🐾 Developer Journal: Southeast Asia Animal Pack 🐾
- Thread starter Chante Goodman
- Start date
The new binturong is fantastic guys!
I really had no clue that it takes such a long time to do an animal. But after seeing the outcome of the Binturong, I really think you should share your WIP animals, I really think it would be very interesting for the community and the devs would have an immediate feedback. I'm really excited to get the pack!
All of this is fascinating, I could happily read 5 more journal entries on animal development!
I wish we could see what concept art for animals looks like - is it more about capturing the personality of an animal, or its realistic features? Or maybe different concept art is done for both aspects? On the 3D front: do riggers research the animals' skeletons when building their rigs, or are those strictly built to accommodate the animation requirements? Or is that also a mix of both?
I'm also really interested in the research that goes into the social behavior of different animals. If I recall correctly, way back when the game was just released, the social behavior of wolves was based on outdated alpha/dominance concepts (which really bothered me as someone who studied some dog behaviorism), but later on it was changed to the more accurate family-based pack structure. So that really made me wonder what the process of research for this kind of information is, as obviously it impacts every animal greatly.
I wish we could see what concept art for animals looks like - is it more about capturing the personality of an animal, or its realistic features? Or maybe different concept art is done for both aspects? On the 3D front: do riggers research the animals' skeletons when building their rigs, or are those strictly built to accommodate the animation requirements? Or is that also a mix of both?
I'm also really interested in the research that goes into the social behavior of different animals. If I recall correctly, way back when the game was just released, the social behavior of wolves was based on outdated alpha/dominance concepts (which really bothered me as someone who studied some dog behaviorism), but later on it was changed to the more accurate family-based pack structure. So that really made me wonder what the process of research for this kind of information is, as obviously it impacts every animal greatly.
I agree. Would it be possible to show a video or do a live stream of how an animal is created from concept through to realisation. Would be great to ‘meet’ the current team too and see them talking. I know videos were made for the launch of PlanZoo but this could be another great way to connect with the community.
Would be even more awesome if the community could vote for one animal to be included in the next pack (which doesn’t have to be connected to the theme but is a fan favourite. Perhaps Frontier could decide some options for us to choose from to ensure the mechanics are possible) and then could do a live stream to show the design process so the community feels involved.
The Binturong changes seemed to have really bridged a gap in communication and so this could enhance that further.
Thank you for this enlightening view into your process for bringing the PZ animals to life. I volunteered as a docent (educator) in a zoo for 7 years and I am massively impressed at the lifelike appearance and behavior of your creations. My favorite part of PZ is just watching the animals up close. You have all done a magnificent job with this aspect of the game. Thank you for all your hard work.
The issue with the lion's mane is part due to technical limitations and part a stylistic choice. Same with the orangutan and bears. I don't think fixing accuracy issues with the Binturong model (or any other model in that matter) warrants a change to stylistic choices concerning multiple animals in the game. They are just separate things. Although I'm down for fixing any model with anatomical errors. The Malayan tapir and female saltie for instance, fall into this category.I’m sure everyone expected the community asking for fixed models after this lol. It looks amazing! Now just fix the male lions mane and this is a perfect game
We appreciate the suggestion! It's a big topic for a live stream, but maybe!
That would be so cool. Like, even something as simple as having one person from each team come on for 5-10 minutes and discuss the process from their PoV would be really interesting to see!