The Wilds

GitHub: EvilGeniusGames/TheWildsCreatureExpansion

This week has been about laying the groundwork for The Wild Creature Expansion, the first module in The Wilds mod series for Satisfactory.

• Editor Setup: I’ve got the Unreal Engine 5.3.1 editor and mod tools installed and configured with Alpakit, targeting Satisfactory 1.1 A few false starts, but everything is building and launching cleanly now.
• Asset Prep: I’m working with final FBX assets from ProtoFactor, which include rigs and baked animations. Right now, the goal is to get the first creature imported and rendering properly in the editor.
• Animation System: I’ve started learning Unreal’s animation tools — animation blueprints, state machines, and retargeting. It’s a lot deeper than expected, so there’s a learning curve, but I’m starting to piece things together.
• Unity Viewer: Built a quick Unity scene to preview creatures, textures, and animations to speed up evaluation before doing full Unreal imports.

Initial focus will be on creatures for the Dune Desert biome. One early concept, the Terror Pod, is a swamp ambush creature — it hides underwater with just a flower-like lure showing. At night, its glowing orange vents make it visible, but during the day it’s nearly invisible.

Next week’s goal is to get a creature fully visible and idle in the world — and continue learning the animation pipeline.