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Surviving Pangea: [WIP/Pre Alpha]

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by Jaqal, Aug 13, 2014.

  1. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    Ah, Danny Vendrmini. I guess it's worth noting that he's really a sci-fi writer, and there were a lot of arguments against that idea for Neanderthal (Although the model itself reminds me of Homo erectus or earlier).

    Anyways, I have a question regarding Pteranodon (The like "Pterodactyl" mentioned); As far as I remember, there's possibly two species, P. longiceps (more familiar of the two, with a long crest tapering back in males) and P. sternbergi (males have a large, diamondlike crest, may or may not be a different pterosaur altogether though). So on this subject, which one did you have in mind?
     
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  2. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    I actually have a model and animations already in game! Let me try and get a picture up real quick and maybe you can see which one it more closely resembles. As of right now it's just general pterodactyl lol.

    As far as the Neanderthal concept I know it may be a little out there but I think it fits this game well and has a nice look to it. As far as being historically correct well that's always debatable!
     
  3. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Here is a quick pic for you. Texturing still needs some work buy model and animations are pretty well done for this guy.

    Unity 2014-11-16 17-11-06-79.png
     
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  4. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    That is most likely based off longiceps (I'm a bit of a paleo-enthusiast, if that clears up on things).
     
  5. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    No problem! I was thinking longiceps as well based on your pics!
     
  6. Serinx

    Serinx

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    Hey your game looks really interesting :)

    I was wondering If you work on this yourself or if you have a team. It's very inspiring to see this level of quality in indie games :)
     
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  7. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Thanks!

    Just myself but I have just started contracting out the more complex modeling work! I may get some more help later on especially once I start implementing multiplayer but i'm trying to do as much as possible myself to keep true to my own vision!
     
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  8. janpec

    janpec

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    Thats good point, there is balance between historical accuracy and gameplay fun, if you step outside historical accuracy just a bit to increase gameplay fun and have more variety that is totaly ok. I am somewhat doing the same on my project.
     
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  9. jtok4j

    jtok4j

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    Oh wow.

    Why haven't I stumbled across this thread before. Wow, this looks great!

    A few thoughts/ideas for you and the building process. :)

    This is almost to the point of a kickstarter or IndieGoGo project. Would you consider doing that? It would really help to get the funding (at least partially) in-place, and more people excited about it!

    As I watched the videos and saw the rain effects, I wondered if there will be something on the player's health/body/abilities which would be affected by the rain?

    Also, with the dinosaurs chasing, I hope that I will be able to lie down and "Play Dead", since I'm sure they'd miss me if I was horzontal on the ground. :)
     
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  10. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    @jtok4j

    I am certainly going to go for a kickstarter! My original plan was to do this around the end of the year but after doing some marketing research ive seen that December and January are two of the worst months for kickstarter and indie releases. I don't have the biggest budget out there and need all the help I can get so I'm going to hold back until the beginning of the year. Probably February for a kickstarter, immediately after I will apply for steam greenlight depending on the outcome and if that succeeds I will release a pre alpha at a discounted price.

    One of the things I've contracted out is the website- "PlayPangea.com" and once it's up and running I can create a more in depth dev blog as well as start with pre orders! Hopefully that will be up and running by next week.

    Now as far as the rain goes that is a good point. I currently am working on the thirst system and actually just created a water catcher for when it's raining so I'll see if I can do something like your thinking as well.

    With the dinos chasing you it will depend on what terrain your on and the situation. For instance in the jungle there are quite a few places to hide from larger dinosaurs and if your close enough you can get somewhere they can't reach you. But you'll still have smaller raptors and such to worry about! Now say your in an open field or the desert and spotted...well all I can say is goodluck! Just note that the cover and sound system works very well. The faster you move the louder you are etc so sneaking is certainly possible. Unless your bleeding already...
     
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  11. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Doing some work on the player model tonight. It's currently the ugliest thing in the game lol.

    Once I finish this I will make the first video showing some of the AI and combat. Expect it to be up by the end of the week.
     
  12. Ra1den

    Ra1den

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    Boooo! Still no demo :p

    EDIT: Still Looking as great as ever though :D.....You have a great 3D modeler!
     
