Hello again!

We have a lot of exciting stuff to share with you! Our team has been working full speed to get Open Beta out as soon as possible. Testers have had a lot of fun with our new mechanics and we can't wait to show you what we have been working on. But first, a word from our Lead Developer.




I cannot believe another month has passed. Time flies when you work all the time. ːsteamfacepalmː We just put out a small update to the Exclusive Beta that is live on the beta branch currently which is an extension of the holiday free play event. The update included survival mechanics such as starvation and dehydration, animation tweaks, AI to kill and eat, and many other things. We're still working on bug fixes, polish and finishing the Shadow Scale, but everything is coming together nicely, including the new physics-based flight system. Parrot and I were playing on the server yesterday and nested in a few lucky players as Shadow Scales and they were able to learn to fly, which was very amusing for those of us watching. Flight does have a learning curve, but after about 10 minutes, you'll have the hang of it, though it will probably take hours before you master it. It's a unique and fun mechanic that I know you will all love. I spent a lot of time on it especially the networking part to make it as smooth as possible and those animations will make you feel like a dragon.

Open Beta is getting close, we have 2 more test branch updates to push out before we can update the beta branch. Once ready, we'll announce the update to everyone and if everything works well, we'll release the dedicated server to the public and server communities will be able to begin hosting their own servers. We have a lot of server options to choose from including PvP/PvE, Player Cap, Admin/Friends/Ban lists, Nametags, MOTD, and even Discord links. The full list of server config options can be found in our Discord and we'll post them to our Steam page as well once the server is released. Our friends at Nodecraft have already begun setting up their server panels so all the options will be available to you in the server host panel.

By the way, this is the Dragon game you have all been waiting for, you'll see ːsteammockingː

I look forward to watching you all fly in the upcoming Open Beta targeted for Summer 2021. I know I will be there flying as a Shadow Scale. ːsteamhappyː Be sure to hop in the beta server if you can, if you catch us online Parrot or I might take you for your first flight on a Dragon. \o/

- Jonathan Slabaugh
Lead Developer of Day of Dragons



Now its time for the rest of the blog!





Status icons and the effects they represent are now in game on the Test Branch. Hunger and Thirst now show up as a meat (for carnivores) and water drop icons you reach 50% hunger/thirst. Reach 100% of either, and you will begin taking damage until the percentage is lowered.

Other effects are also currently being tested, including Bleed, Poison, and Decay. Bleed reduces your health as long as it is active. It is recommended to lay down or sleep when bleeding, as your healing will increase per tick. Decay, caused by the Acid Spitter's Decaying Bite, eats away at the dragon's stamina and armor. This can ground flying dragons and make them more vulnerable to the drake's attacks.

Poison is currently caused by eating Thornbacked Crawlers and increases your Sickness the more you eat. While the poison itself does no damage, you will want to keep a close eye on your Sickness level. You can sleep off the effects of Poison, or just wait it out.



So what is Sickness? Well, after some testing, we decided that we did not like the Torpor mechanic and decided to replace it with Sickness, instead.



Now, instead of making you fall asleep, Sickness distorts your vision and can cause damage. The only way to decrease your sickness is to sleep it off or wait and hope for the best.




We have a bunch of new in-game mechanics this month, including the Status Effects! Jao has been hard at work coding and has created some beawesome new additions to the game, including the one most have been looking forward to...




Flight v2.0 is now being tested on the Dev Branch! Our new flight system is physics based and unlike any other survival game at the moment. Players will have to manage their velocity and momentum to stay airborne, making AFK flying a thing of the past.



Players will also now be able to swoop close to the ground, but be careful. Crashing is another mechanic in the works and will cause a great deal of damage depending on your velocity.

We've also made a change to flight for babies. While they won't be able to achieve full flight, they will be able to glide if jumping from high places or being dropped in the air.

We still have a few more things to add, like a take-off and landing animation, before flight is ready for Open Beta. However, we are getting closer and soon we will be soaring the skies with you!





Probably the cutest mechanic yet, Hatchling Carry v2.0 is currently being tested in our Testing Branch. Unlike in the Alpha, any proper sized adult (group member or not) can pick up and carry a baby. However, babies will be able to break free from the adult's grasp by struggling. Struggling also reduces the adult's stamina, making it harder to chase after the baby again.

Hatchlings will automatically be dropped if they grow too large and can be carried while flying.




Our team is working full speed to prepare for the Open Beta. Check out what our other departments have done this month.


Flicker has been a busy bird this month. She has been working on several projects at once, including the Flame Stalker's Heat Sense, the Shimmer skin Texture, and the Shadow Scale's Cloaking ability.



