Dev Blog #34 - New special locations and Diplodocus!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
We are happy to announce that the next update will be released in Q2/2025! We’d like to thank all of you for your support on this journey <3 In this dev blog we will share news about new special locations you’ll be able to find on the new map. Read on to find out more and check out the development highlights video!
New map special locations
We have been creating special locations for the new map. Here are some new views of them:
New species: Diplodocus
Another big sauropod will join the species on the new island: Diplodocus. The model is currently in progress.
New Pteranodon textures
New textures for Pteranodon are being created.
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Dev Blog #33 – Sinornithosaurus climbing trees and environment improvements!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
We are working on Sinornithosaurus AI to make it climb trees and glide. Environment updates are in progress, and we update both the new and old maps. Thank you for your support!
Get a grasp on the coming improvements from this development highlights video!
Sinornithosaurus climbing trees & gliding
Sinornithosaurus behavior is being worked on. They are now able to climb trees and sit on branches high up. They can initiate a glide from the branches and either glide to another tree or land on the ground.
New map environment
We are continuing to work on the new biomes for the new map.
Tree reworks and improved LODs
We are improving our tree assets to look better. This includes improving how trees look from far away as we want a more consistent look to them.
Old map improvement
As we improve our environment creation capabilities, we will also improve the old official map. We’ve already reworked textures and improved a lot of different environment assets that are used on the map.
Performance optimizations
We are going through a big task where we optimize our environment assets. Our aim is to get the game to run better and to host a more complex environment with good performance.
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Dev Blog #32 – New map progress, Spinosaurus rework and new skin types!
Greeting dinosaur hunters!
The next big update is getting closer. Check out views from our new map and the reworked Spinosaurus! New skin types will also be coming!
Thank you all for your support! ːsteamhappyː
Check this development highlights video!
New map
The new map is shaping up. We are currently creating unique fauna for it and developing the map system to host more complex environment. A new set of story notes is being created to give background story for the island.
Dinosaur animation improvements
Dinosaurs movement is being improved to be more natural. Dinosaurs will have more dynamic movement.
Improved dinosaur AI
Improved herd behavior by having dinosaurs interact with each other.
Reworked model: Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus is getting a new model with new skin textures.
New dinosaur skin types
We are working on two new skin types: Erythristic and Xanthochromistic. These skins will come to all species. These skins most likely won’t make it to the next update but we will release them as soon as we have all species completed.
Erythristic
Erythristic skins will have abnormal redness and their spawn rate will be very rare.
Xanthochromistic
Xanthochromistic skins on the other hand have overproduction of yellow pigment and suppression of red. We are planning to make this skin type even rarer than the albino.
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Dev Blog #31 – New map, Dilophosaurus and more!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
Check out how development is progressing in this fresh dev blog! The next update is going to be a big one and will require more time. Meanwhile, you can share your feedback and ideas. Thank you all for your patience and support! ːsteamhappyː
Find the development highlights in this video!
New island
We are building unique special locations for the new island. Here are WIP glimpses of new locations.
Engine update & graphical improvements
We have updated the game engine version, making newer and more advanced techniques available to us like ray tracing. Newer engine also gives us better support for consoles, so we are more ready for porting the game. We are seeking to improve the graphical quality further and taking also performance into account.
Reworked model: Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus is getting a new model with new skin textures.
Improved dinosaur AI reactions and behaviors
We are improving how dinosaurs react to gunshots and when spotting the player so that the reactions feel more natural. We have created a new system for head movements so we can move the head more naturally and more precisely so dinosaurs can be more expressive when, for example, reacting to players sounds and movement.
New species: Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus will join the species on the new island. The model is being worked on.
Audio overhaul
We have been working with new sounds to the game. You can check a small glimpse of the new sounds in the video. The player movement sounds are now quieter, some dinosaur sounds have been improved and the ambience has a lot more variance and dynamic elements. The basic ambience is also a lot quieter so that you can pick better any dinosaur calls. Dinosaur footstep sounds are being refactored too.
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Dev Blog #30 – Fast travel call, Allosaurus, Sarcosuchus and other new species!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
We are working on fast travel call and numerous new species like Allosaurus and Quetzalcoatlus. Check out our dev highlights video to get a grasp on what’s coming!
Fast travel call
We are creating a way to call helicopter pick up to transfer player quickly to any special location. Our plan is that you wait a small while once the call is made and will need to be in a secure area (not chased by dinos). The pickup would be made with a new radiophone item.
New species: Allosaurus
Allosaurus, a large bipedal predator species, is being added to the game.
