Dexter
The new developer blog from February was published tonight. As always, we have summarized the most important information for you.
Video
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New playable dinosaurs in the works
The developers are working hard on the implementation of new dinosaurs, including the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Allosaurus.
- T-Rex abilities: The special mechanic "Crush" is almost finished and only needs final animations. The T-Rex also gets a short burst of speed to support ambushes.
- Throwing mechanic: The T-Rex will be able to throw smaller prey or carcasses - a feature primarily intended for gore effects.
Improvements to game mechanics
- Friend spawn codes: This new feature allows players to invite their friends to spawn together at a specific point.
- Cannibalism mutation: Dinosaurs with this mutation are given special skin colors to make their dietary preference visible to other players.
- Gender selection in the skin editor: A frequently requested feature has been added - the gender can now be changed directly in the editor.
AI updates and technological advances
The team has worked on the AI of various dinosaurs, including Carnotaurus, Tenontosaurus, Omniraptor, Dryosaurus and Deer.
A new debugging tool for AI behavior was also developed to improve navigation around water obstacles. Another highlight is the implementation of grass tracks - plants now react dynamically to the movements of the dinosaurs.
World design and new environments
- Dinosaur Transport Area (DTA): A new, gigantic structure on the island serves as a transport harbor for large dinosaurs. It is twice the size of the regular dock area.
- River and waterfall optimizations: Smaller river sections have been reworked, especially in conjunction with new waterfall areas.
- GUTS interiors: The interiors of the mysterious GUTS complex will be further expanded and interconnected.
Audio improvements for more immersion
- Revised walking sounds: The sounds now vary depending on the size and speed of a dinosaur when walking.
- Vegetation sounds: Movement through dense foliage now produces realistic sound effects - a big change for stealth players.
- Triceratops sound update: New placeholder vocalizations have been added until the final calls are completed.
More upcoming features
The team is also working on new elder designs for the dinosaurs to visually vary their aging process. The concept of the Tissoplastic Reaper has also been revised - possibly with a gliding ability for surprise attacks.
Conclusion
The Isle development team has made significant progress over the past month and received valuable feedback thanks to the Hordetest community. Many new features are on the horizon, and the balance of the new dinosaurs will be further adjusted in the coming weeks.
Stay tuned for more updates and follow the latest developments on The Isle's official website!
It’s been awesome watching all of the players on YouTube do their play through’s and walk through’s of all of your dinosaurs. I think the mechanics are great, the visual effects are awesome and the sound effects are even cooler. I mean the Rex sounds like it’s straight out of ”Jurassic Park”. I know how time consuming and stressful it must be to be under such a time crunch to meet your deadlines. You guys are doing an amazing job. Keep up the great work. As for any nit picking, I don’t have any other than what I’ve heard from the players. The only thing I can see from the videos of others playing is some times the visuals don’t add up. For instance, a T-Rex pinning a Teno five feet away from it or when the Deinosuchus lunges from the water and grabs anything. It’s a hit or miss, I know player timing has its cause and effect to this but when a Croc jumps out of the water with its lunge and the opposing player is animated into its face but it still doesn’t act accordingly. Lastly, your games base set of Dino’s is pretty swell. I would love to see a Spinosaurus in the near future. Honestly, you may as well go rewatch all of the Jurassic Park movies and add all of the dinosaurs from the movies into your game. That would be EPIC. Water dinosaurs, Land dinosaurs, flying dinosaurs, all the dinosaurs? Yes, please. Sincerely,
A near future customer
P.S. I haven’t heard any complaints about your servers crashing constantly or that you’re constantly fixing the fuck ups from your updates. So you’re well ahead of WILDCARD and Ark. Congratulations.