V Rising is emerging from the shadows to take its greatest form to date! Join millions of Vampires on the journey to become the supreme predator of Vardoran, carving your name into the history of a world that has forgotten your kind. Journey through the shadows of the lands of man and monster, staking your claim and raising your towering castle. Drink blood, gather knowledge, and prove that you are worthy of the claim of the greatest Vampire to ever live by overcoming one final challenge…
Coming May 8th, 2024 to Steam, take to the skies on leathery wings and face down the Vampire king! Write the future of Vardoran in blood and live your legend this Spring!
Coming with the full release:
Explore a new deadly endgame zone: The Ruins of Mortium!
A final chapter to cap off your Vampire journey!
Dynamic endgame events!
A new breed of foe, and new V Blood bosses!
New weapons, A new tier of equipment, and magic improvements!
Improvements to castle building, decor, and storage!
Native, smoothly implemented gamepad support!
Game optimization, visual improvements, and an all around smoother experience!
AND MORE! More information on the upcoming launch is right around the corner, so keep an eye on us to be the first to hear about the latest, greatest chapter of V Rising!
We hope you’ve survived the winter frost and long nights as well as us. The crypts at Stunlock Studios have been as busy as ever, our plans unfolding within the dusty depths to our sinister excitement. You have been quite patient with us, and perhaps we should reward that patience with a nugget of knowledge to fill the dark months with hope for the coming year. Before we begin, thank you all for the overwhelmingly positive response to the big console reveal during State of Play. We're thrilled to welcome a new audience to the world of V Rising, and delighted to offer elder vampires and new kin alike the opportunity to immerse themselves on your TV or experience it with the newly introduced gamepad support on your PC.
It's time to discuss a topic that players have been frequently requesting ever since first setting boot on the untamed soil of Vardoran. Players have long since been asking for more options in player expression, from a need to show your unique slaying style to a desire to specialize your gear with more focused and themed stats to match your combat preferences. From the decadent countesses to the ghoulish necromancers, you’ve wanted to show what makes your Vampire unique from your distinguished peers. In today’s update, we delve into the practicals, visuals, and aesthetics of everything equippable!
Early concept art for what would become the Bloodmoon Armor set.
To Go Even Further Beyond
As we’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, the full release of V Rising has us looking at the end of the player journey in the world of Vardoran. Rising to face the greatest foe to date, the ultimate rival, you’ll need every edge you can get. That means advancing beyond what we were once capable of and finding innovative means to conquer the threats swarming in from realms beyond.
Tapping into ancient powers and unlocking their secrets, we’ll craft an entirely new tier of armor and weapons to elevate yourself into feeling your true mastery of the Vampire arts. This is the apex of your journey, and it should feel that way. For this reason, we’re adding a higher equipment tier and adjusting the sets and rarities of the later equipment to give a smooth and satisfying progression.
In addition to obtaining higher tiers of armor, legendary weapons will undergo comprehensive rebalancing across three tiers. This update also introduces a groundbreaking tier of artifacts, featuring specific and distinctive weapons for each weapon type. These weapons won’t just be unique in their names and statistics, but they’ll entirely modify the way you play with advanced weapon skills.
There’s some potential here.
… but wait, there’s more!
Endgame PvP battles often involve competition for the Shards, buildings you can place in your castle and provide powerful stats and buffs to friendly Vampires who attune to these powerful monuments. To get ahold of one of these coveted items, a properly prepared Vampire needs to acquire them from powerful top tier V Blood Bosses or steal it from another Vampire’s stronghold.
So, why are we talking about the shards in this lovely update all about equipment if they’re a bunch of fancy buildings?
It’s because they’re not buildings anymore.
Shards will now be a necklace item with powerful stats and buffs and will also provide a unique ultimate ability that overwrites your currently equipped one. On a PvP server or server with the appropriate settings, this necklace will be one-of-a-kind! That means to use it, you’ll have to risk it. There will also be a running timer on the shard, and recharging it will require going out into the world and replenishing its energy at events that spawn in the final zone. It’s our hope that this encourages a more active and exciting experience for everyone while also providing interesting perks and innovative gameplay for Vampires who like to play it a bit more friendly. You might not like PvP, but you probably DO like a novel piece of gear with exciting abilities!
One possibility for a new shard ability.
The Vampire Court: Knights, Warlocks, and Assassins
So, we’ve heard you!
You've made it clear: you want to fully embody your Vampire fantasy in V Rising. Many of you have pointed out that sometimes, the night stalker you view yourself as isn't quite reflected in the world of Vardoran. It's not just about looks; it's about gameplay too. Some of you thrive on spell-slinging, others prefer the art of hit-and-run tactics, and then there are those who throw themselves into the fray and hammer enemies into a bloody pulp. Entirely valid! In fact, beautiful, you deserve to be the bloodsucker of your dreams.
Names, UI, and Icons are all subject to change.
