Dev Blog #26

09 Aug 2024Developer post

Source: Steam Community (opens in a new tab)

Hello, everyone!

It has been a little bit since our last blog. In our last blog, we discussed the 1.0.0 update and the first part of the 1.0 update. As stated previously, we have divided the 1.0 update into 5 smaller updates in order to focus on different aspects at a time. We had realized that the 1.0 update was too big for us to finish by our deadline which is why we decided to push 1.0.0 on February 17th as planned and then release 4 additional content patches afterwards (1.0.1-1.0.4) in the months following.

While the 1.0.0 update brought a lot of new content into the game, it also brought a lot of bugs and performance issues. Instead of pushing out more content without fixing the game, we decided to fix the game with 1.0.1 while also pushing out the 1.0.1 content. This resulted in a lot of extra development time because we had to remove a lot of the new technology in 1.0.1 that we implemented in 1.0.0 to "fix" Day of Dragons. 1.0.1 has met or exceeded a lot of the playtesters' expectation in performance and content, and we have more to reveal in our upcoming 1.0.1 Livestream. That said, let's jump to a Word from our Lead Developer about the delay and why it is necessary.

A Word From the Lead Developer

Greetings everyone,

We're wrapping up the 1.0.1 Patch and this patch contains a lot of bug fixes, content, and a huge performance overhaul of what 1.0.0 was. To put it simply, we made a mistake launching 1.0.0 in the state that it was in. As most of you know, we switched to Unreal Engine 5 after April of 2022 (Flame Stalker Update). This change brought with it a lot of hurdles that we had to overcome which I have already talked about before so I will spare you the explanation. Suffice is to say that one year ago today, as I write this, I was in the hospital with 4 broken ribs, a punctured/collapsed lung, and soon after - Covid coughing on top of it. This health emergency took me out of development for around 12 weeks. When I came back to work, we had 3 months to get 1.0 out the door or push it back. I knew what kind of heat we would get from fans if we pushed it back, so I decided we would release it in 5 segments, 1.0.0 to 1.0.4. I pushed myself extremely hard to get that out on Feb 17th, to my own health's detriment, and looking back now, I should have delayed it. I/we learned a hard lesson. The stress, the sleepless nights, the migraines, and the fan disappointment - it just wasn't worth it.

The new UE5 tech, in my honest opinion, is not ready for large open worlds, as most players can attest to who have played games using UE5/Nanite with lots of foliage. We didn't have time to properly test this before we shipped 1.0, but in the months afterwards, we made some changes in how we do things and we will do things going forward.

For one, no more release dates until we have finished up our internal testing. This ensures that we won't have to push the dates back which upsets fans and ensures that we aren't stressing ourselves out trying to meet a very optimistic deadline which is usually the case.

Secondly, we changed how we do internal testing. The first round of testing takes place in my own virtual machine, then it gets pushed to GameDev where testers under NDA find and report all the major issues. Once fixed in my Dev VM, it goes back to GameDev. Once cleared on GameDev, we send it to Closed Testing where Patreons and Kickstarters get to test it. Any bugs are fixed in the next GameDev build, which when cleared goes back to Closed Test. If/when we feel it's ready for the Public, we push it to Public Testing before finally releasing the Update/Patch to live.

Lastly, we decided to be more transparent with development, and are now posting weekly to monthly progress reports on Discord to let fans know where we're at and what we're working on and what may be the hold up/delay aka "Why is it taking so long?".

We hope you all will understand that we're a first-time indie game studio, we made a mistake with 1.0, but we're fixing it in 1.0.1 and beyond and we hope you'll all give us another shot.

1.0.1 is what 1.0.0 should have been. Some of you could not play due to DirectX 12 errors, and we fixed the DirectX 12 errors. We've removed certain UE5 tech that we do not need and kept what we wanted such as Lumen, TSR, and Large World Coordinates. We've overhauled the map and it is not only prettier but runs much much better. We've added more graphics options for better scalability across older PC's. We've fixed many of the bugs including the long-standing bugs - things like the hitbox issues in PvP, turn-glitch, and many more - they're fixed. We've added new features like an Emote wheel. We've improved flight. We added more AI to the game. We added a new Elder mechanic. We added a new Weather system. We added a new Dragon, the Blitz Striker, but also polished current dragons for PvP such as the Inferno Ravager which has a new Fireball attack and better survivability and easier takeoff. We improved the Flame Stalker, we made some tweaks to the Shadow Scale, and much much more.

We plan to show our new Patch off later this month during our 1.0.1 Developer Livestream on August 23rd at 5PM EDT. After this patch is out, we will work on finishing the 1.0 content with the 1.0.2 Patch containing the Brood Watcher and more features/content, the 1.0.3 Patch featuring the new custom Skin Crafting system, and finally the 1.0.4 Patch which will introduce Dragon vs Elemental faction play. Once 1.0 is feature-complete, we will move on to our next major Update which is 1.1 introducing Singe Crest, fishing, the Micro Feathered Zygovo, and much more.