The Flame Stalker's Heat Sense is getting some much needed love. The effect will now resemble real life infrared cameras and players can use foliage to hide themselves from a Stalker.



Exclusive skins, like the Kickstarter and Patreon skins, will have an extra effect to them, known as a Shimmer. This effect will give the dragon's scales an iridescent shine that can be passed down to the dragon's offspring.



The Shadow Scale's Cloaking ability will also get a fresh look in Genesis.


While Hao is continuing work at prepping some more models for future updates, Brigade is working on environmental assets for Genesis.



She is creating a generic drake carcass, which will be used for corpses that are nearly emptied. The carcass will have options for varying levels of gore for our squeamish and hardcore fans.

Brigade is also working on some undisclosed projects... but we will leave you guessing for now ;)


Burt, our newest animator, has been working hard on the Magma Elemental. He is finishing up on all of the Elemental's attacks and then moving onto some more of his actions animations. Check out a few of the completed animations!


Magma Elemental Bile Attack


Magma Elemental Swipe Attack

Karly is continuing work on the Shadow Scale. She has created some new adult animations to polish the flight system as well as creating the baby and juvenile versions of all the current animations.


Shadow Scale Take Off


Baby Shadow Scale Hover




What a busy month and we aren't slowing down! We will see you at the end of next month for our next blog post. As always, thank for reading and for your support!





Our next Q&A livestream has not yet scheduled. Stay tuned and watch for updates to find out when the next one will be!





Each blog post, we pick some of our favorite screenshots and artwork posted by the community to showcase here. Want a chance for your submission to be showcased on our next blog? Post it in the appropriate channels on our discord!



by Zenora#2649


by Synder#2521


by Neist_Sakimichi#1785





by ProwlerPaws#1414


by Draka#5202


by mickeyrose97#3400



~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Day of Dragons will be on sale from May 27th to the 31st for Steam's Open World sale! Celebrate infinite exploration with a 10% discount on Day of Dragons and get ready to fly with us in the skies during our Genesis: Open Beta coming this summer!






Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Hello!

April has flown by! Our team has been hard at work on our daily tasks over here at Beawesome Games. We have a lot of cool new things to share with you as well as some big news. But first, here is the Big Hamster himself...



Greetings Hatchlings,

Another month is behind us and we have been putting the work in and getting a lot done. One of the areas we were bottlenecked in was the area of animation as we only had one part-time animator. Today we are happy to announce that we have added a new fulltime animator to our team who has been working in the gaming industry for many years, Bret Church. You can read more about him below, and check out the latest Spined Scrab video to see Bret's work in action.

The past 12 weeks I have been busy working on design and artificial intelligence. The AI update just hit the test branch yesterday with bug fixes going out today. Things are looking really good and the testers have enjoyed watching the AI hide from them behind rocks and trees. (They get scared cuz they tiny.) It's been a lot of work but I think you will all like it. I decided to design the AI system from the ground up for Genesis 1.0, the old AI system in the Alpha used a third-party plugin for the AI behavior mostly designed for humanoids. Our new AI system of my own design is very robust and fun to interact with. I also designed and built a AI spawning system that stores AI in memory in a dormant state when players are not nearby to save on resources, then when players come back in the area, it wakes the AI back up, this is very similar to how ARK does it and necessary when you have maps as big as ours with AI everywhere. I'm sure you will all love our new AI system when you get to try it in the Genesis Open Test.

Speaking of the Open Test, now with AI out of the way, I am focused on integrating the Shadow Scale with all of its animations into the game along with Flight v2. After that, I will be integrating our newly designed particle FX (thanks Flicker). Once the build passes QA, we'll be pushing it to our public servers for the Public Open Test. We will then focus on adding the Elemental, Flame Stalker, Inferno Ravager, and Spined Scrab. Once all of the characters are in and everything is working well, we'll push out the Day of Dragons 1.0 Genesis update to Steam for all to download, after which the Alpha version will be deprecated.

It's all going to happen quickly and will be here before you know it. I think we're in for an exciting Summer. Thank you all for your support and enjoy our dev blog.

- Jon Slabaugh
Lead Developer of Day of Dragons




Some of you have already seen our new Youtube video, featuring the Spined Scrab. What you might not have known was that the Scrab was rigged and animated by our new full-time animator! We are happy to introduce to you our new animator, Burt (aka mbcburt).

