Dinolords Monthly - May

With a slight delay, we finally thawed this edition of Dinolords Monthly from the ice slab it was delivered in. I wonder if they will ever hear about regular envelopes, or if they will keep sending these updates in massive frozen chunks of glacial ice.

This month, we will be looking at some of the exciting new biomes that are making their way into the game, along with some new art and 3D as well as having a look at some building-related developments that are currently in full swing.

Dinosaurs

If it is not already very clear, we really like dinosaurs. I mean, we probably wouldn't be making a game like Dinolords if we didn't. But there is just one little problem: it has been a little difficult to quickly see if a stray Deinonychus on the battlefield is friend or foe.

Well, we can finally rejoice, because as if recently, dinosaurs are now clad in barding and banners to make it clear where they belong!

Here are some in-editor views of the different bardings we have made for our prehistoric friends, starting out with the British:

There is a folder somewhere on our shared storage full of references to medieval barding for horses, and Lina has been busy making concept sketches for how they could look if fitted to a dinosaur.

And of course there is the other force, the Vikings, and they also want to adorn their cool dinosaurs with armor, just to make it easier for them to tell them apart too, have a look:

I love the chains on the Ankylosaurus, there is just something to it that feels just right with having chains on a big dino that basically comes with a built in flail. Rad!

Biome, Bio you, Bio us!

It is a continuous effort to make the world of Dinolords look visually interesting and beautiful, and lately our artist Elisa has been making some super cool progress we want to show.

Firstly, though, let's talk a little bit about why this important - apart from making a game we thing looks great, having different areas that can look distinct and unique also affords some important functionality for actually playing the game. Primarily, they aid in traversing the world and navigating different zones - think along the lines of "It's to the east of the moorland" or "it's just on the other side of this pine forest". Secondly they are also a super efficient way to help set the mood of an area, to prepare the player if they need to be on high alert or if they can find specific things in a certain area. If the fog gets dense and visibility is low, maybe it's a good idea to prepare for an ambush. Or if I want to find a bog witch, maybe there's better odds if I search an actual bog and not a nice sunlit meadow with deer frolicking amidst the flowers.

So we really want to make areas that are recognizably different but also that still adhere to some degree of accuracy, or plausibility. That means a bunch of research into plant and tree species on the British isles and here are a few screengrabs:

Add to those different looking grass and ground textures, and it's really starting to look like different areas with varied nature.

We continue to expand and explore how to make these even more distinct, but we think it's already moving in a pretty cool direction.

Building up a base

Basebuilding in Dinolords is an