Welcome to a very special Q&A Event!
Firstly, we’d like to thank everyone who submitted their questions to all four categories from our social media accounts. We found this level of community engagement to be highly rewarding as developers and we are extremely excited to provide answers to your burning curiosities!
While every question below is taken as a direct quote, please understand that we may have had to make some changes to encompass multiple questions.
Design
Q: “What inspired your amazing Dinosaur designs? I mean, your Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptors look amazing, almost as if you went back in time and actually saw the animals.”
A: “Looking at modern animals and especially modern relatives of said extinct animals as a reference goes a long way when it comes to making a design feel grounded. We like us them natural looking animals (except when we go full-on wacky with our designs, we tend to do that).”
– Mau
Q: “Which animal was the hardest to design? The most fun?”
A: “The hardest to design title would probably go to any of the ankylosaurs, they are tough ones and break my spirit. As far as most fun, it would have to be the 2 newest additions to our design roster, Triceratops and redacted. Those 2 were really fun.” – Mau
Q: “How important is accuracy to you? It will be nice to finally see an accurate dinosaur tycoon-style game.”
A: “Most of us on the team are paleo enthusiasts, so accuracy is definitely high on our list of what we want. However, from a pragmatic standpoint, we can only take it so far – new theories, papers, and discoveries come out nearly every week, and if we were to follow the trends and leading thoughts exactly, we’d never finish the game!” – Cindy
Q: “How many skins per species have you planned?”
A: “TOO MANY. But to answer your question with some actual numbers and technical jargon: for most animals, they will have a default skin and two alternate skins, so three. Some animals, such as Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus, have four skins. On top of that, each animal has an albino and a melanistic – so the total is now five or six.” – Cindy
Behaviour
At least a couple million people asked these very two same questions, so we condensed all of those into a few lines down below:
#1 MOST ASKED QUESTION
Q: “How advanced will the AI be? Will animals have any worthwhile or interesting behaviour to look at?”
A: “Our AI-building process will be iterational, which means it starts basic and receives more additions to it as time goes along. We obviously do want to make our animals feel as alive as we possibly can, and we believe a proper looking herd and pack behaviour is going to add much to that. Add hunting, a somewhat dynamic fighting system, and breeding to the mix, and you got yourself a lively bunch of prehistoric animals.” – Mau
#2 MOST ASKED QUESTION
Q: “Will the animals be able to reproduce?”
A: “Yes, animal reproduction is something that we’d love to develop in the future. We are hoping to include basic breeding at launch if possible!” – Byron
Q: “Will theropods be possessive while eating like we can see in modern big cats?”
A: “Potentially. Animal behaviors are something we still need to ‘flesh’ out completely (haha, get it?), but you can be sure to expect some messy, aggressive eating animations for our Tyrannosaurus, that’s for sure.” – Nathan
Q: “Will albino and/or melanistic animals require special care?”
A: “Our plans regarding mutated animals aren’t solid at the moment but we feel that it’d definitely add an additional layer to animal care and management. Much like the real world, we’d like albino animals to be more susceptible to disease and weaker than other members of their species – potentially dying off at a younger age. Because of this, objects like shelters and stricter habitat requirements will be more necessary to keep albino creatures healthy. Typically, melanism has less health impairing effects than albinism so they would be easier to care for but don’t quite offer the same level of park bonuses that might be seen with albino critters.” – Byron
Other
Q: “What about the Pterosaurs? When will we see the start of development on the Supreme Master Race?”
A: “We’ll begin working on pterosaurs and marine animals (anything that doesn’t use the current locomotion system, really) after we release our Early Access build. We’re expecting all these to be pretty time consuming, so we are leaving them for later, probably in the form of one or several big free updates.” – Mau
Q: “Will live prey, such as goats or fish, be added into the game for carnivores to eat?”
A: “Live prey has always been something we’re interested in. We always wanted to have a system where live prey has a chance to alter the aggression of animals feasting on them and also has the potential to upset visitors, but it’s much better nutritionally for carnivores and keeps them entertained as it serves as a form of enrichment. It’s something we’d like to do in the future!” – Nathan
Features
Q: “Are there any specific features from the demo that will not be in Early Access?”
A: “Early Access is definitely meant to bring updated and overhauled systems from the demo into a far greater range of player accessibility. However, we’ve decided to move away from in-game characters to opt for more standardised notifications (though some may still be referenced through Easter eggs!). Apart from this change, there are no major demo features that are being discontinued.” – Byron
Q: “Will we be able to walk around our own park?”
A: “While not expected for launch due to the development time required, Ranger Mode will allow players to traverse and interact with their park from a third or first person perspective.” – Byron
Q: “Can we port our parks from one gamemode to another?”
A: “The ability to change the gamemode of a park is determined by however the player chooses to start their game. When starting a sandbox park, the gamemode can be freely changed along with the gameplay settings. Challenge mode parks cannot be altered as they’re made of parameters set by us to ensure a fair but difficult game.” – Byron
Q: “Will there be potential to build indoor exhibits?”