I hope to see you at the Livestream which has been scheduled on our YouTube channel.

Jonathan "SuperRhino" Slabaugh
Project Lead
Day of Dragons

What is coming in 1.0.1?

The 1.0.1 update is going to bring a lot of amazing and exciting new content and bug fixes into the game. For this update, we are taking our time to test every aspect as it is created and hold multiple closed and opening testing sessions. We have been listening to all of the feedback you have been providing us and are working on the important issues and content that matter to our community.

Map and Overall Performance

In the 1.0.0 update, players provided us with invaluable feedback regarding the new Forgotten Forest map and its performance. Unreal Engine 5.0's new Nanite foliage and light system turned out to not be as performance friendly as we had hoped. In addition to performance bugs, a DX12 bug also was causing players to crash when loading the level. To temporarily combat this issue, we had created a LOW SPEC branch of the game for players who not load the new map.

We are happy to announce that the LOW SPEC branch will no longer be needed with the launch of 1.0.1. Our Level Designer and Visual Effects Artist have done an awesome job of converting all of the Nanite assets into LODs and replacing all of the current map assets. Nanite dynamically manages & reduces the triangle count of the mesh which makes it look better but it comes at a cost, LOD's change the triangle count based off of "presets" which are predefined predefined which is cheaper but can reduce the quality. In our initial closed testing of these changes, players are overall seeing an improvement in frame rates and performance. The DX12 issue is a result of using Shader Model 6, which is required for Nanite but incompatible with a lot of older video cards. Since switching back to Shader Model 5 and ditching Nanite, the DX12 errors have been resolved. Goodbye DX12 errors!

Updated AI Spawns and New AI

Players found the food supply lacking in the 1.0.0 version of the Forgotten Forest map. We have been working hard to increase the overall AI spawns and tweak their behavior to improve player experience. There will now be more AI spawn locations around the map. The AI Creatures will also be able to move, walk, and run as previously intended after an old bug stopping them from doing so was fixed.

In addition to the current AI species, a new one will be added to the game in the 1.0.1 update. The Swamp Snapper will be a larger AI and provide more food for players, but also be more risky to take down. The Swamp Snapper will be found around bodies of water and be very aggressive.

The Blitz Striker Ampithere

Likely the most anticipated feature coming in the 1.0.1 will be the Blitz Striker Amphithere. This new dragon will be Day of Dragons first amphithere and bring a lot of new mechanics to the game.

Blitz Strikers will be a lightning-type dragon with the ability to stun players and AI Creatures with their bile attacks and special ability. The bite of young Blitz Strikers will be very venomous and young Blitz's are able to fly, allowing them to catch prey that is faster than themselves.

Along with the Blitz Striker, random weather will be added into the game. Strikers will be the first dragon to gain a buff from weather events and will thrive in thunderstorms.

Blitz Strikers will be a DLC species. Purchasing the DLC will allow players to spawn in as an E stat Blitz Striker hatchling at any time. Non-DLC Owners will still be able to play as the Blitz Striker for free if nested in by another player. However, the DLC emotes are only accessible to players who own the DLC. Nest players will not have access to these new emotes.

Combat Balancing

Once again, the feedback provided by our playerbase has been a big help. We have spent a good amount of time improving the combat in game. The 1.0.0 update introduced a new hit box bug that was frustrating our PvP players. We are happy to say that the hit box bug has been fixed. We have been, and will continue to, thoroughly test the combat aspect of the game. Before we push the 1.0.1 update for release, we will host combat testing events to make combat in the game is enjoyable and fun.

In addition to addressing bugs related to combat, we have also listened to feedback on the Inferno Ravager. With his lack of speed on the ground and lower defense stats, players were finding the wyvern too exposed to ranged attacks. In response, we have created a Fire Ball attack for the Inferno Ravager. Players will be able to choose between the long distance fire ball attack with one click or the short distance flamethrower by holding down the attack button.

And More!

We are very excited for the 1.0.1 update. We have taken our time and are confident to be releasing an update that adds new content, fixes old bugs, and addresses the concerns of our community. The update will also bring other content not listed here such as a new eldering system, an emote wheel, secondary attacks, new vfx, and new landmarks.

Our Patreon supporters and Kickstarter backers currently have their hands on an early testing version of the game. We will be hosting a Livestream on August 23rd at 5PM EST to show off the 1.0.1 update and answer questions from the community. Sometime after the livestream, we will hold an open testing event to squash any final bugs before the official release. We hope you join us for these events and we can't wait to join you in the 1.0.1 update!

Dev Q&A Livestream

Join us for our next Livestream event on...

August 23rd, 5PM EST

On Youtube

From the Community

Each blog post, we pick some of our favorite screenshots and artwork posted by the community to showcase here. Want a chance for your submission to be showcased on our next blog? Post it in the appropriate channels on our discord!