Games (PC) Jurassic Extinction (Released)

Remember Turok: Evolution? (GameCube), this is what we had "back in the day". So much has changed. lol. The Turok series, is really what inspired JE...with a different, scientific, fact-based, realism. Check out this SS, related, but shows the evolution of what we have now...

 

Hey guys, well after finishing the end scene, one thing left to do is the Community Credits...you guys! So ill be going through the JE thread, and collect names of those who have shown such great support for myself and Jurassic Extinction (Antypodish tops that list, lol). Thanks guys, really, love you all

To be honest, i havent touched the HDRP version in quite a while, as the BuiltIn version is priority. Not sure if i can finish it soon enough (as it really needs SECTR to be performant), to release it with the BuiltIn. How can i release a 50fps version?, i wont. So for now its just on hold, but not going anywhere. Ill revisit it after release.

On the other hand, the feedback from the demo release has been great, and i was stopped by at least 10 people alone in my home town area, telling me how good it was, and the strategic ways they found to kill the dinos, and wanting to know when release is, lol. So far JE runs on ALOT of systems, and so far no probs at all with performance. Im so glad for that, performance/optimization is always a worry of mine as a dev, lol.

 

Thank you guys, as i went through every post here, a trip down memory lane...and it brings back alot of memories, and people i havent talked to in a long time. So heres my list, i got everyone, lol:

• Antypodish
  
• Deckard_89
  
• Stephen_O
  
• kdgalla
  
• jamespaterson
  
• khos
  
• MeadowGames
  
• skinwalker
  
• ARLTB
  
• unit_dev123
  
• MD_Reptile
  
• DimitriX89
  
• CityGen3D
  
• Darrkbeast
  
• omzGaming
  
• iamthwee
  
• digiross
  
• owlhowell
  
• Skyfall106
  
• Snailpace
  
• macish

Now thats a list, lol...

 

The level 6 demo is compiled and tested. But, please remember. This is a rainy, dusk/night (other levels have this) type setting. Now, some of the dinos sleep at night time, so keep that in mind (more than 1 level has sleeping dinos).

The atmosphere changes with levels. Theres: day time, night, sunny day on the beach, rainy darker, swampy, etc. Will update as changes are made

 

Heres a SS of level 6, the pachys almost look like a rock, when sleeping:

 

Heya guys, the 2nd demo is compiled/built and will be released this coming monday-tuesday, as ive been called back into action for the weekend, on a server emulator (modeling, textures, and scripting). Ill pop in when i can. I also finished work on the main menu, and heres a short clip of the ending credits:

 

Thanks for the credit very cool! Do you plan to release the demo e.g. on itch or similar?

 

Thnx, yes, in the little spare time ill have this weekend, im looking at a few different places, just a matter of time to get things set up. Good to see you bro, hope things are going good for you.

Also, the video is super smooth scrolling in-game, as my video recording prog just doesnt like Unity, lol.

 

Thanks so much for adding me on
Keep up good work.
I shall keep feeding you up with relavant feedbacks, with future releases, when I got time to spear.

And sorry with my lower presence recently, forum does not show me anymore this thread in alerts for some reason.

 

Your welcome bro, love the support Spare time? Whats that?, lol (FT job, personal classes 4 x a week, teach 2 classes a week, JE, and 1 other project, occasional work on a MMO server emulator, and try to help on the forum). The forum has been acting up on me too, im sure they will sort it out.

I compiled/built the 2nd demo tonight, and play tested it a few times, looks good, and .7zip file is only 260mb. Most all levels are around 250mb, and i have 9 levels, (dont make me do the math for you, lol). Sorry im late, work on the MMO went longer than i thought. Will try to upload tonight, but im burnt out, Need sleep, lol

 

As promised, heres the demo for level 6, the night time level. Now you get to encounter the Giant Snake! Enjoy, and please post any feedback:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jzyvAInWDln8xgsMDK9NAuC0tqmwkcy2/view?usp=sharing

 

Hi, just tried to download the demo but I think you have to grant access. I have sent a request. Cheers!

 

Sorry, just got home from work, should be all set now...

