Is our Next Tech Demo Free to Play?! - New Dev-blog #19 is Out!
[h2]Islander[/h2] - Project Lead
Hey Extinctioneers,
This month I’ve been shepherding our incredible team as they tackled everything from tribal lore and voiceovers to foliage tweaks and system overhauls. We saw:
Concept & Modeling: Vittoria and Bohuslav laid the groundwork for our human tribes, while RAR and SadEch pushed forward on dinosaur skinning and the Eocarcharia rig.
Animation & Environment: AB_TurtleButt refined tribal locomotion, and AirSickLowLander filled our biomes with denser, optimized foliage.
UI & Audio: Void revamped our in-game panels, and Mayonnaise Eater brought Dryosaurus to life with naturalistic calls.
Systems & Quests: Chikangia smoothed out menus and settings, FuriousSmaug tightened up diets and stats, and Danik empowered designers with our new quest framework. Plus, we introduced two demo quests—“Winds of Memory” and “Repairing the Fence”—complete with voices by Katieotten13 and DefeatPete.
For a closer look at all of these updates in action, check out our April 2025 Dev Blog video on YouTube
Important:
I'd also like to announce our next Tech Demo will be fully free to play!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
---
[h2]Mayonnaise Eater[/h2] - Sound Designer
Hey everyone,
This month I’ve been working on some vocalizations and experimenting more with the style of sounds that the creatures in the game have. I’ve wanted to take a more natural approach to the sound design in the game, utilising fewer big, monstrous sounds and fewer crazy plugins to keep everything sounding a little more grounded. This month’s focus has been Dryosaurus; he’s been through a few changes, but currently he’s in a really good spot with some nice unique sounds that give him a lot of character. I’m very excited for you to hear them!
I’ve also been looking at some different audio implementation methods for Echoes of Extinction and exploring how we can implement them as organically as possible. We don’t want the creatures to sound monotonous or repetitive. Implementation is a huge proponent to avoiding that! Currently, we’re looking at how to segment sounds and provide subtle variations, allowing different sounds to be produced each time you use a call in-game. Ideally, this will allow for a larger variation in sounds rather than having a few sounds that the game will cycle through.
---
[h2]Danik[/h2] - Programmer
Hello everyone,
This month I was helping with quest changes, allowing the design team to make many different quests for players. I will continue looking into melee combat, which at the moment hasn’t been tested well enough in real multiplayer scenarios and might require some work to make it feel good for various ping cases. Also, my priorities might shift after we get feedback on the latest build.
---
[h2]Ｖｏｉｄ[/h2] - 2D Artist / UI Designer
Hey everyone! This month has been dedicated to working on 2D art for in-game items used for UI, alongside working on other UI aspects such as the Dino panel, as well as aiming to remake the UIs soon so they’ll fit the game’s vision perfectly!
Dinosaur Character Panel:
---
[h2]Chikangia[/h2] - Programmer
This month was all about improving the player experience through better settings and continued system maintenance.
New Graphics & Audio Settings Menu:
I created a new menu that allows players to adjust graphics and audio settings more easily and in greater detail.
Bug Fixes & System Improvements:
I fixed several issues in existing systems and made various improvements to ensure better performance and functionality across the board.
Main Menu:
Graphics Panel:
---
[h2]FuriousSmaug[/h2] - Programmer
Hey all! It’s been a busy month finishing up diets and base code revisions for stats. The basic functionality, including buffs, debuffs, nutrient gains, and special foods, is all complete. While the system will feel bare-bones at the moment, the more the game progresses and the more species of plants and dinosaurs are added, the better it will feel. However, the system was designed in a way to allow for even a single playable and still work well. There are still a few minor bugs that will be worked out in time, but nothing major!