New species: Sarcosuchus
The crocodile-like Sarcosuchus is worked on. It’ll live both on land and water!
New species: Quetzalcoatlus
Large pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus is being developed.
New species: Therizinosaurus
Therizinosaurus is another addition, and the model is being built. It’s recognizable from its huge arms with the large claws.
About the new species
All the new species we’ve introduced are being worked on and will make their first appearance on the new official map. After that they will be available for custom maps too. Current list of new species that are worked on are:
Stegosaurus
Parasaurolophus
Sinornithosaurus
Quetzalcoatlus
Allosaurus
Sarcosuchus
Therizinosaurus
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
June Update is here!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
We start this summer with a new update! The update includes smoother player movement, more trophy details and multiple bug fixes among other highly requested improvements. Check out these notes to find all content.
Thank you to our great community for your support and feedback! Have a nice summer! :)
Smoother player movement
Player movement physics calculation got a big improvement and overall player movement is a lot smoother. It will fix any jerkiness caused by physics rate & frame rate being out of sync.
Trophy details improvement
The trophy screen displays more information of each shot: What weapon was used and how much of the total damage the shot caused.
Map editor improvements
Added custom height map support for mountain tool: To use it add your own height map to your map folder and name it “heightmap.png”. Make sure the name and file format are correct! After that open the map editor and go to the Mountains menu where you will now see your custom height map.
UI improvement to custom object configuration in map editor. Added ability to remove last collider
Faster Mountain generation in map editor with multi-threading
Terrain Smoothening pass is now faster with multi-threading
Placing mountain now sets terrain to not saved state
Null check added for LoadTexture
Other improvements
Improvements to player elbow animation
Scrollbar will always be in top position when entering a storage or loot box to avoid confusion as items always start from the top
The small stand in trophy lodge will now correctly snap to walls
Data optimizations for weekly challenges
AI navigation improvement for over ground areas like bridges
Bug fixes
Fix for dropped items sometimes duplicating after death
Fix for hand being visible while equipping camo net on higher FOVs
Fix for weapon magazine sometimes stuck in front of player
Fix for two arrows rendered when drawing bow before death
Fix for custom objects in workshop maps
Fixed player from getting totally stuck in vedged in steep incline
Fixed player movement. No longer get stuck on small objects.
Fix for gun disappearing after trophy shot
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing you thoughts.
Small May Update is published!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
A small update has arrived with these improvements and bug fixes included:
Corrected Compound bow sight alignment
Fixed Giganotosaurus head texture in wall stand
Fixed Pachycephalosaurus in wall stand
Added Thalassodromeus, Gallimimus and Iguanodon heads available to wall stands
Added missing Finnish translations
Fixed 50 cal from clipping with view when aiming with high FOV setting
Intro is no longer started again, if player plays intro and then tries to play gun range after it in same session.
Added LODs to Mosasaurus
Fix for special locations causing errors in map editor if removed.
Fix for equipment error in Intro
Fix for error when gun is hidden during recovering from gun shot
Fix for clear area error if not generated in same session
Fix Custom Map Loading CullingAreas when area index higher than area count
CreateDirectory error notification when invalid name or other issue when creating a directory
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing you thoughts.
Hotfix for Custom Maps Update
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
We’ve released a hotfix related to Custom Maps Update. It addresses multiple issues related to the update.
Minor improvements to mission UI
Fixed mission from being stuck when the location was already found.
No longer able to start “First steps” mission when in custom map.
Updated Finnish translations
Equipment inputs are prevented while player is being created to prevent equipment from going stuck while setting up initial weapon.
Updated contract menu dinosaur description UI and trophy lodge dinosaur description UI.
Loading screen now blocks inputs.
If an invalid map is selected user will get a notification.
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing you thoughts.
Custom Maps Update has been published!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
A fresh update is here! It includes custom maps with map editor, a composite bow, reworked dinosaur models among other improvements. Check out these patch notes to see all included content.
Watch the patch video here:
Custom maps & map editor
Players can create custom maps and publish them for others to play through Steam Workshop. These maps can be played both in solo or in multiplayer. Custom maps have been in our public beta for over a month now and we did get a lot of feedback, thank you for that! Here are some screenshots of maps created by users GodEater and HeartOfTheWild (Thank you for your effort! ːsteamhappyː) that are available to play through Steam Workshop:
To use the map editor have a look at these testing version instructions:
Please note that these instructions don’t contain all the updates we have done during the testing phase. We will be releasing an up-to-date version of the instructions later.