 

hey! demo download now working great. I gave it a play through. My feedback:

Runs really well on my PC (i7 + 1070mobile), no performance issues at all!
Environment looks really great - congrats!
Enemies don't seem to respawn if the player dies and restarts - maybe this is by design?
If possible maybe a little more hit reaction on the enemies would be good. They spurt blood but dont seem to flinch?
Ammo pick up crates a little tricky to see and didnt seem to respawn - didn't seem to be enough ammo in the level to kill the snake?

All in all looking really nice - congrats!

 

I tried the new demo and killed the snake, good job man.

One thing bothered me though and that was the collision in the caves. There are some paths that look like you could use them to sneak past, but actually there is a collider in the way forcing you to walk through the main area.

Also the giant snake doesn't make a noise when he dies (or at least I didn't hear it).

 

Thanks guys appreciate the comments. @jamespaterson Yes, once you kill the dinos, theyre dead, like in real life. Also you should have enough ammo to kill the snake, unless your missing your shots alot, but ill add in an extra before release.

@Deckard_89 Ill locate the colliders in the cave and adjust them. Yes, i couldnt find a decent audio clip of snake death, most i found sounded like trash, but ill take care of that for sure.

 

From reports, looks like everyone enjoyed the latest demo. Ill be finishing small details and will be compiling/making a build of the complete game by this weekend. Initial release will be Steam, but need to get some promotion done, something im not too good at, but must do, lol.

 

I must comment on this... Alot of the reports were the same question, "how did you get such performance, with 4k textures, and the dense foliage?". Easy...Optimization with ALL assets. I have spent countless hours pre-optimizing assets. So once placed...done.

Your mesh/texture import settings are very important. My personal guideline:

Mesh Import:
Mesh Compression: use agressive compression
Disable: read/write enabled
Rig: if not using animation (static), disable Rig
Blendshapes: disable if not using
Normals And Tangents: if material is not using, disable

Texture Import:
Gen Mipmaps: true
Max Size: 1024
Compression: low quality (Lower Disc Size)
Max Size: minimum
Atlas textures:
Remove Alpha Channel
Disable: Read/Write Enabled
16bit Over 32bit color
Disable Mipmaps for UI
Disable Streaming Mipmaps On: decal projector textures, refection probes textures, terrain textures

As the old adage goes with Unity... its more about "what you can do without", than "what you can do with"...

 

Sorry for the late update, still here, work has been taking up most of my time right now (spring/summer season is our busiest). The build is around 2.5 GB, as im looking into ways of decreasing the size as much as possible, and a few last minute changes..

I have a few select people that have the game already, reports are mostly "good performance" and "great GFX". Ill be testing builds for the next few nights, and will update when i can.

 

Hi! Re: build size have you tried texture crunch compression? This really helped get my build size down and personally i couldn't see much difference to the end graphics in-game..

 

Heya guys, well the crunch didnt work so well. The size came down, but i can see the effect in game, and i know why. JE is built for HD type gfx, as well as being fully 4k. The crunch compression was the only thing changed, and JE didnt like it, lol.

No loss, over 2 gb aint too bad for a 9 level game like this. I played the complete game a few times last night, and couldnt stop, lol. Ive updated some of the narration, and adjusted some animation, here and there. More updates this weekend.

 

Sorry for such a late update, but im having major internet probs. Im currently looking for a new provider, not easy, as the 3 i contacted say due to the pandemic, there's a 3-6 week wait, wth?. So im stuck with my cell phone hotspot, till i get a new provider. I hate dealing with these people, lol.

On the good side, the build works great, no errors, runs just like the demos. I decided to continue where i left off with HDRP version. When i booted it up, i was like damn! this looks insane!. Ill be working on it till i get a new internet provider, then ill upload and release JE, and hopefully will have the HDRP version finished by then, as its real close to done.

So hold on, its coming, im not dead of have COVID, lol. Will keep you up to date...

 

Tonight was my last private class in 3d game development. Im so lucky to have such a mentor. I completed and passed all lessons over 12 months with a 98 percent rating.

Im proud of this, ive worked my ass off to not only teach others what ive learned, but to also further myself... In this day and age, its all about information. Google doesnt have all the answers. You get out of it, what you put into it...