Besides finishing up diets and revisions to stats, I’ve been moving on to adding the new Eocar model. I’ve been working with Ech and Rar on getting the new textures and materials set up to make everything easier for future playables. I’ve also been doing various optimizations to other systems, from dinosaur AI to other code for playable dinos, in order to make the next update as clean as possible. There have also been some changes to various mechanics and stats behind the scenes. Tweaks to weight, damage, new attacks, even reworks or additions to mechanics are always being looked at to ensure each and every mechanic and playable is both enjoyable and challenging. Much work has been done to make the next update as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
---
[h2]AirSickLowLander[/h2] - Level Designer
This month, I’ve been focusing on improving foliage distribution across every biome! The jungle now has denser ground coverage, while reducing the number of trees with collision that offered very little visual value. I focused more on filling the canopy above and the floor of the jungle, giving a little more space to move and see.
Along with that, I’ve been focusing on reducing the number of textures being used in the game. I’m reusing them where I can to offer lower VRAM usage and lower disk size for the total game. Now, the main thing I’m focusing on is filling the rest of the map with foliage, at least enough to have the general layout solidified.
---
[h2]HERNI[/h2] - 3D Artist
First of all, I’d like to apologize for the lack of updates over the past few months. I’ve been quite busy with my studies and my full-time job. Thank you for your patience.
This month, I’ve made significant advancements on the modular wooden parts for the constructions. They are now practically finished; all that’s left is some fine-tuning to ensure they fit perfectly together. Additionally, the 2 boats are complete in terms of modeling. The only remaining task is to polish the texture work.
Tribal Base Modular Building:
Boats:
---
[h2]RAR[/h2] - 3D Artist
This month I continued to work on the Purussaurus during our weekly livestreams on Saturday mornings. I unfortunately missed one due to being sick, but we are back on track and finishing up the last little details on the high-poly before jumping into the next phase of retopology.
Outside of that, I’ve been working on prepping the Ouranosaurus for textures and I’ve begun to apply the first skin design to the model. Still more to go on the textures. I’d consider this a quick blocking pass now. I’ve also been helping here and there with feedback on the tribal model currently in the works.
Ouranosaurus:
---
[h2]AB_TurtleButt[/h2] - Animator
Continued working on Tribal Animations, getting the transitions in place and also some of the locomotion animations.
Idle-Run Tribal Animation:
---
[h2]Vittoria Leto[/h2] - Concept Artist
Hello everyone 🙂
This month, I focused on developing concepts related to human morphology adapted to a hostile environment. I created different body types, varying in height—some taller, others shorter—but all sharing a common trait: highly developed musculature designed to provide strength, endurance, and adaptability under extreme conditions. I concentrated particularly on turnarounds to explore how these anatomical forms behave from different angles. This allowed me to work not only on the overall volume but also on muscle detail and posture. The goal was not only to create functional bodies but also ones that feel believable within a coherent fictional world. Each design aims to tell a story about how that body has evolved or been modified to survive.
Male Bodies:
Female Bodies:
---
[h2]Bohuslav_Salo[/h2] - 3D Artist
Hello everyone! This is my first project for Echoes of Extinction, really excited to be here). This month I’ve started working on the male character 3D model.
Human Male Tribal:
---
[h2]Katieotten13 (Auriel VA)[/h2] - Voice Actor
Hi everyone – I’m so excited to be here! I’m a professional voice actor with many years of experience in anime, audiobooks, video games, etc.
I just finished recordings for the first quest that Auriel sends the player on to find a medallion, which you can find in the new tech demo update. I’m so excited to work on more recordings! ☺️
You can also listen to one of my lines on our YouTube channel on Aprils Dev-Blog video!
Medallion [Quest Item]:
[h2]DefeatPete[/h2] - Voice Actor
Hey Everyone,
This month I excitedly worked on Farmer Jorik, making sure to fully capture the voice and essence of our friendly farmer, in my quest you'll have to help me repair a fence and reclaim my Dryosaurus who have escaped. You can hear one of my voice lines on our YouTube channel of Aprils Dev-blog.
Nails [Quest Item]:
[h2]SadEch[/h2] - 3D Artist
Greetings, everyone. This month has been spent perfecting the last bits of the Eocarcharia. It's been paired up with the old rig and fully functional in it! The morphs from a tiny hatchling to a full done are on the model as well, graciously done by Raul! So far, here's a fully overhauled walk-cycle for the adult eocar.
