Developer: CapriByte Studios
Publisher: Black Shell Media
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
DinoSystem – Preview
CapriByte Studios’ DinoSystem has been in development for some time now, although finally it has been released once again in Early Access to showcase the progress that this little development company has made. Promising a wide array of fascinating features that would set aside this 2D dinosaur survival simulation from all other competitors, we knew it was something that we had to try.
DinoSystem is a unique survival simulation game where you, a human, have to live on a randomly generated island and, well, survive. With ever changing weather as you face (or rather, run away from) dinosaurs while trying to locate resources, this game certainly keeps you on your toes as you run around looking for some rocks to create a fire. Observing your island from a simplistic 2D top-down view, the landscape is covered in various species of plant and animal life. Your mission is to either cultivate this life by helping the animals to reproduce and last, or you can eliminate whole species of dinosaurs to ensure your own survival. If this sounds daunting, don’t be afraid! The game offers an option for tutorials for all aspects of the game, so you’ll be able to get moving in no time.
In Survival Mode (one of two modes for the game), you create for yourself a character whose lifestyle will dictate factors such as metabolism, fat percentage and muscle. With regards to food, unlike many other survival simulators where you can eat as much of it as you like, DinoSystem only allows your character to eat until your stomach is full- and then you must wait until you can digest it. Other features include the ability to alter physical skills (for example, ranged attacks and athletics) and mental skills (such as crafting and fire-making). To add another layer of difficulty, these skills will decay in hardcore mode but improve the more you use them.
Choice of skin colour, although purely cosmetic presently, is promised to also affect the amount of sun exposure your skin gets. Whether you’re living on a hot, sunny isle or in a damp forest, how much sun your skin gets will be integral to your survival. It is a pity however that the skin tones are limited, and does not feature darker skin- although hopefully this will be added in the near future. You must also take note of your water, exhaustion, temperature and ‘wetness’ levels. You can also use the environment to your advantage; for example, when it gets too hot, you can hide underneath a tree to cool down or for shelter when it’s wet. Stones also litter the ground, and these can be used for creating fires and making tools (though there are not many options for that currently). Although all of these features are complex and very inventive, it makes surviving incredibly difficult at times as you have many things to worry about- even without the addition of dinosaurs coming to chomp on your limbs at any given time.
The other game mode offered in DinoSystem is God Mode. As the name suggests, you have complete control over the island and its ecology, as well at its weather patterns and seasons. If you so wish, you can trigger devastating events such as a lightning storm and set fire to forests to see how the ecosystem can adapt and survive through mass desolation. This mode at present lacks a decent GUI and the tools to interact with the world, although the developers have added this to their list of features to expand during the Early Access phase.
Controls to DinoSystem are simple, but are restricted to keyboard and mouse. WASD keys are employed as in most games, although A and D serve as directional buttons only in survival mode; you must use these to turn your character, and then press W to go forwards or S to go backwards. In God Mode, WASD move the camera. Right mouse button allows you to interact very basically with the supplies around you, and the middle mouse button (scroll button) offers more information on animals or objects, such as what you can do with them. E toggles the equip mode on/off, which will allow yet more options such as being able to pick up stones to sharpen other stones, or create a fire and make tools. The ALT key is used to scout the area, as the top down view is quite limiting, although this is not always particularly useful as you cannot track your current position. Perhaps a map in this situation would aid this process. For more controls, the TAB button provides a list of what each key binding does. However, there is no option to customise these key bindings, which may prove frustrating to people playing on a laptop without a separate mouse (and hence not having a middle mouse button).
Conclusion
It is clear that CapriByte Studios is offering some truly distinctive options for a dinosaur survival simulator. From the selection of ‘wetness’, temperature, water and exhaustion levels as well as lifestyle changes and skintone, DinoSystem proposes far more than any other simulation game. In addition, though we cannot look into the future, we believe the God Mode, once completed, will offer exciting gameplay indeed. Although the world may appear rather sparse at the moment (with both the options for survival being limited and the little amount of plant and animal life found in game), the developers have assigned 6-12 months of Early Access and a bi-weekly update with developer logs to ensure that this game will be absolutely amazing and well worth playing once it is fully up to speed. The next update will be on the 15th of July, and will bring a First Aid system, new graphics options and improvements to the current contents. CapriByte Studios also promises that the title will eventually be available for Mac and Linux.
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