  13. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Ha! I know I really would love to have a playable demo out by now but I don't think it would accomplish much at this point. It won't be long though! I'm taking a long break for the holidays next week and I plan on getting a lot done. Right now all that is left before I start player testing is getting the environments filled out a little more and simply adding more content; craft-able items, structures etc.. It's a lot of work for one person because each biome is so big but I think just having 2 or three different biomes (Jungle,Desert,Swamp) will be just fine for an early release. And then if I manage to make any profit I will pump it all back into adding more to the game!

    And yes my modeler is great but expensive as well haha. I'm already way over my initial budget for this game!
     
  14. Ra1den

    Ra1den

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    No worries I'll be one of the first to sign up for testing! :)
    Also Kickstarter and Indiegogo are your friends :D (if you're really serious about this that is)
     
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  15. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Believe me I am serious. I literally dedicate 90% of the time I am not at work to this project. I have also spent over $1200 not including unity pro or the website I am setting up! I plan on doing my kickstarter the beginning of the year as December and January are bad months to start. I also need more media better videos to represent the game and a working website. I am planning early February for kickstarter. I will have a demo before that as well!
     
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  16. jtok4j

    jtok4j

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    Greetings Jaqal,

    I'm also hoping that there'll be a male/female player choice, where both have their distinct advantages. (Was the one detail I forgot to mention in my last thread. )

    Perhaps the female will be better at finding food, and the male better at tracking prey... ? Just some food for thought. :D
     
  17. Jimmy-P

    Jimmy-P

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    This looks very good. I don't think it's too far fetched to say that if you stick with it, you will have your career as a game dev. The concept is quite original and I think it looks really good. Really like the neanderthal model and especially the concept art.

    I'm positive this will be greenlit quickly and, assuming you manage to spread the word about its existence, you will sell many copies. Best of luck to you!
     
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  18. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Thanks my friend! Words like that always help me to realise I am not too crazy by spending so much time on this project!

    I have an advertising budget set aside for when I start with the initial pre alpha release. I understand that where many indie games fail is actually getting the game seen so that is one thing I have done a lot of planning for. I plan on using every resource available when that time comes!
     
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  19. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Doing some work on the melee tonight guys. The ai is already really solid (better than many similar games) but I want to polish the melee up some more. I am using Skyrim and Far Cry 3 as inspiration here. I was contemplating some finishing kill like moves similar to turok and other games but I don't like taking control away from the player so probably not. I'm using melee against the raptor as the basis for melee combat of as that will be the main size of enemy you will fight using melee attacks. I don't think axes will do much to a T-Rex :D ...although spears will be useful. Also once my animator gets done with the caveman I will do start working on some more advanced AI with him as well.

    Anyways once I get this melee polished up I will post a video along with the raptor AI I promised.
     
  20. zenGarden

    zenGarden

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    Will you make raptor different animation reactions to spear attacks ? like each attacked part like legs , head, body or tail , the raptor should react differently.
    Attack on legs, small damage, the raptor would have a small reaction damage, perhaps he could ignore the attac and continue attacking or move back
    - on head he should have a bigger damage and more painfull reaction and and he would move back instinctively
    - on body he would have a smaller reaction than the head , if you attack it from behind it could attack you with some
    foot like a cow or make a tail sweep to make you fall on ground.
    This could make gameplay and combat lot more interesting using different hit zones and using angle attack to choose a appropriate response (some dark souls inspiration here ;))
     
  21. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    I should have mentioned earlier that dark souls is one of my all time favorite games! I'm so glad you reminded me to check it out for combat inspiration!

    I already have it setup where the head and body take different damage and have different hit animations. This works great with the bow especially when sneaking. I am definitely going to implement the other body parts as well as injury states. I'm spending most of my time balancing the attack timing and close combat mechanics of the raptor; straffing, dodging etc. This isn't as important with the larger carnivore's as its pretty much one bite and your dead!

    The hardest thing I'm dealing wth is multiple enemy combat mechanics. I want it to stay dynamic and realistic but fun so right now I'm using moderate kiting combined with some battle circle concepts when facing more than one of the same enemy! This keeps combat fluid yet challenging. Like dark souls!
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2014
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  22. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Hey guys I am adding Pangea to indiedb.com. I already have a decent rating but I am assuming all new games do. There is a way to embed my rating on this thread but for some reason I can't get it working so if anyone has done this feel free to help me out!

    The AI is going very well and is about where i'd like it to be for an early demo release so expect the video to be up by the end of the weekend!
     
  23. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Still working on the AI tonight. Now when enemies are near each other they will attack depending on if the other enemy is in its pack, a prey, or a danger. If the enemy is a pack animal and near others of the same type it may call out for support to take on a larger danger or prey. I will have a video up tomorrow night. After that I will show off some biomes in a video or two and then start working on the first official trailer.
     
