Murrlandia is a great, fractured world that once united various biomes. After the Cat-A-Strophe, some biomes changed, giving rise to new, previously non-existent locations. The Winter Biome is one of these new worlds and has become a key part of our project that our developers are actively working on.

Work on the Winter Biome began at the earliest stages of development. During the prototyping of the visual aspects of the islands, we had numerous sketches of various biomes and experimented with the mood of the locations. Some of these ideas have already been implemented in recent updates, while others require more time for thorough development.
We periodically revisited the Winter Biome and even planned to start its development simultaneously with the Summer Biome. However, we realized that it required more time and attention to achieve the desired level of quality.
For the visual concept of the Winter Biome, we drew inspiration from northern regions with their natural features, adapted for a sky-floating world. The concepts for the Winter Biome included elements of such landscapes but with a magical and mysterious touch characteristic of Murrlandia.

Creating the atmosphere of the Winter Biome through graphics was a challenging but exciting process. Besides the snow covering the ground, we used many new and unique effects. The air temperature in the frosty region affects everything around: clouds become heavier and denser, weather effects change, and sunlight takes on a special hue, creating the feel of a cold winter fairy tale.
The winter islands in the WorldShards universe are part of the overall world, so we prepare a lot of new content and adapt familiar objects that have spent a long time in the new region. On the winter islands, players will encounter familiar Wargs, who have set up their camps and outposts in an unusual environment for them.
We also continue to work on remastering existing content, which will gradually be replaced with higher quality and more detailed versions.

Creating a true winter atmosphere was not an easy task. Simply painting the ground white to create a snow effect was insufficient. We studied the visual impact of snow from the observer's perspective and developed a special shader that gives the snow all the necessary soft shades, regardless of lighting, with a magical shimmer.
The Winter biome will feature corresponding weather effects on certain islands, providing a dynamic and engaging atmosphere for players to explore.
We have a method for creating and testing various weather effects, which we plan to significantly improve in the future. We can't disclose all the details yet, but stay tuned for updates.
One of the most challenging aspects of development was correctly assessing our capabilities and choosing the most important and necessary elements from a multitude of ideas. Each task is a challenge for us, and for each, we learn and apply new knowledge, approaches, and methods.

The development of the Winter Biome continues, and the team eagerly awaits the opportunity to share their achievements with players (trust us, it's coming soon). We continue to improve and develop this cold world so that every player can feel the beauty and magic of the Winter Biome of Murrlandia!

In today’s developer diary, we want to tell you about the path of the Wargs: who they are, how they appeared in the project, and maybe give you some useful gameplay tips. Be sure to read to the end!

For those who don’t know, Wargs are the antagonists in Murrlandia’s story, arriving from a harsh, resource-poor world in search of a new home. Upon discovering the abundant Mana Stones, blue crystals used by the peaceful Meowkles for magic, the Wargs opened a portal to bring their army into Murrlandia. They fortified their position around a massive Mana Stone, led by their ruthless queen. When the Meowkle mages tried to destroy this stone and close the portal, the resulting explosion shattered Murrlandia into thousands of islands and scattered the Mana Stone fragments across the universe. These fragments retained their magical properties, transporting any living creature that touched them back to Murrlandia, thus maintaining a connection between the worlds.

Once we gathered enough assets, we started creating the enemies for the game. We tried different designs until we decided that we wanted the Wargs to look like large, massive wolves and started bringing this idea to life.
Yes, this is how the Wargs looked in the initial stage. There was a lot of work ahead, but we were already on the right track.
We kept working and the Brutes, Rogues, and Recruits were the first to appear in the project. They differ in combat difficulty and hierarchy in the animal army.
The work on the wargs is still ongoing. We are creating new enemies for you so that your gameplay experience becomes more engaging. Check out this serious guy here!
Wargs are smart, wolf-like humanoids. The recruits are their basic soldiers and do a lot of simple jobs. You can find them wandering around wild islands, guarding important places, or staying in camps. If you kill them, they drop valuable items. They have a few basic attacks and are tougher and stronger than big animals.
Warg Rogues are quick and dangerous warriors. They do special missions for the Warg Queen but often hang out on the islands while recruits do the basic work. You can find them roaming the wild islands, guarding important places, or staying in camps. If you kill them, they drop valuable items. They have a few basic attacks and some deadly combos. They are the fastest Wargs and have more health and damage than Warg Recruits.
Warg Brutes are big, heavily armed warriors who lead the groups and give orders. You can find them roaming the wild islands, guarding important places, or staying in camps. If you kill them, they drop valuable items. They have a few basic attacks, deadly combos, and powerful heavy attacks. They are the toughest and strongest Wargs, with more health and damage than Warg Rogues.
Currently, we are mainly working on creating animations in Maya. The main focus is on making the character setup as high-quality as possible, ensuring that all animation elements move naturally and correctly. During setup, it’s important to carefully analyze the characters, imagine the movements they could make, and choose interesting poses according to the concept.
After sketching the animations, we move on to timing the movements to better convey the sense of action. Then, we smooth out the movements, add details, and perfect the animations. Various specialized scripts are actively used in this process, significantly simplifying the work.
Working on animations often involves technical difficulties. Our animators consider the specifics of game engines, the peculiarities of bone animation, and constantly keep optimization and game mechanics in mind.
Use combat consumables in tough or large-scale battles with the Wargs. Remember that meat-based food can heal you in battle. Read the attacks correctly and dodge them, fight the Wargs with appropriate gear and weapons.
Working on the Wargs in the Murrlandia is a process of constant improvements and changes. We strive to create interesting and memorable opponents that make the gameplay exciting and engaging. We hope our players appreciate the effort and attention to detail put into each Warg. And who knows, maybe someone new will show up soon. Only time will tell…