2023 was quite the eventful year, with lots of challenges and setbacks but also considerable progress. Today we want to share a little recap of last year, as well as an overview of the general state of development for Wild Life.
Last year started very tough, with the update to UE5 and all the issues that came with it, such as the missing fur, the changed physics system and the unexpectedly low performance, we knew it wouldn't be an easy year. While our coders were mainly busy with managing the engine version update, our designers were working hard on implementing the quests for the main story. But not only that, they also made significant progress in designing, writing and implementing many of the side quests.
On the art side, things moved at a very satisfactory pace. We completed the entire design for our faction and NPC outfits and our freelance artists turned many of these beautiful outfits and characters into reality.
The world map has been iterated in accordance with the main story, and most of the important locations needed for the plot have already been established in blockout. We also worked on designs for the plants and trees in the world and developed the pipelines to populate it with the models.
Most of the sex minigames needed for our main- and side quests are already animated and will be gradually integrated into the story mode. Our talented animators also worked on the NPC routine animations, creating some by hand and polishing mocap data for others.
Performance is always a very prominent aspect of development and we have been working hard to improve it, but of course there is still a lot to do. A few months ago, we took the opportunity to analyze the project for its performance potential with the help of a professional team of game performance analysts. The result is a promising list of areas where we can make improvements. Unfortunately, some optimization work can only be carried out at a later date, so we humbly ask for your patience. Nevertheless, our goal will always be to reach the best possible performance for the game.
The sandbox got some very impressive additions last year and we are quite proud of its current state. Of course this is a very important game mode of Wild Life and we will continue to work on it based on your input.
The darkest chapter of 2023 is without a doubt the discord hack which we experienced in May. This event has deeply affected and shaken us, as we had invested a lot of time and effort into the old server. Losing it from one day to the next was extremely stressful and caused us a lot of anxiety. However, thanks to the support of our community, we were able to set up a new Discord server within 24 hours and are very happy to see it's better than ever. We have since made many changes to how we handle security to prevent such a thing from happening again. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support, especially in that trying period.
Looking forward to 2024 fills us with a positive energy and motivation. Next week we will share an outlook into what we have planned this year in all departments.
Once again we want to thank all of you for the invaluable support you have given.
-Wild Life Team
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The following pages are a full game dev status report for all the different areas of Wild Life development and their overall progression.
Game Design & Code
Game Systems:
The most important systems at a glance which are necessary for the game.
50% of all systems required by the game are already designed and integrated.
Quests
Main Quest:
Design and implementation of the main quest is 90% complete. The implementation is technical. Includes logic and dialog of the main story. Gameplay elements such as combat have not yet been implemented.
Side Quests & Dialogue:
Overview of the development status of the Side Quests & Dialog. Listed by locations where the quests take place.
In total, about 35% - 40% of all side quests are designed and implemented. Includes logic and dialog of the side story. Gameplay elements such as combat have not yet been implemented.
Asset Creation:
- Created all planned routine destinations and according data setup
- Created all NPC and monster spawners and according data setup
Items:
Design of the complete item list, including recipes, weapons, collectibles, upgrade and crafting materials, etc. Currently in the 1st draft. The estimated total workload is 70% complete.
Environment
Game relevant areas:
areas that have special requirements due to gameplay, main quest or side quests.
State B: defines the type, number, size, rough style and placement of buildings. Furthermore, walkways are adjusted and tested. Elements important for the game design and the story are placed. Important points such as the size of doors and windows are defined here. All elements are blockout
State A: defines the type, number, size, rough style and placement of furniture and other elements in the areas. The buildings are given more detail. All elements are blockout, but are located on the final position.
Final elaboration: The buildings, furniture and other items that are still blocked will be completed and replaced with final assets.
Spaceships:
Designs such as blockouts are 20% finished
World
Animation
NPC routines:
70% of NPC routine animations have been processed and polished yet. Ongoing task of transferring them to other characters and assigning them to the routine points defined by Game Design as needed.
Creatures:
65% of the basic set of movement and combat animations from Creatures are ready.
Minigames:
80% of minigames needed for story mode are now finished in the first iteration.
Animation Cutscenes Main Quest:
40% of all animations for the main quest cutscenes have been completed.
Sandbox:
2269 sandbox sex loops are ready.
Character
New Character:
85% of all the character models we need for the game are finished.
Creatures:
80% of the required creatures and monsters are ready.
New Outfits:
65% of the outfits we need for the main story have been finished.
Among other things, special sandbox outfits were also worked on. This serves to respond to special requests from the community and to test new freelance artists.
Cutscenes
Cutscenes Main Quest:
Cutscenes Side Quests:
Other departments
