Dev Blog #1 news - Under a Rock

Before we dive in, we wanted to take a moment to thank everyone in our growing community for the massive support you've given us so far. Whether this is your first time learning about our game or you've been with us from the start, your support is so greatly appreciated, and it continues to provide us, along with ample amounts of coffee, with the fuel we need to push through those challenging moments that come with developing a game. So, again, thank you very much!

With that said, if you've been around since we first showcased our game back in 2022, you'll know that a lot has happened since then. It's now been over a year, and we figured it was time to start providing you with some regular updates about the game's development, not only to keep everyone aware of what's going on, but also so we can give you a taste of what's to come. Starting off with a recap of information that you may or may not be familiar with already.

CREATURES

One of the first things we wanted to talk about is... creatures! While we plan to have a wide assortment of them upon launch, and already have the 3D models for many, we thought we would take a moment to focus on just three of the incredible creatures that inhabit the world of Under a Rock and tell you a bit about what we've been doing to bring them to life. These being the Fluffypuff – a large, adorable bunny-like creature –, the Snugget – a cute sabretooth-hamster-beaver hybrid –, and our beloved Dodos – a long thought extinct creature, brought back to life in our game!

An important aspect of the development process for us is ensuring we are creating a world that feels alive through the behavior of its inhabitants, and because of this, we spend a lot of time working on the creature AI in situations both inside and outside of combat. Recently we focused on how these three creatures react to different weather events, for example lightning storms:

• Dodos will run around scared, or try to find bushes to hide in.
• Fluffypuffs will burrow and hide underground, and you can find the mounds of dirt they leave behind and watch them come out when the storm abates.
• Snuggets will either gather in groups under a tree canopy or shelter in a nearby cave if they can find one. Sheltering in a cave can often lead to them having to fight whatever is already lurking in the darkness within.

But it doesn’t stop there, and we have tons of different behaviors to add for different situations, including how they interact with each other and you as the new arrival on their island. Feel free to discuss and suggest creature behaviors on our Discord. We love hearing your ideas!

BASE BUILDING

There are two build modes that can be switched between seamlessly.

• Default mode, for placing solid constructions directly, as long as you have the necessary resources.
• Ghost-building, that allows you to plan and prioritize your base construction through the use of different colors – without spending resources and allows your friends to contribute to the construction as well, by adding the necessary resources.

What happens when your base gets destroyed?
Spent hours, days, weeks or even months on building an amazing looking base? Cannot stand the thought of doing all the nitty gritty details again after it was destroyed by another player or creature? Well, this is where ghost-building truly shines and comes in handy. When any elements of the base is destroyed, from the largest pieces to the smallest details, the item will automatically be saved as a ghost element. Then, all you need to do is trigger it, and add the necessary resources again, and boom, your base is back! And since it will be ghost-building, your friends can easily help with the reconstruction process.

Will you be able to share your ideas with others or between worlds?
We plan on eventually making it so that construction blueprints can be saved for later use and be shared with other players. You cannot pack up your base and unpack it again later, but you will be able to make blueprints and reuse these at other locations as part of the ghost building system. Use them to quickly establish a campsite, a small outpost, or even a large base provided there is ample space available for placement.

What kind of limitations can you expect?
There will be very few rules limiting where to build. On the ground, in the trees, inside of caves, even underwater. We won't stop you, although the wildlife might try to.

UNREAL ENGINE 5 UPDATES

Making Under a Rock requires a powerful game engine, and we are using Unreal Engine 5 with all the latest bells and whistles it has to offer. This includes nanite for infinite view distance, lumen for lighting, groom for creature fur, and with our latest upgrade to UE 5.3 we are now using VSM (Virtual Shadow Maps) which brought the visuals to a whole new level by allowing us to have infinite shadow view distance with a minimum performance impact. In many areas this new wonder from the engine increased the performance across the board, including for our minimum spec target.

SNEAK PEAK AT WHAT'S TO COME

Looking at what’s coming down the pipeline, we can already see what we want to share with you in future blog posts. This includes showcasing some of the fun and unique items and structures within the game, breaking down what you will be able to do upon release – from fighting to taming creatures – as well as revealing more of the island's inhabitants including the natives, but let’s save those details for future posts!

We simply cannot wait to show you more of what we have in store, and if you haven’t already, we would encourage you to Wishlist and Follow us, so you can stay on top of it all. For those who are eager for more up to date information we regularly share screens and short videos on Discord, Instagram and on X, all of which you can find here : linktr.ee/underarock

Thanks again and see you next time!