The Road To 3.0, Part 2 - Visuals
Our deep dive series continues! Today, we're looking at the ongoing visual overhauls...
[h3]Contrast, Colour & Detail[/h3]
Primal Carnage: Extinction was originally a very drab game that didn't feature much in the way of contrast or colour when it first launched. One of the goals of our Evolution overhaul is to further address this criticism by giving the game a dramatic makeover...
Although still working in the same engine, we've managed to push the visuals even further for 3.0 while finding a more natural brightness range compared to how PCE on PC used to look.
Most maps will appear darker than they used to in PCE on PC, without the nuclear hot sunlight that used to be blasting the environments. Aside from reducing the brightness of the sun itself, we've refined the post processing and overall look of the game, with more finely calibrated tonemapping.
Even though the actual colour grading is different, many bold colours actually come from the wide variety of flowers now found on the maps, which break up what used to be an almost uniformly green jungle.
Some areas have actually become even more detailed since our original before / after showcases at the start of the Evolution beta...
UtilityBase now has dirt filling in the cracks of its floor tiles and leaves piling up inside. New detail props that you can kick around, like traffic cones and boxes, make the game world feel more reactive.
In addition to improving the lighting and shading of the world, many assets have become more detailed over time. If you joined us long after the 2.0 update for PCE on PC, you might have missed that we gave our dinosaurs a 4k texture overhaul...
Since then, numerous other assets received updates too, including the polygons on Commando's head!
[h2]ANIMATION ENHANCEMENTS[/h2]
Many new animations have been created over the past couple of years, such as completely re-animating the entire human team a while ago for 2.0. In the clip below, you can see the original moveset was quite stiff, with motions that often looked a little unnatural. For example, the Pyromaniac on the left seems more like he’s ice skating than sprinting (and his belly is just completely out of control).
Heading into version 3.0 with Evolution, many of the new animations we're now working on aren't just for visual polish - they directly affect gameplay.
Take the raptors, for example. Compared to the regular quick-tap pounce, it was felt that running around with a charged-up pounce could sometimes give a slight advantage. Consequently, raptors now have unique ready-up animations for charging their pounce and moving around with it held ready. While these new animations do assist gameplay… they’re also just really cool.
Elsewhere, all Tyrants now have low health animations! Their idle pose and movement style changes with low HP, helping humans to know when they can push to take them down. Keep an eye out for Spino’s dangling arm, Rex’s limp, and Acro’s lumbering. We may extend this feature to other classes in future, but figured it was most valuable when dealing with Tyrants.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
An experimental feature that we're still unsure will make the final cut is floor alignment, which adjusts a dinosaur's rotation to match the surface angle when going up and down hills. This feature has caused some *interesting* bugs so far. Hopefully it can be tamed, since when it works it really helps immersion.
On the human side, the stungun has some new animation tweaks coming up. Regular shots have the same wimpy motion as ever, but charged stungun shots have much more kick, feeling suitably powerful. Also, new motions when fully charged convey that it’s a struggle to keep this thing from popping off.
There are of course plenty of changes that are purely aesthetic, but which go towards making the experience feel more polished. Many of these are 3rd person human anim tweaks, such as making sure guns don’t float out of their hands and fixing the last few missing equip motions.
That said, being able to properly SEE a human doing a melee attack when viewed in 3rd person is quite helpful as a dinosaur, especially if it’s a pathfinder winding up a heavy machete slash!
[h2]WEATHER EFFECTS[/h2]
A new “weather system” has been added, which applies special effects on maps that have it enabled. When you’re outdoors on Airbase, Downpour, etc. you’ll now see your character appear wet and shiny with raindrops pattering on them.
Humans will see their weapons being rained on as well, but go inside and you’ll slowly dry out over time. If you look up while standing in the rain, droplets will also appear on the camera lens.
For now, the only weather type is rain - but we’re looking at adding new snow effects for winter.
[h2]NEW OVERLAYS[/h2]
Similar to standing in the rain, go stick your camera under a waterfall and your view will become distorted as the water washes over you. There are many new post process screen overlays like this, but one of the more complex is the new Roar Ability effect! When deploying a roar, glowing veins now quickly trace across the screen to better communicate the buff...
Other post process additions include Tyrant roars now spraying spittle onscreen if you stand too near to them, and close-up melee kills will splatter your victim’s blood on the camera!
Classic effects such as getting poisoned or being blinded by spit / flares are also receiving upgrades. Flares are now more obscuring when seen by dinos (but hopefully not bright enough to give you a headache), while spit now has different overlays for charged vs. uncharged spit.
We think these adjustments make for a much more visceral experience - but if it’s too much for you, many effects such as screenshake can be adjusted to your liking or turned off entirely in the expanded game options menu.
[h2]STAY TUNED[/h2]
Keep an eye out for more deep dives coming soon, exploring more of the changes and improvements coming with the FREE Evolution Update on PC. You can try out many of these changes already in the Open Testing beta, but there are even more juicy features we've yet to fully reveal!
[h2]Join us on Discord[/h2]
Join the the Official Primal Carnage Discord to keep up with all the latest sneak peeks and take part in the Autumnal-themed screenshot contest, winners receive special spooky items this Halloween!