As part of the equipment overhaul, every other tier of armor has been expanded. In fact, we’ve added four armor sets with unique stats and appearances for every second tier of armor after bone, represented by the core fantasy archetypes of the primary combat-focused archetypes: brute, warrior, rogue, and scholar. Over the course of your journey, advancing in your crafting will now offer you avenues of specialization. Warrior armor will offer more bonuses to physical damage. Scholar armor will offer more spell damage, and so on.
With 10+ new armor sets, you'll be more effective in your combat specialty and look even better doing it!
Concept art for one of the rogue-themed armor sets.
Infinite Impeccable Inspirations
Ah, perhaps even with all these shiny new armor sets, you're still feeling limited. Maybe you aren’t comfortable being put inside of a box, and your unique flair is something we couldn't have foreseen in our plethora of styles and options. Perhaps you enjoy mixing and matching sets, or your sinister warlock spellcaster prefers a stylish coat like a duelist's rather than a flowing satin robe. Do you dress in devilish reds, garish greens, or stick to the timeless elegance of pitch black?
Fear not, nightkin! It's time to cast off those shackles and embrace your freedom!
UI elements and color palettes may not be final, but this should give you an idea of the functionality of the system.
The equipment menu has been changed dramatically and now has a collapsible section attached to each armor piece. In this new section, there is a slot where you can place any armor piece, which will overwrite the appearance of anything you’re wearing currently. In this same menu, you’ll find a host of color palettes (currently 31 in total).
Here are just a few early examples of possibilities.
Go to war as a vicious death knight, or elegant moonlight warleader.
Mix magics as a devilish warlock or an arcane scholar.
Play the daring duelist or the rakish rogue.
Or you can wear nothing at all. Much of this UI is still under development.
Getting the Light Just Right
If you have particularly keen eyes, you might notice some subtle differences in the overall quality of the way the game looks. That’s because we’ve had a massive update to our lighting system! Time to crack open those vampire brains to take in a little technical art talk. Here’s a little peek behind the curtain and what it means for the overall look of V Rising!
Before, we relied on the "atmospheric scattering" of the sky for ambient lighting. This meant that you would encounter a bit of awkwardness here and there, like the inside of your castle being affected by the morning sun and nighttime gloom. We now rely on premade ambient lighting data that we blend in and out depending on time of day and the player's position. This gives the environments more suitable lighting and helps ground objects in the scene. It's also more lightweight than the previous system, saving on those precious frames per second!
That moonlight feeling.
The changes also have a big effect on the way materials are displayed, which is most noticeable in the textures of metallic objects. While it doesn’t allow for perfect reflections, we can simulate much more realistic-looking metal. Combined with all the new armor sets, this unlocks a whole other layer of appreciation for your fresh Vampire wardrobe.
So shiny.
The Night Fast Approaches
With the winter solstice behind us and the days growing longer, one might be mistaken for thinking the days of the Vampire are behind us… and we will, this once, forgive that ignorance. 2024 will be dense with delight, and this has been only the beginning of what is looking to be the most promising year for V Rising yet! Look forward to the 1.0 update, currently planned to drop sometime in the second half of Q2.
We look forward to uncovering more mysteries of Vardoran with you soon, and as always, you can get a little closer to the crypt walkers here at Stunlock by following us on all our socials down below.
Well, if it isn’t the Vampire hordes joining us for yet another Dev Update.
As once more, the infinite darkness of Swedish winter descends on the catacombs of Stunlock Studios, and the skies grow perfectly black, the beat of our bat wings is here to remind you that we are still flying overhead. As we start this dev update and head into the season, let's enjoy the festive spirit of the night. We'll reflect on the past year and look forward to the promising one to come.
Carnivorous Catch-Up
For those of you who haven’t been following us through our whole journey until now, this would be a good time to catch up on the release of our first major content update, “Secrets of Gloomrot”, and what we’ve been working on since.
“Secrets of Gloomrot” was released this year, on May 17th, 2023. This update was sizeable and content-focused, aiming to beef up the middle game and refine the experience overall. We were thrilled with the feedback we received from Gloomrot, both positive and constructive. The positive helped us reinforce what changes were a step in the right direction, which better informs our assessment of future steps. On the flip side, constructive feedback provided valuable insights into significant player frustrations. There have also been plenty of requests for specific content that align with our own ideas!
Speaking of which, you can stop asking us to add Buffy. One of several early concepts of vampire hunters.
We hope to address some things in the upcoming release next year based on our own observations and what we’ve learned from your input. We want to bring a stunning conclusion to your adventure, something satisfying and appropriate for the apex of your Vampire’s rise to legendary status. We know players want more to do when they’ve reached that point, and truly enjoy the power they’ve earned. We know players want more reasons to strike out into the world and encounter each other on populated servers, whether it be for action-packed conflict with rivals or to make steadfast allies for their clan.
So, with that in mind, here’s the direction we’re focused on for our next major update, the full release next year:
Introducing a new, endgame-focused zone! After much demand, we’re expanding the frosty expanse beyond the Hallowed Mountains. It’s time to finally cross that cut rope bridge and venture into the ancient and mysterious lands beyond. This region will be the last step of building your legacy before you move on to fight for ultimate Vampire supremacy somewhere that gives that last threat the build-up and gravitas it deserves.