"Hello everyone!
I am a new animator on the dev team. I am now working on creating amazing animations to bring these cool creatures and dragons to life. I am excited to be apart of this game and community! I have worked for many years in both the film and games industry on all kinds of projects ranging from first person shooters, to racing games, role playing, and horror adventure games. With all the types of animations (humanoid, animal, creature, mechanical) that I have had the opportunity to work on, my favorite for sure that I am super passionate about is creatures, especially Dragons. So this is super exciting for me to be animating on this project and I will show that passion in my work and look forward to seeing them the game! :) "
-Burt



With the Spined Scrab now completed, Burt will now be focusing on the Magma Elemental. Expect new updates on the Magma's development in the next Dev Blog!






All but one of the Adult Shadow Scale animations are now complete! Up next we will be making the baby animations which will be a much faster process, since the baby animations are edited versions of the already existing adult animations.

While the baby animations are being created, we will move to testing the new flight system, adding status effects, and adding the visual effects as well.


Drinking Animation


Eating Animation



The first version of our custom made AI system is complete! Right now. our Closed Testers are taking a bite out of these bugs. The Thornbacked Crawler will be the first in the game and will join the Shadow Scale and Acid Spitter in Open Testing. Check out a behind the scenes look at how these creatures think.




Pictured above, you can see the AI's thought process as it decides which location to travel to. Being a passive AI, the Thornbacked Crawler wants to avoid all players (aka his predators) and it needs to decide the best course to go to avoid getting eaten.

The green dots show the best choices while the red, yellow, and orange are less favorable. The AI uses distance and cover to determine the best course to take. If available, the AI will be more likely to choose a locations that blocks it from the player's line of sight and thus can hide behind rocks and trees.




Like the deceased Acid Spitters, the Thornback Crawler corpses will have a rag doll effect, making them limp when carried. Large enough dragons will be able to carry whole AI carcasses to bring to their young or just save for later.

However, Thornbacked Crawlers are not a free meal. These bugs are toxic and eating one will take a hit to your stamina. Make sure you are in a safe place before chowing down on one of these creepy crawlies.


AI Carrying




As always, our other departments are also working hard to get everything ready for Open Testing and beyond. Check out what they've been up to.



Inferno Ravager and Flame Stalker fire attacks

Flicker has been focusing on the fire attacks of the Inferno Ravager and Flame Stalker along with the beam of the Singe Crest. We plan to make the bile attacks of each dragon unique which is why you see a big difference between the fire of the Flame Stalker and Inferno Ravager.


Inferno Ravager fire attack rotating


Singe Crest cauterizing beam




While Hao works on the concept of the Ice Behemoth (likely coming in the next Dev Blog), Brigade has been working on the fish AI that will be joining the game with the Singe Crest. The fish is inspired by Bichirs and Catfish and will be the perfect size to fit inside of its main predator's mouth.





Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more development news in next month's dev blog.




Our next Q&A livestream has not yet scheduled. Stay tuned and watch for updates to find out when the next one will be!





Each blog post, we pick some of our favorite screenshots and artwork posted by the community to showcase here. Want a chance for your submission to be showcased on our next blog? Post it in the appropriate channels on our discord!



by Minatrix#6615


by Stupid Discord#2668


by Papillon Petit#9342





by Flame#5312


by Milo#3392


by Mossrium6157


Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more development news in next month's dev blog.

~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Hello!

We have another set of discord questions that we have taken the time to answer.

If you have a question and it wasn't answered here, check out our FAQ on discord. If you don't find the answer there, feel free to ask your question in our discord #dev-q-and-a channel.





Not at this time.
There are currently no plans to mix bile types as breeding can not currently occur between different species.

Yes.
We are currently testing acceleration increases for our next version of flight.

Taller than the in-game mountains.

Not at this time.

For Genesis, just an invisible wall.
If we decide to do something more, it will be later in development of the game.

As of right now, the Shadow Scale.
Having the Shadow Scale in the game and in a playable mode will move us to our next step in development. We are just as excited as you are to see the game move forward, so having the Shadow Scale in the game will be awesome.

At this time, none are planned.
While there are not currently any plans to add other creatures, it could be an option for later in development.

Yes and maybe.
There will be some dragons with unique movements. For example, the Acid Spitter will be the only one of the starter dragons that can sprint (faster than run). It is still not decided if there will be unique mechanics for flight or not.

Not at this time.
The elemental was put on hold while we focused on the AI and Shadow Scale, but his animation process will start again likely next month.

Yes, but not for Genesis.
Guides and other tools will be added eventually, but this will not be until the final part of development. Right now our focus is on creating and perfecting the mechanisms and game play.

Probably.
We plan to eventually have at least one example of every type of dragon in the game.

