The overhaul will release for free to all players once its stage of competion matches Hammerheart's current state. The game will then remain in early access, and it'll be continually updated until full release.
Hammerheart
Development News | Overhaul Progress Update
The overhaul will release for free to all players once its stage of competion matches Hammerheart's current state. The game will then remain in early access, and it'll be continually updated until full release.
Development News | Overhaul Progress Update
The weapon types have all been made and animated, and thanks to the physics-based hit detection the different weapon types feel very distinct to one another and there are different skills to using them. In the future there are going to be different weapons within each type with cosmetic and statistical differences (ie Gilded Type S Sword, Inlaid Type G Winged Spear), but the main weapon types are as follows:
- Spears (Stabbing)
- Long Spears (Stabbing, two-handed only, penetrates mail)
- Javelins (Projectile, knocks shields, penetrates mail)
- Swords (Cutting or stabbing)
- Axes (Cutting, knocks shields)
- Long Axes (Cutting, two-handed only, knocks shields, penetrates mail)
- Seaxes (Stabbing)
- Langseaxes (Stabbing, penetrates mail)
- Bows (Projectile)
Other character options that affect fighting are:
- Height (Affects exposed target areas)
- Dominant hand (Affects all combat animations and footing, thus changing the exposed target areas)
- Helmets (Various shapes and sizes, covered part of head is immune to all weapons)
- Mail (Covered part of body is immune to most weapons)
- Shields (Various sizes, immune to all weapons but can be knocked out of the character's hand)
The overhaul will also grant players the much-requested ability to pick any weapon or shield up from the ground. Friendly AI characters will also pick up their weapons and shields if they've dropped or thrown them, given it's safe to do so. Both the fighting and command aspects of the overhaul have much more depth than their counterparts in the current version of Hammerheart.
The implementation of character customization is also complete:
As are the graphics and control settings:
So, what's next? I'm committed to a hard release of the Hammerheart Overhaul, but it's very important that it's tested and iterated on as early as possible so that the release goes as smoothly as possible. With this in mind, I will soon be releasing a test branch that any owners of Hammerheart can play, which will be constantly updated with the latest version of the Hammerheart Overhaul as it progresses. When it's complete, the test branch will be removed and the Hammerheart Overhaul will replace the current version Hammerheart as the main download. There are a few more features that need to be complete before the early version is released on the test branch:
- Encounter progression
- Inventory / encounter rewards system
- Out-of-encounter loadout and party management
- Basic map generation
I'm aiming to have these features complete this month, and when they're done the test branch will be made available to all owners of Hammerheart. I'm very excited to hear your feedback, and as always I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
Early Access Build 22.04.25.1
Changes in build 21.12.17.1:
- Fixed game-breaking bug which caused the game to freeze when trying to open certain UI menus.
If you encounter any bugs big or small during your time playing Hammerheart, please report them via the feedback channel in the official discord here. Work also continues on the Hammerheart total overhaul, the most ambitious update yet. Coming soon for free to all players, read more about it in this post.
Development News | Major Overhaul Coming Soon
It's been quiet lately, what's been going on behind the scenes? Over the past several months, I've been rebuilding Hammerheart from the ground up for a more dynamic, immersive and replayable experience.
Since its inception in 2019, Hammerheart's primary objective has been to immerse players in an authentic depiction of Viking age Britain. My programming skills and game design knowledge have improved massively since then, and earlier this year I decided that the best way to deliver Hammerheart's main objective would be with a complete overhaul. This has required a lot of planning and a total redesign of even the most fundamental mechanics, with special care taken to preserve the features and themes core to the current Hammerheart experience.
Meanwhile, new music made specifically for Hammerheart by Tyler Cline has been implemented in the latest Hammerheart build 22.04.21.2. I will continue to fix bugs in the current version of Hammerheart, and the overhaul will release in the future as a free update for all players.
So, what can you expect in the future overhaul?
A Third Dimension
As you might notice from the screenshots, the camera has changed to a third-person angle attached to the player character's shoulder. As well as turning horizontally, you'll be able to look up and down to target different areas of your opponents with your weapon and avoid their shield. Every melee weapon will have at least two different attacks and damage is based on exactly where the weapon hits. Hills are now a possibility and complex terrain will be a much more significant factor for your success in encounters.
