DINODRIFTERS Dev Diary #24: Maps

Hello and welcome to another DINODRIFTERS dev diary!

Throughout prehistory, the world has changed as the continents and climate shifted. Various locations throughout the fossil record are particularly well understood enough to obtain a good view into how animals lived. This information is the background to which the worlds of DINODRIFTERS were created.

So today, I shall talk about the maps in DINODRIFTERS.

The time periods featured include the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene and the Quaternary

A bit of context first: the variety of life exploded during a time period called the Cambrian, around 540 Mya (million years ago). Before then, life was dominated by sponges, jellyfish and other simple lifeforms. The earliest fish evolved during this time, too. For this reason, the Cambrian will be the earliest time period visited during DINODRIFTERS. For now.

The maps go forward in time from the Cambrian to the present time period, the Quaternary. In addition, there are maps further than this, in the future, featuring fictional creatures and landscapes.

All others though, are based on real-life fossil sites. Or several.

There are over twenty regions to explore, here are the full maps to just a few

Maps are in most cases 30x30 grids (excluding skies, undersea regions and caves). This means that each map has 900 tiles in total. This is big enough to allow all animals in the game to has breathing room to run, have territory and, in general, live, yet not too large as to become needlessly empty.

Next diary, I will talk about the animations in the Story Mode of DINODRIFTERS!

Until next time!

TIME FILE: Dinosaur Cove - Antarctica and Australia, 106 million years ago

"The antarctic frozen valley of forgotten spirits"
(based on the Dinosaur Cove Formation)

Description
Located on the earth's southern pole, Dinosaur Cove is a valley with a river flowing through it, supplying life to a frosted forest. There are periods of complete darkness that persist for months at a time. 

Geography
Frozen mountains to the south and north direct a river that flows from west to east. A forest hugs the lowest portion of the valley, while high up, icy corridors of rock lead upwards to the higher ground.

Features
Cold and extreme. Frozen waterways, snow and ice with frigid forests. Days that persist for months instead of hours.

Rock Type
Siltstone and mudstone.

Fossilisation Extent
A river created a steady supply of fossils via siltstone fossilisation.
 
Animals
Theropods – Timimus, Australovenator
Sauropods – Austrosaurus, Wintonotitan 
Ornithopods – Atlascopcosaurus, Leaellynasaura, Muttaburrasaurus, Diluvicursor, Qantassaurus
Ankylosaurids – Kunbarrasaurus
Amphibians – Koolasuchus
Mammals - Steropodon
Other – Weta
 
Plants
Conifers, cycads , tree ferns, horsetails, redwood trees, laurels and angiosperms.

Most plants were riparian, living near the water sources like lakes. Only tough conifers and ferns could live away from direct sources of hydration.

 

MILESTONE: Chapter 3 and Story Mode, complete!

Featuring the Super Forms of the Dinodrifters!

Chapter 3 of DINODRIFTERS Story Mode:

Lowarn, the ancient creator of the Drifter Gear and the Timegate, has awoken!

Now Biall is on the run, still seeking to acquire the Time Cards.

However, the Dinodrifters, with Lowarn's help, have a plan.

To finish Biall once and for all, the Dinodrifters must build the Eternal Time Card by filling it up with the powers of all the Drifters. But to do so, they must conquer their pasts.

Can they do it? Can they save Cymreen and the world from the reign of Biall? Or will evil rule the times of earth?

The final battle of the Dinodrifters is about to begin!

--

I am overjoyed to announce that Chapter 3 of Dinodrifters' Story Mode is finally complete! As with the last milestone, the only thing missing is the animations - all gameplay, missions and dialogue are complete!

This leaves 3/3 chapters and 21/21 episodes done. The whole Story Mode, excepting extra material such as side quests and bonus scenes that will come later, is complete and fully playable.

Chapter 3 was both difficult and easy. Easy in that most the groundwork was already there, built up over two chapters, but hard in creating a fair but firm challenge for the player late in the game. I've added the final main character, Lowarn, upgraded sprites for the Dinodrifters and the Final Form of Drifter Green, the player character.