  24. zenGarden

    zenGarden

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    I think we would prefer pictures or videos ;)
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2014
  25. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Here's a quick clip showing off my new Trex animations. Still working on the raptor video. I got carried away working on some jungle environment stuff but i'm about finished up now.

     
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  26. Baldinoboy

    Baldinoboy

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    Great job! That just raised what this game should cost:).
     
  27. janpec

    janpec

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    Looks good, maybe not as fluid as Primal Carnage regarding animations, but well enough. How will you handle biting an attacks, probably best way to go would be using realtime IK system so head is using IK chain, linked on attacking human for realistic head tracking.
     
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  28. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    @janpec
    Yea might not be quite as nice as theirs but they've been working on that for like 4 years! I'm just happy to even be compared to them. One of the many games I use for inspiration. That said the video above isn't a finished product more of a quick tech demo since I haven't had any posts for awhile. The raptor animations are much more polished I just ran into a bug duplicating animations to add sound effects. I had to remake the raptor asset and am about done polishing it up so hopefully i'll have another vid up soon of some actual game play animations.

    As far as the biting attacks I haven't needed any tracking yet but it will definitely be implemented later on once I get around to adding animation layers.
     
  29. r3ndesigner

    r3ndesigner

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    Hey janpec any news from your pack update.?
     
  30. jmatthews

    jmatthews

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    It's always a good sign when you lose development time to playing your own game. Plus it turns in to a "virtuous circle", notice something that bothers you, make it better. :)
     
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  31. FBTH

    FBTH

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    I saw the update on facebook, its incredible man! :D
     
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  32. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Right now there is so much that bothers me lol! But I am pretty happy with my progress so far considering I officially started this just last August! It's amazing every few week's when I look back and see how the game has developed.

    I won't meet my initial release for a pre alpha by the end of the year but it was a little too ambitious anyway. That said I am completely confident I will have a stable release ready early next year more complete than many of the pre alphas we see coming out these days. Hopefully I will have a successful kickstarter and can really kick things into high gear!
     
  33. Natdanar22

    Natdanar22

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    looks like a very interesting WIP. looking forward to tryin it out (when we can)! Great job guys!!
     
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  34. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    Sorry to bring this back up, but if you're interested, I do know of at least one other animal that can both share the role you had in mind with Arthropleura, and might as well be much more terrifying, to the point where it can give a certain archaeologist a heart attack.
     
  35. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    @Pangea Feel free to offer any suggestions! The only giant bug I have in game right now is a scorpion but I just started working with two new modelers and id like to throw in some more before the pre alpha release.
     
  36. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    I'm happy to oblige. Anyways, while it isn't a giant insect, it's more or less the next best thing; a giant snake.

    Titanoboa, as its name suggests, was the largest known constrictor (let alone snake) that existed in the fossil record. At around 40-50 feet in length, this predator appeared during the Paleocene epoch, roughly 60-58 million years ago, practically right after the dinosaurs were killed off. What's more terrifying about Titanoboa is the likeliness that, like anacondas, it fed on mammals, birds, fish, turtles and even crocodiles.
     
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  37. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Oh yes I know Titanoboa! I will have to take some time with him but I will definitely try to get him in game. I just know the animations and AI will be a little "unique" when it comes to a giant snake!
     
  38. theANMATOR2b

    theANMATOR2b

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    Jaqal you are a great inspiration to us all. I enjoy reading your updates and seeing your progress.

    If I may critique - The player arms and hatchet look VERY saturated with - not too good - texture shading. And the wood is super shiny. Also the normals could be improved a lot on the wood and the lashings. I think maybe adding a very tiny slight blur to the normal map would probably make it look better.
    But I read earlier you were working on this so it's probably a moot point. Just thought I'd mention what I noticed.

    Keep at it. I plan to support you upon release.
     
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  39. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    No points are moot as far as I am concerned! I am interested in everyones opinion of what I show and would love more comments like yours! As developers we often have so many different things going on its extremely easy to overlook obvious flaws!

    That said I totally agree with the shiny trees, saturated arms and hatchet, even the pants and trees Coors were all wrong back at that time which I've fixed since then. All of those assets are ones I started with months ago before I even knew for sure where I was even headed with this.
     
