Several year round up-!!

Good morning, afternoon and evening everyone!

So this is a little awkward. We have been working on this project for quite some time now. We have been posting updates here infrequently, while on Discord we had been doing them weekly (though these are now monthly).

However, unknown to us, our Steam updates apparently have not been public since 2022… which means around 30,000–36,000 people had no idea we were still working on the project. Many of you didn’t know about the Indiegogo campaign we launched (which was successful) or the tech demo we released which, frankly, is quite a big mistake on our part.

So, to fix that, we’re going to summarise roughly three to four years of updates right now fml.

Before we get into the main details, if you’d like to ask any questions, feel free to join our Discord it’s the best and fastest place to do so.

Over the past few years, development on The Wings of Dawn has continued steadily, with a large amount of work going into improving the overall direction, systems, and quality of the project.

During this time, we have refined the core vision of the game and reworked several systems to ensure they better support the gameplay experience we want to create. A large focus has been placed on making both dragons and humans feel unique in how they will play, while also ensuring the world itself feels dangerous and alive.

We have also expanded the development team, bringing in additional artists, animators, and developers to help push the project forward. This has allowed us to increase both the speed and quality of development compared to earlier stages of the project.

A number of technical improvements have also been made during this time. These include improvements to our development pipeline, upgrades to the way we build environments and creatures, and better workflows for creating dragons, animations, and world assets.

In the following sections we will go over some of the major areas of development, including dragons, environments, gameplay systems, and other progress that has taken place over the last few years. Steam post image

One of the biggest areas of development has been expanding and refining the dragons themselves, which are at the core of The Wings of Dawn experience. As a result, some dragons have been redesigned or even completely remade. For example, the original Vulgan has been remade three times, with our most recent version intended to be the final design, although it has yet to be finished and is currently on the back burner.

Below you can see the original Icy Crown alongside its new updated V2 model, which demonstrates the level of quality we are now aiming for.Steam post image

Steam post imageSteam post image

Each dragon species is designed with its own identity, abilities, and role within the ecosystem. Rather than simply being different skins of the same creature, every dragon has a distinct playstyle, strengths, and weaknesses. Some are built for speed and aerial combat, others for brute strength, stealth, or survival in harsh environments. (WIP CHARACTER SELECTION , ALL OF THOSE MODELS ARE OLD)

A major focus has been ensuring that dragons feel like large and powerful creatures, rather than simply fast-moving characters. Their movement, animations, and combat systems are designed to emphasise weight, power, and scale. This is why we have chosen to move towards a more boss-like combat system, with dedicated movesets for the dragons. When dragons fight each other, it should feel like a large-scale battle, and when a group of humans fights a dragon, it should feel more like a boss encounter.

Over the course of development we have designed a wide variety of dragon species, each intended to occupy a different niche within the world. Some are aggressive predators, while others are better suited to survival, ambush hunting, or territorial defence.

We have also been expanding customisation options, including different skins and visual variants, allowing players to personalise their dragon while still maintaining the unique identity of each species.

(OLD MODEL , BEING UPDATED MALE AND FEMALE + GROWTH SYSTEM)

(OLD MODEL , NEW ONE GONNA LOOK NOT OLD)

(OLD MODEL, Example of skin customization , although final one is more in depth)

Our aim is for every dragon to feel distinct, both in how it plays and how it fits into the wider ecosystem of the world. We also wanted to step outside the usual creature survival formula and introduce lairs for dragons. While nesting will still exist, we wanted to create a stage above that something more permanent and meaningful which is where lairs come in.

Lairs will be locations dotted around the map that can be claimed by groups of dragons and used as a form of base. These lairs will have upgrades that require dragons to gather resources, much like a bird building a nest.

Once established, a lair will provide several benefits for the dragon group. These may include a respawn location, various buffs, a larder for additional food storage, and a place to store valuable loot, which in turn can grant additional rewards.

The goal of lairs is to encourage more long-term group play and give dragon players meaningful objectives beyond simply roaming the world. They will also provide a safe location where players can regroup, organise, or take a short break from the action if needed.

We also intend for the lair system to act as the foundation for the human building system, which will expand further on these mechanics.

