The Future of Echoes of Extinction? - New Dev-blog #21 is Out!

[h3]- Project Lead[/h3][p][/p][p]Hey Extinctioneers![/p][p]This month is quite an important one for EoE. The decisions we made recently will probably go down as some of the most important in this project's journey.[/p][p]For the past couple of months, we've been hyping up the Tech Demo. It's gone through a lot of testing and fixing, and we’re edging super close to its finished state—but that said, we’ve decided to take things a step further. The team and I have chosen to add a little extra content to the Tech Demo before its free release to the public. Some of this content will include an additional playable and a few more features and locations to explore.[/p][p]Why have we made this decision? Well, after a year and six months of pushing forward with passion and excitement on the development side, we’ve decided that alongside the Tech Demo, we will also be launching our crowdfunding campaign. This will ever so slightly delay the Tech Demo's release, but not by much at all—we just want to make sure it’s ready for everyone and has enough content to really showcase our vision for Echoes of Extinction.[/p][p]We know we’ve got a lot of hungry eyes on us from the community, as well as excited content creators who are eager to show their own audiences—and we want to make sure we deliver something unique and that truly represents what we're capable of, even if it's just a Tech Demo.[/p][p]Launching the Indiegogo campaign and reaching our funding goal will push us forward in a huge way. It will allow us to fully dedicate our time to building the game we’ve all been dreaming of. It will also give us the opportunity to hire new talent, and finally, to pay our current developers for their amazing work—both past and future. This will mean faster and even higher quality updates![/p][p]As always, we’ll keep you updated on when the Tech Demo and crowdfunding campaign go live so everyone can get involved. The Tech Demo will remain free for everyone to play all the way up to the Early Access release which it will then be published on steam to begin with.[/p][p]Thank you all for the amazing support you've shown us over these past months—it’s truly kept us going even during the tough times. We can’t wait to bring you along for the ride and see you all on the island of Akura soon. Keep the hype alive—and let’s get ready for this new chapter!

[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][hr][/hr][h3]– Programmer[/h3][p][/p][p]Hey! This month was very similar to last. Most of the team’s time has been spent getting our Tech Demo update out. I’ve focused on optimizing and tweaking code—converting more Blueprint functions to C++ and GAS, fixing various diet‑system bugs, and adjusting some stat values—all while ensuring existing functionality remains solid. We’ve also added updated Eocar animations.[/p][p]Beyond optimizations, I’ve begun balance changes to growth times. Originally, base growth ranged from 30 minutes to 16 hours. After discussion, we’ve reduced longer growths by up to 25% and shorter ones by about 5%, with a few species seeing slightly longer times. Our new base range is 45 minutes to 12 hours. For example, Eocar’s base time went from 210 minutes to 170 minutes—and with up to 30% growth speed bonuses, an Eocar can mature in just under 2 hours.[/p][p]As a bonus, I’ve been setting up new stats, attacks, and abilities for our roster. With Puru and Ourano nearing completion, we’ve chosen our next four species: Pachycephalosaurus, Dracovenator, Irritator, and Enigmosaurus.[/p][p]

[/p][hr][/hr][h3] – Programmer[/h3][p][/p][p]This month, I focused on improving network responsiveness and preparing for upcoming animation upgrades.[/p][p]Character Movement Overhaul: I reworked the movement component to ensure smooth, responsive gameplay even under high‑ping conditions, implementing server‑predictive features to minimize latency impact.
Optimizations & Fixes: Continued general optimizations and bug fixes across the project to boost stability and performance.
New Animation System: Began integrating our latest Tribal character animation assets into the new animation system for more lifelike behavior.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]– Animator[/h3][p][/p][p]This month I’ve focused on the Juvenile Eocar. It was long overdue for new animations that capture being small, lightweight, and nimble (with added cuteness!). The juvenile now has new walk, trot, and run animations, and I paired adult and juvenile trotting side‑by‑side so you can truly see the difference in speed and feel. I also added grabbing‑chunk and swallowing‑chunk animations.[/p][p]
Trot: Walk: Sprint:
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]– Concept Artist[/h3][p][/p][p]Hello everyone! This month I started gathering references for the platforms that will be placed on the sequoia trees for humans, and I’ve begun sketching the first drafts. I hope to finish soon and share my work. [/p][p]
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]– 3D Artist[/h3][p][/p][p]Hello! I’ve completed the modular building pieces for the game. I adjusted the size of the logs to improve visual consistency and resized all modular parts so they snap together precisely. Unless any unexpected issues arise during implementation, the modular system is ready for use!

[/p][hr][/hr][h3] – 3D Artist[/h3][p][/p][p]This month, I continued my work on the Purussaurus. I’ve focused on representing its many osteoderms in the mesh—most are now incorporated, with just a few areas left to touch up. Catch more progress on Puru every Saturday at 7 am PST.[/p][p]The Ouranosaurus is also coming along: male textures are nearly finished, and I’ve planned body blend shapes for aging plus color variations for the female skin pattern.[/p][p]
[/p][hr][/hr][h3] – 3D Artist[/h3][p][/p][p]Hey everyone! This month I made the mortar and pestle model and have been working on the sequoia tree bases.[/p][p]

[/p][hr][/hr][h3]– QA Coordinator[/h3][p][/p][p]This month we’ve started running QA in earnest so we can push out bi‑monthly builds and have them tested. We’re slowly expanding the QA team to build a strong stress‑test community for future content.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]– 3D Artist[/h3][p][/p][p]This month I made a low‑poly male character, created UVs, updated the face sculpt, and built a base for the inner mouth.[/p][p]
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]– Animator[/h3][p]This month I worked on more transitions for smooth movement and reworked the idle animation to improve posing and posture.[/p][p]
[/p][hr][/hr][h3]– 2D Artist / UI Designer[/h3][p]Hey all! This month has been dedicated to the UI revamp, and I’m excited to show it off as I get it game‑ready. Next up: revamping the crafting UI and the dino panel UI![/p][p]

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