Prehistoric Kingdom News

[p] [/p][p]Welcome to the November Development Update![/p][p]As the team will be on their holiday break in late December, this is officially our last blog post for the year. There’s quite a lot of text to get through in this one, so let’s dig right into it.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]First up, the team is trying to get Update 16 into public testing as soon as possible. While the content will be restricted and unfinished, we are aiming to start the PTB during December to gauge early feedback, fix bugs and lock down a release date. Obviously December is a busy month due to the holidays, but stay tuned for more info and we’ll do our best![/p][p][/p][h2]Funding Recap & Thank You[/h2][p]Looking back to the start of the year, we want to provide an update on our financial situation. For those unaware, PK was almost entirely out of funding as of January 2025. As you might imagine, this was a very stressful time for the team and many of us voluntarily made pay sacrifices to keep the game afloat.[/p][p]Thankfully over the last 11 months, we have been able to push out game-changing updates like breeding and seamless growth entirely thanks to your support. Whether it’s been through buying a copy or supporting us directly on Patreon, you have made an incredible difference and provided us with the security to keep going.[/p][p]While sales do fluctuate month to month depending on discounts or game updates, the overall interest in Prehistoric Kingdom continues to increase. Patreon has been a massive help when making up for dry months, so if you can spare it, we will forever appreciate supporting us there.[/p][p]Truly, thank you all so much for your help.[/p][p]- The PK Team
[/p][p][/p][h2]Vivariums[/h2][h3]New Species[/h3][p]This is Yi and Yi is basically a wyvern. Well, it’s really a dinosaur from China BUT instead of using feathers to glide, its wings were made from a bat-like membrane! Inside its mouth is a set of needle-like teeth that love to munch on insects, kibble and the occasional finger.[/p][p][/p][p]The first concept art for this fluffy fellow was drawn all the way back in 2021, with Yi originally intended to be part of the Early Access launch roster. We even had Nigel record lines for it, but due to the difficulties that came from the original Mini-Aviary, Yi was shelved until now. Revisiting the original concept was a real treat![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]From a time long before the dinosaurs, Tiktaalik is one of the oldest animals coming to Prehistoric Kingdom. This fish is what’s considered to be a transitional species, a link between land and water. Using its surprisingly sturdy limbs and muscular body, guests love to watch Tiktaalik propel itself onto the shores of their vivarium. It may not be graceful but it sure is fascinating![/p][p][/p][p]If it’s not on land, you’ll commonly catch Tiktaalik below the surface exploring its aquatic domain. It’s great exercise for grandpa![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h3]Making A Home[/h3][p]Since Vivariums are quite a small space to build in, we’ve designed a system that allows players to quickly add or remove nature with just a couple clicks.[/p][p]Depending on the chosen environment, there are a variety of nature presets that can be made more or less dense. These options can be freely mixed and matched or even include Mesozoic plants if they’ve been unlocked. If you’re not happy with how the items have been placed, you can even set or randomize the Vivarium’s seed, redistributing your nature pieces.[/p][p]Of course if you’re more of a sandbox builder, you can always turn off the generated nature or simply add your own touches on top of it.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]When it comes to enrichment items, these can be toggled within the same menu. Each Vivarium comes with its own predetermined enrichment spots that add new locations for your animals to explore. For example, your Compsognathus can jump up onto logs and your Microraptors can glide to climbing frames.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]All vivariums above were made using a mix of hand placement and auto-generation![/p][p]One of our favorite items is the arboreal tree. When disabled, the perch looks more like something you’d see in a real zoo. Turn it on, however, and your flyers are right at home! The vibe is up to you.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We should also mention that ALL of these enrichment items will be available as separate decorative modular pieces![/p][p][/p][h3]Enlightening[/h3][p]And so after all that, Vivariums are almost done! We’re currently working on the management side of things and are animating the remaining species. We really like how this system turned out and love its flexibility, especially when it comes to things like the null styling and enrichment.[/p][p]To finish off the work on their customization, players can also change the vivarium’s light color! This is perfect for making reptile houses or nocturnal habitats, we cannot wait to see what you do with them.[/p][p][/p][h2]Vets & Diseases[/h2][p]Diseases and ailments can come in a variety of forms. There are over 25 different conditions, each caused by things like the weather, poor habitats or worsening sickness. Some examples include:[/p]

