How big is the game world?
VERY BIG! The game world is composed of MANY islands themselves composed of four island types - Continental (that includes; huge forests; large beaches of sand; dunes and deserts; small canyons; open plains; waterfalls; lakes and rivers), Oceanic (that includes; old volcanic mountains and high plains), Volcanic (that includes; high snow capped mountains and sharp mountain peaks) and Archipelagos (that includes; group of curved beaches; collection of small and scattered islands) - of 16 square kilometres each, separated by a huge dynamic real time ocean with wind behaviour. Expect many ocean storms as well as both small and high unpredictable waves with rapid transition from deep to shallow water. The last thing you want is a drifting raft that you watch it drift away during an ocean storm because your raft was poorly built. Make it strong and always be mindful of the direction of the wind!
- Many island types of 16 square kilometres each.
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Huge dynamic real time ocean with wind behaviour.
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480 square kilometres to explore!
The YouTube video below - Lengthy Aerial View - will give you a good idea about the size of the islands.
The YouTube video below - Ocean Physics Skyline - will give you a good idea about the size of the ocean and how long does it takes to reach an island starting from the middle of two islands.
To give you an exact idea, consider that each pixel of the four island maps shown below is 16 square metres (this is proportionally calculated by taking into account the resolution of the continental island map shown below is 1024 x 1024 compared to the ratio of the original 8192 x 8192 height map that is of 16 square kilometres).
Example below of the Continental Island map type: that includes; huge forests; large beaches of sand; dunes and deserts; small canyons; open plains; waterfalls; lakes and rivers.
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Example below of the Oceanic Island map type: that includes; old volcanic mountains and high plains.
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Example below of the Volcanic Island map type: that includes; high snow capped mountains and sharp mountain peaks.
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Example below of the Archipelagos Island map type: that includes; group of curved beaches; collection of small and scattered islands.
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Did you said a huge dynamic real time ocean with wind behaviour?
TRUE! Below a YouTube video showcasing the Ocean Physics.
To design a huge dynamic real time ocean with wind behaviour, you must understand how wind and waves operate. You need to ask yourself the following two questions:
- What is a wave?
- How the wind forms a wave?
A wave is a source of energy. The connection between wind and waves is obvious. The waves develop regularly in amplitude up to a level of saturation which depends on the force of the wind. When the wind stops blowing, the waves gradually break down. As waves are energy, this therefore can also be understood with a mathematical equation.
Ocean waves behave according to the depth of the water they have formed in. Generally, we consider deep water when the water has a depth larger than half a wavelength, which is usually the case in the open ocean. We know for a fact that; (1) in deep water the velocity of a wave through water is determined by the wavelength; (2) the longer waves are moving faster; (3) a wave speed is the distance travelled by a given point on the wave in a given interval of time (for example, in an equation form, if a wave moves a distance of 20 meters in 10 seconds, then the speed of the wave is 2.0 m/s); (4) in shallow water the velocity of a wave is determined by the water depth; (5) when a deep water wave moves into shallow water it slows down.
With all those information taken into account, and also with some serious Google searches, we can translate those information with a material directly in Unreal Engine 4. This has taken some time but the result is more than satisfying and gives solid base for render improvements.
In another words, the graphic aspect of the current waves shown in the YouTube video below will improve even more in the future game versions.
Real Time Shifting Seasons
The video below presents three different views of a shifting seasons of 10 months from the 1st April to the 31st January, which is exactly 306 game days, or exactly 712 hours played (1 game day is 2 hours). Spring covers a period from March 1 to May 31 (92 game days or 184 hours played); Summer covers a period from June 1 to August 31 (92 game days or 184 hours played); Autumn covers a period from September 1 to November 30 (91 game days or 182 hours played); and Winter covers a period from December 1 to February 28 (90 game days or 180 hours played). A full year is exactly 365 game days or 730 hours played. This is still a work in progress.
Will Dismal Survival be regularly updated?
DEFINITELY! The current development includes a start of 12 islands of 16 square kilometres each; this is 192 square kilometres without counting the huge dynamic real time ocean with wind behaviour which is about 288 square kilometres. So we are talking about 480 square kilometres to explore. Dismal Survival is also designed in a way that allows MANY MORE islands to be easily added. The process design of the islands are generated directly with World Machine 3 Professional and Geo Glyph to be finally imported directly in Unreal Engine 4. This process make it possible to have literally speaking an unlimited number of islands.
