Added: New shelves, tables, scroll and stone tablet models
Added: A new buildable object: Spring, which functions as permanent source of water
Added: Several new biomes
Added: Cloth physics to several level assets
Added: Enabled high dpi support (possible fix for 4k res + increased application scale in windows)
Added: 2 new waypoints
Added: State tree AI system
Added: Teleporters to great library
Added: Great tree
Updated: Crab AI using the new state tree system (Note: This is a test run, the AI is still work in progress)
Updated: 1st and 2nd island
Updated: Ore stack and bed model scale
Updated: Clan hoard max limit (6 per type)
Updated: Several level asset textures (mainly the very first assets we have added to the game)
Updated: Great Library and main city
Updated: Made sure received chat message triggered only once
Updated: Set upscaling to none by default
Updated: Reduced global cooldown and updated global cooldown ability UI
Updated: Scent trail to make it more obvious where scent is coming from
Updated: Name generator button to be more obvious
Updated: Slightly lowered the Eastern dragons camera
Updated: Walkability of several buildable and level assets
Updated: Volcanic rock moss subsurface scattering
Updated: Amount of granted items of Katalite, set to 1 per harvest
Updated: Collision of harvestable objects
Optimized: Several rock meshes
Optimized: Collision and models of several level assets and items
Optimized: A large part of our asset shaders
Optimized: Torch and lamp lights
Fixed: Some Settings UI issues
Fixed: Volcanic table #9 normal map
Fixed: Ability cooldown issue
Fixed: Kasai's smell ability
Removed: Outdated assets and asset parts
What is cooking in the development kitchen?
Wyvern
We're nearing completion on the Wyvern animations and this set offers much more than our previous ones. This expanded animation kit enables us to introduce new movements and add mechanics we have had in the pipeline for quite some time.
For further glimpses into the new animations, check out our social media pages or join our Discord server.
And, naturally, a new playable character wouldn't be complete without its own distinctive skin. Here's a sneak peek of the default skin for the Wyvern. Please note: While this version of the Wyvern's head won't be available until we introduce the Character Creator 2.0, the skin itself will remain unchanged.
Lindworm
The skin for our second 'legacy' character is complete and we are now focusing on finalizing its animation set.
Eastern Dragon
We have made significant progress in modeling the new Eastern dragon. The scaly variant is now complete and we are currently working on its furred counterpart and all the customization options that come with them.
AI
After a prolonged pause, we returned to working on our AI. We have started a rework using Unreal Engine's new state tree system, laying the foundation for future AI updates. In this patch you'll get a taste of the first revamped AI, featuring the crab characters scattered along the beaches of spawn island.
Although they are still a work in progress, these crabs will provide important feedback essential for advancing our wildlife AI.
Level Design
In this patch, you'll immediately notice significant changes to various locations. We've revamped several areas that previously lacked appeal or were challenging for non-flyers to reach. Our goal was to make these spots more inviting and accessible, encouraging players to explore them more often.
The primary focus of these improvements lies in the southern region of the spawn island and the western section of the second island, known for its distinctive cliffs and spires. While the southern area is still undergoing extensive work, we hope you enjoy the changes we have made so far.
Alternatively, you can venture north to explore some of the new locations but we will leave those to uncover on your own. We hope you enjoy the updates and don't hesitate to leave some feedback if a spot is still difficult to get to so we can make changes early as we develop more areas!
Other
Between all these ongoing development processes we are also doing optimization work which poses challenges, particularly as many of our species can access areas usually unreachable by non-flying characters. However we have made significant material and collision improvements using new experimental tech and we hope it will make further development and improvement of the game easier.
It is worth noting that some members of our community are running Draconia on hardware nearly a decade old. While these cases are exceptions, we aim to ensure compatibility with older devices even upon its completion. While we can't make guarantees, rest assured that we are constantly trying to make improvements wherever possible!
If you want to see more frequent news on upcoming game updates make sure to join us on Discord!
Want to report a bug or want to know what other things we have on our to-do list visit our Trello Board!