More on that another time.

Chapter 3 is all about finishing character threads that have been built in the previous chapters to that point. Gameplay-wise, Chapter 3 is where the whole game opens up, with all gatemarks unlocked for the player to explore.

It's so good to see all that space I allocated for the story and dialogue and missions to fill up to completion over the last month. When I animate the cutscenes in April, I'll share snippets! But for now, it's time to take a step away from Story Mode and work on Dinosaur Mode!


Stay tuned for more, for the next month of March is where the last gatemarks will be built and added!

See you there!

DINODRIFTERS Dev Diary #23: Cast of Characters

Hello and welcome to another DINODRIFTERS dev diary!

DINODRIFTERS has two core parts: Dinosaur Mode, a free mode where you play a dinosaur surviving in the prehistoric world, and Story Mode, where you play a ranger who travels to the past from the present to rescue, study and bring back animals from extinction.

Story Mode has many characters (mostly human), but today I'll introduce the entire main cast. The only exception will be Drifter Green, who is the player character, whose appearance is entirely up to the player.

Biall, the Prince, Lowarn, Aelwen, Susan, Gabriel, Rose, Korrel and Wei - the main characters of DINODRIFTERS

From left to right:

Biall: The ultimate villain of DINODRIFTERS. It is not truly human. It is a amalgamation of the many millions of people and animals that have died in the years after to the Great Cataclysm which destroyed the world. It wants to gather the Time Drift Cards and assimilate everyone it can touch. Beware!

Prince Jacob Aberfaw of Cymreen: The crown prince and heir apparent of the Kingdom of Cymreen, Jacob is the founder of the Blackhill Reserve and funds the whole Timegate Program and the Dinodrifters themselves. He's a philanthropist who works to better his kingdom through the accumulation of knowledge.

Lowarn: Lowarn is beyond human. She is a powerful entity who aids the Dinodrifters after they help her regain her powers. She is the one responsible for the rejuvenation of the world after it ended and is the accidental creator of Biall. She wants to redeem herself by destroying her worst creation and save as many lives as possible.

Aelwen ap Rhyds: Drifter Yellow of the Dinodrifters. Aelwen is a young woman with an uncertain past. She doesn't know who her parents are or where she's from. She works with animals because she's afraid of making people hate her. Though insecure, she's a bright lass who loves all life without judgement and hates fighting, but will do so if her friends are in danger.

Susan Warburten: Drifter Red of the Dinodrifters. Susan is a longtime soldier who hails from Inglia, across the Narrow Strait. She harbours great shame, as she was unable to prevent the silver plague from taking her daughter. Since then, she has a single-minded focus on her duty, providing security to Blackhill and the Dinodrifters' activities. She is tough, but her skin only does so deep, and when she's angry... Goddesses, help you.

Gabriel Ferro: Drifter Blue of the Dinodrifters. Gabriel is a mechanical genius who made the Drifter Gear and the Timegate from ancient technology. He is the heir to the Ferro Clan from the Alban island of Aran, but left his responsibilities to become a Dinodrifter. He is smart, but fickle and prone to terrible decisions to smooth his ego.

Dr Rose Hawksworth: Drifter Violet of the Roguedrifters. Rose was born before the Great Cataclysm and is partially responsible for it, being the inventor of silverdust and thus the destructor of the world. She seeks to control the silverdust and the mythical Drift to recreate the world in her own image. She's selfish and smart, but can't admit when she's wrong.

Korrel Akki: Drifter Navy of the Roguedrifters. Korrel is an Illuman, one of the people who originally created the Timegate. A renowned strategist, he follows Drifter Violet in exchange for her to resurrect his perished people and bring back his wife and son.

Wei Lin: Drifter Army of the Roguedrifters. Wei is from the other side of the world, recruited by Drifter Violet. Promised his entire family to be back for his service, Wei is a hands-on person who prefers to get his hands dirty when working and fight.