• [p]Common Cold
  A contagious disease potentially contracted from weather or swimming[/p]
• [p]Silicosis
  Particulate caught in the lungs, caused by a lack of plants in the habitat[/p]
• [p]Roundworms
  Contracted from eating contaminated feeders[/p]
• [p]Plant Toxicosis
  Contracted from eating plants of the wrong era[/p]
• [p]Mites
  Contracted from using dirty bedding[/p]

[p]Most diseases can be treated early to stop them developing into something much worse (e.g. the common cold into pneumonia). For this, you’ll need a special type of staff member.[/p][p][/p][h3]Vets[/h3][p]To identify and deal with disease in the park, players will need to hire vets. Their primary task is to walk around and automatically survey habitats, alerting the player to issues as they arise.[/p][p]If an animal becomes sick and they have not been recently surveyed by a vet, the player will not be aware that something is wrong until the next survey. Despite this, many illnesses will show physical symptoms such as sneezing, skin irritation, lethargy or frequent droppings. If the player notices or thinks something is wrong, they have the option to manually call a vet to visit the animal.[/p][p][/p][p]When a disease has been found, vets will medicate animals from a distance or sedate them and use the new ‘Medicine’ resource to treat them in the field. A sick animal cannot lose its survey status until all its issues have been cured.[/p][p][/p][h3]Preventing Disease[/h3][p]As vets inspect your habitats (and vivariums), they’ll also check the cleanliness of any feeders, water troughs and bedding within an area. The less spread out these modules are in the enclosure, the quicker this process will be. [/p][p]Dirty modules are a potential source of disease, so if they’re found, keepers will be called in to clean them. In the case of feeders, food will be completely thrown out and replaced if a disease is identified.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Players can also add supplements to feeders by using the Medicine delivered by vets. Once ingested, animals will receive temporary buffs depending on what the player has enabled. [/p]

• [p]Vitamins
  Animals are more resistant to getting sick, increases immunity and growth speed[/p]
• [p]Steroids
  Animals heal faster from light wounds, increases vitality and growth speed (will be useful for competitive species like Triceratops once combat is added)[/p]
• [p]Mating Booster
  Increases courtship during the breeding season[/p]
• [p]Mating Suppressant
  Decreases courtship during the breeding season[/p]
• [p]Mutagen
  Increases the chance and intensity of mutations from parent to offspring (e.g. wider variation in genetic immunity, fertility and random skins for babies)[/p]

[p]To compensate for these changes, the growth speed for animals will be lowered across the board while the courtship chance will become more varied per species.[/p][p][/p][h3]Research & Quarantine[/h3][p]While vets can deal with basic illnesses right away in the field, some advanced ailments might need the player to explore new treatment options. This first starts by researching the Quarantine Bay - a module that’s required to treat certain things like Bird Flu, Sepsis or eventually in U17, broken bones.[/p][p]Once an animal has been moved into a Quarantine Bay, this will give your vets a sterile place to work while also protecting nearby animals from any contagious disease. A Quarantine Bay must be stocked with Medicine in order to treat animals.[/p][p][/p][p]As you can see below, all of the mid-late stage illnesses either must be researched to perform treatment in the field or entirely rely on the Quarantine Bay. To prevent the worst from happening, you’ll want your vets available, habitats spotless and this research tree completed![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Since this is our last Dev Diary for the year, we wanted to briefly talk a little about 2026. If you’ve been keeping up with the roadmap, you’ll know that after U16, Prehistoric Kingdom will be two major updates away from full release![/p][p]There are a few features here and there that are yet to be revealed, but the biggest headliners for next year will definitely be hunting, combat and breakouts. These remaining updates are going to be substantial and very time consuming, but they’ll finally bring all the pieces together. By the end of 2026, PK should be mechanically complete. [/p][p]In terms of next year’s roster, it’s finally time for Stegosaurus! This Jurassic classic will be arriving with four different designs: two for Stegosaurus stenops and two for Stegosaurus ungulatus. We can’t wait to show you how the others look.[/p][p]The 3D model will have different proportions to the concept art.[/p][p]Its contemporary predator, Allosaurus, will also be stalking its way into the game! This ferocious predator will have four different alt species, each with their proper skull shape to make it one of the most diverse and deadly animals in Prehistoric Kingdom.[/p][p] [/p][p]Created by JKOC1115 [/p][p]Created by Sr Yepetto[/p][p]Created by Errant[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you for reading November's dev diary![/p][p]Once again, thank you so much for your support over the past 12 months. You kept PK alive and helped us create our biggest year ever. The Dev Diary will return in January with our roadmap for 2026 outlining what we hope will be an even BIGGER year filled with the things that you’ve been begging for.[/p][p]Combat, hunting, management improvements, \[redacted], \[redacted], it’s going to be great. In the mean time, we’ll be keeping you updated on U16 with hopefully some playable stuff in December![/p][p]Until next time and happy holidays,[/p][p]- The PK Team[/p]

