Dragon customisation and gameplay (Patreon)

Fans sometimes ask if there will be more dragon body types than the two shown so far (sometimes labelled "wyvern" and "western dragon"). We've now made some changes to the dragon creator system that would make it possible to remove the back legs too, which allows for two more body types (front legs / no back legs, and no legs at all). It hasn't yet been fully implemented but it's now supported by the system. The implementation might be pushed for later though to focus on the two body types we have for now, but it's good to have the option to expand the selection later.

However, this raises some questions about the effect different body types should have on gameplay. For example, body types with fewer legs might move slower on the ground but more nimbly in the air to compensate for it. Another factor to consider is that if we were to add a grabbing mechanic, then the body type without legs wouldn't be able to grab anything since it doesn't have claws. This also ties into the bigger question of how much the dragon customisation should affect its abilities/stats compared to just being purely visual. Some things are unavoidable (like the grabbing thing, or just physics being different), but there are also some things that can be designed one way or another. For example, we also recently added support for different wing attachment lengths, which could be made to have an effect on the flight characteristics, as well as armoured plates on the underside, which could add extra protection but make the dragon heavier and more sluggish.

The risk with going too far with the stats approach is that players might feel compelled to make dragons that look a certain way because of the stats and not because it's a unique look that they like, which somewhat defeats the purpose of the dragon customisation. Ultimately we will have to see what people prefer once these features are available to try out.