Valfaris
Valfaris features on Eurogamer's '6 Indie Games You Need On Your Wishlist' video
https://youtu.be/D5Ix9A1ERyQ?t=7m48s
It's fantastic to make the selection and be included alongside other great looking indies.
Feel free to share the video with all your buddies and recommend that they heed Eurogamer's sage advice and stick Valfaris on their Wishlist :)
Matt | Digital Uppercut
EGX round-up, plus destructible lights!
Here are a few snaps from the show:
Above: Andrew's new artwork looked the absolute business on the stand
Above: We took it as a good sign that when people started playing they were reluctant to hand the pad to anyone else!
Above: Here's Thomas (programmer/designer) proudly brandishing a 'pick of the show' award from the fine folks at Ready Player 2
And Valfaris has already featured on a few lists of EGX highlights...
PushSquare: The Best Indie Games at EGX 2018
Game Hype: 10 Indie Games To Keep An Eye On
Love from the Röki devs, Polygon Treehouse: Team Röki at EGX
As well as giving us an opportunity to venture into the wild and meet with lovely folks, shows such as EGX are invaluable in terms of collating feedback and observing how players get on with the game.
Often elements of the design that seem obvious or easy to the dev team can – out in the field – often be misread, misinterpreted, too fiddly, too easy, too hard etc. So the chance to peer over peoples’ shoulders as they play can be a real eye-opener.
For example, in the Landing Pad area which was featured in the demo, programmer/designer Thomas noticed many players trying to interact with the lights that are dotted around the level, wrongly thinking they were switches or some other type of interactable element.
So, since EGX, Thomas has changed it, so the lights now break when shot, which they didn’t do before. Have a look-see:
A massive thank you to everyone who came to see Valfaris at EGX and PAX. And also an equally massive thank you to everyone supporting the game here on Steam.
Until next time, keep it metal.
Matt | Digital Uppercut
We're at EGX!
Heading to EGX in Birmingham, UK this weekend?
Make sure to stop by the Digital Uppercut booth and go hands-on with our super-secret pre-release of Valfaris!
Drop by!
Say Hi!
Shoot guys!
- George
Digital Uppercut
PAX was a blast. EGX is next. Plus, say 'Hi!' to the Hive Queen
If you’re heading to EGX, please do stop by, say hi, and – most important of all – play Valfaris. You’ll be able to find us at RZ4 (Rezzed South on the show guide).
A huge thanks to everyone who dropped by at PAX West for some Valfaris run-and-gun action. We were absolutely overwhelmed with the positive response and it gives us such a massive boost to know things are going in a good direction. And if you’ve joined the Steam community since playing at PAX – welcome! Happy to have you with us.
Here are a couple of PAX snaps...
In other news… Thomas and Andrew are now continuing work on the Hive, which we’ve seen glimpses of before but here, for the first time, is a look at the Hive Queen. And she is quite the beauty:
We'll be showing more of the Hive real soon.
Until then, keep it metal.
Matt | Digital Uppercut
Valfaris at Gamescom and PAX West
Howdy-do everyone.
Wanted to give a quick update before we head to Cologne for Gamescom, which kicks off next week. Andrew and Thomas have been going great guns on the levels we’ll be demoing to press (Landing Pad + Eco-Chambers), adding plenty of extra polish and shine. I’ve been playing the absolute shit out of the latest build and it continues to get better and better.
Andrew has also created the new artwork you can see above, which as well as being used for banner/display art for shows and expos etc., has also become the in-game title screen art. Here’s the GIF version, which shows-off just how badass Therion looks even when he’s idling.
After Gamescom is done, we’ll then be heading to Seattle for PAX West, where we’ll be showing Valfaris as part of the Indie MEGABOOTH official selection. It’ll be the first time the game will be publicly playable, which we’re all excited about. If you’re heading to PAX West, come see us and be one of the first lucky people in the world to go hands-on with Valfaris. We’d love to see you.
We’ll be at booth 763, which will be part of the Indie MEGABOOTH area. Here’s the IMB layout…
We’ve got a busy couple of weeks taking Valfaris on the road, but we are ready for action and can’t wait to start showing and sharing the game with folks.
Until next time, keep it metal.
Matt | Digital Uppercut
Look alive! I bring GIFs from the Hive!
