The Isle DevBlog #73 says the Evrima Spinosaurus can stand up to an adult Rex

DevBlog #73 for The Isle went up on 30 September. Afterthought says most of the month went into the Oviraptor, new migration rules, Entomb saves and clearing the worst bugs from the Hordetest branch. Lead programmer Filipe says the Oviraptor is almost complete and testing has moved on to the Baryonyx.

Programmer Ariel built the Oviraptor’s mechanics. It can smell nests, egg food and nutrient values are calculated differently, and eggs can be cracked open in a similar way to clams. The Baryonyx gets a defensive stance that turns it towards your camera and makes it strike back automatically against certain abilities, while you keep manual control of its other attacks.

Environment artist VisualTech48 finished the last entrance to the dome and got every entrance ready for Gateway. The water entry was the hardest, with connecting pipes and a route for aquatic animals. Sightlines are broken up so nobody can lock down an entrance from a single spot, guns included.

The biggest tease is the Spinosaurus, which the animation team is starting on now. Animation supervisor KissenKitten wants it heavier and bulkier than the Legacy version. It should be “powerful enough to go toe to toe with an adult rex should it need to”, yet most at home in the water. Until then the team keeps working on the Parasaurolophus and on vocals for Camarasaurus and Avaceratops.

QA is working through the highest-priority Hordetest issues and revisiting older mechanics. One is already fixed: a Tyrannosaurus holding its crush ability used to be immune to sparring. The Deinosuchus lunge, whose animation and audio currently cut off abruptly, is due to be fixed in the next Hordetest update.

Sound designer Wedge reworked reverb and delay on distant calls, which Hordetest players have probably heard already. The animals are also getting new colour palettes, and John Cakeman has a new rig with a full wardrobe.

Dryosaurus players have a surprise coming, according to Filipe. A first video preview is set to appear in the Phase 3 channel on the game’s Discord.