  40. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    I now have a high quality player imported into the project. I'm holding off on doing to much with it as a plugin I am using recently had a large update including full body awareness and things I would have had to do anyway so im in the process of bringing that update into the game!

    The past few weeks I've been constantly getting carried away with little bug fixes and low level polishing which is why there havn't been many updates on here. As well as seeing up all of the publicity channels like the website, twitter, indiedb, facebook etc which is quite a time consuming process itself.

    The majority of the colors and art style for all assets now match much better and the games look is really starting to take shape. I will really try to get a more updated video up soon which I know I keep promising! I plan on making one or two more videos like the others which are really just proof of concept and then I will start making some dev blog type videos explaining in depth how many of the games unique features are handled.
     
  41. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    New video of the raptor animations and some of the movement and attacking AI. I turned off everything to do with damage on the player and increased his speed considerably just to make filming easier. It still needs a little polish as well as some better sound effects but works pretty good for now.

     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2014
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  42. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Worked on some rock mining today and was plesently surprised to see that its so much easier than realistic tree chopping! I knew that it would be with no bending or complex shaders to contend with but man in 2 hours I had a really good mining setup! I'm at work now and didn't have time to make a video but I'll get one up asap. I haven't seen many games with realistic mining so I'm pretty excited. I also took @theANMATOR2b advice and updated the character model and weapons to look much better.

    Anyways if you guys have any suggestions for some gameplay features you would like to see in future videos let me know. I have a two week break from work starting next week so I plan on making a ton of progress!
     
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  43. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    Well, this may be my paleonerd-senses talking, but I might as well ask. Regarding animal designs, are you aiming for a typical Hollywood design, or is realistic anatomy being looked into? I was always curious about this subject, but I chickened out each time I attempted to ask.
     
  44. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    All the dino assets you see are just placeholders. They are not necessarily bad models or animations but they do not represent my vision of the dinosaurs that will be in the final game.

    I just hired a new modeler who seems to be very talented. We are working on the first true in game model and are shooting for a more realistic modern approach to anatomy. Brighter colors, feathers, etc. We are using the dinosaurs from Primal Carnage as a reference and he seems to be able to match the quality and details so we will see.

    Also don't be afraid to comment or ask any questions on here. I use this page for feedback from other devs like yourself. I am always free and willing to chat, I live this stuff!
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2014
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  45. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    Sweet. If this helps, I believe with permission, Scott Hartman's skeletal drawings can be available for use.

    EDIT: Forewarning, Spinosaurus may not be as valid anymore...
     
  46. FBTH

    FBTH

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    :p I am curious, Im unsure if you have said it before, but what is the current roster, or planned roster of dinosaurs? :D
     
  47. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    Too many to list....lol

    Honestly I have so many I would love to add! if things work out and Pangea is successful I plan on adding a wide variety of dinos, mammals and giant bugs. But realistically I have a limited budget so I am forced to stick with the basics as I can find many of them to use as "quality" placeholders.

    Currently I have full animations and AI for these in game. T-Rex, Velociraptor, Compy, Triceritops and Pteradactyl. The new modeler and I are all going over concepts for the first finished in game dino. I'm not sure what we will choose but I will keep you guys up to date. I also have another guy(your friend;)) who may have some other decent models ready for animations.

    Some of my favs that will definitely be added later are Ankylosaurus, Stegasaurus, Deinocheirus, Concavenator and one of my absolute favs Dilophosaurus. There was a great quality Dilophosaurus in the asset store that was removed right before I bought it so hopefully they will put it back up.

    Right now I'm focused on getting an even mix of large, medium and small dinos as well as herbivores and carnivores to even out the ecosystem.
     
  48. FBTH

    FBTH

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    :p Hopefully things will work out, there is practically no budget for my game, so to see what you can do is inspiring :)

    I'm excited that you will be adding odd ball dinosaurs like Deinocheirus, Concavenator and Dilo :D
     
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  49. ContinentalDrift

    ContinentalDrift

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    Well, I'm actually more interested now that Deinocheirus and Concavenator are confirmed. Those are some pretty interesting choices.
     
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  50. Jaqal

    Jaqal

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    I chose both of them because of the size and uniqueness. Deinocheirus is just a so cool with those long arms I can imagine him reaching out to grab stuff and Concavenator is just cool looking all around. I plan on making him to be a more hairy/feathery version like in the pics while staying close to anatomically correct as possible. Something a little darker and possibly scarier looking since many of the dinos will be so colorful!
     
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