Above: Therion hangs by a save pedestal at the top of the Eco-Chambers while a couple of wibbly-faced foes eye him up
Above: This neon-azure cascade flows from a run-off pipe in the Hive
Above: Heads-up: the contraption mounted to this Hive warrior's back isn't a bubble machine
There should be more to show you from the Eco-Chambers and Hive real soon. Until then, keep it metal!
Matt | Digital Uppercut
New screenshots! Beam them into your eyes! Feast on them!
Here you go:
Above: Therion arrives on Valfaris – this is the very start of the Landing Pad level. He's standing on his Wolfship, ready to kick some ass!
Above: A lovely green-glowing weapons vat. These are scattered around Valfaris and where you'll be able to grab new weaponry and killamajigs to play with!
Above: The area below the landing pad continues the industrial metal aesthetic. Also, it looks a bit cobwebby down here...
Above: This cydog is one of the first hefty foes Therion encounters. See the holes on its back? Homing rockets come out of there. You'll want to avoid them if at all possible.
Above: This room triggers a lock-in where Therion is attacked by waves of enemies all wanting to vaporize him. Things get pretty messy in here. Lots of blood. Plenty of guts.
Above: Therion blasting away at some patrolling bombships on the Landing Pad. He's using the Hellwraith – a destroyer class weapon that spits out molten skulls.
Above: Doing some pruning in the Eco Chambers. Here Therion's using a pistol class weapon called 'Wolflight'. It explodes enemies and dispatches wispy-but-deadly ethereal wolf heads to seek and destroy other foes.
All these screenshots are taken from Valfaris' first two levels: Landing Pad and Eco Chambers. If you want to see more of those, give this 30-minute playthrough a watch:
https://youtu.be/NFwPgbO6a34
And as a little bonus tease, please enjoy this sneaky peeky at a hitherto unseen area at the top of the Eco-Chambers, which comes via Valfaris creator and chief art druid, Andrew Gilmour:
This area of the Eco-Chambers is known as the Hive. Have to say that I am really loving those colors! The weaponised bug-faced dude in the GIF below is a Hive warrior.
Man, it is looking so good! Really can't wait to play and share some more Valfaris with you soon!
Until then, keep it metal!
Matt | Digital Uppercut
HELL YES – it's gameplay time!!!
The highlight of my week has undoubtedly been getting to spend some serious quality time with the latest build of Valfaris. And I'm happy to report that it's coming along very nicely indeed.
But you don't need to take my word for it – I grabbed 30 minutes of gameplay footage so you can check it out for yourself in the video below...
https://youtu.be/NFwPgbO6a34
Like what you see? We really hope so. Feel free to leave comments in the designated area. Would love to know what you think.
\m/ Keep it metal \m/
Matt | Digital Uppercut
Check it out – a checkpoint!
Checkpoints are going to be located fairly generously throughout Valfaris. However, in order to become operable, they need to be activated with a Save Crystal.
You'll be able to find Save Crystals scattered around the levels (some easy to find, others harder to spot), but you'll only be able to carry a maximum of three at a time. Do you use your last Save Crystal now or do you forge forward and try to make it to the next checkpoint? Play it safe or play it risky? The choice will be yours!
As well as being markers to save your progress, checkpoints will also give you a chance to change your weapon loadout and apply upgrades. I'll have more info about that in a future post.
Until then, keep it metal!
Matt | Digital Uppercut
Tomb Keeper: Before and After
Want to see what a Valfaris character looks like before it gets 2D-ified for its in-game appearance? Of course you do.
The triple-headed potbellied brute you see below is a Tomb Keeper. He keeps Valfaris' subterranean tombs nice and tidy by eviscerating anyone who dares stray into them.
TOMB KEEPER: BEFORE
As you can see, it's rendered here as a low-poly 3D model. After the initial sketch concept phase, this is how Andrew [Andrew Gilmour – dev druid/art warlock] likes to start working on Valfaris' characters. When he's happy with how it looks, he extracts the pixels and sets about bringing it to life in the game.
TOMB KEEPER: AFTER
And, after its preliminary three-dimensional fling, here's the Tomb Keeper in all his flattened (but still fully enfattened) 2D pixellated glory. A hulking colossus of an adversary that towers formidably over Therion.
I should point out the game is still deep in development so everything you see here is work-in-progress and may not fully represent how ass-kickingly awesome the final version will be.
Oh, and I don't think it's too late to wish everyone a happy New Year and all the best for 2018!
Matt | Digital Uppercut