🐈 Pets DLC Devlog #1 - From reference photos to Very Good Bois! 🐕‍🦺

Welcome to a series of devlogs leading up to the release of House Flipper 2 - Pets DLC.

We've recently been very busy making sure everything is on the right track, but we've also been quite secretive... didn't want to spoil any interesting surprises! 🤫

This very first devlog is about the bread and butter, the absolute core of Pets DLC - let's take a tour behind the scenes and show you what's currently going on in the "cats and dogs" department! 🐱🐶

We're working hard towards those 40+ dog and cat breeds we promised, and we can happily report that we're getting close to the finish line with the 3D models! There are of course some rough edges we're still polishing, but the majority of our cute little actors are looking absolutely photogenic already - ready for their close-ups! 👀

I really want to point out how much more advanced the appearance of all the pets is going to be compared to the Pets DLC you know from House Flipper 1.

We're taking a super close look at each of the breeds and making sure that we capture all the unique visual traits. Sometimes it's just an additional pair of wrinkles, other times it's the body proportions. Yes, we genuinely sit around debating dog wrinkles. This is the job.

The task usually starts with one of our 3D artists researching a given breed and then sculpting a high polygon model which serves as a prototype:

After that we're slowly shaping all of their distinct features using tons of feedback and iterating, iterating... iterating some more...

Then it's time for some proper optimization to make the model game-ready, followed by another round of final feedback.

It really is a process of its own, but after hours of work, when you finally see how complete and on point a breed looks, with all those tiny details capturing the exact vibe - chef's kiss! 😘🤌

But of course the whole point of the Pets DLC is to bring more than just beautiful static objects into the world of House Flipper 2. This is where another two key factors come into play: animations and behavioral patterns! 🐕

Our designers had to start with a long list of needed behaviors, and the animators started ticking them off one by one! Again, it's not a simple copy-paste for all the breeds - we’re making sure all the pets are carefully rigged. A Chihuahua and a German Shepherd do NOT move the same way, and pretending otherwise would haunt us forever! Getting the rigs and animations right for each breed is a big part of the development process.

After a couple of final touches and setting all of that up in the game, we end up with something like this handsome guy:

Keep in mind that all this is still work in progress and is subject to change!

Now... if you'd like to experience some of that in person, make sure to visit us this month in Cologne during Gamescom 2026! We'll be presenting the very first Pets DLC demo and giving away some hot House Flipper 2 merch! 🎁

Also, we'd like to start a community vote in the comments - choose the topic for the next Pets DLC devlog. Let us know if you'd rather read about:

• Behavioral trees for the pets and how we work on those. OR - The new area and environment in Pets DLC.

Post your pick in the comments below, thank you so much for your support, and see you next time! 💙💙