There are other characters, but these are the most important to the main story. There are many others you'll meet on your journey, but let's leave them to be a surprise, eh?


Next diary, I will talk about the maps and how they work in DINODRIFTERS!

Until next time!

DINODRIFTERS Dev Diary #22: Events

Hello and welcome to another DINODRIFTERS dev diary!

A lot of what I've talked about lately is Story Mode, which is indeed the meat of DINODRIFTERS. However, the secondary mode, Dinosaur Mode, has a great feature that I'd like to reveal to you all. 

Note that the images in the events are placeholder and not complete yet.

As you travel the landscape, you will encounter events throughout the map. Different events can occur depending on your age, diet, sex, species and the landscape itself, with a bit of randomness mixed in. Some are small and some can change everything.

These events can do a variety of things. Some spawn unique instances of animals, plants and objects. An example above shows a near-death ornithopod being spawned at the player's location - an easy meal for a meat-eating dinosaur!

There will be dozens of events in the game and vary greatly in their scope. From small scale spawnings to meteors to freak and rare occurrences.

They'll spice up the gameplay for sure!

This is the event for the player's death, when health is at zero

Events can also have up to four choices to make, like the one for death seen above. Some of these choices can fundamentally change the course of a Dinosaur Mode playthrough. Perhaps some can even take you across time and space... or even grant wishes...

You'll see!

Each gatemark (or area) will have around 20 or so events. That's the number I've have planned anyway. Some will have more because of their scope, others less. We'll see how things go.


Next diary, as we near completion of Story Mode's gameplay, I will talk about the full cast of characters in DINODRIFTERS!

Until next time!

MILESTONE: Chapter 2, complete!

Chapter 2 of DINODRIFTERS Story Mode:

Biall has awoken!

The malevolent intelligence that has stolen the Time Cards and seeks to claim the rest.

With all of them... Biall would be unstoppable.

With the Roguedrifters split, Drifter Violet joins the Dinodrifters. With her help, can they defeat Biall, claim back the cards and save humanity from its touch?

--

I am extremely happy to announce that Chapter 2 of Dinodrifters' Story Mode is complete! As with the last milestone, the only thing missing is the animations - all gameplay, missions and dialogue is complete!

This leaves 2/3 chapters done and 14/21 episodes done.

Chapter 2 has turned out to be much harder than Chapter 1. I've added the Cometcopter, Super Forms for the Dinodrifters, Keytoucher codes, advanced Dinodriver mechanics and of course, new characters.

By the end of Chapter 2, the Dinodrifters are joined by a new character and Chapter 3 will be a hunt across all the gatemarks to complete a weapon to contain Biall, the ultimate villain of Dinodrifters.

Stay tuned for more as we near Story Mode gameplay completion!

See you soon!

DINODRIFTERS Dev Diary #21: Gatemarks

Hello and welcome to another DINODRIFTERS dev diary!

Gatemarks are co-ordinates in time and space that constitute a destination in prehistory. These are the maps in which you will explore, survive and discover, either as a dinosaur or a drifter.

Gatemarks are divided by their approximate time. These are, from oldest to most recent:

Cambrian
Ordovician
Silurian
Devonian
Carboniferous
Early Permian
Late Permian
Early Triassic
Late Triassic
Early Jurassic
Late Jurassic
Early Cretaceous
Mid Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
Early Paleogene
Late Paleogene
Neogene
Quaternary
Present Day
Far Future (more on this to come at a later date!)

Once you've selected a time, you click on a location button on the globe. Now, due to continental shift, the locations described do not correspond to their modern locations. Instead, they are linked to their geological position.

There are going to be, at least, around 26-28 gatemarks in the game, with each time listed above having at least one map. You can find a list of them in the WORLDS button on this blog.

Next diary, I will talk about events in Dinosaur Mode and how they work in DINODRIFTERS!

Until next time!