Become a fan on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MonacoIsMine

Really, I’m updating these pages constantly, you can talk with other people interested in the game, and talk with me directly while I’m working.  Check them out!

Congrats to all the other finalists and I’ll see you in March!

http://www.igf.com/02finalists.html

We’re still in development of course, but this is a shot of the dinosaur in our latest build of the game. Click on the thumbnail to see the full image. Let us know what you think!

And here are the links to our previous Dino-of-the-days:

• Ankylosaurus
• Alamosaurus
• Triceratops
• Stegosaurus
• Acrocanthosaurus
• Parasaurolophus
• Ornithomimus
• Sauroposeidon
• Utahraptor
• Quetzalcoatlus
• Deinonychus

Check out games like:

• Fish Tycoon – Breed new species of fish!
• Plan It Green - Strategy Game from National Geographic
  
• Totem Tribe – Casual RTS

The great thing about buying these games from us is that you will support our efforts to make more great Venture games in the future.

So if you like the Venture games (or the fact that we give a significant portion of our revenue to charity), please make your downloadable game purchases through us!

OK, enough with the sales pitch… start playing some great games!

We’re taking a different approach to development with Dinosauria than we did with our previous two games. In the past, we’ve gotten into publishing deals early on, which forced us to ship on tight schedules. This time around, we’re not signing with anyone until the game is largely complete. We don’t want to be beholden to any schedule that may cause us to ship the game before it’s the best darn animal game ever.

So, what have we been up to lately? The fun stuff: gameplay!

With our latest work, dinosaurs can now breed, have familial relationships, fight, defend their territory, and more. The environment and weather fluctuates, and you can spread plants on fertile ground. Our dinosaur and foliage artwork is nearly done.

What’s next? Animation, level design, and advanced dinosaur behaviors!

You might ask, with all this stuff in there, why is the progress bar only at 28%? Well, first of all, the last stuff, the polish, always takes the most time. And second of all, this game is MUCH bigger than our previous ventures. I can’t wait to share it with the world!

Yesterday we kicked things off with Deinonychus. Next up, Quetzalcoatlus:

(click to see a larger image)

Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying creature to ever live. It had a wingspan of over 30 feet. Recent research suggests that Quetzalcoatlus was not a fisher or wader, but in fact roamed the prairies like a giraffe, catching small prey in his beak.

(click to see a larger image)

Deinonychus, an 11 foot long, roughly 5 foot tall dinosaur, may have been able to run up the sides of trees using their powerful legs and claws, and possibly assisted by lift generated by feathered forearms.  They likely ate a whole range of prey: from insects and small reptiles to much larger prey.  They may have hunted in packs, having been found in close proximity to (and with teeth marks on) Tenontosaurus.

Feathers on deinonychus are not just a theory: quill knobs have been discovered on the closely related Velociraptor’s skeleton.

First, we conceptualize the shape and colors:

After iterating on the concept image, we model the high-poly version, which we will use to create a normal map:

Then we break that down to the low-poly version:

Then we paint the texture and apply the normal map. The Stegosaurus is ready for the game! (at 2177 tris):

This wasn’t just any old milestone, either.  This was our prototype milestone — The one in which we have all of the basic features of the game implemented in their most rudimentary form.  We then take this unpolished gem, shape it, adjust it, add to it, and polish it to make the full game.

Speaking of which, here’s the concept work for the Stegosaurus — our lone Jurassic dinosaur, and the one that you’ll start the game with. What do you think? Sound off in the comments.

Coincidence that the concept appears to be a cross between a zebra and a caribou, the first two animals in Venture Africa and Venture Arctic? You decide!

Venture Dinosauria is 8% done today.  This is due to the new addition to the team, Dylan Marquez.  Dylan has a graphic design degree from College of the Desert and a graduate degree in game design from the Art Institute in San Diego.  He’s been roaring through the modeling and texture work on ferns, tree ferns, and more!  We should have a pretty complete picture of our cretaceous ecosystems within weeks!