Slowly but steadily, we’re getting closer to the halfway mark of the Kickstarter campaign in general, and its goal in particular. Today, thanks to your support, we’ve reached 36% of our goal and enlisted 263 official sin slayers to our ranks.
There are 17 more days in the campaign, and endless battles with demons in the near future! Let’s gather our strength, raise the Sin Slayers banners, and tell everyone in our favorite social media networks that Sin is coming!
The chosen heroic souls will gather in the world between worlds and together we will lift the Valley’s curse.
Now let’s see how our social goals are doing:
Thanks to your activities on Steam, Youtube, Twitch and Twitter, you’ve earned 15 points and unlocked the first social award!
A special additional logo with the nicknames or real names of our Kickstarter backers! This logo will be prominently displayed in the main menu for everyone to see. Names on the logo will constantly change, so everyone will have their moment.
Keep up the good work, guys! Continue to spread the word about Sin Slayers and we’ll be able to unlock even more cool in-game stuff!
KS Update #13 — The Portal of Worlds
«Ancient legend says that every sinful soul will be condemned to wander the world between worlds for eternity. But the souls of worthy heroes will one day arrive. Only these chosen ones will be able to undo the Valley’s curse, save themselves, and free the thousands of other cursed souls.»
The Blind Elder, the sole inhabitant of the Old Church, told the heroes a horrible story about the Valley’s curse, a doom that imprisoned thousands of souls in this dark world forever. There is one way to escape, but only the worthy will succeed.
This world has become a prison for sinful souls. The only way out is an ancient portal, sealed by unknown forces thousands of years ago. Since then, the Valley has been steadily filled with sinful souls from thousands of worlds. Demons, bandits, monsters, beastmen and other creatures grow in number day by day.
Legend says the portal can only be opened once the seals of sin have been destroyed, and each seal is protected by a fearsome guardian, a Sin Lord.
«There will be no escape while the seals are intact and their guardians live. Seven huge monsters. Seven embodiments of deadly sin. Seven horrifying battles on the road to salvation.»
What awaits our heroes at the end of their grim and bloody road? Freedom for their souls? New challenges? Are you absolutely sure that you’re the chosen ones?
KS Update #12 — Sinners’ rewards
Hello everyone!
Today we will discuss in detail all the available rewards for supporting Sin Slayers on Kickstarter. Among the pledge tiers you will find many unique items, opportunities to design in-game elements, and other ways to leave your mark on the game world and influence development.
Let’s check it out:
Digital copy of the game
The simplest tier. You’ll get a copy of the game on final release on the platform of your choice.
Beta Access
You’ll get access to the beta version of Sin Slayers, which we will be making available a little before the full release. This means you will be a pathfinder in the Valley of Fallen Sinners.
Digital artbook
You’ll receive a digital version of the Sin Slayers art book. The art book will tell you the story of the game’s creation and in-game lore, and show off the setting and visual style of the game - all in the form of professional illustrations, concept art and sketches.
Digital soundtrack
You’ll get the complete Sin Slayers soundtrack, from the game’s main theme to battle tracks and safehouse music.
Unique in-game item, chosen by backers
Anyone who supports the project will be able to cast their vote. The results will determine which exclusive item backers will receive. This artifact will have its own backstory, design, characteristics and special properties.
Name in credits
When your legendary squad slays the last demon on your way to salvation and the main campaign ends (... or not?), you’ll see your name in the end credits as a contributor to the creation of the game world.
Digital postcards and wallpapers
You’ll get a set of digital images for the desktop and stylized postcard art. You can print these out if you like, and send them to your loved ones to show off your adventures in the world between worlds.
Letter from the developers
The whole development studio will gather at a large round table and write many warm words of gratitude for you (in the best traditions of sinful souls. :) )
Create your own item and description
Come up with the name and history of an in-game item that every Sin Slayer can find, buy or create. The item will feature a unique backstory written by you, a record in the bestiary, and name of its creator. Always dreamed of a two-handed sword created in your honor? Your moment has come!
Design an enemy
This award includes a warm and cozy conversation with our character artist. You will describe to him the opponent of your dreams, tell his story, and together create a uniquely cursed enemy that every Sin Slayers will be able to meet. Your name will be immortalized after your hideous creation tears their squad to bloody shreds.
Design an NPC for the Old Church
You and our artist will collaborate to create a unique NPC to huddle in the safety of the Old Church’s walls. A squad of heroes will have to find this NPC in their travels and bring him to a safe place. The soul of the character will be forever grateful to you and other players who rescue them.
Design a unique combat location
Sin Slayers is a game where you’ll spend the majority of your time in combat. What could be better than a combat location thought up by you for players to show off their tactical skills? The background will be drawn by our artist according to the description you provide.
Design an entire area
How about creating your own area in the Sin Slayers setting? You will come up with the design, history and appearance of an entire new area for players to explore. Our artist will give life to your idea and give many heroes the opportunity to die and die again in the area invented by you.