Soon, we will learn what truly lies beyond.
There will be a final boss. V Rising will ultimately lead to an endgame battle against a major foe, far more symbolically appropriate to cap off the Vampire journey. While Adam the Firstborn is a wonderful challenge, defeating a hand-crafted monstrosity isn’t quite right for the last confrontation of our game.
Prepare for endgame events! This final zone will contain regular rolling events that draw the fiercest and most powerful and dangerous bloodsuckers from all across Vardoran. Something to fight for. While it certainly is tempting to sit in your perfectly decorated castle, sipping blood wine, lording over lesser beings, we have heard you loud and clear that you want more reasons to strike back out into the world. Here, you’ll find fresh trials to face down against a strangely familiar threat.
When we say “threat”, we mean it.
Anticipate performance improvements! We’re working on engine upgrades that have fully brought our engine from the live version’s very experimental build to the full 1.0 version. Players have long since suffered issues related to performance bottlenecking, resulting in suboptimal frames per second, and we’re on it. We should be able to provide major improvements to make V Rising more accessible for those with less up-to-date systems and better reward those who have incredible machines with sleeker gameplay.
Today’s Testament to Tomorrow’s Torment
As we work towards our goals set for the full release, our focus remains steadfast on our vision of a complete V Rising. So, how are we doing? We’re happy to report that we have fully upgraded our engine into a stable state and can now polish up and work on those performance enhancements. We’re now making significant progress toward a smoother and more stable Vampire experience.
The latest zone is well under construction, and while there’s certainly more to do in terms of polishing things up to match our standard, we have a strong basis on which to continue building. In parallel, we are actively testing the conflict events that will feature prominently in this zone. This addition to the gameplay loop injects a sense of purpose into the later stages of the adventure and adds an exciting dimension to the overall experience.
Concept art for a frost-taken bridge.
Concept art for an integral piece of an endgame event.
Now, let's talk about that final V Blood. As much as we’d like to tease you with more details on this now, it’s best to hold off for this a bit longer until next year when we’re getting closer to launch. Recently, we’ve put a lot of time and effort into making this the best it can be… but for now, you’ll just have to take our word on it.
Finally, there are also quite a few prototypes in the works that have huge potential to shake up the experience, particularly for those dedicated souls who've devoted a lifetime or two to V Rising. There are changes to how the spell system works, changes to appearances, and some interesting possibilities regarding a few other much-asked-for additions that can add some fun complexity and specialization to your builds. We’re currently cooking away at quite a few things that need some more time in the cauldron before they’re ready to be seen (or potentially locked away in the dungeon if they end up being awful). Stay tuned for more updates on these exciting developments!
For instance, we chose not to add this. You’re welcome.
We appreciate your patience in waiting for the sticky little details of everything we’re up to, but it’s important that you know that just like our lead-up to the Secrets of Gloomrot update, we work best with a little breathing room. Just know that, first and foremost, one thing is for sure: V Rising’s endgame is about to get a serious revamp with the full release.
Vampire Community Rising
Even lone wolf Vampires like us can appreciate the season of togetherness, and what better way to celebrate the holiday season than to spend it with treasured allies? Over the past year and a half, some standout servers have gone above and beyond to hold events, provide unique experiences, and even modify the game to suit new twists on classic V Rising gameplay. If you’re searching for fresh excitement in V Rising before the next major update, here are a few great places to discover.
The Dojo
Get involved with one of the largest PvP communities in V Rising, where top players will welcome you in to share their techniques with veterans and newcomers alike. The Dojo makes it easy. Participate in tournaments, get curated news on community servers and events, and hop into the discussion with a like-minded group of highly skilled players looking to train up the next generation of challengers! Join by searching “The Dojo” or directly by IP addresses you’ll find provided in their Discord.
Bloodthirst is a Duo PvP server that brings that traditional raiding experience with regular wipes. They focus on providing electrifying and fair play, with dedicated admins who aim to make riveting gameplay the heartbeat of their community. Sporting a stellar reputation among active V Rising players, their latest server opening saw them capping out at a smooth 100/100 vicious Vampires online. Join by simply searching “Bloodthirst” or joining directly through the IP addresses provided in their Discord.
For those of you looking for a more immersive Vampire story, V Rising Roleplay is one of the longest-standing roleplay servers around! With a focus on building a tight-knit community to share and create amazing stories with one another, this server runs in seasons that progress the central narrative of their lore in collaboration with their players. If you’re looking for an opportunity to sink your teeth into the world of Vardoran and live your richest undeath, this is an excellent place to start. Join by join their Discord and finding the IP address and password to connect directly.
V Arena is a project being fielded by long-standing members of the V Rising Community, with impressive mods and tools to play V Rising in entirely new ways. With everything from the perfect convenience of practice arenas to the hectic chaos of capture the flag, this server is committed to keep innovating with more mind-blowing minigames and quality-of-life features. Find your way there by searching “V Arena” or direct joining through the IP addresses provided in their Discord.
