield is friend or foe.[/p][p]Well, we can finally rejoice, because as if recently, dinosaurs are now clad in barding and banners to make it clear where they belong! [/p][p]Here are some in-editor views of the different bardings we have made for our prehistoric friends, starting out with the British:[/p][p][/p][p]There is a folder somewhere on our shared storage full of references to medieval barding for horses, and Lina has been busy making concept sketches for how they could look if fitted to a dinosaur.[/p][p]And of course there is the other force, the Vikings, and they also want to adorn their cool dinosaurs with armor, just to make it easier for them to tell them apart too, have a look:[/p][p][/p][p]I love the chains on the Ankylosaurus, there is just something to it that feels just right with having chains on a big dino that basically comes with a built in flail. Rad![/p][p][/p][h2]Biome, Bioyou, Bious![/h2][p]It is a continuous effort to make the world of Dinolords look visually interesting and beautiful, and lately our artist Elisa has been making some super cool progress we want to show.[/p][p]Firstly, though, let's talk a little bit about why this important - apart from making a game we thing looks great, having different areas that can look distinct and unique also affords some important functionality for actually playing the game. Primarily, they aid in traversing the world and navigating different zones - think along the lines of "It's to the east of the moorland" or "it's just on the other side of this pine forest". Secondly they are also a super efficient way to help set the mood of an area, to prepare the player if they need to be on high alert or if they can find specific things in a certain area. If the fog gets dense and visibility is low, maybe it's a good idea to prepare for an ambush. Or if I want to find a bog witch, maybe there's better odds if I search an actual bog and not a nice sunlit meadow with deer frolicking amidst the flowers.[/p][p]So we really want to make areas that are recognizably different but also that still adhere to some degree of accuracy, or plausibility. That means a bunch of research into plant and tree species on the British isles and here are a few screengrabs:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Add to those different looking grass and ground textures, and it's really starting to look like different areas with varied nature. [/p][p]We continue to expand and explore how to make these even more distinct, but we think it's already moving in a pretty cool direction.[/p][p][/p][h2]Building up a base[/h2][p]Basebuilding in Dinolords is an element of gameplay that has undergone a lot of iterations. We quickly discovered that playing as a character and being 'locked' to the lord, it was a challenge to keep on top of everything that was going on once the base started growing. Throw in some invading Vikings with dinosaurs and other events out on the world that demanded your immediate attention, keeping a well-oiled machine with 50 different buildings became a frustrating chore. As a result, people would build minimally and not engage with a lot of the buildings, they would only train base units and never explore different units and resources fully simply because there was no mental overhead to explore it.[/p][p]As a consequence, basebuilding has been through a lot, ripping out superfluous systems and striking a balance between keeping the feeling of a thriving base, and not being completely overloaded with keeping 20 plates spinning while being tickled.[/p][p]To sort of explain it in a comparative fashion, if we have a scale that goes from full citybuilder tycoon game with lots of intricate interwoven systems, and on the opposite end a very minimalist streamlined RTS, the needle used to point all the way deep into citybuilder territory, and now we are taking strides to point it more towards RTS games we all know and love.[/p][p]Boiling down the sheer number of resources and production buildings with refinement and intermediate resources to none and making a much more direct connection between having the resources needed for a unit or a building and getting that desired unit.[/p][p]Meanwhile, we really want to keep the feeling of a thriving base, affectionately known internally as "the anthill" where villagers are busy and things are getting done. We are exploring ways to have units idle in different locations and have stuff to do even if they are not actively working, and ways to have soldiers guard the walls and archers in towers, to make the base feel alive and interesting.[/p][p]And lastly, and probably most impactful visually, is that we have done away with upgrading buildings in 3 tiers, and instead we are revisiting building models and making them cool from the get-go. You might have seen some of the concept art on roofs and buildings in our previous posts, but for good measure, here are some reference drawings and models for some of the buildings.[/p][p][/p][h2][/h2][h2]Until next time[/h2][p]That was all for this month. Over the next two months, most of us will be taking a week or two's worth of well deserved summer vacation. Not all at the same time, so don't fret, work will still progress on Dinolords. [/p][p][/p][p]Just like the lord, hopefully there will be a little time to relax on a beach during the 3 days of summer we usually get here in Denmark.[/p][p]Catch you all next time![/p][p]-panxter[/p]

[p]Yet another page turns on the calendar, and that means we're back with a new edition of Dinolords Monthly.

