Don't Feed The Animals - A Jurassic Park Inspired Survival Game

[V_Rex]

Hey guys!

For the last couple of weeks we - as a team of three - have been working on a new project of ours.
We proudly present:



Don't Feed The Animals is a survival game inspired by Jurassic Park, while taking heavy influence from The Long Dark.

Unlike many other survival games - especially those with dinosaurs - Don't Feed The Animals puts the player into a position where they are weak. You live in between prehistoric predators and other behemoths; you will be powerless.

An environment designed for our testing builds. The game will look at least this good, while maintaining good performance.

The game also forces the player to carefully consider how they want to progress. Staying in one place is not possible as you need to scavenge for food, but going somewhere else is not so straightforward. You will have to traverse dense forests with dangerous creatures, in an environment with lots of verticality, carefully designed to make traversing the abandoned dinosaur park less easy for the player.

There's so much to tell people about the game I really don't quite know where to start, and especially making this post on my phone, I will most likely be missing things, but I will add to this thread as I see fit!

Let us know your opinions, and if you're interested, drop by us on Facebook and join our Discord!

https://discord.gg/XHyUJf4
https://www.facebook.com/Dont-Feed-T...1283740305143/

[Bartbrink1996]

The pictures are pretty and the concept sounds interesting. I will definitely keep an eye on this.

[robo-ve-tranic]

im interested

[ChickenFetus]

Well the scenery is really nice, as is to be expected by the developers of the Archotek project, and the title is clever...

However I fail to see what this game will offer that other dinosaur survival games won't already offer, and the backstory is not particularly interesting. Also rather disappointed that the raptor is a jp3 knockoff (sorry if that's rather blunt but, while I can pass a creative homage or original monster dinosaur, I'm really tired of the jp ripoffs over either originality or research).

[V_Rex]

Well the scenery is really nice, as is to be expected by the developers of the Archotek project, and the title is clever...

However I fail to see what this game will offer that other dinosaur survival games won't already offer, and the backstory is not particularly interesting. Also rather disappointed that the raptor is a jp3 knockoff (sorry if that's rather blunt but, while I can pass a creative homage or original monster dinosaur, I'm really tired of the jp ripoffs over either originality or research).

Hey ChickenFetus!
Reading your post, I couldn't really let go of the things you mentioned, so let's go!
First off: 'As is to be expected by the developers of ATP.' You got me speechless there. Thanks! One of my big hobbies, so it pleases me to hear that.
Secondly, you don't see what new things the game offers... The thing is, there are no Dinosaur Survival games like this out there. Every single dinosaur survival gives you a sandbox, and endless possibilities. In the same way that The Long Dark creates an immersive experience by putting the player in a vulnerable position, we mean to make the player powerless. You can't just go and tame a raptor, or construct a gigantic base; that's plain ridiculous. We're going for a more realistic approach of what a person could do in this situation: Hide, scavenge and try to not be eaten. As boring as it sounds, we know that if we execute it well it'll work. In that sense we're incredibly different from the traditional dinosaur survival games, and nothing like, for example, Ark or BoP. As for back story... The back story really isn't that big of a deal, the player isn't trying to figure out what happened or the like, but rather trying to stay alive, so we didn't put a lot of care and attention into it.
Lastly, you stated that you feel the JP3 based raptor is a rip-off, basically. And you're right. We've since that model - and two old T.rex models - was made gotten an old friend aboard as concept artists, and as such we're now gladly redesigning to more original and unique ideas. For one, our Rex is no longer a standard JP rex, but rather this:

We'll show the model soon enough. (Re)designs like this are also coming up for all other species on our list, including the raptors. I can assure you, they'll be a lot better.

The criticism is appreciated, and if you've got anything else to say, please do, but I hope I made you reconsider!

Note: It didn't really improve on the situation that the guy making the dinosaur art, Nathan, had no prior experience. Those raptors were his first ever shot at dinosaurs. He's gotten a lot better very quickly.

[The Thagomizer]

As far as 'originality' goes, the concept of applying crocodilian scalation to a Tyrannosaurus is not really groundbreaking - Primal Carnage itself features such a thing. Having said that, your version of the Croc-o-saurus rex is in a whole league beyond PC's Rex in terms of execution (largely because I suspect your concept artist actually knows how to draw animals,) so even though it's something I've seen before, it's still pretty cool!