Don’t forget to join our Discord server to find interesting servers or Vampires to join forces with! If you’re looking to find exciting servers to play on or just find like-minded people, this is one great place to do it. If you’re running a server yourself, please get in contact with us! There’s a special role on the Discord specifically for those of you who want to advertise your projects!
2024: A New Beginning
As December unfolds, we conclude one chapter in the tale of our deep crypt machinations. As January dawns, a new beginning awaits, marking the next stride toward our Vampire throne. Stunlock Studios stands ready to bring the future to V Rising in the coming year, something worthy of calling our full release. With that, the coming months are going to get very exciting for all of us.
We greatly look forward to sharing that thrill with you, our greatest allies.
Thank you for 2023, Vampires… and see you in 2024.
… and if you don’t want to wait, we’ll still be lurking in the shadows before the next Dev Update. Keep tabs on all of our devilish deeds on our socials down below.
As the flowers wilt and the leaves fall dead upon the ground all around us, the delightful scent of rot that heralds the dark months ahead brings with it as well… news from the crypts. Here at Stunlock Studios, we’ve been busy piecing together the puzzle work that will be our next major patch, and today, we thought it might be an excellent opportunity to take a little piece from every corner of the studio and show how they contribute to the greater whole.
Settle into the shadows, my kin! Whether by lovely candlelight or the calming glow of your computer screen, it’s time to delve into the topic of this developer update… family.
Blood Relations
What does family mean in V Rising? In technical terms, we have something called ‘unit families’ that serve several functions to help define how the people and creatures of our world behave. Each individual ‘unit’ has a ‘family’ they belong to, and these families act as factions that help decide how they interact with other units based on their allegiance.
For instance, one such example is the legions of undead you encounter early and often. Undead are hostile to members of the Church of Luminance and will react violently to their presence. So, when you're out in the world, you might stumble upon a Goreswine and its gang fighting with golems, bandits, and the local militia. This adds life to the world in a way that makes intuitive, logical sense. Some families even have more complicated allegiances, like how militia soldiers are friendly to townspeople and paladins but are unfriendly towards bandits.
What does this mean for us in the upcoming patch? Why are unit families so important? Well, we’re adding a new one! This one is a bit more complicated than the others and is being designed to fit a completely different purpose than the others. While other alliances are meant to be a constant force of skirmishing stability in the world of Vardoran, this new army is quite the opposite; this is a force of instability.
Pictured: Concept art for something very unfriendly.
Imagining Instances of Evil
When we create a new group of closely-knit non-player characters, it raises questions from every side of our areas of studio production. We consider what they're supposed to do, how to make them fit that purpose through visuals and audio effects, and how all of this should work together in the game. First, let's talk about their design: the purpose of this faction.
In V Rising, we are the destabilizing force assaulting towns, encampments, and monstrous nests to feed off of their blood and resources so that we may fuel our rise to power… but what happens when we’re facing competitors? What would a different invading force look like, and how would it fulfill that fantasy?
Enter this new, unfamiliar, and unusual breed of foe. An interloping force battles its way into our world and wreaks havoc where it lands, and our current vision for them is to be the primary enemy you face in the coming endgame-focused zone. Vardoran is YOURS to conquer, and what better way to prove your rule than to claim the throne over another worthy predator?
TVictorious.
To fulfill the fantasy of war, we want these foes to come at you in swarms. This way, you'll feel like you're cutting through a formidable enemy force, which suits the power of a nearly fully realized Vampire. Therefore, their moves should be easy to spot, even when they're part of a massive group so that players can react to their attacks. We understand that it would be frustrating if you couldn't distinguish each attack amidst the crowd in large-scale battles, so we’re mindful of that from the outset of the unit design.
For us, these new threats need to be ideal to work in conjunction with world events. Right now, our primary goal is to make sure they fit perfectly into the endgame zone. However, we also want them to work seamlessly as a strong invading force throughout the entire world of Vardoran if we manage to find a good way to expand these events across the lands. So, how these creatures will interact with the other combatants in the world is also important to consider.
One thing we’re also carefully thinking about with the design of these units as an enemy is their tie to PvP. If you’re encountering these in-world event scenarios on a PvP-enabled server, these are places where you’ll be able to win valuable resources that will be contended by other players as well. So as we craft the way they work as you’re fighting them in a group, we also have to be mindful of how they’ll act as interference in Vampire vs. Vampire interactions.
Raise your hand if you’ve had this guy crash your party.
Varied Visions of Vivid Violence
Every aspect of development works in concert to make the overall experience work, and that’s certainly no different for the art department. Our creepy creatives have been toiling away in conjunction with design to ensure that all the new varieties of voracious critters are as close to perfect as possible. Gameplay isn’t just raw interaction; a huge part of what makes it work is the communication of those aspects of the game, which is done through visual art, animations, sounds, and all the ways your senses interact. I don’t think we add any smells, though. If you’re smelling something, you should probably go clean your room.
So how does this apply to an invading force, a swarm of enemies? Well, for one, they need to be visually distinct to identify them as something that does not belong in this place. We explored a few different avenues of trying to communicate this, but leaned in a direction that better broadcasted their war-like, violent nature. When you look at these creatures, you can immediately feel an air of hostility. There is no room for negotiation, which is shown through their jagged and unfriendly design more so than in another potential direction such as making them look more alien and incomprehensible.