While dragons are half of the project, the other half is humans. Human gameplay is going to be far more in-depth than the dragons, or at least closer to what most survival game players are used to.

Human gameplay focuses on resource gathering, exploration, and preparation rather than raw natural strength. Unlike dragons, humans are obviously physically weaker and far more vulnerable, which means survival depends on organisation, planning, and technology. We will be encouraging group play; however, solo players will still be able to progress in the game, as we understand that many people do not want to join random groups.

Humans will progress by expanding their knowledge through research and exploration, unlocking improved tools, weapons, and armour over time by using runes, which will be found in monuments or traded in safe zones. Rather than relying on gunpowder or firearms, our humans are pre-gunpowder, so they will rely on early- to mid-medieval technology such as ballistas, crossbows, bows, improved armour, and specialised equipment designed to deal with dangerous creatures.

(WE WILL BE REPLACING THIS ARMOUR)

One part of the gameplay we wanted to add was rebuilding structures. In our initial plan we considered using a more traditional survival building system, similar to games like Rust or Ark, where players can build almost anything they want. However, this can often lead to blocky, unattractive structures that ruin the aesthetic of the world, and it can also become very performance-heavy when you want both AI and large player counts.

Because of this, we sat down and designed a new system that we are much happier with. The closest comparison we can think of would be systems seen in State of Decay or Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, although ours will have its own unique spin and be more in-depth.

(JUST A MOCK UP USING STORE ASSETS )

We want players to find an abandoned cabin, farm, fort, or even a ruined castle and gradually repair and rebuild it back to its full glory. This will use a modular base system, where players can choose what structures to add and where they are placed. Surrounding areas can also be expanded with farms, docks, palisade walls, blacksmiths, basements, and more.

This approach allows us to create higher-quality locations around the map, reduce performance issues, and encourage clans to compete over valuable build locations and resources. At the same time, it still allows solo players and smaller groups to hide away or slowly build themselves up.

Crafting and resource gathering are also things we want to make more engaging. Rather than simply opening your inventory and clicking a button to craft armour or weapons, we want players to actually forge items themselves. Our current idea is to introduce mini-games for certain crafting activities. The main example we have explored so far is blade smithing, but similar systems may also apply to fishing, armour smithing, alchemy, and other professions.

Humans are also social creatures, so we want to introduce safe zones where players can gather. These areas will allow players to trade, fight, and socialise. One feature we are particularly interested in adding is a mercenary board, where players can take on contracts. For example, if a dragon player has been killing an excessive number of players in a region, NPC dialogue in the safe zone may begin mentioning rumours of a dangerous dragon in that area. This can then generate a contract for players to hunt it down, adding both immersion and consequences for player actions.

We also want to include an underground area beneath the city for things that are a little more gruesome and grotesque, such as fighting pits where players can bet on their friends to defeat another player or perhaps even a beast. We also wanted to bring in animal fighting, which was historically common during medieval times. No, you will not be fighting dogs or chickens instead, players will be fighting our mascot creatures, Williams. Players will be able to go out, tame them, raise them, and then enter them into the pits to fight for gold, rewards, and possibly skins.

Of course, we also want to include taming within the game. Players will be able to tame more familiar animals such as horses or livestock, but also some of the more unusual creatures found within the world. One example is the Skaith, which can be used for tasks such as farming, hauling goods, or even riding into combat.

Human combat is also very important, which leads into our plans for armour and weapons. We want to create a combat system similar to Chivalry 2, mixed with a few other titles in the genre.

However, with the survival aspect of the game, we want armour to offer different advantages depending on what players want to specialise in. For example, lighter armour may allow for better traversal, such as free-climbing up cliffs and then throwing ropes down to help players wearing heavier armour below. Meanwhile, heavier armour will offer greater protection but at the cost of mobility.

We believe systems like this will encourage players to specialise into different roles, especially when working together in groups.

Another major area of development has been the creation of the world itself. The continent where The Wings of Dawn takes place is called Aleria, a harsh and largely untamed land filled with dense forests, rugged coastlines, mountains, ruins, and dangerous wildlife.

Our goal with the world is to make it feel alive and believable, rather than simply being a large empty map. Different regions will contain their own environments, creatures, and resources, encouraging players to explore and adapt to the challenges each area presents.

