Prehistoric Hunt News

Greetings dinosaur hunters!

The end of year 2021 is here. Let’s have a look back at the past year! But before we even begin to look at all the changes we want to say a huge thank you to our great community! The feedback we’ve gotten has truly made an impact on the game and we are grateful for the attention everyone is giving.

We gathered a video to showcase the changes to the environment during this time:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Game updates
[/h2]
A total of 11 updates were published:

• 0.82 Loot Box Update - January 7th, 2021
  
• 0.83 Raptor Update - January 30th, 2021
  
• 0.84 Mechanics Update - February 6th, 2021
  
• 0.85 Giganotosaurus Update - March 10th, 2021
  
• 0.86 Binoculars Update - April 25th, 2021
  
• 0.87 Small Patch - May 2nd, 2021
  
• 0.88 Open World Update - May 31st, 2021
  
• 0.89 Fast Travel Update - June 16th, 2021
  
• 0.90 Cretaceous Update - November 12th, 2021
  
• 0.91 Anniversary Update - December 5th, 2021
  
• 0.92 Christmas Update - December 21st, 2021
  

[h2]Summaries of improvements
[/h2]
Dinosaur species count: From 7 to 12

New dinosaur species:

• Utahraptor
  
• Giganotosaurus
  
• Carnotaurus
  
• Gallimimus
  
• Pachycephalosaurus
  

Reworked dinosaur AI with new behaviors:

• Carnivores smelling and looking for hiding player
  
• Smaller carnivores may hide and commence surprise attacks
  
• Dinosaurs behaving as a group
  
• Big carnivores faster takedown of herbivores
  
• Big carnivores may fight each other
  
• T-Rex may stalk player and do a surprise charge
  
• Most dinosaurs try to escape when hurt enough
  
• Dinosaurs stand still sometimes
  
• Improved player detection logic
  
• Triceratops threatens player before attacking
  
• Pteranodon flying in irregular flight paths and stopping attack once hit
  
• Dinosaurs have improved logic for interiors
  

Rare variants of all dinosaurs were introduced

Dinosaur ragdolls

Dinosaur hit reactions

New weapon: .700 Double Rifle

New items:

• Binoculars
  
• Dinosaur callers for seven dinosaurs
  
• Camouflage net
  
• Tracking device
  
• Energy pack
  

Multiple improvements to the environment:

• Improved all basic textures
  
• New bushes
  
• New trees
  
• New river
  
• New rock formations
  
• New special locations
  
• New story locations
  
• Improved existing special locations
  
• Improved ocean rendering
  
• Butterflies flying around
  
• Terrain tessellation
  

Bullet penetration

Trophies, score and leaderboards

Render distance increase

Dynamic ambience sound system

Hunting buddies: You spawn closer to your friends

Fast travel

Auto movement keys

Loot boxes

Dinosaurs bleeding and could die of bleeding

New hit areas: Lungs and armor (for Ankylosaurus)

New in-game UIs

• Reworked shop UI visuals with clear categorization of items
  
• Different tabs in UI to quickly swap between different views
  
• UI indicators for how detectable you are
  
• Trophy harvest screen rework
  

Missions

New contract variations

Story notes

Tracking improvements

• Tracks showing more clearly on the ground
  
• Dinosaur bleed marks
  
• Dinosaurs create footprints more often
  

Character customization

Shotgun pellet shot

Many new game settings were added

Many Steam achievements added





[h2]Conclusion
[/h2]
For this article we tried a year old build of the game at version 0.81. It truly felt like a different game! Immediately we were missing auto walk, crouch toggle, fast travel and other things we had gotten used to by now. And the irritating micro stutters were back.

All in all we have to say it was an amazing year. We are already excited for this year and hope you stick with us on this journey! We are already working on the first update of 2022 and will be making many more updates this year. What would you like to see this year?

Happy New Year everyone!

Greetings dinosaur hunters!

The dev team wishes you a Merry Christmas! :) As a Christmas present to you we give you the Christmas Update!



[h2]Camouflage net
[/h2]
Camouflage net effectively hides the player from dinosaurs when used right. It’s a new item which will be given to the player for free once completing a new mission. In case a player loses the net it can be purchased back from the shop. Players can move while utilizing a camouflage net but are not able to run. Remember that movement can be heard by nearby dinosaurs. Usage of other items isn’t possible while under the net.





[h2]Dinosaur AI improvements
[/h2]
When dinosaurs are wounded enough they might flee. This behavior includes almost all of the species. Smaller carnivores will also flee when hurt enough and if they’re not hungry. The bigger carnivores aren’t currently frightened by this.

