Hello there and welcome to all readers. Thank you for returning to read our latest blog entry! As mentioned in our last entry, we do hope to keep this up monthly so please subscribe so you will be the first to read our entries!
Let’s start with Animal Rampant, shall we? Firstly, we have finished with creating room variations. What does this mean? Allow us to explain.
We started by creating 9 room layouts, from simple box-shapes to plus-shaped rooms. Once we had made these 9 room layouts in Blender using Sprytile, we had to create different variations to keep it fresh; changing the carpet colours, adding in a kitchen, changing the wallpaper, etc–– so we did just that. After completing this, we now have over 30 room layouts to work with, meaning that players won’t get tired of seeing the same patterns in each room; keeping it fresh.
During the room layout process, the team has been continually working hard on asset creation and programming. We make skins, accessories and add features often to make sure players have the most playtime. We run into issues sometimes but we make sure to correct them as soon as we can.
Since we have finished the room layouts, we decided to make animations. Initially, we were using Blender to animate the animals but we have decided to use the animator in Unity instead as it just works, especially since it is in the development software itself. Since we moved platforms, some animations had been scrapped in Blender as they will be recreated in Unity. There will be over 80 animations in Animal Rampant which includes objects breaking, animal movements, and hub items.
Mentioning the hub, we have yet to go into details of this major feature of the game. In Animal Rampant, after you pass the starting screen, players are greeted to the hub which has the three animals in a room. In this room, you can tap the animals to change their skins and add/remove accessories.
You can also change the wallpaper, flooring, add “hub items” like a jukebox and much more. We also intend to add features which allow the players to interact with the animals on the hub, which we think will be a great feature for kids. On the left side of the hub, you can visit the shop. Here, you can buy new skins, hub items and accessories–– all for free! Players will unlock the in-game currency by watching advertisements, completing objectives and achievements. There is also a feature on the right side of the hub. What might this be? Find out in the future, when we go fully in-depth with Animal Rampant! (or we release a development video which covers this aspect).
We have yet to make changes to the levels. We still are aiming for over 200 levels with possible free/paid updates in the future to expand on the count. The team really hopes that players can enjoy Animal Rampant at launch. The intended release date for the mobile game is by the end of 2021 so make sure to visit frequently to get updated.
Now we can discuss information related to Peblo’s Pixel Paradise. We would like to start by mentioning that this game was what formed North Dragon Games and was originally our main project. However; building a game of this size with our current experience is unwise, which is why we have put the project on hold until we have released smaller projects. We hope that by doing this, we can release applications that fans will enjoy whilst staying connected to the local community. Mentioning this, we do “maintain” Peblo’s Pixel Paradise in the background, making sure certain aspects of development stay up-to-date. The programmer will make sure to refine certain aspects of the code like the battle system. The composer also works on tracks and updates them. By doing this, we can keep the project fresh and ready to work on while focusing on our main projects for release. We have not yet discussed working full-time on the project again. If you are interested in Peblo’s Pixel Paradise, keep an eye on the page here and our YouTube Channel which shows development updates. You can also visit our Soundcloud to listen to the latest tracks from our games!
Before we wrap up this blog, allow us to discuss some other information. We plan to create “Vlogcasts” in the future, which will allow the audience to peek into our days as we go out and work together, coming up with ideas as we go outside for walks in the beautiful Welsh countryside. At the end of the vlogging segment, it will switch to a podcast format, as we discuss development updates and such in a casual yet professional manner. We hope this format along with our blogs will keep us connected with the community and keep you as up-to-date as we can.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading this month’s blog entry. Next month, we will hopefully discuss more in-person events and more development updates. Thank you very much for reading, see you next month!
North Dragon Games 