Design a quest
Our game designer will contact you and together you will create the quest of your dreams. Kill 10 wolves, gather 5 stones, deliver this parchment to the barkeep - we hope you come with something better than this! :) Craft a story to become the basis of the quest, and we will add it to the game. Every traveler through the Valley of Fallen Sinners will have the opportunity to undertake your task.
Your logo on the loading screen
Want to see your own mark, personal logo or digital signature on the loading screen of the game? We’re offering that chance! By pledging this tier, you will give everyone who enters the Valley of Fallen Sinners an opportunity to see your company logo.
All future DLCs
This reward may be very simple, but we think it’s very interesting too: you will receive all future game DLCs, even if they’re so large we need another Kickstarter campaign to implement them. :)
Exclusive kickstarter quest (3 levels)
Everyone will be able to participate in this in-game quest. You will become one of the souls listed in the lost “Book of Sinners”. This item will be available in-game for players to find, and will list all backers who pledged at this tier.
Participation in the quest is divided into 3 levels:
Name in book
Name in the book and the stylized history of your sin
Name in the book, the stylized history of your sin and your stylized in-game image
Party with developers
Party with us! You travel to us, we treat you with pizza and stories about the development of the game. The most important thing in this award is memories and a bunch of photos!
KS Update #11 — Combat areas
Hello everyone!
Today, let’s talk about Sin Slayers’ combat areas. The Valley of Fallen Sinners is divided into several locations, each with its own landscape, monsters and unique design. The Valley is filled with fetid swamps, black caves, mysterious forests, dungeons, cemeteries, and more. In each location you’ll have to overcome innumerable enemies. In order to make each fight spectacular and memorable, we’ve hand drawn many different combat backgrounds, and are continuing to add more all the time.
First step: sketch. He’s trying to imagine where enemies might jump out at you. Combat areas must always reflect the distinct location the player is traveling through. In these first sketches, we’re showcase unique landscapes, so the player can see right away where he is.
Second step: colors and atmosphere. We’re preserving the atmosphere of dark fantasy throughout every element of the game, especially with regard to the “mood” of the combat areas. In each background, we strive to add interesting and memorable elements. That’s the reasoning behind the blue luminous crystals, contrasting with the dull, earthy tones of the caves, deep dungeons, shadowed forests and bleak deserts. These details don’t directly affect gameplay, but do come together to generate the right mood during combat.
Step three: details! Small, and perhaps unnecessary at first glance, little details can liven up any scene or location. For example, an abandoned tavern will be littered with empty bottles and barrels, broken tables and smashed chairs; graveyards will welcome you with ransacked graves and smashed-in crypts. Every detail tells a little story for the player to interpret for himself. About, for example, a band of goons who got drunk and destroyed a tavern, or a gang of degenerate graverobbers.
A few statistics before we wrap up our update: The Kickstarter campaign as of now has gathered 38% of the initial funding goal thanks to 242 backers. Thank you! We’ll continue to work hard and update you with more interesting stories and information about Sin Slayers, so stay tuned!
KS Update #10 — Sounds of a sinful world
Today we’ll share some facts about Sin Slayers’ music and the talented people behind it. Special thanks to Peter Salnikov for the cool tracks and interesting Q&A Twitter thread @blessmepadre
References for the Sin Slayers soundtrack came from games like Diablo, Surviving Mars, and films like ‘Total Recall’ and ‘Star Troopers’. These varied sources of inspiration are very easy to explain: we tried to preserve an eclectic feel both in the game’s visuals and music.
“Sometimes it happens that an echo of some favorite piece arises in the work itself. We once made a track for a cave map, and when the main section was finished, I suddenly realized it reminded me of The Who’s ‘Eminence Front’,” said Peter Salnikov.
Composers used ‘a digital synth chorus and recorded voices in several harmonic versions’.
“In your mind: I want to roar like a Viking before a battle! In reality: you’re standing in your pajamas first thing in the morning, screaming into the microphone you use for podcasts. In the afternoon trailer, that sound is already out,” said Peter Salnikov.
We recorded the music right before publication of the Kickstarter trailer. Later, a modified version became the battle theme. It takes about two weeks to record one track. The work could be completed faster, but after an active production process it becomes more difficult to separate the good from the bad. Composition and recording takes the least amount of time in this process. The bigger effort involves the balance of volume and panning, the placement of instruments relative to the listener.
Peter Salnikov also says it isn’t possible to just create the music and be done with it. As the developers of Sin Slayers, we regularly send updated game builds for Peter to check how the music interacts with real gameplay.
“Sin Slayers has changed the global map concept several times. At first there was a kind of mosaic; now an animated hero is walking around. Looking at the ratio of music to movement on screen, we initially decided everything was overly rhythmic. Then the in-game animation changed, and the music started to feel more organic. You probably never pay attention to this, but when something other than the cursor moves on the screen, it changes almost everything,” said Peter Salnikov.