Elementals will be unique to dragons in several ways. They will be an unlockable species that you must unlock again after death. They are fueled by their element and dragon flesh and must stay close to their element source. They will also not reproduce and each server will have a cap per elemental species. Each elemental will have a unique set of attacks

Yes and no.
There will be environmental collision, but not character collision. This means your dragon can not run through trees, but it can run through other dragons. However, you can not bite or attack through a dragon to hit another. This means young can hide under adults for safety.

Some, yes.
Some species of dragons will be able to perch on larger dragon species, like the micro feathered dragon. We also plan to add a climbing mechanism when the micro is added that will allow some dragons to climb cliffs and trees.

Yes.
Though it will not be in Genesis, there is a sensory system mechanic planned for the game that will include scent.

Yes, but not at this time.
Like in-game guides and tutorials, we plan on adding mechanics to make the game fun for everyone. However, these mechanics will not be added til the final stages of development.

Sometime after the Genesis update, but a date isn't confirmed.

No.
Karly has always been a part-time animator for Day of Dragons. This is not due to budget restrictions as some have claimed, but due to her limited availability. If her availability changes, we'd love to have her as a full-time animator.

Not in Genesis.
However, when crafting is added later in development, items needed for crafting will be interactable and can be carried by dragons.

Yes.
However, piscivore dragons will not receive as much nutrients from other food sources and will have a difficult time hunting non-aquatic AI.

Not at this time.

Yes.
In fact, they already have been and will be added in Open Beta.

When they are ready.
We are working very hard to get the dragons out as fast as we can while still maintaining quality of animations and models. We understand this can be fustrating, but we really appreciate your patience.

Yes.
There will be several maps connected to the Forgotten Forest map through portal systems. These maps include the Lava Lands, Dangerous Dunes, Winter Winds, and the Shimmering Caverns Biomes.

Maybe.
We are planning an aquatic expansion after full release. However, this is not finalized and will be several years away if we decide to create it.






We hope that helps answer some of your questions. We will have another dev blog at the end of this month to discuss more development news. Thanks for reading!

~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Hello everyone!

Wow! We had an amazing 76 entries to our first Skin Creation contest, featuring the Bioluminescent Dragon on our official discord. The prizes for this contest were rare Bioluminescent Dragon Kickstarter Keys, which are now only available through special community events like this one. After several days of voting, the community has spoken and we now have our first, second, and third place winners. The first place winner received three Bio keys, the second place winner received two, and the third place winner received one. Below you can check out the community contest winners:

FIRST PLACE & WINNER OVERALL

SECOND PLACE

THIRD PLACE

In addition to (and excluding) the 3 aforementioned community contest winners, we also have three Staff Choice Award winners we'd like to announce today, Each of the Staff Choice Award winners will receive a single Bioluminescent Dragon Key.




Voted best overall design that didn't win by the DoD Community Staff.




"I really love the uniqueness of this skin and the color palette used. The markings feel very natural and I could imagine this on a real life animal. The colors are very bold and I love the way the tail fades to a lovely purple."
-Bad Parrot




"First, wow! This one was the first design submitted, so to have this kind of quality done so quickly is deserving of recognition. Second, I love the color contrast with the blacks, cyans, and magentas, the skin very much catches my eye. Third, the flower is beautiful and something I could see growing in the Glimmering Caves. Actually, I could see both this skin and flower existing in the world of Jrakhon."
-SuperRhino






While we only were able to pick a few winners, we loved all the skins and really enjoyed hosting this community contest. Check out all the lovely skins below:















Thank you to all those who entered and voted in our very first Skin Creation contest! We had so much fun with this one, we will definitely be hosting more events in the future.

~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Hello again, everyone!

March has been a great month in animations, models, and VFX for us. We have lots of cool new things to share with you. First, here is a message from our head hamster himself.


Q1 2021 is coming to a close wrapping up 16 months of funded development on Day of Dragons, and with that, I get to be the bearer of the news you all have not been waiting for - that being that the 1.0 update will not release in Q1 of 2021 as we had originally planned. We thought we could get it out by the end of March back when we put out our production schedule, but when it comes to game development, you never really know for sure which is why I was hesitant to release a release date when we did several months ago. Q1 was a stretch back then, but we thought we could get it out by then, but that didn't happen.