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[p] [/p][p]Welcome to the October Development Update! [/p][p]We hope you’ve had a spOoOky month with plenty of park building to go around. In this post, we’ll be exploring more of the new content coming in Update 16 and meeting a particularly cute friend.[/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p]As we continue to march forwards, we’ve made good progress on Update 16! Six out of the nine upcoming vivarium species have had their models fully finalized, meaning it’s time to move onto their animations and sound. You might even be able to get an early look at some of them over on the Patreon![/p][p]Our original duo, the Archaeopteryx and Microraptor, have seen some adjustments, too. While both have received a new rig and updated proportions, the Micro in particular has been given updated textures to truly make it pop. Those pants have never been fluffier![/p][p][/p][p]In October, we were also able to finally integrate FSR 3.1 into the game. For those unaware, using FSR basically allows the game to render at a lower resolution and then get scaled back up. Depending on the scene, this can greatly increase rendering performance, especially for devices like a Steam Deck. Using FSR’s ‘Native AA’ mode can also make the game look super crisp, though it won’t improve your performance.[/p][p][/p][p]
We should note that using FSR can come with some caveats, especially in motion (e.g more “ghosting” or smeared guests). Since PK is a simulation game, performance is also more closely tied to the CPU than you may think. Rendering itself is not always the biggest bottleneck![/p][p]Regardless, we hope the integration of FSR will help a number of players run the game better than before once U16 releases. There will be various levels of quality to choose from (Native AA, Ultra Quality, Quality, Balanced, Performance, Ultra Performance), as well as regular anti-aliasing options. You can get a broad sense of how the quality levels compare below (click for fullscreen).[/p][p][/p][p]Beyond this, the team’s developed the first functional prototypes for the Ferris Wheel and Panoramic Tower rides coming soon. We’re using placeholder art at the moment, but visitors are able to properly board the rides and disembark when finished. Without a cashier, a ride cannot operate![/p][p]These “landmark” style attractions have been notably absent in the zoo-sim space, so we’re super excited to finally bring them to the community. After all, who wouldn’t want to see across a dinosaur park?[/p][p][/p][h2]Vivariums[/h2][h3]Simosuchus UNLEASHED!![/h3][p]Coming soon to a park near you is the terrifying, massive-jawed… tiny… Simosuchus? This adorable "pug-nosed crocodile” was originally found in the late Cretaceous floodplains of Madagascar, sharing a formation with popular dinosaurs like the mighty Majungasaurus.[/p][p][/p][p]Despite its rugged appearance, Simosuchus was actually a herbivore! It had dozens of tiny, leaf-shaped teeth in its mouth that were perfect for stripping low lying vegetation. Thanks to the fossil record, this is another species our scientists were able to restore with a high degree of genetic accuracy![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h3]Big Leaps for Little Kind[/h3][p]Over the last month, we’ve managed to add leaping and flying to the vivarium locomotion. Perhaps surprisingly, one of these new features can be seen with the Compsognathus! By adding enrichment to their habitat, your Compies can see the world from a whole new perspective, jumping up onto logs or basking rocks. All of this is still very much work in progress, so please keep that in mind![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Of course, aerial species like Archaeopteryx can also leap, fly or walk around their enclosure. Just like the Compy, enabling enrichment such as climbing structures or forage boxes will give your birdies plenty of destinations. Flight as well as their pathing will be smoothed out in the final version.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h3]A Splashing Success[/h3][p]Using a new water rendering system, vivariums will be able to generate their own water volumes on demand. It’s fast, efficient and makes your amphibious habitats look that much more beautiful![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]This development extends to the tide pool enrichment, too! Your Spinosaur’s prey will feel much more refreshed, uh, for the moment.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In the future, we’d love to add some fountains or dedicated water pieces that can take advantage of the new tech. It’s really great to see what nice looking water does for the environment.[/p][p][/p][h3]Vivarium Walls[/h3][p]The art for the vivarium facades, cladding and terrain have now been finished. Come November, we’ll be ready to start populating them with nature and enrichment items.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Whether or not the Terrestrial Vivarium displays burrows depends on the species inside!
The Arboreal Vivarium will also have a tree “shell” enrichment item that makes it look more like the current Mini-Aviary.[/p][p][/p][h3]Afflictions, Disease & Death[/h3][p]This month we were able to get started on a melancholy but necessary part of the game: disease. Though we’re still working on it, animals will soon be able to grow old, contract afflictions and unfortunately… die.[/p][p][/p][p]Animals will be able to develop a variety of issues stemming from things like swimming, bad weather, poor habitats or even contaminated feeders. Most diseases can also evolve into something more extreme if left unchecked by vets, for example, the common cold can go from pneumonia all the way to respiratory failure or a heart attack.[/p][p]While many afflictions can lead to a more “peaceful” death induced by a coma, not all are that lucky. In the worst case scenario, your animals may suddenly collapse to the ground and eventually pass away if they don’t receive treatment. To do this, we’re actually using some of the combat “knockdown” animations from U17![/p][p]Animals that collapse (or that are knocked over once combat is added) will struggle on the ground before they’re able to find their footing again. As you’ll also see below, animals that are too weak will never make a recovery. Despite our budget limitations, we think things like this will set Prehistoric Kingdom apart and offer a more dynamic solution to how animals respond to the gameplay sandbox.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]No matter how morbid, we genuinely can’t wait to share more about this part of the game. Diseases tend to be an overlooked aspect of zoo-sims and our planned approach to visualising various conditions and symptoms is something we think you’ll be very interested in! Stay tuned.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Update 18[/h2][p]Jumping ahead to next year, U18 will be the last Early Access update before we hunker down for the full release. While it’ll offer new gameplay in the form of breakouts, security and engineers, it’s also where you’ll finally get the wetland map! [/p][p]Alongside this new level and wetland foliage improvements, we are going to replace the painted water rendering system with the one coming to Vivariums in U16. It’ll be quite a lot of work, but it should run faster, look better and finally allow us to render pieces underwater! Builders rejoice. [/p][p]This update is still quite a ways off, but we think you’ll truly love it when it arrives. Weird and a little bittersweet to think that PK’s Early Access journey is almost coming to an end! [/p][p] [/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Created by Bilaral