Here are some highlights what you can do with the editor:
Choose map size from Medium (2x2km) and Large (4x4km). And you can choose to create an island or inland map
Generate a base terrain according to set parameters to accelerate map creation
Create roads
Create areas and generate own textures and objects on them
Create special locations
Add custom objects
Generate gameplay elements
Hunting Bow
A new composite hunting bow is now available. Compared to the old tribal bow it’s more deadly and easier to use over longer distances due to less arrow drop. It does cost a bit more though. It’s also very silent to use so you won’t spook your prey. With it comes new ammo type called Carbon Arrows that you will find in the shop or loot boxes.
Reworked Compsognathus
The old Compsognathus model has been replaced with a totally new one with new textures and animations.
Reworked Pachycephalosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus got a rework too: New model, animations and textures have been released in this update.
Dinosaur AI improvements
All dinosaurs will now spend more time still either idling, eating, drinking or sleeping depending on the species.
Larger carnivores hunt less herbivores.
Dinosaur corpse markers
Two new dinosaur carcass markers have been added to both the environment and the map view. Once you’re near a dinosaur carcass a dino skull icon will appear on top of a carcass. This will help you identify any corpses in dense environments and is helpful especially with smaller dinos. The icons are displayed until the dinosaur has been claimed.
In the map view you will see a red dot for a new dinosaur carcass. You will only see these markers for dinosaurs where you are the killer as indicated in the trophy screen. If you hover the red dot icon you’ll see what species it is. The icon is shown until the dinosaur has been claimed.
Prioritized dinosaur interaction
Dinosaur carcasses take priority over footprints and blood marks when using interact. This will be helpful especially with compies.
First person secondary animations improvement
Walk, crouch and other secondary animations have been improved. The character movement on different terrain feels smoother now. The animations better match footsteps. Sidesteps happen at the same speed as forward steps. This improvement also fixed the issue with swaying hands while playing with slower FPS.
Trophy lodge updates
A new stand is available in trophy lodge: Small stand. You can use it to display Compsognathus.
Dinosaur descriptions improvement
All dinosaur description texts were improved by our community members BonzerK, God Eater, Megatron and Oblivion is at hand. Thank you for your help!
Reset key bindings in main menu
You can now reset your key bindings to default by holding C and R buttons in main menu. A message will pop up when the reset has been done. This will help in situations where some mistaken key bindings would prevent the player from doing anything in the game. You no longer must go to Windows registry to reset settings.
Other improvements
Heart and lung shots cause a lot longer bleeding. A heart shot will eventually be deadly for any dinosaur.
Improved upper body animations in third person characters
Improved performance of mangrove trees
Optimized weekly walk server data. Past challenges now ordered from latest to oldest
Weekly challenge list can be scrolled.
End time of past Weekly challenges is shown.
Weekly challenge reward can be obtained in Weekly Challenge menu too (no longer only in main menu).
Leaderboard entries are shown at top of scroll list even when low entry count.
.700 Double rifle iron sights were reworked.
.50 Cal rifle iron sights were improved.
Updated French and German translations (Thank you MagSouille and NQ!)
Bug fixes
Fixed rejoin functionality in multiplayer
Client players see correct clothing on other players
Fixed syncing of gloves for 3rd person characters
Fixed issue where other players in multiplayer could have multiple guns on hand at once
Fix for 50 cal reload animation where the right hand would bug out sometimes
Holding breath no longer triggers while gun is recovering from fire. (No more slow-motion effect when recovering)
Fix for holding breath causing weirdness in animation when stopping aiming or starting to reload.
Fixed Brachiosaurus stomp sounds happening while standing still idling.
Fixed translation errors with new translation validator.
Fixed animation while using callers or binoculars while running.
Fixed issue with camo net and hide functionality that caused player to be unable to change any equipment
Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing your thoughts. What would you like to see next?
Early Access Roadmap for Prehistoric Hunt!
Greetings dinosaur hunters!
We wanted to make a separate post about our longer-term goals regarding the game. The game has been in Early Access over three years now and we’ve learned a lot during this period. We are thankful for all the great people who have shared their feedback and ideas during the years and supported us 😊 Let’s keep on going!
We have created a good foundation for many features like the dinosaur AI over the years, but they still need some time and polish for them to be fully ready. New content will also be created as we want to add for example new dinosaur species and weapons.
Below you can see our roadmap. It is a rough presentation, and some items will change, be removed and new items will be added. Please have a look and tell us your feedback!
