Crocuzko Island! 2019-06-11 11:00

Crocuzko Island (also called Tortoise Island) is part of the Archipelago of Scales. Found to the west of Otomai, you've already been able to set foot there before on another part of the archipelago – Crocatan Island – during the quest for the Ebony Dofus.

You've got it: The archipelago is inspired by the pre-Colombian period, populated by a lost civilization of Crocodyls.

We said civilized, but we never said they were welcoming!
 

As far as decor is concerned, it was essential to remain consistent throughout the archipelago while offering a different experience from what had already been done on Crocatan or Orado Island (which is not present in Dofus but Dofus Touch). The idea was to take another look at the elements of Crocotan – swamps and temples – but to adapt them in a much darker atmosphere. Crocuzko Island is under a curse that plunged it into an eternal, starless night and made all its inhabitant albino. We also wanted to make the most of the crocos to create an area that's one part submerged, the other exposed.

A little research about the atmosphere and decor elements:

In the center of the island: the city of Crocuzko, its temples, its moonlight sacrifices…

At the foot of the city: dive into the depths of the swamp. Warning: swimming not supervised!

Revamp of the Dreggon Peninsula

Dreggon Village is a symbolic place in the World of Twelve, but one that wasn't emphasized. What's more, there were several problems in the area:

• Graphically, the underground and sanctuary areas were more than antiquated – the designers call that the "DOFUS 2.0 style", which means that the area hasn't been altered for the last 51 patches, and some of the decor elements even date back to Dofus 1… Visually, they're also too similar to each other to know where you are at a glance (if you've already spent an hour touring the sanctuary in search of a named Dreggon before you realize they live in the underground part, you know what I'm talking about…).
• From a level design point of view, accessing the underground area was split between the various inside parts of the village, and navigating within the area was difficult.
• Finally, regarding game design, the family contained more than 20 creatures (not to mention the named ones and the archmonsters), from level 60 to 120 and mixed up across the three sub-areas with a less-than-logical distribution.

Long story short, it was time to give it a good dusting off!

Project No. 1: Reorganize the Areas and Families

We started with three distinct areas, each with its own associated family.

• The peninsula is remaining the same and will host the first family of Dreggons at level 70.
  The base monsters are Dreggons. The "immature" and "awake" stages are no longer present as such on the peninsula but are possible evolutions in combat.
• The village, its interior areas, and underground areas located directly beneath the village will host the second family at level 100 – the Dragosses. Once again, it's a slight simplification between those that are awake and the others to limit the number of different monsters within the family.
• The sanctuary, located in a deeper area, is inhabited by the third family at level 120 – the Dreggon warriors, wings and all… still with Crocabulia as their boss in her dungeon.

Project No. 2: Graphical Revamp of the Underground and Sanctuary Areas

Early research is aimed at greater graphical consistency with the outside areas of the peninsula (which were more recently revamped), but which resembled the inside of Sidimote-style mines too much:

 

After finding the right combination between the various grounds, bridges and depths, several tests involving hues and atmospheres were necessary before reaching the final result:

Before & After Result:
 

Project No. 3: More Content!

New areas mean new dungeons! Two new low-level dungeons are appearing in the areas that don't have any – the peninsula and the village. For the occasion, the reconstituted families are being given two new guardians.
 

You might wonder where the graphic designers got their inspiration for this "Mother of Dreggons"…
 

Get ready to experience the new content, soon on DOFUS!