[/p][p]Created by CarlosG72

[/p][p]Created by Wither[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Created by blu


[/p][p]Thank you for reading October’s dev diary![/p][p]If you thought the game looked a little different in all these screenshots, that’s because we’ve been touching up the lighting and post-processing. Along with the addition of FSR, we think U16 will be one of the prettiest updates yet. We’ll be back next month for the final dev diary of the year as the team will be on break at the end of December.[/p][p]Until next time,[/p][p]- The PK Team [/p]

• [p]Facebook[/p]
• [p]Twitter[/p]
• [p]Discord[/p]
• [p]Reddit[/p]
• [p]YouTube[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Welcome, Park Managers![/p][p]This newest patch resolves a number of issues in addition to adding basic threaten/fleeing behaviors, look targets and grazing fidgets for when herbivores idle.[/p][p]The team has now fully moved on to developing Update 16 which you stay up to date with by checking out our development blog at the end of every month. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Basic Threaten/Fleeing[/h2][p]Depending on the animal group, species will try to flee, chase off or threaten animals. Some highlights include herbivores becoming more defensive if they have a family, animals fleeing from predators, or large theropods threatening each other if they get too close. Some animals like adolescent and adult ceratopsians will even threaten other species when it's their breeding season![/p][p]These behaviors have been brought over from the nest defense previously included in Update 15 so keep in mind that it'll be massively improved once combat releases next year in Update 17![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Look Targets[/h2][p]Animals will now look at other creatures around them! Adults will prioritize immediate relatives and their own species, while babies will look at their parents and other species more commonly. They'll also now watch the head or tail of their partner during courtship.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Graze Fidgets[/h2][p]We've also added new idle grazing fidgets for when herbivores are standing around. As this isn't a dedicated grazing behavior, the animation can still play regardless of an animal's underlying terrain. This might be something we look at in a future update.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Additional Notes[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]Look targets and threatens are relatively experimental additions to the game that will be evolved through updates[/p]

