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Behind the Scenes: Designing Species for the Crocodilia Coast
Welcome Park Managers,
In this Behind the Scenes, we're looking at how our talented Development team brought the very first crocodilian to Jurassic World Evolution 3 for Crocodilia Coast. We'll also take a dive into the process of building full family units for the Styxosaurus and Shonisaurus, and how the team designed brand-new juvenile models for both species.
From concepting and true-to-life pattern designs to the unique kill animations, the Deinosuchus is a formidable species that has long been requested by our dedicated community and we can't wait to introduce it to your parks.
Scaly Inspiration
In stark difference to many of our other species in Jurassic World Evolution 3, the Deinosuchus is a distant relative and shares many similarities with today's alligators, belonging to the broader clade, Psuedosuchia. Although, with a bite force stronger than a Tyrannosaurus rex, these prehistoric animals are a little different from your typical Floridian gator!
Unsurprisingly, this terrifying species has garnered a lot of interest, especially in our own Jurassic World Evolution community.
There were plenty of sources for our Development team to dig into to visualise what this huge crocodilian might have looked like, including using the paleo-artist renditions of prehistoric species that draw (literally) from agreed upon paleontological research.
To reinforce our ideas about the Deinosuchus' appearance, we also studied skeletal reconstructions, both physical and digital, to give ourselves a closer idea of the sheer scale of this semi-aquatic predator. We even drew inspiration from some of its modern relatives, alligators and crocodiles, as Deinosuchus is thought to have shared physical features with both groups of animals. Specifically, Saltwater crocodiles were used as reference for their size and general proportions, ensuring the model was kept believable and the American Alligator was used as reference for the finer skin details and movements, like their gait.
From Tooth to Tail
When building this new prehistoric crocodilian, we also had to consider the main differences between adults and juveniles. Bringing family units to Jurassic World Evolution 3 is no small task, so when selecting species for DLC we have to take into account any physical differences between juveniles and adult, other than their size, which for the Deinosuchus is pretty distinct. To do this, we used a similar process as we utilised for the base-game dinosaurs in Jurassic World Evolution 3.
Just as with the adult model, we looked at real world references for smaller and young variations, including Caimans and Dwarf crocodiles, alongside the same crocodile and alligator species used for the adult. Not only did these comparisons allow the team to see how much scale affected the details of the Juvenile Deinosuchus, they were also great references for how a smaller, younger variant might traverse its environment.
We wanted to make the distinction between the juvenile and adult models as clear as possible. It needed to be believable that the juvenile will one day be an adult Deinosuchus, but just as in nature, a species' young can have their own distinctive appearance. In the case of the Deinosuchus, the most obvious is the size difference, with their young barely able to lay over their parent’s snout. Deinosuchus juveniles in Jurassic World Evolution 3 also have less bulbous snouts and stubbier limbs, shorter claws and teeth than their adult counterparts. These physical differences also impacted some of their movements, such as the distance a juvenile can cover, and behaviours, like the more playful interactions they'll have with their parents.
Crocodilian Camo
When considering the patterns for the Deinosuchus family unit, once again we turned to the natural world for inspiration. In the real world, crocodiles rely on their patterning to camouflage themselves with their surroundings, allowing them to sneak up on prey unseen before striking. Much the same can be said for Deinosuchus so we pulled together a palette of browns, yellows, creams and even blacks, greys and greens to design natural looking patterns. Crocodilians usually have stripes and/or splotches with a good amount of contrast from species to species so this was also taken into account when designing patterns.
We also had to consider dimorphism, and the difference between male and female patterning, when planning skins. The female Deinosuchus has more consistent colouring with any stripes or splotches blending together, whereas the male Deinosuchus is flashier with more distinct patterning and colouring. Striking the balance between realistic and interesting can be difficult, so we tried to walk the line with clear accent patterns, while also ensuring the Deinosuchus could blend into its environment. We spent a great deal of time meticulously painting the pattern and diffusing materials of the Deinosuchus' skins onto each individual scute and scale to ensure it was as lifelike as possible.