[h3]Thanks for reading![/h3]
-The Primal Carnage Team
[h3]Contrast, Colour & Detail[/h3]
Primal Carnage: Extinction was originally a very drab game that didn't feature much in the way of contrast or colour when it first launched. One of the goals of our Evolution overhaul is to further address this criticism by giving the game a dramatic makeover...
Although still working in the same engine, we've managed to push the visuals even further for 3.0 while finding a more natural brightness range compared to how PCE on PC used to look.
Most maps will appear darker than they used to in PCE on PC, without the nuclear hot sunlight that used to be blasting the environments. Aside from reducing the brightness of the sun itself, we've refined the post processing and overall look of the game, with more finely calibrated tonemapping.
Even though the actual colour grading is different, many bold colours actually come from the wide variety of flowers now found on the maps, which break up what used to be an almost uniformly green jungle.
Some areas have actually become even more detailed since our original before / after showcases at the start of the Evolution beta...
UtilityBase now has dirt filling in the cracks of its floor tiles and leaves piling up inside. New detail props that you can kick around, like traffic cones and boxes, make the game world feel more reactive.
In addition to improving the lighting and shading of the world, many assets have become more detailed over time. If you joined us long after the 2.0 update for PCE on PC, you might have missed that we gave our dinosaurs a 4k texture overhaul...
Since then, numerous other assets received updates too, including the polygons on Commando's head!
[h2]ANIMATION ENHANCEMENTS[/h2]
Many new animations have been created over the past couple of years, such as completely re-animating the entire human team a while ago for 2.0. In the clip below, you can see the original moveset was quite stiff, with motions that often looked a little unnatural. For example, the Pyromaniac on the left seems more like he’s ice skating than sprinting (and his belly is just completely out of control).
Heading into version 3.0 with Evolution, many of the new animations we're now working on aren't just for visual polish - they directly affect gameplay.
Take the raptors, for example. Compared to the regular quick-tap pounce, it was felt that running around with a charged-up pounce could sometimes give a slight advantage. Consequently, raptors now have unique ready-up animations for charging their pounce and moving around with it held ready. While these new animations do assist gameplay… they’re also just really cool.
Elsewhere, all Tyrants now have low health animations! Their idle pose and movement style changes with low HP, helping humans to know when they can push to take them down. Keep an eye out for Spino’s dangling arm, Rex’s limp, and Acro’s lumbering. We may extend this feature to other classes in future, but figured it was most valuable when dealing with Tyrants.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
An experimental feature that we're still unsure will make the final cut is floor alignment, which adjusts a dinosaur's rotation to match the surface angle when going up and down hills. This feature has caused some *interesting* bugs so far. Hopefully it can be tamed, since when it works it really helps immersion.
On the human side, the stungun has some new animation tweaks coming up. Regular shots have the same wimpy motion as ever, but charged stungun shots have much more kick, feeling suitably powerful. Also, new motions when fully charged convey that it’s a struggle to keep this thing from popping off.
There are of course plenty of changes that are purely aesthetic, but which go towards making the experience feel more polished. Many of these are 3rd person human anim tweaks, such as making sure guns don’t float out of their hands and fixing the last few missing equip motions.
That said, being able to properly SEE a human doing a melee attack when viewed in 3rd person is quite helpful as a dinosaur, especially if it’s a pathfinder winding up a heavy machete slash!
[h2]WEATHER EFFECTS[/h2]
A new “weather system” has been added, which applies special effects on maps that have it enabled. When you’re outdoors on Airbase, Downpour, etc. you’ll now see your character appear wet and shiny with raindrops pattering on them.
Humans will see their weapons being rained on as well, but go inside and you’ll slowly dry out over time. If you look up while standing in the rain, droplets will also appear on the camera lens.
For now, the only weather type is rain - but we’re looking at adding new snow effects for winter.
[h2]NEW OVERLAYS[/h2]
Similar to standing in the rain, go stick your camera under a waterfall and your view will become distorted as the water washes over you. There are many new post process screen overlays like this, but one of the more complex is the new Roar Ability effect! When deploying a roar, glowing veins now quickly trace across the screen to better communicate the buff...
Other post process additions include Tyrant roars now spraying spittle onscreen if you stand too near to them, and close-up melee kills will splatter your victim’s blood on the camera!
Classic effects such as getting poisoned or being blinded by spit / flares are also receiving upgrades. Flares are now more obscuring when seen by dinos (but hopefully not bright enough to give you a headache), while spit now has different overlays for charged vs. uncharged spit.
We think these adjustments make for a much more visceral experience - but if it’s too much for you, many effects such as screenshake can be adjusted to your liking or turned off entirely in the expanded game options menu.
[h2]STAY TUNED[/h2]
Keep an eye out for more deep dives coming soon, exploring more of the changes and improvements coming with the FREE Evolution Update on PC. You can try out many of these changes already in the Open Testing beta, but there are even more juicy features we've yet to fully reveal!
[h2]Join us on Discord[/h2]
Join the the Official Primal Carnage Discord to keep up with all the latest sneak peeks and take part in the Autumnal-themed screenshot contest, winners receive special spooky items this Halloween!
[h3]Thanks for reading![/h3]
-The Primal Carnage Team