• [p]Head IK can be a bit jittery, especially when transitioning out into an extreme animation (e.g. Gallimimus preen) - we'll be looking to improve this as much as we can in the future[/p]
• [p]The head IK is currently enabled when animals are spawned, making them look up[/p]
• [p]Defensive animals may get stuck in a threaten loop for a while but one should eventually emerge victorious[/p]
• [p]When fleeing, animals can sometimes walk away instead of running, making them seem very chill![/p]

[p]
[/p][p][/p][h2]Features[/h2]

• [p]NEW FEATURE: Animal Look Targets
  Animals will now look at other creatures around them! Adults will prioritize immediate relatives and their own species, while babies will look at their parents and other species more commonly.[/p]
• [p]NEW FEATURE: Basic Threats & Fleeing
  Animals will be able to threaten and run away from threats if they get too close. Highlights include some species becoming more defensive if they have a family, while others will run away from predators as much as possible. This is an area we will be overhauling for Update 17 in the future![/p]

[h2]Additions[/h2]

• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Added idle grazing animations:[/p]
    • [p]Ankylosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Coelodonta[/p]
    • [p]Dryosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Elasmotherium[/p]
    • [p]Gallimimus[/p]
    • [p]Leaellynasaura[/p]
    • [p]Mammoth[/p]
    • [p]Muttaburrasaurus[/p]
    • [p]Nasutoceratops[/p]
    • [p]Ouranosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Oviraptor[/p]
    • [p]Pachyrhinosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Paraceratherium[/p]
    • [p]Protoceratops[/p]
    • [p]Psittacosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Scelidosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Styracosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Triceratops[/p]
  • [p]Added courtship to Ouranosaurus[/p]

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Animals have been given new awareness parameters, like vision range and hearing distance[/p]
  • [p]Awareness now scales with animal maturity[/p]
  • [p]Animals “Sexual Maturity” is now based on being a certain size as well as being in the last third of their maturity[/p]
  • [p]In Family Groups, Eat/Drink priority is now driven by the infants rather than the adults[/p]
  • [p]Young animals should now have boosted need fulfilling gains[/p]
• [p]Buildings & Scenery[/p]
  • [p]Color-corrected topiary pieces so they’re less neon green[/p]
• [p]Foliage[/p]
  • [p]Redwood bark is now darker in the shade[/p]

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Crashes[/p]
  • [p]Fixed some crashing related to animal nav updating[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a rare crash that can occur when alt-tabbing in/out of the game[/p]
• [p]Critical[/p]
  • [p]Fixed staff skill and training research loading[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animal excavation progress doubling up when loading games[/p]
  • [p]Fixed user actions not deactivating completely when opening the management menu while an action was active[/p]
• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals slowly speeding up to normal speed when first placed in the world[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals using IK and grounding effects when they shouldn’t[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals being able to leave their navmesh if another navmesh was available above or below the point of exit[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Mating Display state being too picky about a minimum initiation distance[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Play Chase state to ensure line-of-sight between path nodes, which should prevent animals from getting stuck on geometry while chasing[/p]
  • [p]“Sexual Maturity” feature fixes animals trying to mate and find nests when they are still too small to occupy the size of navmesh their preferred nest is accessible from[/p]
  • [p]Flee State should be a bit more varied in where it chooses to end at[/p]
• [p]UI/UX[/p]
  • [p]Fix for the 'Open Research' button in the Staff Training menu linking to the Security tree instead of the Management tree within the Research Menu[/p]
  • [p]Fixed staff menu summary refresh when opening the Staff Menu[/p]
• [p]Audio[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a spatialization issue for dromaeosaur threaten sounds[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Additions[/h2]

• [p]Audio[/p]
  • [p]Added missing sounds to ceratopsian grazing and Gallimimus animations[/p]

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Threat displays and fleeing for herbivores will now be primarily triggered by predators that pose a larger threat to them. They can still threaten each other if it is nesting season, however, with adolescent ceratopsians also becoming spicy towards other species![/p]
  • [p]Sped up ceratopsian idle graze animation[/p]
  • [p]Young animals should now have boosted need fulfilling gains[/p]