Eocarcharia Walk:
Eocarcharia Growth Stages:
Hey Extinctioneers,
This month I’ve been shepherding our incredible team as they tackled everything from tribal lore and voiceovers to foliage tweaks and system overhauls. We saw:
Concept & Modeling: Vittoria and Bohuslav laid the groundwork for our human tribes, while RAR and SadEch pushed forward on dinosaur skinning and the Eocarcharia rig.
Animation & Environment: AB_TurtleButt refined tribal locomotion, and AirSickLowLander filled our biomes with denser, optimized foliage.
UI & Audio: Void revamped our in-game panels, and Mayonnaise Eater brought Dryosaurus to life with naturalistic calls.
Systems & Quests: Chikangia smoothed out menus and settings, FuriousSmaug tightened up diets and stats, and Danik empowered designers with our new quest framework. Plus, we introduced two demo quests—“Winds of Memory” and “Repairing the Fence”—complete with voices by Katieotten13 and DefeatPete.
For a closer look at all of these updates in action, check out our April 2025 Dev Blog video on YouTube
Important:
I'd also like to announce our next Tech Demo will be fully free to play!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
---
[h2]Mayonnaise Eater[/h2] - Sound Designer
Hey everyone,
This month I’ve been working on some vocalizations and experimenting more with the style of sounds that the creatures in the game have. I’ve wanted to take a more natural approach to the sound design in the game, utilising fewer big, monstrous sounds and fewer crazy plugins to keep everything sounding a little more grounded. This month’s focus has been Dryosaurus; he’s been through a few changes, but currently he’s in a really good spot with some nice unique sounds that give him a lot of character. I’m very excited for you to hear them!
I’ve also been looking at some different audio implementation methods for Echoes of Extinction and exploring how we can implement them as organically as possible. We don’t want the creatures to sound monotonous or repetitive. Implementation is a huge proponent to avoiding that! Currently, we’re looking at how to segment sounds and provide subtle variations, allowing different sounds to be produced each time you use a call in-game. Ideally, this will allow for a larger variation in sounds rather than having a few sounds that the game will cycle through.
---
[h2]Danik[/h2] - Programmer
Hello everyone,
This month I was helping with quest changes, allowing the design team to make many different quests for players. I will continue looking into melee combat, which at the moment hasn’t been tested well enough in real multiplayer scenarios and might require some work to make it feel good for various ping cases. Also, my priorities might shift after we get feedback on the latest build.
---
[h2]Ｖｏｉｄ[/h2] - 2D Artist / UI Designer
Hey everyone! This month has been dedicated to working on 2D art for in-game items used for UI, alongside working on other UI aspects such as the Dino panel, as well as aiming to remake the UIs soon so they’ll fit the game’s vision perfectly!
Dinosaur Character Panel:
---
[h2]Chikangia[/h2] - Programmer
This month was all about improving the player experience through better settings and continued system maintenance.
New Graphics & Audio Settings Menu:
I created a new menu that allows players to adjust graphics and audio settings more easily and in greater detail.
Bug Fixes & System Improvements:
I fixed several issues in existing systems and made various improvements to ensure better performance and functionality across the board.
Main Menu:
Graphics Panel:
---
[h2]FuriousSmaug[/h2] - Programmer
Hey all! It’s been a busy month finishing up diets and base code revisions for stats. The basic functionality, including buffs, debuffs, nutrient gains, and special foods, is all complete. While the system will feel bare-bones at the moment, the more the game progresses and the more species of plants and dinosaurs are added, the better it will feel. However, the system was designed in a way to allow for even a single playable and still work well. There are still a few minor bugs that will be worked out in time, but nothing major!