A: “Whilst we’re not planning a system specifically for building interior exhibits, it may be possible to build them nonetheless with a combination of walls and elevated paths, serving as walls and roofs respectively, then placing objects inside. Can’t really give a concrete answer for this until the game’s ready though.” – Nathan
System
Q: “Will there be a sustainable ecosystem?”
A: “That’s something that we would like to do and something we’ve thought about. Ecosystems really come down to balance, at the end of the day. This question is something that we can’t really answer until the game is done, or almost so. Technically, it might be possible, as animals will breed, so as long as you can keep a healthy population of animals going, an ecosystem might be possible! It’s not a priority, obviously, as this is a park building game and not a nature sim.” – Nathan
Q: “Zookeepers forming bonds with individual animals?”
A: “Bonds can be created by breeding young creatures and quickly introducing a keeper into their paddock, reducing the chance of an attack from an animal later in its life. Similar effects can be achieved by hiring workers with a higher skill level. This trait may carry over into future generations, though we’ll see!” – Byron
Q: “How do you plan on keeping the game interesting after all objectives of building a park have been completed?”
A: “That’s a very hard question to answer as this is an issue with pretty much every park building game; once the park is “finished”, what else is there to do? First of all, it’s in our best wishes that the management features that we will include in the game will prolong your journey and keep it more interesting as you work your way to 5 stars and a finished park. Once you have reached the “final goal”, we’re hoping to shift focus more on to maintenance of those 5 stars. There’s always dangers that can happen to ruin your success, for example, natural disasters, dinosaur breakouts, illness, bankruptcy and more. Additionally, we’re hoping our creativity tools and building variety will keep you imaginative enough to continue to find new ways to build plazas and unique exhibits. Another thing is the animal behaviors themselves, as we’re hoping to keep them varied enough to keep you watching for pretty extended periods of time. Animal behaviors will be especially cool once we implement the genetic traits system, as you’ll be able to have pretty diverse behaviors… imagine a hyper aggressive Psittacosaurus nipping your guests!” – Nathan
Q: “Do some animals and buildings need to be unlocked through a progression or research mechanic, or is everything available from the get-go?”
A: “In the challenge game-mode, only a handful of structures will be unlocked to start building with. You will be able to unlock more through the research feature once you gain science points… we will talk more about this in a future devlog. And of course, when it comes down to the animals, you will be unlocking them through the fossil hunting system, which we have also talked about here.” – Mau
Q: “What climate effects will be implemented in the game and how it will affect the park, visitors and dinosaurs?”
A: “‘Climate effects’, the information there is quite foggy. Bad puns aside, we do want to include thunderstorms, hurricanes and blizzards and some other minor weather types… hopefully in the EA release! These will stress out animals, damage infrastructure, injure guests and more. It’s more or less a balancing act when it comes to including weather types in the game, as we’ve got to really test what works and what doesn’t in a way to not make them simply frustrating.” – Nathan
Other
Q: “Is there going to be mod support?”
A: “Mod support is a mixed bag. If by that you mean developing and adding specific implementations to streamline the modding experience, then not initially (though not off limits for the future!). If you are however asking whether we will prevent people from messing with the game, then definitely not. For all intents and purposes, mod away!” – Mau
Q: “I know many developers that do this with their games, but do you guys use console commands (I.e. Money cheat, Dino happiness cheat, etc.) when playtesting the game? If so, will they ever be released to the public for standard use in the game?”
A: “When developing the game we tend to set keyboard shortcuts and commands to test new systems quickly. A player will be able to edit a lot of the values and gameplay systems inside the options menu rather than a console – effectively allowing us (and you!) to “cheat” while in the correct gamemode via a much prettier interface. As you suggested, this involves things like giving yourself more money and animal happiness, for example.” – Byron
Q: “Has the release of recent dinosaur tycoon games changed any aspects or the direction of the game?”
A: “We were already pretty set and confident on the project’s general direction before they were announced, as we started distancing ourselves from the classic Jurassic experience pretty early in the game’s history. So in a broader sense, no, not really. What it did do however, was giving us a quality wake up call, encouraging us to strive for the best we can possibly do.” – Mau
Engine
Q: “Will textures and models of animals be better (higher poly) than in demo? Renders look awesome, but in engine they don’t look good.”
A: “Yes, all our demo animals are pretty old models, and we have remade some and updated others to fit the look of our newer, better models. Our animation work has also greatly improved, contributing to a better overall look. Generally, our new models will see a huge visual improvement in-game, as you can see here.” – Mau
Production
Q: “How are the animals sound effects (being) produced?”
A: ” Traditionally, sound effects design for creatures is done by layering together several sources of sound (human, animal and/or artificial in origin) into a single artistic construction that represents a new sound all on its own. I usually take s look at the animals before I start working, so I can paint a mental picture of what they would sound like. Meticulous listening and vivid imagination is required to make the character of the sound effect match the outwardness of the animal it’s being used for.” – Aleksa
Q: “I’m getting into game dev, and I’m just curious to know of the workflow for the models.”