I cant post the whole conversation (we talked for 2 hours), but my reward... i was able to try out one of the in-house engines (remote login) the team uses. OMG!, ummmm i cant look at Unity the way i used to, lol. They use Unity in at least one of their titles, and use a few "well known" Unity assets, but heavily modified. So i was at home with the set up.

Exciting, and sad at the same time. Time to pull up my pants, wipe my forehead, and forge on...

 

Ok guys, all is in order. New internet and ive started the Steam publishing process. Ill be making a final compile saturday night. Pretty exciting to be gathering promo videos, screenshots, and doing all the desriptions and write ups. $100 aint bad to publish and release to the public.

Ill also post an update soon, on the HDRP version, which ive been working on for the last 5 nights. The only prob ive run into is with shaders for trees and plants, which i have alot for HDRP, but it seems theres always some problem with them, that i have to correct or re-write. Ill be switching them over to the CTI HDRP shaders tonight.

Ill post a video of it soon, and once ready enough, ill have a demo ready...

 

Heya guys, everything with Steam is all set for the release of JE, just waiting on confirmation, then set up the "Coming Soon" page (im sure alot of you know about the Steam process, alot of waiting, lol).

While setting up JE for release, ive made the decision to stop working on the HDRP version. It wont be finished before the deadline, and its not looking good enough for a release (bad under-water effects, shader probs, etc.).
Alot have asked whats next, after JE. As you know i cant sit idle, and started developing a very different and interesting project, called Eldara (more on that later).

With JE about to be released, i must forge on. Also, i have converted Invector 3rd person, to first person. Looks great, need to test further...

 

Wanted to show how the Steam Store is looking:

 

Heya guys! The "Coming Soon" page is done for JE on Steam (few image adjustments), and all is in order. Ill be taking the next 2 weeks off to do something i havent done in over 3 years... actually play a game, lol.

Even though i come from a MMO server background, my all time fav game is Titan Quest. Ya know playing a game now, as a game dev, makes you look at any game a total different way. You see the flaws and bugs, and understand/know where they come from, and the causes. We evaluate from a technical perspective.

I cant look at any game, video, or SS the same way anymore. But im having a hell of alot of fun! Getting back to my roots...

 

Heya guys!. The "coming soon" page for JE has been up for a few days (you can find it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1636860/Jurassic_Extinction) and still working on the release build. During this, ive been taking time off from game dev to play a few games, and refresh my creativity.

No matter what i want to do next, it really should be done with at least a small team. Regardless if its a 3D RPG, Top Down RPG, FPS, or MMO. With my vision, its too much for just 1 person.

Us indie devs always try to find shortcuts, and workarounds, to better our games to look even half as good as the AAA studios out there with teams of people. TBH, to create a game remotely like that, you need a team.

So either i set up a team, or lower my vision to something i can do alone. Not sure yet, but have a few great ideas in testing...

 

Hey guys! Wanted to update with some exciting news. 1st, JE will be released on 7/25. 2nd ive been prototyping out the next game. Its a survival on a large open scale. But what excites me most is the 2 main characters. You and your companion dog, your best friend...

I have a german shepherd model set up with EmeraldAI, and i have to say, its the coolest thing ever to have a companion that fights by your side, and shares in your adventure. I cant stop playing/testing it, lol. The movement/animation came out awesome. Look at the way he turns, the speed, the stopping distance, he even "nudges" you, if you wait till he stops, then move a little closer to him.

I find myself talking to him, interacting with him, and for a game... thats pretty big. Its kinda addicting, the feeling of not being alone... Ive got him looking great, and will be better in 4k (later on). Ive had to go with Root Motion on this model, its a better fit, as it sets the animation speed by the animation clip's speed.
WIP video, this is only to show dogs movement/animation:

 

Sometimes i feel like a loner here at Unity. As i happen to be one of the very few devs that use Unity in a PC/Console 3D/High end gfx, type way. Most games are mobile/2D, but to be honest... Unity is probably the best at mobile/2d engine, compared to the rest.

I think ive proved with Jurassic Extinction, that Unity is very capable with 4K, high end gfx, and 3D realistic environments, with thousands of objects, and still performant. The HDRP version was still performant, and with killler gfx. Thank you Unity.