The idea behind this is to allow the player to select certain parameters such as the island size, shape, elevation, number of trees and rocks (an island generator in future game versions). Each adventure is composed of 12 main islands including the ocean. In another words, your life is too short to discover out everything.
Below a YouTube video showcasing the Generated Islands Design - G.I.D - process with World Machine 3 Professional and Geo Glyph before being imported directly in Unreal Engine 4. Unlimited possibilities for an unlimited number of Archipelagos, Continental, Oceanic, and Volcanic islands.
Below a YouTube video showcasing My Macro "Photography Texture 3D" designed for DISMAL Survival using World Machine 3 Professional that allows you to transform any photography to a perfect seamless texture up to 16K BY KEEPING 100% of all pixels from the photography. Also, my Macro "Photography Texture 3D" allows you to transform any perfect seamless texture to a perfect seamless heightmap up to a resolution of 16384 x 16384.
What type of landscapes will I explore?
There is four island types:
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Continental island that includes; huge forests; large beaches of sand; dunes and deserts; small canyons; open plains; waterfalls; lakes and rivers.
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Oceanic island that includes; old volcanic mountains and high plains.
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Volcanic island that includes; high snow capped mountains and sharp mountain peaks.
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Archipelagos island that includes; group of curved beaches; collection of small and scattered islands.
Below this YouTube video showcases a new type of landscape - Crater Island - during the tough winter seasons using a Natural Placement Based on Angular Coordinates (NPBAC) that I designed and shaped with World Machine 3 Professional and GeoGlyph. This NPBAC process (X and Y axes placed accordingly with the Z axis) makes landscape scenes even more realistic, especially with the tree placement, erosion, and snow processes. In this video, we can easily see the natural HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting effect as well as the effects of snow and the effects of blizzard.
Also between each island types will be a lot of very small and small islands, from few square meters to few hundreds square meters. I heard that there is an one square meter island with only one tree somewhere lost in the huge ocean, with a treasure to get - one old story talks about an old pirate weapons - will you find it?
What will I be able to craft?
By cutting trees and gathering resources, you will be able to craft items by using the Menu Inventory System - M.I.S - that has been designed to offer a simple, effective, and fast approach to meet the player needs; as follow: An Axe (to cut trees); A Hatchet (to cut and split wood); A Knife (to cut animal meats); A Iron Pan (to cook); A hammer (to drive nails into wood and to shape metal); A sledgehammer (to break stones and rocks); A Bow and Arrows (to hunt); A Raft (to move from island to island); A Wooden Water Collector (to wash your hands and to drink); A Fire (to keep warm); A Metal Foundry (to build a metal shelter); A Bed (to save and load your game progress); A Wood Shelter (to have a second type base); and A Metal Shelter (to have a first type base). This crafting list will be extended with more craftable props in future game versions.
Below a YouTube video and a picture showcasing the following craftable props; Axes; Hatchets; Knifes; Iron Pans; and Wooden Water Collectors.
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The following is a list of other craftable props needed for shelters purposes.
Wood Shelter:
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Metal Shelter:
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What resources can be gathered?
Below a list of resources that the player can gather for crafting purposes.
Rocks:
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Woods:
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Sticks:
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Trees:
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What types of shelters can I build?
A Wood Shelter (to have a second type base) and A Metal Shelter (to have a first type base). The player can build almost anywhere on the landscape except under water and on a land with an angle more than 45 degrees. The player will be able to build any shelters by cutting trees and gathering resources. Make sure you got an axe (to cut trees), a hatchet (to cut and split wood), and a hammer (to drive nails into wood and to shape metal).
The YouTube video and screenshots below are showing different configuration of shelters.
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Which conditions will make the player to die?
You have to manage your hunger, thirst, cold and tiredness if you want to survive. The winters are very cold so you better be well prepared. Also the wildlife animals are a BIG THREATS!
Bald eagles can definitely attack the player, but the injuries inflicted are not lethal. During mating seasons, bald eagles become much more territorial; this is best to keep a safe distance from a bald eagle and to respect the bird's space.