One of the locations we have been working on is Pine Woods on the Coast, a large coastal forest filled with towering pine trees, rocky shorelines, and hidden locations scattered throughout the region. Areas like this are designed to support both dragon and human gameplay, with open skies for aerial movement as well as dense terrain that allows for ambushes, exploration, and hidden structures.

Across the world, players will find abandoned settlements, ruins, monuments, and other points of interest that tell the story of the continent and provide opportunities for exploration and conflict. These locations will often contain resources, knowledge, or structures that can be rebuilt and claimed by players.

We are also designing the environment to support the ecosystem of the game, where creatures and dragons occupy different parts of the world depending on their role and behaviour. Some regions may be home to dangerous predators, while others may offer safer areas for players who are just beginning their journey.

Our aim is for the world of Aleria to feel like a place players can truly explore, survive in, and eventually shape through their actions.

Alongside gameplay systems and world development, we have also spent a large amount of time improving the technical side of the project. Over the years we have refined our development pipeline, upgraded various tools, and improved the way we create assets for the game.

Many of these changes were necessary as the scope and quality of the project continued to grow. As a result, we reworked several internal systems to allow us to develop the game more efficiently while maintaining higher visual quality.

A large part of this work involved improving our asset workflow, which includes how we create and implement dragons, environments, animations, and other in-game assets. These improvements allow us to produce higher-quality content while also reducing development time compared to earlier stages of the project.

We have also worked on improving performance and stability, which is especially important for a game that aims to support large creatures, detailed environments, AI systems, and multiple players within the same world.

(Might redo the model for skaith however the knight is just for a silly render)

Another important focus has been ensuring that our systems allow the game to scale properly as development continues. This means building tools and workflows that allow us to add new creatures, dragons, environments, and gameplay systems more easily without needing to constantly rebuild large parts of the project.

While a lot of this work happens behind the scenes and is not always immediately visible, these improvements are extremely important for the long-term development of The Wings of Dawn and help ensure we can continue expanding the game moving forward.

One of the biggest milestones for the project over the past few years was the launch and completion of our Indiegogo campaign.

The goal of the campaign was to support the continued development of the game and help us prepare for our future Kickstarter campaign, allowing us to expand the team, improve development resources, and push the project forward at a faster pace.

Thanks to the incredible support from the community, the campaign was successfully funded. Our original goal was £50,000, and we ended up raising £129,000, which has allowed us to continue developing the game and invest more time into improving its systems, assets, and overall quality.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who supported the campaign and helped make it a success. Your support has played a major role in allowing us to keep developing The Wings of Dawn and continue expanding the world we are building.

As a small side note, for those who backed the campaign, make sure to join our Discord and claim your backer roles, as this is where we share additional updates, information about playtests, and other community discussions.

With the success of the Indiegogo campaign and the continued growth of the team, our current focus is on preparing the project for the next major stage of development.

Our current plan is to finish a test build for our existing backers. Our aim is to have the Icy Crown almost fully feature complete. This would involve an overhauled flight system with different wind directions affecting flight, directional flight injuries, crash landings, aerial combat, and improved aerial visual effects.

Customisation will also be expanded with skins and different body parts. Starting with body customisation, this will allow each dragon to look unique with different horns, spikes, fur, tails, and more. However, the overall silhouette will remain the same so that players are still able to identify the species at a glance.

Skins will also have a few different features. In the long run, players will be able to unlock skins through gameplay, but for now players will have access to everything. This includes the static non-customisable backer skins, as well as the customisable skins.

Ground locomotion will also be overhauled so that dragons interact more naturally with the environment. For example, dragons may be able to push small trees out of the way and move more naturally across terrain. They will also have basic swimming in case they crash land in water or choose to enter it intentionally, although they will most likely not have the ability to dive underwater just yet.

We also want to introduce the first iteration of the combat mechanics, which will allow us to test how well the system works and identify areas that need improvement.

Basic survival mechanics will also be introduced, such as eating and drinking. We are also considering adding the scent system at this stage. Our aim is to include it in this build, but if time does not allow it may be added later.