An unused concept for invaders. Fifteen eyes on a headless torso, not so relatable.
Concept art for a new enemy. Much more relatable.
Just as much as we desire to make the faction feel the way we want and communicate their themes, we also need to make them distinct from the rest of Vardoran’s inhabitants. Just as you can instantly spot the difference between a human bandit and a human adherent to the Church of Luminence, you should be able to tell your new foes from every other man and monstrosity. This can be more challenging than it immediately sounds, and there are plenty of traps to step on when determining a visual direction… thankfully, by working together, the different parts of the art team find creative solutions.
Making your unit family too similar comes with the danger of making them difficult to tell apart, which can be a large issue here when you’re intended to fight many at once. You need to be able to track what threats you need to account for instantly. We can help this with animation, for instance, adjusting one massive animal-like monster to move in a uniquely snake-like manner, and smaller impish creatures to have jittery, jerking movements that draw your eyes with their frenetic energy.
There was another issue with the visual design of these units being too similar to the new environment. Making too big an adjustment could be dangerous this far along in the design process, but thankfully multiple parts of the team can all adjust in small ways to fix a major problem. Ground textures are being adjusted by the world team, colors are being subtly shifted, and the animations are being tweaked all at once to combine in a way that majorly boosts readability.
Constructing the Siege Engines
We’re not as evil, but that doesn’t stop us from doing some mad science.
Of course, there’s tech.
None of this is possible without our engineers and architects nailing it together where we need it. While our design team are fairly capable programmers, some things need the assistance of our more advanced engineers to implement, especially when it comes to generating entirely unique interactions.
Like charming Vampires, turnabout is fair play!
With each new unit family comes unique abilities that must be properly integrated into gameplay. The undead summon up minions from the grave, our friends in Gloomrot suck you in with their gravity shields, and our Church of Luminance holy folk drop down their healing auras. So too, will these new enemies have their own unique new challenges for you to overcome, and that will take some effort and more than a little dark sorcery from the people that weave together all of the inner workings of our lovely little Vampire game.
It may not be the most glamorous work, but it’s essential to summoning our unloveable new horrors into existence.
It screams for the horror of being alive.
Pray to the Dark Gods
This is a part of game development that we don’t talk about much but applies just as much to creating a unit family as it does to any other aspect of game development! All of you fellow game developers out there reading this will be nodding along as we recount this often-overlooked aspect of the craft. That is, of course, the terrible rites we perform to ensure the cosmic cogs of video games continue to turn.
Modeled after an in studio work space.
Whether it’s a blood sacrifice to Callac’mhet, the Night Saint of Technical Shaders, or when we must reach into the black pools gathering in the deep caverns beneath our studio to extract new high-end processors, here at Stunlock Studios, we count on the Nightmare Priests That Live In Our Walls for integral support that allows us to do the work that we do better, and more efficiently.
They also keep the varghouls at bay! Wow!
Let Us Not Forget
This is your last chance to submit an entry!
Tomorrow is the final day to enter the Malevolent Monsters Art Contest! We’ve had some fantastic entries so far, and we have hope that in these last moments, we’ll see even more!
The winter months approach just on the horizon, and as the sun sets earlier and earlier each day, we feel further empowered to move towards our milestones in development. Before the holidays, you can expect at least one more update on V Rising’s journey to 1.0, and as always, we look forward to hearing from you again.
In the meantime, why stop chatting? Clever bunch of Vampires that you are, We’re sure your minds are abuzz with theories as to what this new unit family is. We’re always so fascinated by the speculation!
Check out our socials below for more news, hints, and secrets in the coming months.
We took a moment away from cranking the terrible engines of undeath for the upcoming 1.0 patch to address some important issues, as well as a few minor cosmetic changes to the main menu to reflect social updates and added support for reporting issues.
This hotfix, set to be released shortly, contains the following changes:
Fixed a bug that allowed players with their FPS reduced below 1 to be able to phase through castle doors in some specific locations.
Fixed an issue that allowed Frog form to leap through castle ceilings from specific elevations.
While a castle is under siege, coffins no longer provide healing. This also prevents vampires from healing max health while in combat. This helps address an exploitative tactic used during castle defenses in PvP sieges.
The Stunlock Logo has been updated to the new design in all places.
The “Twitter logo” changed to “X” logo in the main menu.
We have added a “Support” email icon in the main menu, represented by an envelope. This should make it easier for players to find where they can direct feedback and reports.
Improved connectivity for some players that had issues connecting to a local server when playing in offline mode.
IMPORTANT NOTE! Please report any issues you encounter after this patch here.
ADDITIONAL REMINDER! Regularly back up your server saves! Here's how to do it.
Stay vigilant in the shadows of Vardoran, our fellow Vampires!
//The V Rising Development Team
Halloween Event: Malevolent Monsters
Greetings, Vampires!