Command Mode
The slowed-time command mode is set to stay in Hammerheart, and the camera will pan to look down from the sky when you enter command mode.
Damage and Death
Hammerheart will retain its roguelike elements - the encounters will still be procedurally generated and death will be permanent. Damage, however, is becoming slightly more conventional. Like many other games you'll have a health bar, and upon being hit you'll start bleeding and the health bar will deplete (as well as the damage you take immediately from the hit). You can stop the bleeding without using a resource, but it will require you to stand still without the ability to attack for a set amount of time. Management of injuries during encounters adds another layer to the tactical aspect of Hammerheart.
Character Customization
Unlockable cosmetic items will stay with you even after death. You can customize your height, weight, gender, hair, clothes and more! With the improved level of detail required for the new 3D perspective, the characters in Hammerheart will also have eyes.
Much, Much More
This overhaul will bring Hammerheart to its full potential. It's still active in development, and progress will be posted on the various Hammerheart social media channels: linktr.ee/hammerheartgame. I'm very excited to announce this new beginning to you, and can't wait for you to play!
Early Access Build 21.12.17.1
Changes in build 21.12.17.1:
- Fixed bug which caused Hakon and Wiglaf to kill the enemy in the tutorial.
- Reduced default freedom of movement for troops upon starting an encounter to reduce UI clutter for new players.
- Added red indicators that show when enemies are approaching from offscreen. These compliment the directional horn sounds to give players a better idea of how to assemble their troops.
- Reworked weapon dropping: Instead of being automatically requipped in the next encounter, dropped weapons are now added to the inventory for a clearer and more intuitive inventory experience. This does not apply to thrown weapons.
- Added UI notification for dropped weapons.
- Added perk: Crampons - Allows the entire party to walk normally across all terrain.
- Doubled lifespan of dropped loot.
- Reset demo timers.
Welcome to all the new players who have joined since SplatterCatGaming's video. It's an honour to have you on board to experience how the game progresses.
Development News | Plans for Winter
Yesterday was the biggest day in Hammerheart's history with even more players getting on board than launch day. This was of course because of SplatterCatGaming's review which I'm very thankful for, and to all the new players I would like to say welcome! I'm honoured to have you here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6jBBQYT7_I
The video and its comment section both contain a lot of great ideas which strengthen the feedback Hammerheart has received across various other channels. The community feedback as a whole has made me think more about the mid-term and long-term goals for Hammerheart which had remained unchanged since the Early Access release... Until now.
As you can see on the Trello roadmap, there are now plans for major changes to the game loop, which include a grid-based overworld map which players can navigate to choose encounters. Terrain, enemy and reward types will all be visible on the map, and players will be able to choose which encounters to take based on their priorities.
As with other smaller features, this massively compliments the future addition of new locations like Norway and Brunanburh, which will inevitably have different distributions of terrain and enemy types, and additional game mechanics. Smaller features suggested by the community are being added too; the next update will include the start of a UI rework which will help the player to identify where enemies are approaching from off-screen.
I'm very excited to have you all on board at this important time in Hammerheart's development. You are more than welcome to get in touch on the Discord server, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to stay aware of the game's progress.
Development News | Early Access Build 21.10.26.1
Changes in build 21.10.26.1:
- New aggressive enemy type added that targets the player specifically. This enemy wears mail, a helmet and a cloak for easy identification.
- Changed Snorri's behaviour to aggressive.
- Added at least one aggressive enemy to each wave of the boss room.
- Added new perk: Holy Water - Instantly heals all injuries in your party.
- Enemy armour now deflects attacks in the same way as friendly armour does, instead of providing a stat bonus.
- Added an additional perk selection opportunity after the first four encounters.
- Fixed a bug which caused fewer perk options to show if the first perk selected was Ironside.
Special thanks to everyone who has joined since the last update! The Norway expansion is still in the works, but instead of waiting for an extended period of time to release it, we have decided to go back to small updates being published regularly while work continues on the new map. We hope you are happy with this decision, and as always we are happy to hear your feedback on the Hammerheart Discord server.