Dino Run Dev - February / March 2022 Update (Patreon)

Hello all, here is what we've been up to the last few months:

LEVEL EDITOR: This is pretty much "phase 1 complete", meaning it can:

- Provide us with a robust set of controls to describe almost any potential level in the game, including water, caves, elevation, required special areas, physics events, etc.

- Piece together placeholder art (created by the dev, Achilles) for each potential terrain chunk that might appear in a level, and also generate dynamic (code-created) terrain art for hills and caves that connect the hand-drawn ones.  To be clear, the art you see in the level editor does not reflect the art that will be in the playable game.

- Allow us to run a test raptor through each randomly generated level with parallax scrolling to enhance the experience.  Once again, the physics in this simulator do not represent the physics that will be in the playable game - this is just a "preview" of what the level might feel like.

- Export the level data to be reconstructed in Unity, where the final game is compiled.

See a video here: https://youtu.be/RRJrh-A5lC0 

PHYSICS SANDBOX: We've been working on making the in-game raptor run through something that resembles what actual levels will feel like.  Getting the controls working for the dino in a modern physics engine has been much more challenging than we thought, but we are close to getting the feels right:

Raptors were actually pretty small, but that enormous fern might have to be downsized...

Taking a ride on a long-neck...

PARALLAX SCROLLING: There are multiple ways to tackle this in Unity, and all of them have their pros and cons - currently working out the best way to approach this as well, considering that the levels can travel to extreme altitudes:

One advantage of working with a 3D engine now is the camera zoom we can achieve during gameplay - going in close when the action is slow, and zooming out when the player speed warrants seeing more of what's ahead of you.  See a video of the basic zooming here: https://youtu.be/F8ZyZPiQuLk

As stated in the last update, we are currently bringing all of these different elements (physics, rendering, parallax, level editor) into a single cohesive experience that should finally represent what the game will feel like.

I realize this has taken way longer than any of us had hoped.  Our engine of choice (Unity ECS) has proved to be way more of a technical uphill battle than we anticipated, but we still feel it's the best choice for performance and scalability.  We're always getting a little bit closer :)

BONUS! DINO JUMP: In other Pixeljam news, we've been hired recently to make a small, free browser game that resembles the Google Chrome dino game, which of course resembles the original Dino Run. It should be playable in a few months:

Thanks for the continued support,

-Miles @ Pixeljam