[h2]Auto reload
[/h2]
Reload behavior can now be configured with a new dropdown setting in options. There are three available options: You can either have manual reload, auto reload once magazine is empty or auto reload once pressing the shoot key and magazine is empty. Auto reload setting can be altered both in the main menu and in-game menu. By default it will be in manual mode.

[h2]Updated rare textures
[/h2]
Some of the older rare textures have been updated with new ones that more clearly distinguish the rare ones from the common. Rare textures were updated for:

• Tyrannosaurus Rex
  
• Utahraptor
  
• Compsognathus
  

[h2]Graphics settings
[/h2]
Now in the graphics options you’re able to select different anti-aliasing and ambient occlusion settings to be used. The default values are TAA and SSAO High. You now have the option to select FXAA, SMAA or off too for anti-aliasing. With these other settings you’ll experience less ghosting and get rid of the “x-ray vision” bug. But the drawback is that the game might look rougher. Alter these settings only if you want to try out other techniques. If you choose to use FXAA, SMAA or off for anti-aliasing change ambient occlusion settings to HBAO as they work better with this ambient occlusion.

We will keep improving these settings in the coming updates. Our aim is to get TAA rid of current issues because it’s the default technology we’re developing with.



[h2]Other improvements
[/h2]

• Dinosaur gunfire scare distance was reduced on the sides and back off the player
  
• Players will be able to deselect special locations from the compass using map
  
• Inventory and storage box item order is now saved
  

[h2]Bug fixes
[/h2]

• Fixed Dino target error on new host when host leaves and new host is migrated
  
• The game wont no longer try to join match from invite and break current session when already in a match
  
• Improved connection to server to ensure data persistence
  
• Shop didn’t correctly show owned item counts from new equipment slots
  
• Fixed item drop from equipment slots not immediately updating UI
  
• Player knock behavior is now synced
  
• Hold breath didn’t affect the weapon spread. Now holding breath correctly lessens spread.
  
• No longer able to equip two items at the same time.
  
• Hitboxes for some bushes and palm trees were corrected so bullets don’t stop at wrong parts of them.
  
• Improved T-rex hitboxes.
  
• Bullets no longer travel through big rocks
  

Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Greetings dinosaur hunters!

Work is ongoing toward Christmas update we’ll be releasing before Christmas. All images are work in progress images and are subject to change.

Thanks again for your continued support! Your feedback and ideas help us a lot when developing the game :)

[h2]Camouflage net
[/h2]
Camouflage net enables players to take cover for a break or help evade possible encounters that would end badly. Dinosaurs won't sense you while you’re hiding with a camouflage net but if you equip one when a carnivore is after you it’ll eat you. Camouflage net will be purchasable from the shop. It takes some time to fully equip it and you won’t be able to have any items in your hand.





[h2]Auto reload
[/h2]
Auto reload setting is being created. When enabled, player will automatically reload weapon when it gets empty. By default the setting will be off.



[h2]Other improvements
[/h2]

• Dinosaurs’ fear reactions are being fine tuned. We don’t want dinosaurs to be scared of gunshots when they are far away as this can quickly lead to dinosaurs disappearing from your area.
  
• Players will be able to deselect special locations from the compass using map.
  
• Inventory and storage box item order will be saved
  

[h2]Bug fixes
[/h2]
These and other bug fixes will be included to the next update:

• Fixed Dino target error on new host when host leaves and new host is migrated
  
• The game wont no longer try to join match from invite and break current session when already in a match
  
• Improved connection to server to ensure data persistence
  
• Shop didn’t correctly show owned item counts from new equipment slots
  
• Fixed item drop from equipments slots not immediately updating UI
  
• Player knock behavior is now synced
  

These were some of the features you will be seeing in the next update.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Greetings dinosaur hunters!

The first anniversary update has landed! The update brings multiple improvements to the game like dinosaur callers and tracking devices. Read on to find out what other improvements were included.



[h2]Callers
[/h2]
Callers are now available for purchase in the shop. When used they make a sound to lure a specific dinosaur species to your area. Dinosaurs may respond to calls. These species now have their own caller items:

• Brachiosaurus
  
• Ankylosaurus
  
• Triceratops
  
• Gallimimus
  
• Iguanodon
  
• Pachycephalosaurus
  
• Compsognathus
  

[h2]Tracking device & tracking device contracts
[/h2]
Tracking devices are used to track a dinosaur with a tracer. You will get the device for free when completing a new mission. In case you lose your tracking device it’s available for purchase in the shop.



A new contract type has been created called tracking device contracts. In these contracts you need to hunt a single dinosaur which has a tracer. The dinosaur species might be known or unknown. When you activate a tracking device contract you’ll see the potential location in your map like with other contracts. Tracking device will start showing direction to the tracer once you’re near enough. When you are very near to the dinosaur the device will start to make a beep in addition to the screen refresh sound. When you have a tracking device equipped or in your inventory you will be suggested tracking contracts.