Another Halloween season descends, and with it, the delightful dread of our limited-time seasonal DLC! Let your walls crawl with cobwebs by the firelight of your grinning jack-o-lanterns. Wallpaper, carpets, a standing mirror, and more return after a year-long absence that many of our Vampires have longed to possess… and now you can once more!
The Haunted Nights Castle Pack DLC is free to claim, and once you have it, you will have access to it forever. There’s only a limited time to claim it, though, so make sure you get your claws on it until November the 10th.
In this darkest and most cursed of months, we’re calling out to the twisted imaginations of all of you artists out there for our next art competition! This year, our theme is… monstrous!
Explore the world of Vardoran, tap into its most terrifying creatures, and exemplify the terror of its dangerous denizens! Show us your twist on Gorecrusher’s horned skull or Matka the Curse Weaver’s terrible rituals. Perhaps you have a vivid concept of how Wilfred the Werewolf Chief holds evening meals for his pack. Maybe you want to get even more creative still and imagine your own mutated curiosities from the pools of Gloomrot.
A mutated husk of terror.
Rules and Guidelines
Please read these bullet points carefully before entering the contest.
Your submitted illustration should communicate the dark theme of V Rising, focused on the creatures and monsters of the world. This concept can be wholly original but must be very clearly tied to the world of V Rising and set in the world of Vardoran.
The image dimensions can be a maximum of 2000x2000 pixels.
You can illustrate everything by hand, use digital processes, photography and cosplay, photography and video, or 3D modeling. All mediums are welcome!
Submitted art should be created by you, and only you. Please submit evidence of your process in the form of a layered original image file or a video time-lapse of your process to verify authenticity.
Let’s agree that 15 MB is the max size of the final product provided. This size limit does not apply to the evidence of authenticity, but please try to be reasonable in your sizes for those as well.
You can portray blood and violence, but let’s keep it classy! And hey! Avoid nudity and sexual violence.
You can submit up to three entries, but we highly suggest that creating one fantastic entry is the way to go.
Sharpen your fangs and pencils! You have until 11:59 PM GMT on Friday, November 10th, to send in your entry to contest@playvrising.com. Please include your full name (optional) and a social media or art station URL so we can credit you for your work. By submitting artwork to us, you will permit us to share it second-hand.
Prizes
The Grand Winner will receive:
V Rising Hoodie
V Rising T-Shirt
V Rising XL Mouse Pad
V Rising Mug
Three Steam Keys for V Rising Early Access
Dracula’s Relics DLC Pack
Sinister Evolution DLC Pack
All future DLCs for V Rising
Two runners up Finalists will be selected and receive:
V Rising Hoodie
V Rising T-Shirt
V Rising Mug
Dracula’s Relics DLC Pack
Sinister Evolution DLC Pack
Seven other Finalists will receive:
Dracula’s Relics DLC Pack
Sinister Evolution DLC Pack
PLEASE NOTE that receiving physical prizes requires that you can receive shipping! If you cannot receive shipped items, we cannot get these items to you, and you will not be able to collect your prizes.
For those of you who enter the art competition, let us see you flaunt your submissions on your socials! Also, don’t forget to tag us! We would love to signal boost your work!
Winners will be announced and contacted on November 16th. Good luck, artists, and let the hunt begin!
Monsters of V Rising for inspiration!
Once a man, now a slave to his nature.
Stitched together horrors from Gloomrot.
Toads twisted by the Cursed Forest.
Born from death, cursed to carry on.
A mysterious creature of the forest, older than the world.
The son of demented ambition, a true monster.
A hellish monstrosity having emerged from a mass grave.
Community Events
There’s still more to come this spooky season, as we’re cooking up some community events to spend a little time hanging out with you, our most wicked kin. Stick around and keep an eye on our socials for chances to win prizes, meet with us, and generally have get together to share our love of a blood-sucking good time such as:
The Crown Vampire Tournament! Two simultaneous Vampire vs. Vampire events in the North American and European regions! Fight 1v1 under strategic restrictions to prove who is the most deadly, and the most adapatable, and win prizes like V Rising merch, unique discord roles, and a chance to get your name added to the game!
A Capture the Shard event hosted by Stunlock Studios! All out war to retrieve the enemy shard and return it to your home base coming November 3rd!
Keep an eye out on our socials for another edition of the Halloween Castle Contest! With Gloomrot upon us, and multiple levels as well as all the new decoration options, there’s no doubt that this year is going to be even grander than the last. Get ready to show us all of your impeccable taste.
Get extravagant.
Get into the spirit of the most devilish month of the year with us! Keep up and discover opportunities, news, screenshots, videos, and information about V Rising by following V Rising on our socials below!
While sheltering from the sun's relentless rays, we've been immersed in the arcane art of game development. Today, we're pulling back the curtain to reveal the intricate web we've been weaving for V Rising's nefarious future. As always, it's time to find your most lavish silken throne, command your minions to uncork that age-old blood wine cask, and dive deep into the mysterious depths of Stunlock Studio's crypt.