Last edition we were a little cheeky, and a few of you hadn't checked the date of the post, but just to make it clear; no, we are not making an AI-slop shovelware match-3 farming lootcrate season pass game. We are still hard at work making Dinolords, which we definitely think is a much cooler idea.

This month, we are going to get a glimpse and a talk about the music, as well as some new concept art and 3d models.

[/p][h2]Real music for real dinosaurs![/h2][p]From the start, we knew we wanted to go big on the music for Dinolords. It is one of the most effective ways for setting the tone (hah) for a universe, and using anything but custom music composed and produced for the project seemed like it would severely hamper our ability to set the stage, but also highlight the care and work we have put into everything else.

Enter Jordan Rees, who we have collaborated with for the last good while to create something that sounds distinctly "Dinolords".

Jordan has composed and produced basically a whole album for the game, with music for combat, suspense, day and night themes and a theme over the last 10 months and it is very close to being finished.

Crazy instruments like Lur horn, Tagelharpe, Goat nail shakers and a bunch of other cool instruments that fit the time period but also very much fits the vibe we are going for.

A vast array of people are involved in the process of making orchestral music, and we have a few images to show some of the "behind the scenes" that goes on when making 16 pieces of music.

Guitars being recorded. Guitar: Joshua Lascar

Flute's gonna flute. Flute: Charlotte Thomas

Are French Horns really french? French Horn: Jack Sewter

Clarinet, more like Clarineat! Clarinet: Naomi Roberts

And to top all that cool stuff off, we ended up having the string instruments recorded by a proper orchestra, take a look at this:

Violins, Viola, Cellos, Double Bass, The gang's all here! Hungarian Studio Orchestra conducted by Krisztian Balassa

Look at all those bows! Where are the arrows though? Hungarian Studio Orchestra conducted by Krisztian Balassa

Solo lead violin, and more microphones than an Anky has legs! Violin: Balazs Bujtor

Additional Wind Instruments by Jessica Jones, Trumpet by Hugh Davies and Bassoon by Michael Elderkin.

To say that we are excited about the music of Dinolords is a bit of an understatement, and we can't wait to hear the finished results and put them in the game.

[/p][h3]Please don't stop the music[/h3][p]Having all these awesome pieces of music does not help much if we don't have a solid system to play them from, and for that we have made a dynamic music system that can respond and adjust to what is happening in the game.

Imagine this: You are walking around your base peaceful music is playing, villagers are hustling and bustling. A messenger comes up and shouts that Vikings have been spotted on the shore, the music fades and an uneasy suspense track starts playing. As the vikings approach, the music abruptly changes with a bang of a drum as your sword makes its' first impact against a Viking shield. It starts raining as the battle comes to an end, a solemn violin plays as flashes from lightning illuminates the ground colored red from blood.

We are trying to have a system that allows for interesting transitions between distinct states, and it has turned into this cool thing that can handle background atmospheres, music and weather sound effects all in one, and different actions and events in the game can then ask the system to go to that state and it will make sure that everything is playing as intended, so that rain sounds like rain, nighttime has a different sound in the forest than daytime, fog feels more isolated and quiet as visibility decreases, and everything that needs to change sounds can get a meaningful feeling attached via sound.

[/p][h2]Concept Art and 3D[/h2][p]There's also been a bunch of cool stuff made in the art-department, ranging from new concept drawings to new 3D models, so lets get to it and have a look!

Firstly, there's a couple of sketches for dinosaur saddles and riders, in both a Viking and a British flavour for the Ankylosaurus!
There is just something about the Anky that makes it look like the perfect mount albeit it's probably a bit slow.

Then there is a big one, Viking structures! Because having to eliminate a VIking village and when you get there it looks like your own English village does not really cut it.
So we need some Viking inspired buildings you can destroy!
And for that, here's a longhouse!

And finally, we want to have some more DInosaur-themed buildings to help show the British progressing into the Dinosaur-age. A Triceratops can help pull trees from the ground and makes for a great addition to any lumber camp, or a little Compy with a cart could be a great way to transport resources around the base, and we like to think that having dinosaurs as a part of society would influence many different aspects of everyday life including something like architecture.

Here is a little trip from concept sketches to 3D models to showcase this:


[/p][h2]Until next time[/h2][p]That is all for this past month.

We are seeing a lot more people joining our Discord, and it's cool to have a more casual conversation about what we are doing over there, as well as the possibility for everyone on the team to reply to questions about their specific task of expertise, so if you are so inclined come say hi.

Catch you in the next one![/p][p]-panxter[/p]