[h2]Auto walk / run
[/h2]
Auto walk / run is for the player what cruise control is for a car driver. Auto walk can be activated by hitting C (default key binding). You can then hit SHIFT to toggle between auto walk and auto run. In auto run mode players are always kept with over 50% stamina to be ready for surprise encounters. The character will run until 50% stamina is left and replenish stamina a while by walking before automatically taking another sprint. While auto move is on turns can be made with A and D keys. Auto walk / run can be stopped at any time with normal movement keys. This mechanism can also be used while crouched. When auto movement is active an icon is displayed on the screen.

[h2]Night length setting
[/h2]
A new setting has been introduced when creating a game with which you can control the length of the night. There are three options available: Short, medium and long.

[h2]Other improvements[/h2]

• A new mission that will reward the player with tracking device
  
• Four different types of contracts can now be activate at the same time: carnivore, herbivore, tranquilization and tracking device
  
• Improved ocean rendering
  
• Two new equipment slots have been added making the total amount of slots three. The new ones are number 5 and 6. These can be used to equip binoculars, callers or tracking devices.
  
• More available contracts are unlocked on certain level ups. At level 4 you can see 4 contracts and at level 8 5 contracts available at a time.
  
• Added binoculars to be purchasable in the shop in case a player lost them. Remember that you can get these for free when completing the second “Stocking up” mission.
  
• Stamina no longer replenishes while player is holding breath
  
• We've altered the logic of hosting a server to improve performance on all setups. This should prevent the game from kicking players back to the menu when you start a server on a pc with a slower hard drive.
  
• Trophy ratings will affect how much credits and xp a kill grants. A diamond kill is worth a lot more than a bronze kill.
  
• Improved third person animations
  
• Contract and trophy claim screen now has a scrollbar
  
• Adjusted shotgun integrity reduction to be in same level with other weapons
  
• Utahraptors and Compsognathus no longer use the smallest bushes for cover
  
• New achievements for gold and diamond trophy kills
  
• Using mouse scroll is now possible in shop
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]

• When dying and reloading weapons won’t go into weird states after respawn
  
• Players are no longer inside cabin floor when fast travelling to cabin
  
• A weapon duplication bug involving storage box
  
• Improved Pteranodon sync to prevent them doing turkey flights in multiplayer
  
• Players falling into water no longer teleport long distances but are instead returned to last near safe position
  
• Fast travel vendor’s helicopter icon stuck on screen
  
• Fighting carnivores less likely to get stuck on obstacles
  
• Some locations were missing storage box icons
  
• Fix for Rex carrying around carcasses of dinosaurs it has killed
  
• Some dinosaurs spinning fixed
  
• VSync setting wasn’t saved
  
• Dinosaur location helper wasn’t updated correctly when doing tranquilization contracts
  
• Carnotaurus is now able to take down all dinos it attacks
  

Thank you and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Greetings dinosaur hunters!

We are working on multiple improvements you can expect to see in the next patch. We are planning to create an anniversary update to celebrate the Early Access inception a year ago. All images are work in progress images and are subject to change.

Many of these improvement items are a result of your feedback. We want to hear your opinion and shape the game based on the feedback you give us.

[h2]Callers
[/h2]
We are working on different kinds of hunting callers. They make a sound that can be used to bait certain dinosaur species to your area. Dinosaur species have different kinds of callers. These items will be available in the shop. We are planning to add more equipment slots for these items. Here are some examples what we’ve created so far:









[h2]Tracking device
[/h2]
Tracking device is used to track a certain dinosaur. This will enable contracts where it is required to kill or tranquilize a specific dinosaur. These contracts will have higher rewards over regular contracts.



[h2]Auto walk / run
[/h2]
We are developing an auto walk / run to help players with long hikes. Current plan is that the auto run would keep players always over 50% stamina to be ready for surprise encounters. The character would run until 50% stamina is left and replenish stamina a while by walking before automatically taking another sprint.

[h2]Other improvements
[/h2]

• Adding binoculars to be purchasable in the shop in case a player lost them. Remember that you can get these for free when completing the second “Stocking up” mission.
  
• We've altered the logic of hosting a server to improve performance on all setups. This should prevent the game from kicking players back to the menu when you start a server on a pc with a slower hard drive.
  
• Trophy ratings will start to affect how much credits and xp a kill grants. A diamond kill is worth a lot more than a bronze kill.
  

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
We will fix reported bugs in the next update. Thank you for your reports. As always you can keep reporting and we will investigate those findings further.

These were some of the features you will be seeing in the next update.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.