Devlog #5 – Biome Expansion, Savanna and Taiga

Hello everyone!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on several key improvements to Wildborn, focusing on visuals, biome diversity, and gameplay balance. Here’s what’s new:

🌍 New biomes and visual updates
The savanna biome is now complete! It features new ground textures and a new tree sprits, the Acacia, giving this dry and open environment a distinct feel. I inspired myself form the emblematic African Savanna that we can find in Kenya. Right after that, I started work on the Taiga biome, with soft mossy ground and tall Epicea trees. The Epicea sprite took some time to get right, but I’m really happy with how it turned out — it gives the northern forests a dense, immersive atmosphere. I inspired myself from the Taïga we can fin in Canada, Finland or Russia.

🌧️ Better world generation
Extremely humid areas were generating forests so dense they were nearly unplayable. I’ve now adjusted world generation to prevent the player from spawning in those zones, while still keeping them in the game for late-game exploration. This helps preserve a sense of challenge without frustrating early gameplay.

🔥 June prototype update now live
The June prototype update is available right now, alongside this devlog!

It includes all the recent improvements: visual enhancements, biome tweaks, and gameplay adjustments for a smoother and more immersive survival experience.

I’ve also completed the visuals for the taiga biome, which is a forest-heavy environment filled with tall spruce trees. However, this biome won’t appear in the prototype just yet — before adding it, I want to implement a system that makes trees become transparent when the player walks behind them, to avoid blocking visibility during exploration.

Stay tuned for more updates — and as always, thank you for following the development of Wildborn!