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Crashes[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a rare crash that can occur when alt-tabbing in/out of the game[/p]
• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Ugrunaaluk neck compression[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue that caused some herbivores to not tolerate males of their own species[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Nasutoceratops not playing its idle graze animation[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals improperly using IKs in the nursery screen[/p]
• [p]UI/UX[/p]
  • [p]Dramatically improved camera jitter when tracking moving objects[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Welcome, Park Testers![/p][p]This PTB release resolves a number of issues in addition to adding basic threaten/fleeing behaviors, look targets and grazing fidgets for when herbivores idle.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Basic Threaten/Fleeing[/h2][p]Depending on the animal group, species will try to flee, chase off or threaten animals. Some highlights include looking at courtships, herbivores becoming more defensive if they have a family, animals fleeing from predators or large theropods threatening each other if they get too close.[/p][p]These behaviors have been brought over from the nest defense previously included in Update 15 so keep in mind that it'll be massively improved once combat releases next year in Update 17![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Look Targets[/h2][p]Animals will now look at other creatures around them! Adults will prioritize immediate relatives and their own species, while babies will look at their parents and other species more commonly.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Graze Fidgets[/h2][p]We've also added new idle grazing fidgets for when herbivores are standing around. As this isn't a dedicated grazing behavior, the animation can still play regardless of an animal's underlying terrain. This might be something we look at in a future update.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]How to Access the Public Testing Branch (Experimental!)[/h3][p]The Public Testing Branch (PTB) is a version of Prehistoric Kingdom that can be opted-into on Steam, containing experimental and potentially breaking changes. With the help of the community, we're able to hunt down various issues and gather feedback before pushing a an update to the public version of Prehistoric Kingdom.
[/p]

1. [p] Right click Prehistoric Kingdom in your Steam Library[/p]
2. [p] Go to Properties[/p]
3. [p] Betas[/p]
4. [p] Select 'ptb_public_testing'[/p]

[p]Please note that it is not recommended to play Public Testing Branch parks on earlier versions of the game. Please send feedback and bug reports to our Discord server's appropriate channel.

[/p][h3]Known Issues & Additional Notes[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT BUILD WHICH MAY RUN WORSE FOR SOME USERS! THIS ALLOWS US TO GATHER MORE DATA FROM BUG REPORTS![/p]
• [p]Look targets and threatens are relatively experimental additions to the game that will be evolved through updates[/p]

• [p]Head IK can be a bit jittery, especially when transitioning out into an extreme animation (e.g. Gallimimus preen) - we'll be looking to improve this as much as we can in the future[/p]
• [p]The camera can be jittery when tracking an animal due to head IKs[/p]
• [p]The head IK is currently enabled when animals are spawned, making them look up[/p]
• [p]Defensive animals may get stuck in a threaten loop for a while but one should eventually emerge victorious[/p]
• [p]When fleeing, animals can sometimes walk away instead of running, making them seem very chill![/p]

[p]
[/p][p][/p][h2]Features[/h2]

• [p]NEW FEATURE: Animal Look Targets
  Animals will now look at other creatures around them! Adults will prioritize immediate relatives and their own species, while babies will look at their parents and other species more commonly.[/p]
• [p]NEW FEATURE: Basic Threats & Fleeing
  Animals will be able to threaten and run away from threats if they get too close. Highlights include some species becoming more defensive if they have a family, while others will run away from predators as much as possible. This is an area we will be overhauling for Update 17 in the future![/p]

[h2]Additions[/h2]

• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Added idle grazing animations:[/p]
    • [p]Ankylosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Coelodonta[/p]
    • [p]Dryosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Elasmotherium[/p]
    • [p]Gallimimus[/p]
    • [p]Leaellynasaura[/p]
    • [p]Mammoth[/p]
    • [p]Muttaburrasaurus[/p]
    • [p]Nasutoceratops[/p]
    • [p]Ouranosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Oviraptor[/p]
    • [p]Pachyrhinosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Paraceratherium[/p]
    • [p]Protoceratops[/p]
    • [p]Psittacosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Scelidosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Styracosaurus[/p]
    • [p]Triceratops[/p]
  • [p]Added courtship to Ouranosaurus[/p]