After work on the composition is complete, the composer listens to it on various devices: different headphones, speakers, headsets, and so on. “We call it ‘shit control’,” added Salnikov. The composer’s job is to equalize the music across all devices it will be played on.
“Because of my work on the Sin Slayers soundtrack, I don’t play Sekiro and thank God for that,” said Peter Salnikov.
KS Update #9 — Village plague
The Valley of Fallen Sinners is filled with many mysterious and mystical places. The abandoned village of Envy is one of them. No one knows exactly what happened in the village, or why everyone left. Only one thing is certain: this tiny settlement is the home of the plague of madness. This infection crawls into the souls of sinners, leaving those it claims evil and greedy, obsessed with murder and robbery.
On a journey through the damned village, our heroes will find clues about the origins of the plague and the person behind it. The Plague Alchemist is agile and cunning, a dangerous opponent for an unprepared squad.
Potions, elixirs and poisons are his specialty. Poisoned daggers, insane minions, and his own weapon skills will present a grave threat to your squad. His alchemical talents would be the stuff of legend, if anyone had ever survived his company to tell the tale.
Local bandits and intoxicated souls have joined the Plague Alchemist’s ranks. Now they’re even crazier than before, and you can see their piercing eyes from afar. You will have to defeat all his subordinates before you reach the mastermind.
Will you be able to save the village from disease and death?
KS Update #8 — A hidden surprise...
Hello everyone!
Today we want to tell you about a secret we’ve hidden away in Sin Slayers: The First Sin. Our team spent thousands of hours playing the Dark Souls series and we, like most players, remember one extraordinary monster - a damned treasure chest that means death for the inattentive hero.
We unanimously agreed that he’s a perfect fit for the world of Sin Slayers, so we created our own version of The Mimic. The Mimic is one of the lower demons, but still very dangerous. Merging himself with a dusty old chest, he lays in wait for greedy adventurers. If the player kills the Mimic, loot absorbed by the monster will disappear, but if you exorcise the demon the treasure will be yours for the taking.
Stay tuned for more news about new gameplay mechanics, enemies, heroes, and other new additions!
And don’t forget to tell your friends on your favorite social networks that you backed our project on Kickstarter. :)
KS Update #7 — Four thousand sinners
As you know, yesterday we released a demo version of Sin Slayers on Steam.
This was a very exciting moment for us. We couldn’t even decide who should push the sacred green button until the last few minutes before deadline. Four minutes after launch, our statistics skyrocketed. Sin Slayers: The First Sin was being downloaded, reviews were being written every minute, and players were joining our Discord server to share bug reports, discuss gameplay mechanics, and just to thank us for making the prologue available.
With the iron still hot, we began stomping out bugs and have already released a hotfix. You can check out all fixes on Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1057690/announcements/detail/2565272236240566090
Now let’s talk numbers. In the first 24 hours, the demo was downloaded more than 4,000 times! Sin Slayers wishlist entries increased by almost a thousand. Our game was streamed almost non-stop and so many Youtube videos were posted, we couldn’t even manage to watch them all. :)
Campaign status at the moment: 18% of the initial funding goal with 191 bakers. Thank you!
Don’t forget to tell your friends about the project and share Sin Slayers news on your favorite social networks!
Update #6 — Sin Slayers The First Sin is already out!
Hello everyone!
The wait is finally over, now everyone can journey through the Valley of the Fallen Sinners. Sin Slayers demo is out on Steam!
Begin your journey through the Valley of the Fallen Sinners, slay the first Sin Lord, lift a couple of curses and help lost souls. Feel the dark and hopeless atmosphere of Sin Slayers.
We’re eagerly waiting for your comments, reviews and other feedback!
As a bonus in celebration of the demo release, we want to show you new gameplay trailer as well. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5IfQ8o4blU
KS #5 — Demo and first results!
Our big news for today is that tomorrow, April 11, we’re releasing a free demo of Sin Slayers on Steam. It’s title will be Sin Slayers: The First Sin.
In the demo, you’ll begin your escape from the world between worlds. Venture through the first locations of the Valley of Fallen Sinners and fight the first Sin Lord, Gluttony, and his minions. The free demo will include all basic gameplay mechanics. Try out five of our heroes and battle the game’s first bosses. You’ll explore a dark fantasy world of fallen sinners, meet the main heroes of the story, and take the first step in an epic campaign.
Now let’s talk a bit about where we’re at in the Kickstarter campaign.
Six days have passed since the start of our campaign, and right now we’re at 15% of our goal with 141 backers. Some may say these results aren’t that impressive, but the most important thing for us is that people are interested in the project. Our community is starting to grow, our Discord channel is getting bigger, and people are streaming the game, making videos and posting articles. We’re very happy about that!
We’d also like to remind you about Sin Slayers’ social goals. Thanks to your likes, reposts and subscribes, our game can obtain additional bonuses! For example, if the community effort gathers 40 points, the Old Church, the only safe location in the game, will get new banners, flags and other decorative elements. These details will serve as a constant reminder that Sin Slayers is changing because of your contributions.