So what's holding back DoD Genesis? Well, we still have a few things to finish first, such as animations, AI, the new flight system, and a few sounds and particle effects. The good news is that the 1.0 Genesis Open Beta will most definitely be coming in Q2, most likely sooner than later and that will happen once the AI and the Shadow Scale animations are finished. At the time of this blog, we are 90% done with the adult SS anim set and are working on the hatchling anims. Once the Open Beta is live, the remaining production items such as the animated FS, IR, and Magma will be added into the Open Beta as soon as they clear Closed Testing Q&A. Once all the items are out of testing and the Open Beta is cleared of any blocker bugs, Genesis 1.0 will officially release to the public replacing the current alpha build (which will be deprecated) and fans will be able to host their own private Genesis servers. Then, we will begin testing Update 1.1. Speaking of which, our modeling team has already completed most of the 1.1 modeling content and are starting on update 1.2 modeling content this week. Modeling and Sound FX are much farther along currently than Programming and Animations, which I think is usually the case for every game studio.

Some of the things we are doing to help improve our production pipeline include hiring more talent, offload some of my jobs onto other capable developers to allow me to focus more on programming, and better distribute the workload for tasks that can be completed by other developers.

We know that not everyone will take the news of the pushback kindly, but I believe most people understand that game development takes a lot of time. So thank you for your understanding and patience as we continue to work on Day of Dragons Genesis. Those who follow our updates know we are getting things done, and one day at a time it is all coming together. There will come a day when you see Update 1.0 has been released, ːsteamhappyː but it is not this day. ːsteamsadː But someday in 2021! ːsteamhappyː

Thank you for your beawesome patience, beawesome understanding, and continue beawesome support.

- Jon Slabaugh
Lead Developer of Day of Dragons



Alright, back to the blog...
Some of you following our Twitter account may have noticed our new weekly "Dev Diaries", a feature that was requested by the community. These short diaries go over what we have been working on in each department each week. Then at the end of the month, you get to see the results in the monthly Dev Blog! Here is what we worked on this month.






Wow. This dragon was sure a challenge to create and one we could have never completed without the help and support of our awesome community. In total, it took us 5 months to complete this dragon with many scrapped designs. Patrons have already seen part 1 of the concept process and will be getting the second half sometime next month.

However, with the help of the community, we feel we delivered on our promise of the Bioluminescent Dragon being the most beautiful dragon in the game. This is a pure Kickstarter dragon and will only be available for the Kickstarter's who backed for the bio pledge (or winners of the Bio Key). Other players will have to acquire an egg invitation to become one of these dragons.

A special shoutout to ThatOneArtist#2163, 🌻KyraG🌻#6415, and Ulta (Nicole S.)#8037 in our official discord community for their work in helping create the sketches that inspired the final bio concept design.



There will still be chances to get a bio key if you missed out on the Kickstarter and your first chance is happening now in our official discord.

We are currently hold our first skinning contest featuring the Bioluminescent Dragon! The winners of this contest will be chosen by the community and have the chance for their skin to be added into the game. The top three prizes include Bio Keys.

The contest runs until April 2nd, with voting lasting until end of day on April 4th. For more information, check out our official discord.


We still have a handful of promised concepts to finish including the biggest dragon so far; the Ice Behemoth. This kickstarter dragon will be next followed by the Fire Behemoth. Stay tuned for updates on these dragons next month!




As stated above, this month we have a lot of new future content to share with you. Our VFX, Environmental Asset, and Animation teams have done a great job as always. Check out what they have been up to this month.


Like the last few months, the Shadow Scale has been the focus of our animation team as we get closer to permanently opening the Open Testing branch. This month we focused on the remaining ground locomotion as well as his attacks.

The Shadow Scale didn't get all the love this month. The Acid Spitter also got some new moves. Please keep in mind, these are all first takes on the animations. The animations will be polished later on in development.


Stalk


Stalk Idle


Plasma Blast Attack


Backup


Swimming


Mating Display



Flicker has been EXTRA busy this month. She has worked on everything from burning nests to burning dragons to puddle splashes. Check out some of the work she has done in this past month.


Blood Splatter


Bleed Status Effect


Splashing


Swimming


Fire Burn Status Effect


Acid Burn Status Effect


Nest Incubating Effect


All of the nests for Genesis are now complete, thanks for the hard work of Brigade. Each nests is unique to that species and made to fit their incubation needs. In the last two blogs, you saw the nests of the Acid Spitter and Shadow Scale. Now, here are the remaining two.


The Flame Stalker's nest is made out of an old burnt tree stump. This cozy design allows the eggs to stay extra warm as the nest burns.


The Inferno Ravager nest is built from a mount of ash and coal. The warm embers from these nests are perfect for reaching the ideal incubation temperature of the Inferno eggs.



Now that all the nests are complete, Brigade will be turning her attention to her next project; sculpting the aquatic AI for the 1.1 update.






Our next Q&A livestream has not yet scheduled. Stay tuned and watch for updates to find out when the next one will be!





Each blog post, we pick some of our favorite screenshots and artwork posted by the community to showcase here. Want a chance for your submission to be showcased on our next blog? Post it in the appropriate channels on our discord!



by Nomi#4129


by Kuda the Noodle#1432


by Zenora#2649





by Nihil#0404


by ✪That Darn Plague Doctor✪#4724


by Guppies27#8123


As always thanks for reading and your continued support. See you next month for our #12 blog! Don't forget to follow our official Twitter account for our weekly "Dev Diaries".

~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Hello all!

We've had quite a few questions being asking in our official discord regarding the development of Day of Dragons. Since we don't have a Dev Livestream scheduled for the time being, we'd like to take the time to answer the questions now.

If you have a question and it wasn't answered here, check out our FAQ on discord. If you don't find the answer there, feel free to ask your question in our discord #dev-q-and-a channel.





Yes, we have one going on right now on our Discord server.

Yes!
Most dragons will have a secondary physical attack. For example, the Acid Spitter has a Tail Swipe attack and then Shadow Scale has a Claw Swipe attack.

For some dragons, yes.
For example, the Acid Spitter will have a Tail Swipe attack that does damage to any opponent standing behind the player.

Yes and no.
As the models are being prepped for gameplay, we review all of that dragon's sounds and see if they still fit the creature or if they need editing. For example, the Acid Spitter's old sounds were made for a much larger dragon before we decided it would be a Medium Small species. Therefore, his sounds were edited to better fit his size.

No.
The concept pictures are just that, a concept. They will not be updated though there may be more artwork created of the current models in the future.

No skins are permanent.
In order to change your dragon's skin, you will need to kill your existing character and respawn as a hatchling.

It is possible for the future, but not in Genesis.

Probably.
While we don't have any planned at this time, it is very likely more dragons with feathers, and maybe even some with fur, will be added later into the games development.

Possibly.

Yes and no.
We do currently have an Environmental Asset Artist, Brigade, on our team. She makes custom environment meshes for us such as nests, carcasses, and more. However, the trees, rocks, grass and other environmental assets will continue to use the excellent assets created by Willie Hammes of MAWI United who has been working as a 3D environmental artist for over 25 years.

Yes.
There will be tasks for the players to perform in order to unlock skins and dragons species. There will also be "boss battles". These will come later in development.

Yes.
In Genesis, there will be a small mutation tree for players to customize their dragon's skills. This system may be expanded on further in development.

Not at this time.
While there will be a way to get new colorations and patterns through breeding or other means, players will not be able to edit the color palettes or patterns. At this time there is no plan for different horns or physical features outside of gender differences and elder characteristics.

Yes.

Very likely.
Like all things, the Kickstarter skins and Patreon skins are a work in progress and not finalized. Nothing is finalized until the game is full released and out of Early Access and even then, nothing is ever final in game development since polish and improvements are a never-ending process.

It's possible in the future but for now, players must invite other players to their egg from their group panel.

No.
Your current character will save. However, if you have a character that is the same species as the egg, it will be replaced by the egg.

Yes.
We will likely start adding them after the Genesis update.

Not at this time.

Flight animations will depend on the species.
Just like in real creatures, not all dragons will fly the same. Some may be able to glide long distances (like sea birds) while others may have to flap non-stop to stay airborne (like waterfowl).

Most game studios never upgrade the engine version of a released game because of all the errors and bugs it usually causes to existing code and the resulting delays in production. We currently use UE4.23.1 and it is an extremely stable and bug-free version of UE4. Versions 4.24 and 4.25 are both buggy and in our opinion not production-ready, while 4.26 is stable and introduces volumetric clouds, skies, and Niagara, it is still too new for us to even consider upgrading to as it usually takes several patches before all the bugs are worked out of a new engine version. What we have done already is pull several fixes, features and updates from newer versions of UE4 and integrate them into our modified source version of 4.23.1. So at this time, we have no plans on upgrading the engine version, but we will continue to keep an eye on new versions of Unreal.

Classified :)

No game is hack-proof, but our methods for stopping common memory hacks are redacted.

Yes. Configs and other Information on hosting your own dedicated server can be found in our Steam discussion forms. We will update this when Genesis 1.0 servers are released to the public.

Not at this time.

Yes.

No.

Maybe.
We are still deciding if we want to include this mechanic or not.

Yes.

Yes, there is a small group of less than 100 closed testers who help us find and fix bugs before the public gets to play in the open test and release versions. To become a closed tester, you must be 18 or older and apply on our Discord.

Yes. The Bio Dragon DLC was included in a few Kickstarter pledge tiers and is no longer being sold. Only those who possess the Bio DLC will be able to spawn in as a Bio dragon on every server, but non-bio-backers can still be nested in as the Bio on a server by a nesting pair of Bio's. However, if you do not own the Bio DLC, once your Bio dies, you will lose access to play as the Bio unless nested in again by a Bio DLC-owner. The only other way to receive a Bio DLC is from another player who has an extra or from an Official contest or give-away which are very very rare. But luckily, we are hosting a Bio-skinning-contest right now on our Discord server which will go through April 2 providing players a chance to win a Bio DLC key.

Snow and wind are confirmed, but rain is something we are probably not going to add as rain is a performance killer and most players often find it annoying.






We hope that helps answer some of your questions. We will have another dev blog at the end of this month to discuss more development news. Thanks for reading!

~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


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Welcome to Dev Blog #10! We hope you all had a lovely February and are staying nice and healthy. This month we have a lot of exciting things to share with you all. Our team is growing with the addition of Flicker, our VFX artist who we already have working on particles and decals, and Brigade, our 3D Environmental Artist who has been hard at work making Dragon nests. Starting off, we'll let them both introduce themselves...


Hi, I'm Flicker, Beawesome's VFX artist! I'm actually also a 3D generalist, so I can do a little bit of everything: modeling, texturing, rigging and animating; however, I was chosen as staff for my technical side, and work directly in-engine to create a variety of effects, from acid projectiles to dripping blood!

I like reading, watching movies and shows, and gaming. I really, really like gaming, so much so that I decided to make them my life! Also, as a bonus, I love dragons.

I first discovered Day of Dragons as a fan and, through a series of chats and fun moments, decided that being able to make this game, this dream, a reality could be fun. I'm super excited to be on the team, and am looking forward to playing with everyone!

Click here to follow Flicker on Twitter.


Hey! I'm DragonBrigade, but some of you might already know me as Brigade- or Brigs, or Bridget, or- you get the point. I'm working on creating 3D environmental assets, with the focus currently being on unique nests for each dragon that will be added in the Genesis update. I have a formal education in game design and graphics, with a focus in 3D modelling.

Some stuff about me: My favorite animals are chickens, I like purple, and I love heavy metal- like, a lot. But most importantly: I've loved dragons for as long as I can remember, and Day of Dragons is my dream game that I've always wanted to play- and work on. I'm super excited to be on this team, and I can't wait to see everyone curl up in some cozy nests :) Keep an eye out, there might just be some spooky scary things around the corner...

Click here to follow Brigade on Instagram.



With introductions done, lets get into what we've been working on in February...



If you've read our last announcement, you are aware that we have once again begun creating new concepts for future dragons. The first, and personal favorite of Bad Parrot, is the Micro Feathered Dragon. This dragon will join the game in an upcoming (after 1.0) update as an unlockable dragon for all players. Kickstarter backers will recognize this dragon as the $500k Stretch Goal reward, meaning that all Kickstarter backers who activated their "Original Backers Rewards" keys will have the Micro permanently and automatically unlocked for them on all servers they play on. That's just one of the great perks to being a Kickstarter!




With the Micro concept now completed, we have turned our attention to the greatly anticipated Bioluminescent Dragon.





As you know we are currently in the pre-beta testing phase which is open to Kickstarter beta access backers and owners of the Acid Spitter Drake. Once we get the Shadow Scale to an animated playable state, we will open the Beta to everyone (Open Beta) so the Shadow Scale continues to be the focus of our animation team.

Check out some of his newest animations with more coming in from our animation team each week.


Diving


Sitting


Lay Down to Sleep




The rest of our team has been working hard on their projects as well. Brigade and Flicker are working on creating the effects and structures needed for the next big update.

Now that we have completed all of the Genesis 1.0 Update creature models (meaning they are waiting to be rigged and animated), Jia Hao, our 3D Creature Artist, has moved his attention to the dragons coming in the v1.1 "Helping Herbis" Update, namely the Singe Crest (Healer) and Nurse (Name TBA) dragons.




The first dragon being worked on for version 1.1 is the Kickstarter Healer Dragon, now officially named the Singe Crest. The Singe Crest is a small support type dragon that will be able to heal his group members and stop their bleeds using its cauterizing flame and healing pheromones. As of this writing, the Healer is all but completed, just awaiting final 3D model and texture approval from our lead developer.

Hao is currently focused on modeling the Nurse Dragon.





Brigade has finished her second custom nest. The Shadow Scale's nest is made of stick and twigs collected in the Forgotten Forest. The trees in this area have a special coating that makes the resistant to fire and high temperatures, making them the perfect material for Plasma nests.

Up next will be the Flame Stalker's nest, which is be quite unique compared to the other finished two.




Flicker has been busy with a variety of VFX effects. She has finalized the Acid Spitter's Acid Spit attack and has also finished the Shadow Scale's Plasma Blast attack. Now she is turning her attention to environmental VFX. Check out some gifs of what she done this month below.


Plasma Blast


Acid and Plasma Hit Decals


Landing Dust Cloud




Greetings Hatchlings,

February has come and gone. Ever wonder why they didn't just take 2 months with 31 days and shorten them to 30 and give February 2 more days so it has 30 like every other month? It always goes by so fast! Speaking of fast, we are working fast on getting all the particles and nests we need for the "First Five" coming to Genesis 1.0. Flicker and Brigade are doing outstanding work and we're glad they joined our team. They were both fans who displayed some amazing talent so we hired them. After getting access to our development, they were very impressed by the work we have been doing... even stuff you all haven't seen yet. Shhhh.

I have been working on AI and implementation. There's a lot of implementation to do. As you know, in Genesis 1.0 we plan to have AI for players to kill and eat. As time goes on and more updates come out we will expand on both the number of AI and the complexity of the AI. I've also been working on the Shadow Scale and getting it playable, integrating particle FX, polishing the nesting system, and working on the flight mechanic. 2021 will be an awesome year for Day of Dragons.

We have been getting a lot of questions about when Genesis 1.0 will be out, we can confirm that the full release with all 4 dragons will not be out in March as we are currently only finished with 1 of the 4 dragons. Shadow Scale is on schedule to be in a playable state sometime this month, but the Flame Stalker and Inferno Ravager are both still awaiting their turn to be animated. So Genesis 1.0 will not be out in March, but the Genesis Open Beta Test (consisting of the Acid Spitter, Shadow Scale and AI) is still on schedule for Q1 2021. The good news is that the Shadow Scale dragon rig being completed will help to speed up the Flame Stalker and Inferno rigging and animations. But we can only work as fast as development allows, and we are working as fast as we can while maintaining a high standard of quality that you all have come to expect from us.

We're also working on the Bio Concept, the Nurse model (we haven't named her yet, got any ideas for us?), and then 1.2 modeling content. After the Bio concept is done, we'll be working on the Behemoth Ice Drake concept... and then that does it for Kickstarter concepts! Yay! All Kickstarter concepts will be finished this year. The models are being worked on now. Healer - check. Nurse - on it. Micro - next. Then Bio/Hybrid/Ice Behemoth/Ice Wyvern/Blitz after those (in no particular order) followed by Fire Behemoth and more Elementals.

We have a lot in store for you all, Day of Dragons is not a sprint project, it is a marathon, and each lap will bring more and more content to our fans. Thank you (especially our Kickstarters and Patreons) for supporting us!

- Jon Slabaugh, Lead Developer


Thanks again for reading!




Our next Q&A livestream has not yet scheduled. Stay tuned and watch for updates to find out when the next one will be!





Each blog post, we pick some of our favorite screenshots and artwork posted by the community to showcase here. Want a chance for your submission to be showcased on our next blog? Post it in the appropriate channels on our discord!



by Raster#1589


by Luka Karito#8755


by Halofan523#1506





by WithoutRhymeOrReason#5008


by Ztarli#7786


by ✪That Darn Plague Doctor✪#4724




~The Day of Dragons Development Team



Don't want to miss out on updates? Follow us on our social media accounts or become a patron to get updates before they are released!


Discord | Twitter | Youtube | Instagram

As we did a year ago on this day, Day of Dragons is again on sale today for 44% OFF in memory of our Lead Developer's late father who lost his battle to cancer in 2016. He was born on this day in 1944. Each year going forward, we will continue to offer Day of Dragons on sale at a discount of 44% OFF on February 17th as a tribute to the man whose passing inspired his son to follow his dream.

Introducing the $500k stretch mark Kickstarter Dragon:

The Micro Feathered Acid Dragon.

The smallest dragon so far, the Micro Feathered has Acid Bile which is even more potent than that of the Acid Spitter. He uses this bile to melt open the hard shells of the dragon eggs, which are his favorite food source. The Micro's tail has adapted an underside similar to that of a gecko's foot that allows him to grabs eggs otherwise too large for him to carry.



The Micro's special ability is "Preen". During this, the dragon will groom itself, leaving a thin layer of its saliva on its delicate feathers. This protective coat makes him temporarily immune to bile attacks and gives him "one-shot" protection.


This dragon does not yet have an official species name and will be joining the game in update 1.5 of Beta.