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Animals have been given new awareness parameters, like vision range and hearing distance[/p]
  • [p]Awareness now scales with animal maturity[/p]
  • [p]Animals “Sexual Maturity” is now based on being a certain size as well as being in the last third of their maturity[/p]
  • [p]In Family Groups, Eat/Drink priority is now driven by the infants rather than the adults[/p]
• [p]Buildings & Scenery[/p]
  • [p]Color-corrected topiary pieces so they’re less neon green[/p]
• [p]Foliage[/p]
  • [p]Redwood bark is now darker in the shade[/p]

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Crashes[/p]
  • [p]Fixed some crashing related to animal nav updating[/p]
• [p]Critical[/p]
  • [p]Fixed staff skill and training research loading[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animal excavation progress doubling up when loading games[/p]
  • [p]Fixed user actions not deactivating completely when opening the management menu while an action was active[/p]
• [p]Animals[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals slowly speeding up to normal speed when first placed in the world[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals using IK and grounding effects when they shouldn’t[/p]
  • [p]Fixed animals being able to leave their navmesh if another navmesh was available above or below the point of exit[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Mating Display state being too picky about a minimum initiation distance[/p]
  • [p]Fixed Play Chase state to ensure line-of-sight between path nodes, which should prevent animals from getting stuck on geometry while chasing[/p]
  • [p]“Sexual Maturity” feature fixes animals trying to mate and find nests when they are still too small to occupy the size of navmesh their preferred nest is accessible from[/p]
  • [p]Flee State should be a bit more varied in where it chooses to end at[/p]
• [p]UI/UX[/p]
  • [p]Fix for the 'Open Research' button in the Staff Training menu linking to the Security tree instead of the Management tree within the Research Menu[/p]
  • [p]Fixed staff menu summary refresh when opening the Staff Menu[/p]
• [p]Audio[/p]
  • [p]Fixed a spatialization issue for dromaeosaur threaten sounds [/p]

[p][/p][p] [/p][p]Welcome to the September Development Update![/p][p]This month’s blog post will primarily focus on providing a work-in-progress look at the upcoming Vivarium exhibits coming in Update 16. We also have news on Update 15.1, as well as an announcement that PK is currently part of the Steam Autumn sale![/p][p]Make sure to grab the game for 30% off before the sale ends October 6th.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In September, the team found themselves working on two updates at once - the U15 support patch and U16. This was an interesting act to juggle since a few of us had to continually jump back and forth throughout the month depending on what other team members needed.[/p][p]While this did lead to the support patch taking a bit longer to cook, the good news is that we’re already making steady progress on U16! Once 15.1 goes out, it’ll be our sole focus for the next few months. Speaking of…[/p][h2]Update 15.1 Release[/h2][p]Update 15.1 will be coming to the PTB this Thursday on the 2nd of October! If there are no major issues with the build, we’ll be releasing it to the main branch on Steam and Epic as soon as possible.[/p][p]The ‘headlining’ feature for this update is the long-awaited head-IK or “look target” system, allowing animals to finally look at each other while roaming, resting or idling. To work across all of our animals and seamless growth, this has been a massive engineering project requiring months of iteration.[/p][p]We will continue to improve this feature as time goes on, but it certainly makes the animals feel more lively seeing them glance at one another.[/p][p]Next up, we’ve managed to sneak in grazing animations for most herbivores in the game! Like other idle fidgets, these animations have a chance to play when the animals come to a stop or are simply standing around. Delicious![/p][p][/p][p]Finally, the threaten behaviors seen during nesting have now been made into a regular AI state. This means that as animals encounter potential threats, they’ll try to roar at them, scare them off or run away if they’ve been threatened themselves.[/p][p]This is an area of the game that we’re really looking forward to expanding once we get to combat in Update 17.[/p][p][/p][p]As detailed last month, U16 will be another massive release focused on fleshing out your park and management opportunities. [/p][p]To start off development, we’ve been laying the foundation for vivariums and replacing all of the outdated code that relates to the Mini-Aviary. Though still very early in development, we’re pleased to have a functioning prototype that broadly outlines their customization and revised animal movement system.[/p][p]As new assets and components are finished over the next few months, these modules are going to start looking really, really nice! So with that said, you’re about to see a lot of early development imagery.[/p][p][/p][h2]Vivariums[/h2][h3]A New Home[/h3][p]Vivarium species will be found in the Animal Nursery alongside the rest of the roster. Here, players can filter specifically for vivarium animals or even make use of the customization tools to override their variation and random mutations. There’s also a handy dropdown you can use to see how many animals will fit into a certain vivarium size.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Once created, they’ll have to be dropped into their habitat from the Animal Holder. Keepers will need to stock and clean their vivarium by interacting with the hatch in the back.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h3]Vivariums O’ Plenty[/h3][p]Currently, there are 4 different sizes to choose from:[/p]

