Hytale Team addressed the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, assuring the community that the team is taking serious precautions to stay safe and take care of each other.
Still, this involved some good news as well: Hypixel Studios has always been working remotely, so they were fortunate to not be affected by the situation severely.
Which means exciting updates for those of us watching the progress on Hytale!
(You can visit the official website for more information about Hytale, the RPG sandbox with towers, dungeons, easy scripting, and custom castles!)
First of all, Hypixel Studios has new members! The team just accepted Timothée “Ted” Lestradet (a talented concept artist and 3D modeller) and Erikas “Greater” Å uopys (an experienced prefab and POI builder) into their team! That’s exciting news, along with promising demonstrations of their work. Of course, it’s also very encouraging to see the Hytale Team being so open about the kind of people they hire for the project, along with their demonstrations of serious dedication to their craft.
Next, the developers mentioned working hard on new prefabs and world generation rules – to give an example they showcased their new biome, the Scorched Ruins. The biome will represent a desolate land destroyed by a mysterious calamity that the player will have to discover on their own, exploring hidden dangers and lost lore.
Finally, among the most tangible news the team showed us some creative new elements of the AI system!
We all know that the way NPCs interact with the world around them, as well as other NPCs and the player, can make or break the player’s immersion. Well, Hytale has something very interesting to address this functionality: the game’s creatures will react to dropped items, sources of light, and other creatures!
- The player will have a much easier time, for example, approaching a mouse alone or in a group if they drop a piece cheese to attract their attention. (Also, mice will gather around barrels and chests in the dungeons. That can be a good indicator of loot hidden nearby!)
- Same goes for the dangerous Fen Stalker and their love for fish, dropping which will make them more docile. Carrying a torch at night, meanwhile, can blind these creatures upon an encounter!
- And, no matter how dangerous Fen Stalkers are to adventurers, they will always be happy to see their favorite friends – frogs! They will not only do a little celebratory jumping to mimic their frog friends when they run into them, but Fen Stalkers will also protect frogs in a fight.
- Finally, a true master of stealth… a desert Cactee! Be careful with these guys – they can quickly disguise themselves as of the biome’s many cacti to sneak up on you!
It’s exciting to see that Hytale continued to receive a plenty of updates in the past few months, and with new members on board and active support of the fanbase it will probably continue to do so for many months to come!
