It's been a while since the last update but after the holidays we had to sit down and plan our work for 2020, so we could bring you new and fresh updates.
Expect new stuff coming to the beta soon. We'll add more audio assets, improve balance, progression, and add more UX features!
For all Beta Testers here - we've enabled cloud save, so you can check and test it before the new build.
Last but not least, take a look at the newest video comparing two tactical approaches - Stealth vs Loud:
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and remember, a well-hidden hunter is a living hunter!
Join our Stream on Twitch!
Hey Hunters,
Join our Sunday #ChillStream on Twitch now: https://www.twitch.tv/shockworkgames and ask us anything!
However, if you won't manage to make it today, but would like to see some of the Alder's Blood gameplay, just pick one of the videos being recorded recently by cool YouTubers out there!
Hey guys, Shockworks here with a report of probably the biggest update to Alder’s Blood yet!
Since we are done with the “guts” of the game we can finally slow down and look at the details of Alder’s Blood, talk with the community about their experience and polish the game.
One of the aspects that we felt was something still needing changes was monsters AI. If you played for at least a few hours, you could quickly find a way to abuse the system and instead of playing a stealth game you would play a hit and run game.
I’m not gonna lie, that we were really scared to change that so far into the development of the game, but we took the risk...and it was totally worth it!
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The question remains: how does it work now? When a hunter walks into the vision cone of an enemy he will immediately stop now and the monster reactions start. This can be a free attack for the monster or an alarming scream, it depends on which monster spotted the hunter.
But wait, there’s more! Remember how pebbles work? Hunter can throw them to change the direction of the monster, god for cleaning up movement lines right? Well, now every sound will trigger the same reaction.
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In practice, you will have to be way more careful with any firearm within the game. As it can be as deadly to the monster as to your hunter.
These two things changed the way you play Alder’s Blood quite dramatically, but only for the better. You need to be more careful with what you do, use your gear way more and try to look for creative ways of dealing with dangerous situations.
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Want an example? Here you go!
Here we have a Brawler, quite a strong enemy, more than capable of trashing a single hunter all on his own. We know we won’t be able to bring him down with one shot of the rifle and by shooting we will trigger a reaction. But we have some traps equipped, so let’s use them. First, let’s place the traps between our gunner and the monster and then open fire. The Brawler takes some damage, then tries to attack the hunter and walks right into the trap!
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We are really happy with how the system evolved and we hope you will like it as well. If you are a Backer with the Beta access, you will have the chance to test it very very soon.
If you want to help us and make Alder’s Blood a successful game, wishlist it on Steam!
Thank you, Your Shockworks
Make Alder's Blood an Indie of the Year!
Hey Hunters,
If you like our game, help us get to the top 100 and compete with other indies for "2019 Indie of the Year" title.
Though, that's not all for today. We wanted to also invite you to join our stream tomorrow at 8 p.m. CET / 11 a.m. PST. Note that date and time in your calendars, as this stream is worth joining. We'll show you the new Beta enhancements, this time (almost) bug-free! 🐛🐞⚔️
After the stream, we will edit this post and link to a recorded broadcast, so you don't have to worry if you miss it.
Edit:
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See you there!
Changes in AI behaviors
Hey Hunters,
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As the video shows, we have lately enriched the game with new AI behaviors. From now on, the monster will react immediately after hearing a sound, making no place for mistakes. Stay in shadows and try to make as little noise as possible.
Ready to hunt?
DevLog: Corruption
No, it’s not going to be about politics, but… a character progression in Alder’s Blood! ;)
Yup, we have this thing called Corruption in our game and we didn’t think we should talk too much about it, but it’s a pretty big mechanic in the game, so I think it deserves its own DevLog.
If you followed us for some time you probably know that it’s the decaying corpse of God that is responsible for all the troubles in the grim world of Alder’s Blood. Our hunters are the only ones capable of getting rid of this problem as they are the closest creatures to their deceased Father...but it’s also their weakness.
Since they are so close to their god, they are also more vulnerable to its corrupting power. With time it wearies down a hunter, or can even drive him mad as the beasts he once hunted.
How does it translate to gameplay? Hunters gather corruption points as they:
take part in missions,
attack monsters directly (poison or bleeding doesn’t count!),
take damage from monsters,
use magic or corrupted weapons and items.
When a threshold is breaching during a mission a hunter will gain a negative trait. This may result in decreased maximum health or stamina, or worse performance in camping tasks.
The corruption grows in hunters with time, quicker in more aggressive hunters. How can you counter it? You can’t. Once the corruption level is too high, the hunter can go mad and attack its own crew. Not only you will lose that hunter, but others may get hurt.
The only real option for you is to use a sacrifice ritual. Hunters know that they are not invincible, so they can choose to forfeit their lives to strengthen the younger generation. A more leveled up hunter is also a hunter with higher corruption, by using the sacrifice mechanic a portion of experience can be transferred to a recruit to start fresh. The trick is to know when the time comes to leave the hunting grounds.
This is quite a gloomy mechanic, but also a one that should prevent players from losing too much progress with the death of the more elite fighters. We hope you will like this idea.
That’s all for today and see you in the next one!
Today we'll talk about music, SFX and audio voice-overs for Alder's Blood
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Hey hey! Mike here with another DevLog for Alder’s Blood. There were a lot of things happening and I mean A LOT! The biggest thing was a successful Kickstarter campaign and all that comes with it.
Probably the best of these things were all the new audio assets we were able to record for the game. And, oh boy, there is some to look at..or to hear at? Anyway, what did we get recently?
Another package of SFX for abilities, UI, etc. We are still missing some of them, but we are close to have almost every sound in this field. The new effects sounds great, my favs are probably the flash grenade effect and the effect for entering hunter sense. I cannot stress enough how happy I am with all these SFX, so I wanna do a quick shout out to the creator of these Chris Kowal https://www.facebook.com/kowalkrzysiek/
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We also get us some more music scores for Alder’s Blood. Thanks to David Obaniyi and Moritz Sebastian Karzewski we now have twice that much music now! Two more scores for the “strategy layer” and another piece for the tactical missions.
And last but not least we also have voice acting! Yep, the whole tutorial is now voiced and we also have some very short lines for the NPC conversations! Take a look!
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All of these things combined increased the production value of the game tremendously! The effect is great and awesome and I just love it. Seriously, I’m super hyped for these additions and I just hope you will like them as well.
And since the closed beta is now on, at least some of you can experience all of that yourself! For those of you who hadn’t pledge on our Kickstarter, do not worry! There's a stream where I explained most of the recent changes.
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Ok, guys, it’s all for today. Keep warm and see you on a new one!
Release your imagination, take part in the fun and win a digital copy of Alder's Blood game!
GOOD LUCK!
Join our Newsletter! Closed Alpha in progress!
Hey Hunters,
We've finally managed to have a stable Newsletter, so in case you'd like to join it, here's the link: https://mailchi.mp/ee600a3d5b6f/aldersblood. Thanks to that, you'll be always up-to-date with all the news from grim and dark Alder's Blood world. Also, it is worth mentioning that we will be sending out Beta keys through our newsletter to all the backers with the beta access reward, so if you're one of them, make sure to join us there!
Closed Alpha tests are in progress!
Today we gave access to all Alpha Werewolves here to our closed alpha on Steam. In case you're a backer with alpha access reward, please check your Kickstarter inbox and redeem your key on Steam! We will be carefully listening to your feedback and preparing patches based on your suggestions and ideas.