• [p]Box (4x4x4)[/p]
• [p]Small (4x8x4)[/p]
• [p]Medium (8x12x6)[/p]
• [p]Large (12x16x8)[/p]

[p]Each of these can be configured to use an amphibious, arboreal, or terrestrial layout, meaning there are 12 total modules to pick from! They work just like the feeders, so if you don’t currently have an animal inside, you can change the configuration to something else.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]All vivariums will have detailed terrain, rocks and foliage when they’re finished! They’re using placeholder art and layouts for now.[/p][p]Speaking of animals, you’ll be happy to hear that they only have a minimum exhibit size! This means that while you might not be able to put Compsognathus into the 4x4 box, they’ll be more than happy in the small, medium or large versions. The bigger the vivarium is, the more individuals you’ll be able to keep inside.[/p][h3]Exterior Customization[/h3][p]Players can quickly change the front, sides and roof of a vivarium through their modular widget. There are options to use glass, mesh, facades, cladding, half cladding and even a null setting for those who want to go totally custom or sink it into the ground.[/p][p]If you want even more customization, you can also edit ALL the sides independently by enabling a toggle in the menu.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]As for things like the terrain textures, cladding and facades, those will change depending on what environment you’ve set the vivarium to: arid, forest or rainforest. We’ll talk about this in more detail once the art is ready for a future dev diary![/p][p][/p][h3]Walking With Tiny Dinosaurs[/h3][p]When setting out to create vivariums, we knew we had to evolve the movement system previously seen in our Mini-Aviary. It relied entirely on a long, premade animation loop which made it difficult to transfer to new species or to simply make more animals move at the same time.[/p][p]For the new system, we’re essentially building a network of points that the animals can randomly move between. They’re able to take diverging paths, backtrack and play a variety of adorable fidgets when they stop at a destination. How long they walk for is also random![/p][p]There’s quite a lot we need to do before the locomotion is polished, but hopefully you can see the potential of this new system in the video below. We’ll be aiming to reduce sliding as much as possible and dynamically bend the neck/tails as they turn![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Animals within a vivarium will either be placed onto the movement network or in isolated spots where they’ll permanently rest, sleep or fidget until the player moves away. All the animals will be randomly shuffled into new positions once the player comes back.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]For something more active like the Microraptor, we can determine what paths should make them walk, glide or climb! All that information can instantly be reused by something like the Archaeopteryx or Yi as long as they have the required animations. It’s a much easier solution for us to work with and means we can:[/p]

• [p]Have more animals moving around at once[/p]
• [p]Add or remove paths depending on what enrichment is enabled[/p]
• [p]Develop vivarium species faster by sharing spline paths[/p]

[p]We are incredibly excited to keep working on this system and use it to its full potential. It’ll only look better and better as we go![/p][h3]More To Come![/h3][p]In a future Dev Diary, we’ll be exploring some of the enrichment and interior customization options coming to vivariums in U16.[/p][p][/p][h2]Roadmap Change[/h2][p]Since the last blog post, we’ve decided to move Staff Progression 2.0 into Update 17. While this will not only ease some of the short term development workload, there are other changes and improvements we’d like to make to the experience surrounding staff and logistics as a whole.[/p][p]Some notable examples include adding breakrooms and new management views to see the park resource usage and where various staff members are located throughout the park.[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Created by B3n

Created by Beezy14

Created by Wither[/p][p]Created by Khaidu
[/p][p]Thank you for reading September’s dev diary![/p][p]We appreciate your patience for U15.1 and hope that you’re excited to try it out once it hits the PTB on Thursday. U16 is shaping up to be a really exciting update and we can’t wait to share more as it develops!

- The PK Team
[/p]

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