The idea of a more 'grounded' Dinosaur survival game is appealing to me, as is the prospect of fictional near-Dinosaurs that are actually well-designed, so color me interested!

[V_Rex]

Well, let's be honest, as far as originality goes we're just in a bad market. Every single thing has already been done. Okay, almost every single thing. So yeah, It's rather hard to come up with really original things, but we're giving it our best shot now!

[V_Rex]

New stuff!

The night is dark and full of terrors...

A new segment of the WiP environment...

"I hadn't realized at that time that I had walked into the Tyrannosaurus paddock. Mommy wasn't too happy to see me."

Rex teaser, a full overview coming soon...

Don't forget to join us on Discord and follow us on Facebook for more regular updates! We also have Tweeter now!

[robo-ve-tranic]

i like it i like i alot

[nanotyrano]

New FB post!

Victor has been busy blocking out some test areas in UE4 as the decision to stick with it is gradually becoming more final - he figured out how to handle the forests as well as replacing the old rock models with new ones within the engine!
Unreal Engine presents many opportunities and systems for us to take advantage of; the lighting system alone is a huge bonus in comparison to Unity straight out of the box and materials are also much easier to manage and are largely customizable!
We look forward to showing you what we come up with in the future!
- Nathan

 

[V_Rex]

New stuff! Foliage assets, fences and Rex skin! Enjoy! (1920x1080, almost uncompressed image! Maybe nice as wallpaper?)


Join us on Discord!

[robo-ve-tranic]

I approve of that rex because its cool disgn while not looking stupid

[PoisonousPinataIII]

Just wanted to say, as someone that is hard to please when it comes to innacurate dinosaurs, your designs are really awesome form what i've seen! All i'm worried about is dinosaur behavior. From what i've seen, it seems like dinosaurs are going to chase you no matter what. I can understand that with raptors and other small preds, but will massive predators be doing this? Because being chased no matter the circumstance would take away some of the horror and tension.

[V_Rex]

All i'm worried about is dinosaur behavior. From what i've seen, it seems like dinosaurs are going to chase you no matter what. I can understand that with raptors and other small preds, but will massive predators be doing this?

First off, thanks for the compliment, we appreciate it!
Second, for the AI, it's an area we're really focusing on. There's two parts to this game which will make or break it. The first is environment, which, evidently, we're spending a lot of time and attention on and second being the AI.

We've got some really cool ideas planned for the entire thing, with different types of AI for different species and not everything being threatening per definition. That also means that you're not always being chased. In the large majority of the time, you'll just be wandering about from place A to place B. Usually, you'll be safe. You've also got tools at your disposal to make sure of that. That means that most of the time, you'll know when you're being hunted, and when you're not. When you are being hunted, the odds are that you'll not get away unless you get lucky. New players will die a lot.

If you're not being hunted, you'll be mostly safe - as long as you keep checking that you're really not being hunted. The tracking will also have some occasional fails going on, so you still won't always feel a hundred percent safe.

We'll be very careful about getting it right, because it's practically the only gameplay-relevant thing that we really have to be careful about. The rest is rather straight-forward and while it may be a lot of work, it should be relatively easy. The AI is not easy and it will be a lot of work, but that's why we've already started working it out.

By the way - most things won't always hunt you. A Tyrannosaurus will, an Occissoraptor (fictional) will and a Ceratosaurus will if you get in the way. Besides that, things are very careful about whether to leave you be, attack you or to run away.

[V_Rex]

Hey guys!

The other day I suddenly wondered - did I ever show any of the more recent imagery from Unreal Engine 4? I believe not - and the stuff up there is gone from the servers either way, so here you go.





I also don't think we showed our Ceratosaurus model properly yet over here, besides that tiny bit where it happens to be on the first picture on this post. Feel free to give your opinions, guys!


There'll be visitor-related stuff soon, so you can expect some stuff besides just tree-porn soon. There's already some basic stuff on our Discord, if you're interested. Join us by clicking anywhere on this sentence!

Hope to see you there! Cheers!