Steam News 1 May 202619d ago

Dinolords Monthly - April

Welcome to the April edition of Dinolords Monthly! This time we are going to talk a little in-depth about level design and what considerations are important for making a good map for Dinolords, and a quick look at two o…

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changedThis time we are going to talk a little in-depth about level design and what considerations are important for making a good map for Dinolords, and a quick look at two of the newly updated Dinosaur models that are making their way into the game.

changedLeveling up LevelsLately we have been exploring the level design of Dinolords and what it takes to make a level that is interesting to navigate and play, but still fair regardless of spawning position without just being a complete copy+paste mirror of each spawn point.

changedLeveling up LevelsThere are many considerations when creating a level because we can't have one spawn point have any considerable advantage compared to another. That being said, spawn points can have different advantages as long as the perceived sum of them evens out. Think in the line of: one might have slightly better access to a specific resource, but that would then have to be countered by having slightly worse natural defenses or some other disadvantage.

changedLeveling up LevelsOn the right example, bridges makes it so that the spawn points to the south and east have a less open way to attack each other, but the downside might be their access to certain resources are not as abundant as the spawn points closer to the mountains to the north and west.

changedLeveling up LevelsThat becomes an interesting decision whether to dare venture out and challenge the point and leave your base more vulnerable, or stay back and hold fast while risking your opponents getting the benefits.

addedLeveling up LevelsSo a lot of new experiments are happening with level design, this also ties in with the CPU controlled opponents we looked at in the February edition of Dinolords Monthly, and having a "skirmish" style play-mode where you select a level, set up opponents and teams and play just the one level until only one reigns victorious.

Welcome to the April edition of Dinolords Monthly!

This time we are going to talk a little in-depth about level design and what considerations are important for making a good map for Dinolords, and a quick look at two of the newly updated Dinosaur models that are making their way into the game.

Let's start with venturing into the wilds and see how a level is designed!

Leveling up Levels

Lately we have been exploring the level design of Dinolords and what it takes to make a level that is interesting to navigate and play, but still fair regardless of spawning position without just being a complete copy+paste mirror of each spawn point.

There are many considerations when creating a level because we can't have one spawn point have any considerable advantage compared to another. That being said, spawn points can have different advantages as long as the perceived sum of them evens out. Think in the line of: one might have slightly better access to a specific resource, but that would then have to be countered by having slightly worse natural defenses or some other disadvantage.

An example could be the two layouts above where rivers and lakes are used to provide natural chokepoints that function as obvious points of focus for defensive structures.

In the left example, bridges are placed so that your main focus are the enemies to your right and left, while the one directly opposite of you needs to deal with their right or left opponent before they can comfortably reach you.

On the right example, bridges makes it so that the spawn points to the south and east have a less open way to attack each other, but the downside might be their access to certain resources are not as abundant as the spawn points closer to the mountains to the north and west.

We have also experimented with having levels that are more open in layout, but encourage players in different ways to engage in certain manners. In the two above examples, points that can really give you and advantage or an edge over your opponents are in the center of the level, and remaining in control of these can accelerate your progress ahead of your opponents.

That becomes an interesting decision whether to dare venture out and challenge the point and leave your base more vulnerable, or stay back and hold fast while risking your opponents getting the benefits.

Furthermore we want levels to feel different, water is a good and easy-to-read blockade you can't navigate across, but there needs to be different vibes so everything does not end up feeling like the same river delta. the two above examples have cliffs and mountains as well as deep chasms that functionally serve a similar purpose but provides a very different feeling to the levels.

So a lot of new experiments are happening with level design, this also ties in with the CPU controlled opponents we looked at in the February edition of Dinolords Monthly, and having a "skirmish" style play-mode where you select a level, set up opponents and teams and play just the one level until only one reigns victorious.

Dangerous Dinosaurs

The T-rex got some Viking garbs and barding and it looks so spiffy it's definitely ready for a great raid on some poor unsuspecting village!

The Brachiosaurus has also gotten some color and texturing, the gobble-gobble is strong in this amazing chungosaurus, it has definitely made it's way up there as a strong contender for the title of my favourite dinosaur

Source

Steam News / 1 May 2026

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