*All Development Artwork shown here was part of the Development process and may differ to the final skins shown in-game
Taking the Lunge
As the Deinosuchus is the first crocodilian in the Jurassic World Evolution game franchise, we also had to plan, design and animate brand-new behaviours. Our Animation team studied videos of alligators and crocodiles hunting and moving through their natural environments to get an accurate idea of how the Deinosuchus might have stalked and killed its prey. These movements were then applied to the Deinosuchus rig, ensuring they moved smoothly and interacted with the world and other species well.
Particularly unique to this species are the water ambush and death roll animations, something no other semi-aquatic species does in Jurassic World Evolution 3. It was really key to us to bring not only a brilliant and believable model of this killer crocodilian to your screens, but also to nail its iconic behaviours to really breathe life into it.
Deinosuchus will lay in wait, hiding in a body of water, until another animal comes to the water's edge to drink. If this is a compatible prey species that this huge crocodilian can take down, it will lunge out of the water and snap the prey up with its powerful jaws. The Deinosuchus then drags its prey into the water and performs a 'death roll' to stun and kill it.
Delivering these unique behaviours is a key factor when we select species for our DLC packs because we always want to be giving our community new and interesting experiences.
Diving Deep
Not only did the team work hard to bring Deinosuchus to the Jurassic World Evolution 3: Crocodilia Coast pack, but we also spent a great deal of time building full family units for the Shonisaurus and Styxosaurus with the addition of brand-new juveniles.
We started the process for designing a juvenile for both species in Jurassic World Evolution 3 by studying the most up to date fossil records. We referred to the fantastic selection of juvenile icthyosaur and plesiosaur fossils available from the Jurassic Coast right here in the UK.
From there we created the models of the Shonisaurus and Styxosaurus juveniles by referring to both these records and using the existing adult model as a reference to shape the new juvenile model so they were believably accurate as a younger variant of both species. We developed an evidence-based process, ensuring the family resemblance is clear with features like shorter snouts and rounder bodies indicating the juvenile stage of these prehistoric animals.
Not only did we add upon these species, we also had great fun developing and creating brand-new bioluminescent skins for the juvenile Styxosaurus, giving them a soothing glow as they swim around their lagoon.
As we have been bringing back more base-game species from Jurassic World Evolution 2, we have designed an in-depth process to develop juveniles, delivering more fully formed family units to Jurassic World Evolution 3.
Creating juveniles for the Shonisaurus and Styxosaurus also included building a whole new range of animations and social interactions to give these young animals personality when engaging with each other and their parents. Each of these interactions, like the Shonisaurus juvenile swimming around its parent playfully, show how a family unit of different prehistoric species may have behaved and make their inclusion in your parks even more interesting.
When looking at the skins for the Styxosaurus, we were inspired by tropical fish and modern bioluminescent species to design new skins for the adult male and juvenile models. This bioluminescence was a lot of fun for us to experiment with and is an amazing sight to see when a shining Styxosaurus swims in the depths of a lagoon.
We take a great amount of pride in the dinosaurs and prehistoric species in Jurassic World Evolution 3, so each detail of every species is carefully planned out, from building brand new juvenile models to designing fantastic skins, so each player can see their own favourite species come to life as full family units.
Jurassic World Evolution 3: Crocodilia Coast Coming 11 August
The Deinosuchus was a first for the team in many ways, however it's not the only Psuedosuchia coming to Jurassic World Evolution 3 on 11 August. Not only have the team spent a great deal of time building out this brand-new species for Jurassic World Evolution, the work done to create full family units for the Shonisaurus and Styxosaurus was extensive to make sure we deliver species our players will really love.
Having gone through the same detailed process to build their models and interactions, the Postosuchus, Desmathosuchus are also coming to your parks with Jurassic World Evolution 3: Crocodilia Coast.
You can snap up Jurassic World Evolution 3: Crocodilia Coast on 11 August to get your hands on these 5 family units and a collection of coastal themed scenery pieces to expand your waterside operations!
