Dev Blog #1: Summer Update

Summer Summary!

A lot has happened in Animal Game over the past few months. We hit our first big milestone with the Closed Alpha, and we also took the game to Game Box Herning, where so many people got to play for the first time. Seeing players enjoy Animal Game in person was incredibly rewarding for the team. We also collected a mountain of feedback from the Alpha, and we've spent the summer going through it, making improvements, and pushing forward with new content. The next major milestone is the public Demo, which we are working on getting out to you as soon as possible. In this post we will share some of the work that has been done since closed Alpha and up until now, after summer break.

• Audio

• Animation

• Gameplay

• UI and Menus

• Maps and Party Modes

• Community

Audio:

We’ve created new soundtracks for the upcoming levels, each one designed to match the level’s theme with unique melodies and instruments. Here’s a sneak peek at the track for the upcoming Pirate Level:

We’ve also gone back and improved some of the older tracks where needed.

Beyond music, we’re giving each animal its own audio identity. That includes unique footsteps, death sounds, and character emotes.

Animation:

For the demo we have 6 unique animals to play with, and for the full release we have planned even more. We’ve been working hard on animations that reflect each animal’s personality and movement style. Really diving in to how it should feel to play as the individual animals. From the waddling of Axel, to the bouncing of Mr. Carrots. The unique animations are not just limited to running. With animal abilities, idles, punches and emotes we have had a lot of work done.

Updated run examples: Steam post image Steam post image With the large variety in body shapes, we have also separated them into size categories. Making it possible to share some common animations.

Gameplay:

Upgrade polishing has been one of our big focus areas for the demo. That includes a new splatter system, cleaner Icons, finalizing the elemental trees and adding character ability upgrades. When you die, you get to choose from a set of upgrades to power up for the next round. One of the new additions is "Character Ability Upgrades". Each character has a unique ability. For example, Ribbert can use his tongue to swing across terrain. With his upgrade "Get Over Here", he can now also grab and pull in enemies, giving him a sneaky edge in close combat. Ribbert's Ability Upgrade Icon:

Steam post image How it's used:

For the demo, we're limiting the elemental upgrade system to Fire and Ice. But we snuck in a single Lightning upgrade as a bonus. With that, the upgrade set for the demo is now complete. Steam post image Weapons:

The axe is the final weapon added for the demo. It's a brutal melee option that forces enemies to keep their distance. It also takes skill to master, since you need to time your charges just right.

Here’s the fully charged axe in action:

UI and Menus

We're in the middle of overhauling the menus, but we still wanted to share what we've been working on so far. Winning a match should feel good. And we want to make that moment even better.

Below is a concept for the new win screen, where the winning player gets their well-earned spotlight

This isn't final yet, and we’ll share more once the new screens are fully implemented with all of their juicy details.

Maps and Party Modes

Fun and chaos often begin with the arenas, and we’ve been building new locations to keep things fresh.

One of the new arenas is the Candy Land. A fun little world where sweets are mined directly from the ground, and volcanoes erupts with sparkling sugar stars! Candy Land Concept:

Steam post image Party Modes:

Beyond the standard game modes, we’re introducing new alternative "Party Modes". These offer us opportunities to completely rethink the way you play. For instance, "Pirate Level", it is all about sinking your opponents ship, before they manage to sink yours. Eliminating your opponents does not count towards winning, but of course it's a bit easier to shoot, board and sabotage their ship when no one is around to stop you!

Early concept for Pirate Level:

Party Modes take time to build, but we’re making progress and will have more to share soon.

In the meantime, we hope you’re enjoying the regular battle modes and sharpening your skills against your friends and foes.

Community

The Animal Game community is growing steadily. And we’ve already seen great feedback, suggestions, and even fan art — like this fantastic drawing of Axel the Axolotl.

Artwork by Shkika:

If you want to stay up to date, suggest ideas, or find people to play with, our Discord is the place to be.

Join the Discord here: Animal Game Discord

We'll get back to working now, so you can get your hands on the Demo asap! And we will do our best to keep you updated with more Dev blogs, social media posts. So keep your eyes open, and enjoy the game!