Foundations for Flourishing Futures
If you’re familiar with earlier entries of our Dev Updates, you’re aware that V Rising is built on a still-in-the-works experimental engine, which enables us to achieve technological witchcraft that might seem impossible to many developers. Taking the gamble on this engine has been worthwhile, giving life to the immersive world of Vardoran that you have come to know and love alongside us.
However, with this system came its trade-offs. One significant point was the inability to update the engine we were working on… that is, until now. Deep in our crypts, over the course of many careful steps, we have been upgrading our foundation. With the much more stable and well-supported 1.0 version of the game engine, it’s no coincidence we’re doing it right on time to pursue our own ambition of bringing you V Rising 1.0 in our next major update.
We believe this change will allow us to overcome previous limitations with optimization and pave the way for a smoother game experience. Those of you who have been hoping to indulge the ungodly power of your rigs should finally be able to feel the unspeakable frames-per-second your eyes have gotten so used to.
Furthermore, on the tech sorcery side, we're also refining our game development tools. This gives us an incredible advantage in testing and iterating on level and gameplay design in a more organized, quick, and efficient way. We hope this will help us speed up future development and bring you more of what you love faster.
Just sit back and watch us work.
Here Comes the Big One (V Rising 1.0)
As we’ve stated, we are set on making this next major update our full release of V Rising, planned for the second quarter of 2024. While the tech team has been strengthening our support structure on the programming end of things, our design and art teams have also been working hard, shaping the coming release. So…what does it mean for V Rising to be in its ‘complete’ state?
The full version of V Rising represents a fusion of our original vision from years past and the invaluable feedback-driven enhancements and directions we've adopted over time. It means a fully fleshed-out and enticing journey through Vardoran, with a captivating beginning and a heart-stopping finale. It’s pushing forward with a complete vampire experience we can stand behind with pride.
We also want you to understand that ‘complete’ does not mean ending the game's development. Our journey with V Rising continues as long as our players keep returning, hungry for more. There will still be plenty of ways for us to bring more bloodshed, decadence, and terrifying Vampire magic to the table beyond 1.0.
Speaking of which, let’s get into some of the fun stuff. Here’s what we’re looking at adding to V Rising in the next major content patch. Like earlier previews, this is, of course, subject to change and by no means a complete list of possibilities.
Check out these cute vampires from an early V Rising concept done in 2019.
… compared to the final key art for the V Rising Early Access launch. Things have changed!
Rule the Vampire Realm
Prepare for the zenith of your Vampire saga! We're crafting an experience that feels like the grand finale of an age-old legend, and naturally, such a grand tale requires a grander stage. The ground beneath your feet will expand ever further, and once more, you’ll feel the call of bloodshed bringing you to new places…
That’s right! We're unveiling a brand-new zone! It’s time to venture beyond Hallowed Mountains into dark and icy realms, where history has been frozen and unseen treats await.
Beautiful yet dangerous new lands to explore. Early concept of the new biome.
Within this land, you’ll find an untapped faction of enemies, bosses to consume you, and of course…
The ultimate rival.
The final challenge.
The throne of Vardoran's top predator awaits... dare you seize it?
The 1.0 patch is centered on enriching the final chapters of your Vampire chronicle, providing thrilling pursuits worthy of the immense power you've spent time collecting. It would be fun to share more about this now, but we think it might be a bit more fun to save the finer details for later. You know we love to tease.
Just some regular guys, nothing to see here.
… And Look Good Doing It
We're also working on some sizzling cosmetic overhauls to quench your thirst for fashion. Originally, when designing V Rising, we had shied away from allowing players to customize their outfits because it felt important to be very clear about what gear another Vampire was wearing when encountering them in a player vs. player scenario. Since then, we added character-level displays, which mitigate that concern considerably. While cosmetic variety took a backseat back then, it's roaring back into the limelight!
Envision this: Customizing your character's ensemble down to the last detail. We're brainstorming ways to craft varied outfits, experiment with vibrant color palettes and potential dyeing techniques, and, most importantly, grant you the freedom to personify your ideal Vampire vibe.
You can find yourself swaying gracefully in a lovely noble garment at a friend's Vampire Masquerade or parading through Brighthaven in an ethereal gown, your scythe concealed, ready to surprise an unsuspecting Paladin of the Light. They'll be too entranced by your elegance to anticipate the impending doom.
Get ready to flaunt your fangs in style!
Bringing an unfamiliar take to the familiar.
As with Gloomrot, we’re also looking to add more cosmetic options for the castle! While we're keeping the grand designs under wraps, your suggestions are the heartblood of our darkest innovations. We want you to have the castle of your dreams, so tell us all of them.
Also, you may want to sit down for this one, but… oh, wait, you can’t sit in chairs in V Rising.
Yet.
Shaking Things Up
It’s time to crank up the heat and delve into a more immersive experience! Here’s where things get a bit spicier and a lot more experiential.
Another significant revamp is on the horizon for the spell and progression unlocks. We've noted a recurring sentiment: V Rising's gameplay can feel a little repetitive at multiple playthroughs, especially for you vampires who spent hundreds or even thousands of hours in Vardoran.