I dont know how JE will do on Steam, but like other devs, i hope for the best, so far looking really good. So i have a real good question for all of you... Alot want me to continue my "tropical landscape/dino/JE" type game development, and just improve on it. Some say "use UE, it would be killer good", and another i hear alot is "do something totally different, your good at it, shake it up". Any input would be great, lol.

1st of all, yes it would look killer great in UE, and i use the engine alot, like the other 3 engines i use. But...they dont have the "familiar" feel. Maybe im poisoned by Unity, but i can complete tasks in Unity, faster than in other engines (UE, flax, and unigine).

Maybe i just feel at "home" with Unity, due to it being my choice engine for this released title. And i dont regret one second of it...

 

Talking with some experience of steam stuff.... you need to develop a thick skin on that platform, critique can be harsh, stay cool, learn from any feedback and keep going, if you like making games stick with it and publish more
Good luck with you game! Is it the first one you release?

 

Not anymore , congrats on your project.. Looks great.

 

Thanks, to me its kinda sad, ive loved the dev process of JE so much, and kinda miss the urgancy, and exitement of the workflow. Its like saying good by to your child, lol.

I have many ideas that are prototyped out (5 projects), so something will strike my fancy, lol. But the urge to do something similar/better, is very strong. We will see...

 

Sorry guys but dealing with Unity and Steam (wrapper-wise), has been a major PITA, will take some time to sort out... The Steam/Unity integration is the worst system ive ever seen...

 

I don't think it should be that hard to do, are you struggling with something specific?

 

FYI I use this:
https://github.com/Facepunch/Facepunch.Steamworks

 

Hey guys! Well ive got the build uploaded to Steam (with Facepunch), and i had to stop. Im
going to release JE for free, heres why:

• Im not in this for the money (i do good in life). So many devs are quick to release/ship a
  title, fast, and are in it for the money. Thats not me.
• Im in this to dev and showcase my work, skills, and knowlege. I feel JE should be free. Free
  to download, play, hell do anything you want to it, lol. But most of all, free to experience.

This is my payback, and contribution to the gaming world, that has brought me so much (and you
guys, that have supported the project). But it doesnt end here. The next game is in the works.
So here it is, Jurassic Extinction, complete build, 4k and all. Enjoy a result of the life
long passion i have for dinosaurs...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cNW_8eBPP8_rJYEqzOrATZ08dAAjQj0a/view?usp=sharing

Its a 809MB .zip/google drive, download. I think you can handle that, lol. My website
Enigmatic Games has temporarily been taken down, as i am moving to a better server host. But
any questions or comments are always welcome here. Oh, and the demo download links have been
removed, as you now have the full version...

Warthos... (your welcome my brothers and sisters)

 

Wow, thanks. I look forward to trying it out!

 

Jurassic Extinction, between Unity forum thread, FaceBook, family, friends, other sites, and people i know, has generated 500+ downloads in 24hrs, nice!.

Hope everyone is enjoying it!. I have to admit, sometimes i run JE, and just sit in 1 spot and just watch the dinos, the way they move, what theyre doing, the wind in the foliage, and just get lost, and just enjoy the environment. On bad days, i come home and kill everything, lol.

As far as the ending... some of you didnt see that coming, lol. But please note the title, Jurassic Extinction. Did you think they would all have a beer and sing kumbaya?, lol. Dinosaurs were selected to be erased from the evolutionary record.

Please enjoy the experience, its been a fun one from a dev perspective. JE has come a long way, and the dev process has been a learning one, as well as a way to showcase the vision. This version has re-spawning of weapons and ammo, which should help if you die.

Warthos... love you all... and thank you.

 

Little side notes:

• Root motion would have been a better choice for AI, for the dino's, due to the system (EmeraldAI) that im using. There's two types of animation, treadmill and root motion. Treadmill, is the animation stays at the origin/same place, and we use code to move that asset around by script. Root motion means the motion is built into the animation clip itself (yes it matters).
• UI, post processing effects need to be shut off, during credits, or other UI elements.
• Vegitation should have been "touch/dynamic" interaction.
• Audio, good but should have more of a spatial effect.

Though JE's latest build is great, if had i addressed these few issues, i probably would be happier, lol. Lessons learned...

 

How do you start the game please? It never progresses past the loading screen for me.