Besides finishing up diets and revisions to stats, I’ve been moving on to adding the new Eocar model. I’ve been working with Ech and Rar on getting the new textures and materials set up to make everything easier for future playables. I’ve also been doing various optimizations to other systems, from dinosaur AI to other code for playable dinos, in order to make the next update as clean as possible. There have also been some changes to various mechanics and stats behind the scenes. Tweaks to weight, damage, new attacks, even reworks or additions to mechanics are always being looked at to ensure each and every mechanic and playable is both enjoyable and challenging. Much work has been done to make the next update as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
---
[h2]AirSickLowLander[/h2] - Level Designer
This month, I’ve been focusing on improving foliage distribution across every biome! The jungle now has denser ground coverage, while reducing the number of trees with collision that offered very little visual value. I focused more on filling the canopy above and the floor of the jungle, giving a little more space to move and see.
Along with that, I’ve been focusing on reducing the number of textures being used in the game. I’m reusing them where I can to offer lower VRAM usage and lower disk size for the total game. Now, the main thing I’m focusing on is filling the rest of the map with foliage, at least enough to have the general layout solidified.
---
[h2]HERNI[/h2] - 3D Artist
First of all, I’d like to apologize for the lack of updates over the past few months. I’ve been quite busy with my studies and my full-time job. Thank you for your patience.
This month, I’ve made significant advancements on the modular wooden parts for the constructions. They are now practically finished; all that’s left is some fine-tuning to ensure they fit perfectly together. Additionally, the 2 boats are complete in terms of modeling. The only remaining task is to polish the texture work.
Tribal Base Modular Building:
Boats:
---
[h2]RAR[/h2] - 3D Artist
This month I continued to work on the Purussaurus during our weekly livestreams on Saturday mornings. I unfortunately missed one due to being sick, but we are back on track and finishing up the last little details on the high-poly before jumping into the next phase of retopology.
Outside of that, I’ve been working on prepping the Ouranosaurus for textures and I’ve begun to apply the first skin design to the model. Still more to go on the textures. I’d consider this a quick blocking pass now. I’ve also been helping here and there with feedback on the tribal model currently in the works.
Ouranosaurus:
---
[h2]AB_TurtleButt[/h2] - Animator
Continued working on Tribal Animations, getting the transitions in place and also some of the locomotion animations.
Idle-Run Tribal Animation:
---
[h2]Vittoria Leto[/h2] - Concept Artist
Hello everyone 🙂
This month, I focused on developing concepts related to human morphology adapted to a hostile environment. I created different body types, varying in height—some taller, others shorter—but all sharing a common trait: highly developed musculature designed to provide strength, endurance, and adaptability under extreme conditions. I concentrated particularly on turnarounds to explore how these anatomical forms behave from different angles. This allowed me to work not only on the overall volume but also on muscle detail and posture. The goal was not only to create functional bodies but also ones that feel believable within a coherent fictional world. Each design aims to tell a story about how that body has evolved or been modified to survive.
Male Bodies:
Female Bodies:
---
[h2]Bohuslav_Salo[/h2] - 3D Artist
Hello everyone! This is my first project for Echoes of Extinction, really excited to be here). This month I’ve started working on the male character 3D model.
Human Male Tribal:
---
[h2]Katieotten13 (Auriel VA)[/h2] - Voice Actor
Hi everyone – I’m so excited to be here! I’m a professional voice actor with many years of experience in anime, audiobooks, video games, etc.
I just finished recordings for the first quest that Auriel sends the player on to find a medallion, which you can find in the new tech demo update. I’m so excited to work on more recordings! ☺️
You can also listen to one of my lines on our YouTube channel on Aprils Dev-Blog video!
Medallion [Quest Item]:
[h2]DefeatPete[/h2] - Voice Actor
Hey Everyone,
This month I excitedly worked on Farmer Jorik, making sure to fully capture the voice and essence of our friendly farmer, in my quest you'll have to help me repair a fence and reclaim my Dryosaurus who have escaped. You can hear one of my voice lines on our YouTube channel of Aprils Dev-blog.
Nails [Quest Item]:
[h2]SadEch[/h2] - 3D Artist
Greetings, everyone. This month has been spent perfecting the last bits of the Eocarcharia. It's been paired up with the old rig and fully functional in it! The morphs from a tiny hatchling to a full done are on the model as well, graciously done by Raul! So far, here's a fully overhauled walk-cycle for the adult eocar.
Eocarcharia Walk:
Eocarcharia Growth Stages: