Client/Server Patch

ADDED

• Added river ambience SFX at the mouth and foot of the river
  
• 1 new skin crafting recipe for Shadow Scale
  
• 1 new skin crafting recipe for Acid Spitter
  
• Temporary tooltips for mutations (custom tooltip coming in next update)

CHANGED

• Mixing different bloodline quality now averages the difference between the two bloodlines instead of picking one or the other. Breeding identical bloodlines still upgrade the egg's bloodline.
  
• Alpha class now has an A beside the Class number (4->4A, 5->5A)
  
• Improved hit detection of projectiles
  
• Tweaked 4 call sound fx on Shadow Scales
  
• Server kill logs now records species and growth of player character killed
  
• Nesting males can no longer be invited to become an egg. Males must wait until all of their nests are destroyed.
  
• Females with at least 2 points in Breeding can now select the gender of the egg when sending the egg invite.
  
• Changed the method in which players can obtain genetics with better than A- grade, the former method proved to be too difficult to obtain

COMBAT BALANCE

• Adult hunger drain increased slightly (could literally go for days without eating as an adult) Elder remains unchanged
  
• Increased turn speed of Shadow Scale
  
• Increased Bite damage of Shadow Scale
  
• Decreased Pierce Resistance of Acid Spitter
  
• Increased Blunt Resistance of Acid Spitter

FIXED

• Eating and drinking sounds no longer echo long distances
  
• Server Filters Hide Private option now correctly hides private servers instead of showing only private servers
  
• Fixed an exploit allowing infinite max flight speed
  
• Joining a full server should now properly kick players that have not fully loaded in and not keep them on an infinite loading screen
  
• Fixed a server crash

Hello!

It's been quite a while since our last blog and so much has happened! We hope you are all enjoying the Open Beta and a HUGE thank you for all the kind words and feedback from this past few weeks. We are continuing to work hard and make the best dragon survival game there is! This blog is going to be a bit shorter than our normal ones since a lot of the new content was released with the update. We have also scheduled our next Q&A Livestream with the date and time at the end of this blog.

First, here is a word from the Head Hamster himself...


We did it! Just like we said we would. Our Open Beta is out and people are playing it. Sure, there's a few bugs that need fixed and there's some tweaking and polish that needs done, but the Open Beta is out and people are enjoying it. We're very happy with how well the Beta launch went and we want to thank Nodecraft for having everything ready on time for our new servers. I also want to thank our devs for working hard to get the open beta out in just 21 months. Our hard work shows.

But this is only the beginning of what's to come for Day of Dragons. We still have a lot of work to do.

The Open Beta introduces our new Physics-based flight system, our first starter dragon the Shadow Scale, AI, a huge 16km map, and many other cool things such as Elder Progression, Skin Crafting, Genetics, Nesting, Clans, and more. Some of the things we're looking to add soon include the scent system where players will be able to sniff out AI, water, and bleeding dragons. Speaking of dragons, we're working on the animation set for the Flame Stalker and finishing the animations for the Magma Elemental, Both of those will be going into the game as soon as they're ready along with a new biome, the Lava Lands, and portals.

It's all coming together, one piece at a time, and we're thankful to have your support for the best Dragon Survival Game in the world - Day of Dragons.

- Jonathan Slabaugh
Lead Developer of Day of Dragons



Now onto the blog!



Flame Stalker Walk

Karly has moved her attention to the Flame Stalker now that the Shadow Scale is fully animated.

The Flame Stalker will be the largest dragon yet to enter the game and will change the game play dynamics completely with his Heat Sense. Flame Stalkers are the main predator of Shadow Scales and will be able to see their heat signature even when cloaked.


Flame Stalker Trot


Flame Stalker Run




The Damage effect, which you can see in game for the Acid Spitter, Shadow Scale, and Thornbacked Crawler, is finished for all Genesis creatures. Each effect tells a story and resembles an attack from another dragon. For example, that Shadow Scale's damage effect is designed after a fight with a Flame Stalker.


Inferno Ravager Damage Effect


Flame Stalker Damage Effect


Magma Elemental Damage Effect


Bulbous Spined Scrab Damage Effect






Our next Q&A livestream has been scheduled!


We will be answering questions while we hang out on the Official Server 3-US PvE. See you then!




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 sungift14#4605


by KatThePure#9138


by Lorikeet Lord#4388





by k̷̉̊i̴͋͑n̶̿̚d̵̏͝a̷͌̾ő̵̀d̴͂̚d̷̈́͝#9052


by SunnyD#9023


by Siilinki#6897


Thank you all again. We are overwhelmed with the kind words and love from the community these past few weeks. Working on this game has been a dream come true to us developers and we will work hard every day to bring that dream to life!

~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

Client/Server Patch

ADDED

• Hardwood forest area
  
• More AI spawn locations

CHANGED

• Polished collision on medium conifers, to reduce chance of getting stuck on trees
  
• Stuck/Unstuck commands should be better at unstucking players stuck in trees or rocks
  
• Minor Tweaks to Forgotten Forests map

FIXED

• Fixed rare bug sometimes causing player progress to be lost
  
• Fixed server crash due to players logging in and out repeatedly between auto-saves
  
• Fixed floating eggs from players who alt-f4 while on loading screen

Optional Server Client Hotfix

FIXED

• Invisible Thornback Crawler Mounds

Patch Requires Server/Client update

ADDED

• There are now more mushroom spawns in the conifer forest with the river
  
• There are now slightly more mushroom spawns in the redwoods
  
• Thornbacks now build mounds they call home, find the mounds to find food. Each mound is home to up to 4 Thornback Crawlers
  
• Added more Thornback Crawler locations

CHANGED

• Thornback Crawlers are now more vocal
  
• Mushrooms now provide food based on size of the consumer. The smaller you are, the more food you get per mushroom.
  
• Server desync detection is more lenient for players with high pings
  
• Server desync message now says "Desynchronization" instead of "Unusual Activity"

FIXED

• Fixed hole in big log at lone tree
  
• Fixed broken AI spawner in NE Redwoods
  
• Fixed floating trees along river bank
  
• Fixed missing collision on some trees
  
• Fixed Possible Server Crash

Please note: Those who own or rent private DoD servers will want to do a clean install of Day of Dragons Beta, as the Beta and old Alpha are different games and are not compatible. Visit our Discord for the latest server configuration.





Creatures

• Shadow Scale (Starter Dragon)
  -Special Ability Cloak (Q)
  
• Acid Spitter (DLC)
  -Special Ability Decaying Bite (Q)
  
• Thornbacked Crawler (AI)
  -Poisonous effect when consumed

General mechanics

• Physics-based Flight v1.0
  -Crash and Fall Damage
  -Hatchlings can now glide if dropped from high heights
  
• Swimming v1.0
  -Swim Bladder buoyancy control (Acid Spitter only)
  
• Night Vision v1.0
  -Unique Night Vision for Shadow Scale
  -Unique Night Vision for Acid Spitter
  
• Mutations and Genetics
  
• Hatchling Carry and Struggle v1.0
  
• Nesting v1.0
  -Skin Crafting v1.0
  -Prompt for when ground is not flat enough for nest placement
  -Nest Waypoint
  -Ability to build a nest
  -Nests can now be destroyed with pierce/blunt damage if unprotected. Nests are unprotected if the sire or dam are more than 50 meters away. Only the sire or dam must be within 50 meters to protect the nest, not both
  -Courtship Emote (5)
  -Nest Panel v1.0
  -Custom Nest Models for Acid Spitter and Shadow Scale
  
• Campus and Waypoint Marker
  
• Dynamic Growth system including Hatchling, Juvenile, Adult, and Alpha growth stages
  
• Death Camera
  -Death SFX
  
• Ragdoll Corpse physics and carrying
  -Corpses now spawn a blood pool decal where they died
  
• 1st Person Camera
  
• Persistent Clans
  
• Alpha Growth system and unlocking mechanic
  
• Custom AI system
  
• Added Animation IK/FK
  
• Melanistic skin is unlockable for non-Kickstarters. Good luck!

UI and HUD

• Character Panel (I)
  -Growth Bar at bottom of screen
  -New Stat system
  
• Social Panel (O)
  -New Group/Clan invite system through Social Panel
  -Ability to go Offline to avoid appearing on Social Panel player list
  
• Admin Panel
  -Admin panel auto-refreshes every 5 seconds
  -Admins can now mute/unmute players to restrict their ability to use global chat
  -Admins can now replenish players hunger/thirst/sickness
  -Admins can now grow players to juvenile or adult
  -Admins can now reset AI and clear corpses
  -Admins can now slay, port to, or summon players
  -Opening Admin Panel puts Admin in "Super" mode
  
• Character Select Menu with full DLC support
  -Players can have 1 character per species per server
  -Skin selection
  -Can now select Kickstarter and Patreon Skins
  -Can now select Shimmer skin effect for exclusive skins (KS2019 skins)
  
• New Loading Screens and Icon
  
• New / commands including including /help to list all commands
  
• Status Effect icons for Hunger, Thirst, Poison, Bleed, Super, and Decay
  
• New HUD Graphic

Survival & Combat Systems

• Stamina exhaustion mechanic (when stamina is fully drained, it takes a while before starting to regenerate)
  
• Bile exhaustion mechanic (when bile is fully drained, it takes a while before starting to regenerate)
  
• Resting Mechanics (sit/lay/sleep)
  
• Health now receives a regen boost when really low
  
• Sickness Mechanic
  
• Added ability to drink from any water source (hatchlings can drink from puddles)
  
• Hints for interactions (talk, eat, drink)
  
• Many new damage types (Piercing, Blunt, Plasma, Acid, Fire)
  
• Decay/bleed stacking, both stack up to 3 times
  
• Added armor and bile regeneration
  
• Added targeting camera (aiming ranged attacks)
  
• Wound, Bleed, and Decay VFXs

Setting and Server Configs

• New Game options
  
• New Video options
  
• New Audio options
  
• New Input options
  
• Simple Profanity Filter
  
• Full Partial Gamepad Controller support + keybinds
  
• Many new server config options
  
• Admin command and player kill logging
  
• Streamer mode to hide location and mute in-game music
  
• Spectator mode

Environment

• Forgotten Forest Biome v1.0
  -Interactive foliage dependent on creature size
  -Nharogk, Jrakhon's moon
  -Map theme music now plays when spawning in map for the first time
  -Footstep SFX for various surfaces
  -Edible Fauna

• Removed playerholder dragons, AI, and maps
  
• Keybinds changed
  
• Improved Safelogging system (to safe log, you must sleep for 60s, exiting sleep should cancel timer, check timer on your ESC menu)
  
• Redesigned Chat system (All, Global, Local, Group, Clan)
  
• Removed many slash commands as new Character panel makes them obsolete
  
• Optimized chat data to decrease packet size
  
• Chats now use a queue system to prevent chat lag
  
• Redesigned starvation and dehydration mechanics
  
• Revamped Bite Combat
  
• Redesigned Projectile/Bile Combat
  
• Steam Master Server List should now show player counts
  
• Game now runs a hardware benchmark on first startup and adjusts video settings accordingly (please delete your Save/Settings/Graphics.sav file)
  -Can now run benchmark from Video panel
  -Benchmarks no longer run at startup
  
• Game now load Medium settings as default
  
• Shadows can no longer be disabled to prevent gaining an advantage over other players
  
• Low foliage setting no longer disables foliage, just reduces it further
  
• Unlimited frame cap removed (capped at 60 FPS) and replaced with 4 settings, Auto, 30FPS, 45FPS, 60FPS.
  
• Save setting save names changed to remove any issues when updated to version 1.0 from version 0.8
  
• Refactored & optimized server/network code
  
• Refactored game code
  
• Server tick rate & replication frequency increased to attempt to reduce movement jitters
  
• Client>Server network optimizations & smoothing improvement
  
• Network optimizations
  
• Netcode optimizations
  
• Updated FMOD to version 2.01.09 increasing SFX performance
  
• All creatures have been balanced with the new systems
  
• Group size is limited to 10 players

ADDED

• Players on PvE servers can now type /pvp to flag themselves for combat allowing dueling or death. Flagged players have red glowing eyes. Flagging can only be toggled if safelog is available. To safelog, go to sleep (Hold Shift+R). To unflag, type /pvp again when safelog is available.
  
• Added new exotic skin crafting recipes for both Shadow Scale and Acid Spitter
  
• Added missing controller icons to keybinds menu
  
• Added more landmarks and water locations to the map
  
• Added more AI spawn locations
  
• Added more mushroom spawn locations
  
• Added more player spawns

CHANGED

• Shadow Scale Dragon is now available to all players as a starter character
  
• Deprecated Day of Dragons Alpha (goodbye cruel world) Players switching versions must delete their save game folder and app data saves folder (2 directories).
  
• Day of Dragons now supports Vulkan. To switch RHI, type -dx12 or -vulkan in the Steam launch parameter. -dx12 is recommended for Windows 10 users having issues running the game.
  
• Updated various SFX
  
• Nights are now darker
  
• Admin /unstuck ability now fixes even more common player bugs
  
• Hatchling struggle ability is now 100% guaranteed to escape on PvE servers with an increased chance to escape on PvP servers
  
• Tweaked mushroom spawning & spawn rates
  
• Rebalanced ASD and SSD armor and damage stats
  
• All chat channel now shows different colors for different channel chats to help distinguish the channels better
  
• Accepting a nest invite of the same species now reduces your corpses food value to 1 to prevent corpse feeding from egg invites
  
• Reduced Stamina drain on Acid Spitter
  
• Increased Acid Spitter & Shadow Scale swim speeds
  
• Improved flight takeoff syncing

FIXED

• Improved player collision detection at high speeds to prevent flying through terrain
  
• Fixed missing physics on some water ponds on Forgotten Forest
  
• Fixed up some AI spawners using old method that caused a server infinite loop lockup
  
• Trees no longer look extra sharp
  
• Players should now correctly spawn randomly around the map (fixed bug causing players to spawn in only a few spawn points)
  
• Fixed multiple floating grass areas on Forgotten Forest
  
• Fixed bug where wounds would appear on a dragon after server restart even if they were not damaged
  
• Fixed bug where players who pick up a bug as it is despawning can no longer pick up bugs anymore or fly.
  
• Fixed an issue with admin corpse tags showing for corpses that have already despawned
  
• Fixed several audio bugs

Day of Dragons Genesis Open Beta goes live for everyone on July 21st with our first starter dragon, the Shadow Scale. On July 21st the beta client and server will be pushed to Steam default branch and the early Alpha build will be deprecated. Players who update to beta will need to delete their save folders. Detailed instructions are available in both our Steam pinned messages and on our Discord. Server owners will want to visit our Discord to download our new server config guide. Kickstarters with the Beta Access perk and owners of the Acid Spitter DLC can try out the preview Beta 1 week early by switching Day of Dragons to the beta branch.

The Open Beta is just the beginning for Day of Dragons, we still have more content to put in before the game can come out of Early Access (to see the content we are working on check out our roadmap on Trello). We still have more dragons to make, more animations to make, more sounds to make, more biomes to make, we have so much more work to do, but Open Beta is the true beginning of our Early Access game, it's the first taste of the Kickstarter-funded Day of Dragons game. This is what we have been working on for almost 2 years and we cannot wait for you to play it as it is only the beginning of what is to come for Day of Dragons.

We will fly with you all in the Forgotten Forests on July 21st!

Greeting Dragons,

As you know, we do not have a dev blog this month as we are all hands on deck working hard on the Open Beta release coming next month in July (confirmed). With the release of the Beta, it brings with it a new era for Day of Dragons, a completely new and different game than the Alpha, built on a different version of UE4, with many new features, optimizations, and feel. That said, when the Beta releases next month, the old Alpha will be deprecated and no longer available or playable. In it's place will be the new Beta version of Day of Dragons which we have spent the past 20 months since our very successful Kickstarter campaign building from the ground up. It's the reason the Alpha has not been updated in over a year, because we deprecated it, and replaced it with the Beta. I say that because there is a lot of confusion concerning the Alpha. The Alpha was a passion project, the work of one person trying to do it all himself with absolutely no funding, then pitched his idea on Kickstarter hoping to raise $12k to hire someone to make 3 simple models with the hope that after enough time, the game would self-fund itself to where more custom content could be made and added. But Kickstarter didn't raise $12k, it raised over $500k, which enabled us to make a much higher quality and custom game from the ground up than the Alpha was ever planned to be. The funding enabled us to make Day of Dragons the way it was dreamed to be! (Thank you Kickstarters!) Being that we had the funding, there was no reason to spend any more precious time on updating the Alpha, and so we put all of our time into building the Beta, which is so much better than the Alpha in every way. Once you play the Beta, you would never want to touch the Alpha again, the difference is like night and day.



The Day of Dragons Beta is the accumulation of 20 months of hard (funded) work by our small team of developers to bring to you all the promise we made during our Kickstarter campaign, a dragon survival game like no other. We have used the funding to design and create our own models, sounds, animations, mechanics, effects, music, UI, and code - just as we said we would - and have proven the naysayers on YouTube all wrong. We didn't do what they accused us of doing, we didn't do what they said we'd do, we did exactly what we promised we'd do, we made a dragon survival game from the ground up using the funding our backers supported us with - and we're just getting started! It's only been 20 months and we have made tremendous progress! Most games take over 5 years and millions of dollars to finish. We're by no means finished yet, we have A LOT MORE planned for Day of Dragons, just look at our new Roadmap on Trello. But we have come along ways from a Kickstarter demo to a fully functioning game in just 20 months, and I want to thank our dev team for working so hard these past 20 months to get us to the Beta stage.



Day of Dragons has the goal to bring you something truly special, a game where you literally feel like you are the dragon. A game where you can roleplay, a game where you can PvE or PvP, a game with quests, AI boss fights, alpha class progression, secret unlockables, exploration, clans, and the most amazing physics-based flight system you will have ever have experienced in any survival game! The flight is beawesome! We offer server communities the tools to host their own dedicated servers, with custom configuration options to help server admins create the environment they want with the rules they want for their world - and our servers are very stable, highly optimized with very little lag able to host up to 100 players with no issues. We also provide server owners an intuitive admin panel for server admins which makes managing your server communities very easy - and all of that will be available to you next month with the release of the Open Beta as you will be able to host your own Day of Dragons Beta servers. If you want to rent a server, we highly recommend Nodecraft and have been working closely with their team to ensure Day of Dragons server hosting is fully supported.

We have so much planned for Day of Dragons, our devs love our game and we love our community. I hope you are all as excited as we are for the Day of Dragons Open Beta scheduled for release in July (Kickstarters with Beta Access perk will get it a week early). We are passionate about our game, we have goals, we have plans, and we have the vision. Day of Dragons is the Dragon survival game you have all been waiting for - and we are going to prove it to you starting with the Open Beta as we introduce to you all our first flyable dragon (and first starter dragon) the Shadow Scale available to everyone with the Open Beta release in July!

We hope to fly with you all soon!

- Jonathan Slabaugh, Lead Developer for Day of Dragons

Day of Dragon's will be 20% off from June 24th to July 8th for Steam's Summer Sale! With Open Beta coming in the next few weeks, this is the perfect time to grab your copy of Day of Dragons. See you in the skies!





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

Hello, everyone!



We know our Roadmap image has been out of date for some time and we have been working hard to create an updated and easier to use roadmap.


Well, we'd like to announce that our Trello Roadmap is now live! This new roadmap shows what's in the works all the way up to Update 1.7 and shows exactly what we are working on at any given time.


The Roadmap will be updated as development continues. Please note that things may be changed or moved around.


Thank you again for all of your support!

Day of Dragon's Development Team