You always have access to the exact same arsenal at the exact same points in the game. While such linearity works wonders for tech progression, it dulls the magic for spell unlocks. You're essentially revisiting each stage with a déjà vu toolkit. Moreover, late-game spells and ultimates often get overshadowed, and the current dominance of "merciless charge" in the early mid-game is a testament to this.
Our solution?
We're focusing on broadening spell accessibility early in the game, possibly separating the bond between learning specific spells and V Bloods. This doesn’t mean you’ll lose the feeling of draining the power from your foes to add to your own but instead looks to indulge that feeling in a way that’s more flexible for gameplay. We’re still figuring out the details, but it will include other advantages, such as allowing us to more freely chase our inspirations to design V Bloods without having to design a spell to fit them and vice versa. This change could mean more build variety at every stage of V Rising, but it also allows us to add spells and V Blood bosses whenever the creative thirst strikes!
Whatever route we take for unlocking talents, fresh blood from new challengers is always a cherished ingredient!
Twisting the Tale
Last but not least, something you've clamored for is inching closer to reality: live events! When you’re reaching the apex of your vampire journey, you’ll find the new area bustling with spontaneous happenings, beckoning you out from your cozy castle for some tasty treats. Engage in alliances or face-offs with other Vampires, collecting valuable resources and bonuses crucial for the game's advanced stages. These living events, if all goes well, could pave the way for dynamic events bursting to life all across Vardoran! While we're still finetuning the mechanics and determining what will make the cut for the 1.0 patch, rest assured, our focus is on making Vardoran a more vibrant and unpredictable playground for the full release - both for PvE and PvP.
A concept of something itching to beat you to the bite!
And yes… whispers abound about weapon additions. Though some savvy players have uncovered potential leads and might think they've deciphered some clues, be wary, as not every hint is a revelation. There is, however, a specific weapon we're especially keen on, one that's yet to be discovered by you clever bunch of skulkers.
Brace yourself for new weapons, a unique biome, new enemies and bosses, live events, revamped spell mechanics, enhanced character customization, an epic finale, and more as V Rising unveils its grandeur in 2024. Stay tuned for more about this and other well-kept secrets in upcoming blogs!
Until Next Time, Vampires!
Thank you so much for playing our games, from our first to our most recent; without you, none of this would be possible. With this comes a promise to ourselves and a promise to you that we’ll continue to progress and bring you games that we will strive to make better and better.
The path ahead looks better every day, and we couldn’t ask for better companions on our journey.
We’re slipping out of the crypts to undo a little chaos and squash a couple of annoying bugs. Pay no mind to the vermin as we sweep them up, and continue enjoying your undead days a little bit more pest-free than the days before.
This hotfix, set to be launched shortly, contains the following changes:
Fixed a bug where Sword Shockwave ability could cause a vampire to go up to the second floor of a castle.
Fixed a bug where a vampire that was dead could be downed again, causing the vampire to be downed when respawning and suffering the death effects twice.
Fixed a bug where it was possible to use servants to fully repair equipable items.
Added a setting to dedicated servers to hide their public IP address: HideIPAddress. When it is set to true the server can only be connected to via Steam Peer-to-Peer. Servers with this setting can still be connected to by being selected in the Server List UI.
Users can choose to prefer connections via Steam Peer-to-Peer over IP in the Options menu.
IMPORTANT NOTE! Please report any issues you encounter after this patch here. We're continually updating our known issues list with temporary fixes here.
ADDITIONAL REMINDER! Regularly back up your server saves! Here's how to do it.
Stay vigilant in the shadows of Vardoran, our fellow Vampires!
//The V Rising Development Team
Get Your V Rising Gear
After much demand, we've made our swag internationally available!
Below we’ve outlined a few changes coming to Vardoran with some general fixes, optimizations, and a few console commands that may be useful for server administrators and photographers alike!
This hotfix, set to be launched shortly, contains the following changes:
General Fixes
The “FAQ” and “Bug Report” buttons got worn down due to your diligent bug reporting, so we updated them with new and shiny buttons.
Banners hanging from pillars are now correctly updating their colors when using the dye wheel.
Fixed an issue where blood hunger did not always activate/deactivate correctly.
Fixed an issue where items dropped on castle stairs could end up floating at the wrong height.
Fixed an issue where official servers would sometimes not be seen in the Continue Screen. Server statuses should now also appear faster on this screen.
Fixed a bug where some servers running standard settings did not get the standard settings tag and icon in the Server List.
Optimizations
Some minor CPU optimizations.
Fixed a major memory leak that could happen in fights with a lot of projectiles.
New Console Commands
We’ve added a few new commands to make life a little easier on server administrators, as well as a long-desired change that will let players with access to the console show and hide the in-game HUD. This will make it much easier to take cinematic pictures of the game environment!
Modified the “createjewel” admin command to allow specifying multiple Spell Mods and powers for them.
Command syntax is: “createjewel ”
Added a new admin command to create Legendary Weapons with a specific infused element and specific stats.
Command syntax is: “createlegendaryweapon ”
Added "HideHUD" and "ShowHUD" as new console commands. These are available through the console even if you are not a server admin.