Nesting will be another feature added in this build. While this is not the full lair system, it will act as the foundation for it. Nesting will allow players to bring their friends into the world and help them grow. Team systems will also be added so players can group up with their friends.

Outside of the dragon systems, we also want to improve and polish the world map, as well as add the first lair locations so players can explore them or temporarily place their nests there.

Another important test will be server capacity, as our current goal is to support around 100 players. We will also be adding corpses around the map for young dragons to feed on. These creatures will represent future dragons or AI creatures that we plan to add to the game later.

Communication systems will also be added, including global chat, team chat, and local chat, along with admin commands to help manage servers and deal with disruptive players.

This will be our first major test build. After this stage we will reuse the core systems and move development onto the next dragon, Dustrius, adjusting and expanding the code where necessary. With each iteration we aim to create a stronger foundation for the next dragon or creature.

After Dustrius, we plan to add Vitreus, followed by Kirin, and finally Valhad.

In terms of animation timelines, the Icy Crown should be finished before 17 March, Dustrius by the end of the month, and Vitreus by the end of next month at the latest.

All audio is currently being handled by our friends at Omnisound. They have their own development schedule, but they will be responsible for creating dragon vocalisations as well as music for different scenarios such as hatching, first flight, combat, death, and more.

One interesting feature they want to include is that each dragon, regardless of species or gender, will have unique vocal variations using randomised pitch and layered audio systems.

For now, human gameplay will not be actively worked on until we have the base five dragons implemented along with the lair system, as the lair system will also form the foundation for the human building system.

We are also currently searching for a dedicated human modeller and animator who produces high-quality work within our budget which, as you can imagine, can be a bit challenging. Because of this, we may temporarily use some existing assets and replace them later as development continues.

Looking ahead, the next major milestone for The Wings of Dawn will be preparing for our Kickstarter campaign. In order to launch the Kickstarter, we want to have at least three playable dragons, as mentioned in the previous section: Icy Crown, Dustrius, and Vitreus, with Kirin and Valhad being added either before or during the campaign.

During the campaign we plan to run an open test, allowing you to play the game and decide for yourselves whether it is something you would like to support. We believe this is the fairest way to approach crowdfunding and allows players to see what we have built before deciding to back the project.

We will also be introducing stretch goals during the Kickstarter. These will be aimed at expanding the content available in Early Access, bringing forward features that are planned for the final version of the game. This could include things such as humans being introduced earlier than originally planned, or even the addition of extra dragon species.

Our goal with the Kickstarter is to secure the funding needed to move towards an Early Access release. At a minimum, this version of the game would include five base dragons, along with a basic human gameplay system. This would include elements such as crafting, base building, combat, and several crafting mini-games. The intention is to give players a clear idea of how human gameplay will work, while allowing us to expand those systems further as development continues.

Following Early Access, the next stage of development will focus on expanding the world further, adding additional dragons, creatures, human gameplay systems, and more locations across the continent of Aleria.

As always, development plans may evolve as we continue working on the game, but our overall goal remains the same: to create a living world where both dragons and humans can thrive, compete, and shape the environment around them.

We will continue sharing updates as development progresses, and we look forward to showing more of The Wings of Dawn in the future.

Finally, we want to talk a little about where you can follow development and stay up to date with the project.

Our Discord is the main place where the community gathers and where we share most of our regular updates. It is also the best place to ask questions, speak directly with the team, and take part in discussions about the game. You can also watch Klack and ech live on the Official Youtube channel every friday-!

Over there we share development progress, previews of upcoming features, artwork, and sometimes even early looks at new dragons, environments, and gameplay systems.

Going forward, we also plan to post monthly updates on Steam so that everyone following the project here can stay informed about what is happening in development. These updates will summarise the progress made during the month and highlight any major features, improvements, or additions to the game.

For those who would like more frequent updates or want to get involved with the community, we highly recommend joining our Discord, where development discussions happen far more regularly.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported The Wings of Dawn so far. Your support and feedback help us continue building the world of Aleria, and we look forward to sharing more progress with you in the future.

ALSO BIG SIDE NOTE WE DO NOT HAVE A WEBSITE-!!! WE ONLY USE DISCORD, STEAM AND YOUTUBE-!!