Devlog #8 – River Generation, Rain Effects, and Player Death System

Hello everyone !
This week was packed with technical improvements, performance boosts, and visual/gameplay enhancements in Wildborn. Here’s a full overview of what’s been done

💾 Expanded Save System

• The save system now supports:

  • Persistent world objects and flora.

  • Tracking of previously generated chunks with per-tile saving.

• JSON files are larger but remain performant thanks to HashSet use.

🌧️ Rain, Rivers & Water System

• Improved river generation:

  • Switched from cellular noise to linear Perlin noise for more natural, sinuous rivers.

  • River spawning is now stricter and more localized.

• Added pixel-art rain particle effects, with emission rate tied to actual in-game rainfall intensity.

• Water behavior overhaul:

  • Puddles now appear gradually when rain begins.

  • The soil absorbs water, and puddles fade slowly after the rain stops.

  • Major optimization: only water tiles that visually need updating are refreshed.

  • All water sprites based on neighboring tiles have been implemented for fluid visuals.

🌿 Flora & Ecosystem

• Flora spawning is now deterministic, based on local humidity and individual spawn chances.

• Flora is now forbidden from spawning on river tiles, preventing visual and logical inconsistencies.

🧍 Player Visuals

• Created new resting sprites, which differ depending on whether the player is cold or warm.

• The player’s visual script now dynamically adjusts the sprite based on temperature and rest state.

☠️ Death & Survival

• Introduced the player death system:

  • Players can now die from hypothermia, hyperthermia, hunger, or thirst..

✨ Summary

This week marks a big step toward a more stable, readable, and immersive prototype. The game is now more visually coherent, better optimized, and structurally modular. It sets strong foundations for upcoming features like advanced crafting, building systems, and more complex survival mechanics.