 

When the loading screen appears it says down bottom "press spacebar"

 

Yeah my anti-virus software broke something I think. I re-downloaded and now it works.
Good job man, game plays very smooth. I have payed for games that perform much worse than this.

 

You know me Deckard_89, one thing that was at the top of my list for JE was optimization. Ive had a few reports that even with some low-end cards, JE performed well. As you have stated before, most games with this dense amount of foliage, suffers badly performance-wise. So thanks, as optimization i found with Unity to be a challenging task...

 

Wanted to answer some questions and post a guide to JE:

• When you kill a dino, its dead, like in RL. Doesnt respawn unless you restart the game.
  
• Most all ammo and guns you find on item crates, re-spawn after a set time.
  
• All dinos have an aggro radius, so if you have say 3 dinos, use aggro to draw 1 out, and kill. Rinse and repeat to overcome numbers when needed.
  
• The key to the big dinos, is to "hit and run". You have seen this in posted videos, like the giant snake, and t-rex.
  
• No, JE wont run on a "on mother-board video support", as JE has 4K texture support.
  
• Instead of running in and shooting up the whole damn place, stop. Watch their movement patterns, and size them up, have a plan, before running in.
  
• My ProtoRaptors seem to be one of the most aggressive, due to their increased size (over velociraptor) and aggro radius.

JE is a FPS/Simulator. It has realistic/acurate size, speed, and visuals, as acurate as i could possibly do by scientific info. Example/Fact: velociraptors were only the size of a chicken, or small dog, lol. T-Rex wasnt the king, Spinosaurus was, the lizard king. When you see him, your only thought is... im going to die, lol. JE is born from my love of not only dinos, but archeology, zoology, and paleoarcheology. Enjoy, and please feel free to post any questions you may have, happy hunting!

 

Sup guys!, Hope everyone is enjoying the JE release. I have to say, ive had great feedback, out of the thousands of downloads, which has spread like wildfire. Ive recently had quite a few people say that because of JE, they now want to persue game development. Well thank you very much, as not only myself, but others in the Unity community, try to inspire others in that direction, if thats really what you want to do.

Ive been asked many times "whats next?", to be honest i dont know right now, as im prototyping out quite a few concepts, and wrestling with the idea of a JE like open world (possibly multi-player) type game. Right now im researching hosting for the website, and building a solid base.

Well i think its time to put JE to rest and move on, as sad as that might be. I love and miss the dev process of JE, was a great learning and workflow process with the Unity Engine, a big thanks to the Unity Team. It feels so good to give back to the community that has supported my and JE's efforts/vision, thanks guys, more than appreciated. IMHO, Unity is such an "underated" engine compared to the compitition, but guess that depends on your project/vision.

I have to close with this..."get back to work!", lol. My famous saying around here. You can do it... and dont let anyone tell you different!. Enjoy JE, beat the hell out of it, enjoy the environment, the effort, the work...the vision.

Warthos...

 

Hye.
Well done again.

But here is may probably last feedback on this project, as I have noticed many grat pictures sadly gone. Will you be able at least update first post, with link to promo vid, pics, steam and some comments, like a proper introduction to JE?

All best on your next project

 

Sadly, ive had probs with my server hosting, the price went from 19.99 to 39.99, and then to 60.99, a month (they dont know what the hell they are doing). The videos should be good, but pics will be absent, due to the hosting probs.

Im still working on the hosting prob, but either way JE persists, and is downloadable, and complete. Im very proud of what ive accomplished with Unity, Steam and wrappers, is another story. I finally ended up using Steamworks Foundation v2, which worked great, but just didnt feel money was a driving force for the release.

I feel a game devs 1st release on said engine should be a free one, to showcase/prove talent/skill, not a monetary one. But as you stated, it would be a proper "send off" to provide a "intro" to the project, and im working on that as we speak.

Warthos ...

 

No probs. Just paste vid or/and most up to date pics into first post. That should be good enough.
Maybe explain at the bottom of first post, why other pics are missing in rest of the thread. Shame, as these were good for archive purpose. Fo the future don't use any hosting for pictures. Just paste directly into forum post. This way will stay much longer.

 

Ok, ive updated the 1st post, and the website is all taken care of, ill be updating for a bit before i announce the new title