A: “The concept art usually doesn’t come into play up until we start working on the colors, unless there’s some unusual features in the animal’s structure, that is. We start off with a low poly blender model and pass that off to our texture artist, to be sculpted and painted in Mudbox. Once that is done, the low poly version of the model goes back in blender with all its respective maps, where it receives its ontogeny-related blend shapes, and finally gets rigged. Hope this little insight into our process may be of help!”- Mau
Other
Q: “To each team member, what is the most enjoyable part of your job in the game?” and “… What has been the least enjoyable part?”
A: Here’s a handful of thoughts from some of our team members!
Aleksa: “When you’re working on extinct animals, you build an animal’s personality from the ground up, and take everything about it into account. I definitely love it when all the layers I’ve been digging for come together and just click. Then you know the work’s been worthwhile.”
Byron: “The community interaction and excitement around blog post time is a great payoff for the weeks we spend writing and preparing all the content. Although, trying to balance multiple roles can be tricky. Nowadays I’m often assisting in graphic design, music, blog posts, writing, and community interaction. It’s definitely a lot of work and can be stressful if not managed correctly but the delightful comments I get to read after working hard on a multitude of jobs around the game is worth it.”
Cindy: “I get to tell people I work in video games making dinosaurs and that is one of the best icebreakers at parties. Oh and I guess the satisfaction of being in a talented team making the game every paleo nerd has been dreaming of since that one Michael Crichton novel got published.”
Maurizio: “The creation process is an enticing thing, I love the idea of being able to produce something people will enjoy. In particular, I most enjoy implementing interface and shaping the user experience to its greatest. As for the least enjoyable part, it would probably have to be Nano (Byron). Nobody likes that guy.”
Nathan: “Most enjoyable part? Well, I’m pretty fond of coming up with small details to include in the designs for buildings and whatnot, as I really have to think “What would go here? Why?” and then I have to think of a good way to include said details in a way that works technically well for me. Same applies for animation, it’s quite fun to think of ways to make animals show personality in their animations and to imagine how movement would go; I can’t stress how many times I’ve ran around in my living room as a dinosaur to try and figure out how movement should work. My least favorite part is obviously putting up with Mau, that’s a given.”
Victor: “Hardest part is getting the realistic branch growth patterns of trees down within a reasonable performance budget.”
Q: “Are you all eating well? Blink twice if you need help.”
A: What is ‘food?’
Tidbits
Q: “What inspired a game revolving around extinct animals specifically, rather than a general animal park game?”
A: “I don’t believe there’s a single person on the team who hasn’t had some nostalgic experience with dinosaurs or management simulation games that makes them so endearing to us. Whether it was hours spent with the Zoo Tycoon series or Operation Genesis, there’s something magical about the combination of park management and extinct animals. As there hadn’t been a new entry in the genre for so many years it was only appropriate for a bunch of paleo nerds and tycoon fans to try their hand at making something they love for others to enjoy.” – Byron
Q: “How many species do you intend to add post Early Access?”
A: Keep reading to find out.
Kickstarter/Crytivo
Q: “Where can Kickstarter backers talk with developers about submitting skin designs?”
A: “On Discord, of course! Please join our server and message a moderator or developer with the appropriate credentials if you were a backer above $500 (skin tier) so we can add your exclusive VIP Role.” – Byron
Q: “The $100 Kickstarter support level lists both Beta and Alpha access as part of the reward, but the Crytivo $100 level only lists Beta access but otherwise matches the Kickstarter rewards. Is this a change due to the Crytivo arrangement resulting in a loss of Alpha access or is it an error in the Crytivo reward listing?”
A: “This is indeed an error in the reward listing as Alpha is included within the tier description. Apologies for the confusion, we’ll try to have the issue resolved as soon as possible!” – Byron
Steam
Q: “Will you release the beta on Steam?”
A: “The beta is expected to be released privately on Steam via unique codes for backers and early buyers. Windows and Mac versions of the beta will be available.” – Byron
Q: “Will the extra content (like the soundtrack, ranger book, etc.) that are listed on the Crytivo page also be available for Steam?”
A: “Too early to make a definitive answer, though we’d to include them on Steam.” – Byron
Q: “Is the Recently Extinct Animals pack still being considered as something to add down the line as a paid DLC, if not a free addon?”
A: “Too early to know for sure but we’ll see.” – Byron
Finally…
Q: “Ya like jazz?”
A: Yeah, it’s alright.
Once again, thank you to everyone who submitted their responses.
Over the three day submission timeline, we had a total of 375 questions – that’s insane!
Unsurprisingly, the animal category was by far the most submitted question type:
We understand that not all questions were successfully answered so be sure to keep an eye out for future events and other Q&A panels!
This past month we’ve been working extremely hard to get the game even closer to a more playable state – something that doesn’t look like a mishmash of development levels and independent functions. Because of this, we’re kind of hoping that you aren’t expecting any big news drops until the next DevLog.
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