Cougars may attack if cornered and if the player keep running, this might stimulates the cougar instinct to chase. Same if the player stop moving for a long time. Standing still however may cause the cougar to consider the player an easy prey.
Bears are rare. This is highly recommended that the player don't unwittingly attract them. If the player decide to kill a bear, you better be extremely well prepared. Even the player shelter might not be the safest place against bear attacks.
Bison are among the most dangerous animals that the player can encountered and will attack the player if provoked. They appear slow because of their lethargic movements, but can easily outrun the player, even running at full speed. Be prepared to run fast!
Moose are not usually aggressive towards the player, but can be provoked or frightened to behave with aggression. They will attack the player more than bears and wolves combined, but usually with only minor consequences.
Elk are able to attack the player using strong legs and sharp hooves. The reason for a sudden aggression is to protect their small ones.
Coyote attacks on the player are uncommon and rarely will cause serious injuries, mainly due to rabies.
Wolf attacks against the player will occur only by healthy wolves. However this will remains as rare and unusual events. Remember that even healthy wolves dislike fire and smoke because it appears dangerous to them.
How long is a full day/night cycle in game?
The sources of light in Dismal Survival are the sun during the day and the moon during the night. The sun is rising from the east and is setting in the west. A full day/night cycle in game is exactly 60 minutes. So if you play 4 hours surviving, you survived 4 game days. All the islands are designed from a square pyramid shape. This method always shows beautiful stunning views from any high point. This is also a natural process of any landscape - mountain based. From a bird side view, the views are looking super realistic. The position of the sun and the moon in the sky are also an indicator of time. The lighting from the sun and the moon are impacting on the surface landscape. Also the shadows of the clouds in the atmosphere are directly reflected on the surface landscape. This lighting processes contribute to a realistic wind effects that can be seen on the moving flora as well as on the ocean waves.
The YouTube video below shows an extract periods of sunrise and of sunset recorded in real time directly from the editor of Unreal Engine 4. For video purposes, the extract periods of sunrise and of sunset have been accelerated by a factor of 10.
Real Atmospheric Depth
I passed a lot of time to design and simulate a Real Atmospheric Depth in real time according to the sun position. I was able to manage this by combining a Real Depth of Field and a Real Atmospheric Lighting.
The YouTube video below - Long Sunset Walk - show (1) a Real Depth of Field and (2) a Real Atmospheric Lighting. When both effects are combined, the result is (1) + (2) a Real Atmospheric Depth. This effect also give an idea about the real size of the islands.
From an aerial point of view, the Real Atmospheric Depth effect gives to the game a photo-realistic touch, as shown with the three pictures below.
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Anything else?
YOU! who is reading and watching all this... E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G is in your hands! If you believe in my project, do not hesitate to share the campaign link in social media, to talk about it, to inform your favourite YouTube gaming channel about Dismal Survival, to contribute, even £1. There is no small contribution! And I promise, you won't be disappointed! Don't hesitate to ask me any question! I will be more than happy to answer. I want the game to be build around the player ideas. DISMAL Survival is now a full time project and I, we will listen to the player feedback. To finish, if you think you got what it takes to join the development team, contact me, you never know...
DISMAL SURVIVAL - GAME SCREENSHOTS
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CAMPAIGN - ROAD MAP
Future implementations:
- Integrating Wildlife animals - (Bald Eagle, Cougar, Bear, Bison, Moose, Elk, Coyote, and Wolf).
- Realistic seasons and weather conditions - (Wind and Cold, Rain, Snow, Thunderstorms and Ocean Storms).
- More advanced Crafting System and Menu Inventory System - (Full ability to cut trees and flora, to break small stones, to build a fire and animal traps, to craft a raft to travel from island to island, to build an axe, a hammer, a bow and arrows).
- Management of shelter, hunger, thirst, cold and tiredness - (You will need to craft special tier items. Wooden Water Collector, Bed to save and load your game progress).
- Better shelter demolition effects based on full gravity for re collectable resources.
And plenty more amazing ideas that will be only possible with the right financial aspect.
I need your help to make this project a reality, that one day, you can download Dismal Survival on Stream, with my vision of the game fulfilled!
THANK YOU!! for taking the time to read. This is very much appreciated!
Gaël ROMANET,
Creator of Dismal Survival.
