The world of the Nebula is full of mysteries and ancient secrets, wrapped up in a lost language that reveals itself only to those who can unravel it. Now those secrets can be explored deeper in a new, limited-run two-part novelisation, which is available right now.
Written by the Writer's Guild award-winning narrative designer of the game, these two full-length novels contain new locations, new characters and new surprises that enrich and embellish the experience of the game - while still providing a sci-fi epic that can be enjoyed by newcomers to the world of the Nebula.
And, yes, the books contain lots of Ancient, including two full-page translations which are left for the reader to unravel for themselves!
For the last year, we've been exploring the Nebula once again, in a full-length novelisation of the game.
And it's nearly done! Split into two ~300 page volumes by the game's award-winning writer, it adapts the IGF-worthy narrative into an archaeological mystery adventure that ranges from the slums of Elboreth to the dusty moons of the Singing Wastes and the lush forests of the Sanctuary.
The year is AD 673. Camelot has fallen. Sir Mordred is due to meet Arthur on the fields of Camlann, and Arthur will surely die. Who can keep the dream of Camelot alive?
Pendragon is our next step forward in the world of highly-interactive narrative. An epic Arthurian adventure, Pendragon is a strategy board-game that writes its narrative turn-by-turn around your actions you take. Will you step forward courageously, or cautiously retreat? Will you sacrifice one knight to save another? Will you flee, or triumph? Every move you and the enemy makes driven the narrative forward, one instant at a time - and what happens in the narrative unlocks new possibilities in the gameplay.
No two games of Pendragon are ever the same, and with a huge cast of characters to find and unlock, each with their own stories to tell, we think it's shaping up to be something really special.
We've been thrilled this week to pick up not one but two award nominations for Heaven's Vault...
PC Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick awards
RPG of the Year at the TIGA awards
Both are pretty competitive lists, so we're honoured to be included.
The Joysticks are a popular vote, so if you felt like expressing your opinion, you can do so here.
Meanwhile, we're also updated the game with the usual round of story fixes and language tweaks. Thanks to everyone who sent feedback.
Lastly, if you want more of Heaven's Vault, we recently announced that we'll be coming to another platform - a handheld one, run by a pretty well-known Japanese company - early next year.
Here's a snippet, appropriately enough, translated by a machine a person who read this. Thank you!
Delicate, grandiose, and organic, this archaeological adventure on the borders of a fictional galaxy places the video game on par with science fiction masters...
...During fifteen hours of play, we leave our earthly body and soul, swept up in the dreamlike music of Laurence Chapman and the breathtaking puzzle that articulates and unfolds as we progress and discover, manifesting a model of coherent narrative that is rarely achieved.
Update: ... secrets ... words ... for translation ... pauper!
When we released Heaven's Vault we thought people might play through the game once, maybe twice to see how the story changes itself around what you do.
... But players are dedicated. Really dedicated. And many are on their sixth or seventh play-through - and our language system is giving them translations to crack that are seriously long.
So today we've released an update specifically to make long translations more fun to play. That means two small changes with big impacts:
You can now exit an incomplete translation at any time (no more fussing with little words)
Aliya no longer removes guesses from long, unfinished translations before using them in the story
... together, this means even when you're translating something much longer than you can crack, it should feed back into the story in more interesting ways.
We've also expanded the dictionary. ("Increased the level cap".)
Also new in this version:
confirmation before leaving a moon by walking back to the ship (no more falling off Elboreth by accident)
a significant find for plot-minded people
... and we've taught a Certain Royal Person a lot more mean words. Enjoy, wretch.
(There's the useful round of typos and fixes; thanks to everyone who reported them.)
The distant past awaits!
Translation update!
A new build of Heaven's Vault is now live! This update brings a small but powerful new feature that we'd love your feedback on: building up words from smaller words.
With the update, Aliya can now "guess" a new word if it's made from two words she already knows or has guesses for. So no more getting stuck with words you can read and she can't...
There's also the usual round of minor story fixes and tweaks.
New update to Heaven's Vault is all things that are hard to spot, so here's what you (won't) see on playing:
The big one is the balance: towards the mid-to-late game on some runs, when the map starts to get very broad, we've found the game being a little reluctant to provide the key artefacts that open up new sites to visit. This update tweaks the balance to make key artefacts more frequent if you're looking for somewhere new to explore.
Tl;dr, if in doubt; get a drink with Timor; show your stuff to Tapi; or talk to Huang - we've made them more helpful in tight corners: assuming you can keep them on side, of course...
We've also added:
- more words of Ancient, and some more long phrases, particularly for those into their third / fourth runs
- lots and lots and lots of little story fixes, polish, and specifics. Thanks to everyone who emailed in!
"...a game of quietly forceful consequence.... the way Heaven’s Vault builds its sense of meaning and magnitude will stay with you far longer than the latest apocalyptic zombie-popper."
Livestream happening here - new Demo out now!
As part of LudoNarrativeCon happening right here on Steam this weekend, we'll be hosting a live stream here on Steam, playing the game and talking about its design and secrets. Come join us at 10am-1pm Pacific Time on Friday!
And if you can't wait that long, why not check out our new free demo, with sees Aliya and Six exploring the mysterious ruins of the Withering Palace...
Otherwise, why not check out this new review from Paste that calls the game "remarkable" and "astonishing"...
Heaven’s Vault also has an astonishing level of self awareness given its subject material. As an academic study, archaeology is rife with colonialist narratives, and the game manages to subvert that by using it not as a means to exploit another culture, but rather, to inform the deductive reasoning skills needed to investigate and dismantle an existing power structure. The game also tackles a lot of related subjects, from capitalism and labor issues, to disability, slavery, free will, conspicuous wealth, interventionism, complicity, privilege, tech-enabled exploitation, and ethical resource allocation. And it does so in a way that is not designed to always make the player feel comfortable. In that sense, Heaven’s Vault actually contradicts a lot of what I learned in anthropology class, despite how authentic the linguistic decoding process may seem.
(But if that seems too serious, here's the Yogcast instead.)
Minor updates!
Just a small update to Heaven's Vault today:
- Six will now sail you all the way to a moon if you've been there before
- Added a confirmation step to hoppering away from a moon after Six asks you
- lots of minor story improvements, thanks for all who emailed in
Meanwhile, here's the delightful chaps at the Staying In Podcast discussing many things, including Heaven's Vault!
