Wildlife in Trailmakers is something we have mentioned once or twice - in this development update, I’ll go into a bit more detail.
If you have seen any videos or even tried the Alpha Demo of Trailmakers, you might have noticed some flying carrion birds in the sky. This is a sneak peek of what you can expect in the Early Access version of the game coming to Steam later this year.
Johnni to the left, Rhino to the right
The setting of Trailmakers is a somewhat-abandoned world repurposed to host a weirdly dangerous rally expedition. It’s only natural that the world has been re-inhabited after people left it behind. The animals may seem familiar at first, but they are not normal. Many of them are very large, and most of them are very aggressive. Trailmakers is set in a very hostile environment, and the animals play a central role in keeping you on your toes.
“Turtle Power”
Wildlife helps a lot to make the world of Trailmakers feel more living. We set out to make a game that feels new to every player, and unpredictable even when you have played it for hundreds of hours. One of the ways we are doing this, is by having these unpredictable creatures to encounter. Each of them will behave differently, serve a specific purpose in the world, and challenge your engineering skills. You might have to put some armor on your car to survive butting heads with a rhino!
Land whale? Work in progress...
Another really great side effect of putting creatures in the game is the subliminal hint it can provide. We noticed that when players first see the birds in the game, they seem to realize that flight is a possibility, even before they find wings for their vehicle. This works really well to teach players about aspects of the game without putting it in a tutorial. Show - don’t tell.
Do you have any cool ideas for creatures we could put in the game? Leave a comment below :)