The Isle‘s next development update will focus on a major migration rework, an entomb save feature, and a long list of creature systems moving through testing. The team also shared progress on Austroraptor, several upcoming dinosaurs, new skins, and a large audio pass in the DevBlog #71 Steam announcement.
A different approach to migrations
The migration system is being rebuilt at both the code and player-facing levels. The core idea will remain familiar, but individual players will move around the map instead of every member of a species being called toward one persistent location.
Migration zones will also connect directly to nutrition. Herbivores and omnivores will have specific diets, and eating inside a migration zone will affect how much nutrition they receive and convert. Groups should still be able to stay together, since players may share a group leader’s migration location rather than being separated by their individual zones.
Patrol Zones are part of the same work. The team said they were always intended to serve a purpose beyond acting as another food stop. More details will come after the remaining exploits are addressed.
Entombing will preserve a creature
Entomb Save will give players a special save slot for an animal they have entombed. That means a player can keep the creature’s progress, choose another animal, and return to the stored character later.
There is one very important rule. The feature will only work after the active creature’s life ends through entombment or another form of death. Players will not be able to log out during a creature’s life and swap to something else. If the same species is used while another one is stored, the existing non-replicated creature will be overwritten, though the game will display a warning first.
Austroraptor testing continues
Austroraptor remains a major focus for the QA team as it moves through Horde Testing. The checks cover far more than basic movement and attacks. Developers are testing diets, mutations, object interactions, carrying, abilities, animations, sound, visual effects, balance, and the many edge cases that appear when a new playable creature meets older systems.
Its ability to jump out of the water has created a new group of interactions to verify. The team is checking how that movement behaves alongside other mechanics, including a Deinosuchus attempting to grab a player during a jump.
QA also found issues with hill sliding. Some abilities could still be activated during a slide, including resting and charged attacks such as the Tyrannosaurus crush. These problems are being addressed before the feature reaches the live branch.
The QA workflow has been reorganized, and the team is looking for voluntary testers in EU and AU time zones. Applications are available through the QA application form.
More skins and creature audio
The art team is bringing back several skins from the legacy version of the game. The Four-Eyed Triceratops and Python Omniraptor are among the older designs being worked into the current skin system.
The team is also creating simpler skins for each animal. These designs will use a different construction from the standard defaults, giving players another visual option for their creatures.
The audio team is nearing the end of work on the Camarasaurus and Avaceratops call sets. Camarasaurus has received soothing broadcast and attract calls, a short siren-like danger call, and deeper threat and generic sounds built from animal recordings and processed props. Reverb, delay, and spatial audio are also being adjusted before the creature’s eventual introduction.
Avaceratops’ threaten, broadcast, and generic calls are in their final adjustment phase. Its danger call has an initial design, while the attract call will follow after the remaining vocal variations are balanced. Baryonyx’s subadult sounds are complete, and early recording and source work has started for Spinosaurus.
Animation work moves forward
Avaceratops’ sparring animations are close to internal testing, while Parasaurolophus continues toward completion. Austroraptor can now leap out of water, turn more smoothly across the surface, and make greater use of its killing claws through new animation work.
The animation team is also revising Oviraptor, general sliding, and Triceratops’ directional attacks. Diabloceratops will receive attack changes that shorten its recovery time. Spinosaurus has entered early rig testing as the next playable creature after Parasaurolophus.
The Isle’s latest development plans touch nearly every part of survival, from where creatures find food to how their lives are stored and how they move through the world. Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, and Instagram.
The Isle
Developed by Afterthought Games
