Hello everyone! Very exciting little content patch here. Fun little events like these are something I've been wanting to do for awhile, and I’m excited to finally have the time and resources to be able to achieve them!
Nian
To celebrate Chinese New Year, Nian has managed to slip their way into Vault of the Void! A new, limited time Elite fight is available right now. Spawning on the second floor, you’ll have a chance to banish Nian and claim the Year of the Dragon deckback, as a trophy for your accomplishment!
Nian will exit Vault for this year on February 26th, and then this deckback will be gone for good!
Hopefully this is something you all enjoy! I have lots of plans for more of these throughout the year, so please let me know if it's something you’d like more of as well!
Linux
So as promised, we’ve been investigating the linux build options. Things we’re almost there before we hit a frustrating snag. The linux dev environment is all set up, and we’re able to build the game -- however a restriction in the engine which forces files to be all lowercase has really caused us some issues (only on linux). Obviously, we’ve been in production for sometime now, with our cross save functionality all up and running -- but everything is currently using our regular naming convention. Changing this at this stage isn’t as simple as we’d like, with chances to have file class and lost data.
However, we’ve reached out to Gamemaker to hopefully get an option to disable this check. It's the final issue before a full linux build -- but sadly right now it's out of our hands. If we can’t get a supported solution, we’ll step back and take another look and see what we can do. I’m very sorry for the hold up!
Bug Fixes
Of course, we've been hard at work tending to all the reported bugs. Lots have been processed, heres some of the main ones though!
New Void Coins added by Counterfeit (Daughter Rare Artifact) will no longer discarded by Starcallers when they are just added to the deck
Playing a card that is made Balanced by Knave's Katar (Hidden Elite Artifact) and then Rebound will correctly consume combo when played again
When Sapphire Sloth (Enlightened Elite Artifact) applies Shii and kills an enemy at turn end, player will no longer be able to continue their turn
Crystal Lake Hand-me-down (Global Elite Artifact) should properly upgrade and add Red Void Stone to the first Heavy card played
Add Block and Heavy filters to Deck Management
Tweak controller scrolling in deck viewer, the cursor will no longer jump around and skip cards
Tweak layouts of several event screens to prevent text overlap with item bar
Fix Future Strike display on enemy HP bar when enemy has fortitude
Fix Spells in Spell Child can be purchased multiple times by re-entering the event
Fix some cards may show "Undiscovered" tooltips incorrectly when the settings is on
Fix Infecti "Heal" inconsistent numbers when increasing their Max HP
Add missing controller glyphs
All for now, - Josh
Update #64: Steam Demo + Mac OS Support
Hello everyone -- I hope you’re all enjoying 2.0!
Today marks the start of our commitment to the future of Vault of the Void! We’re well underway right now with mobile testing, and all is going very well. We’ve also started on some prototypes for the next class, and a special ingame event to come soon -- can’t wait to share more on that!
MacOS Support!
However, I’m pleased today to announce that Vault of the Void is available on Mac! You can now enjoy playing Vault on your Mac, and also have full access to Steam Cloud Save! So far reports have been good, but there are a few technical things we’re trying to work through. Firstly, I'm happy to say we got Retina display support working! However we still have an annoying issue where, on MacBooks with the notch, we currently can’t detect this, and therefore full screen gets pushed down a little. We are doing what we can to resolve this, but window mode works perfectly fine for now.
Also, we’re looking into alternatives for the fact that some users have CTRL + Left click setup as their touchpad “right click”, alongside some improvements to touchpad in general, to avoid cards getting “stuck”. We’ll continue to improve and progress things on this front over the next few weeks. Until then, please feel free to reach out on the Discord or Steam Forums if you encounter any issues!
Demo Version
Also in big news today, Vault of the Void now has a FREE to play Demo version available. If you’ve ever been interested in trying Vault, or perhaps have a friend that would like to try Vault but hasn’t, this could be for them!
I wanted to err on the side of being more generous with the Demo -- for that reason, the Demo version allows you to play the Hidden (the first class), as MUCH AS YOU LIKE! That's right, you’re free to climb all the way to I+50 if you like with the Hidden, no catch! To play the other classes, purchase cosmetics, play Daily Draft or Challenge Coins, you’ll need to own the full version however. I hope that feels fair for a Demo, and you’ll be able to continue your progress when you upgrade to the full version!
Some more exciting news hopefully coming later this week, then stay tuned for more content and updates as we carry on this awesome year of updates for Vault of the Void!
Thank you everyone!
All for now, - Josh
Vault of the Void 2.0 -- Hotfix 2.2.10
Hello everyone -- thanks for all your feedback and bug reports! Lots of action going on over here, we're preparing for Taipai Game Show this weekend, as well as putting the final touches on an offical Mac OS release!
Here are some bug fixes/changes you may have seen over the last few days!
Holding Ctrl on an upgraded will now show its unupgraded version.
Holding Ctrl on a card in hand will now correctly preview its Energy cost.
Fixed on statistics not counting for damage dealt, damage taken, essence, souls, and void points.
Fixed infinite purchase issue at the Blood Library, resulting in negative HP when using controller.
Fixed inability to buy an artifact from Dishelved Salesman.
Fixed simulation issues with Void Stones under the effect of Haunted.
Fixed battlefields still appearing to be locked after purchase.
Reduce click to play delay after grabbing a card.
Fixed an issue in deckviewer where upgraded/unupgraded cards may incorrectly show as their counterpart (the card is not wrong when it's drawn to hand).
Fixed some enemy ability/buffs/debuffs that may have shown duplicate tooltips.
Fixed Dark Courtesan using soul Sacrifice incorrectly to gain AP.
Fixed an issue where Piglets killed by Shii can still explode.
Properly count challenge coin results.
Challenge coin medals are now tied with achievements.
Put a mitigation on Knee Pads to reset the counter. - The actual interactions among Knee Pads and other Block artifacts are not modified as we investigate the issue.
Put a fix in places to stop card selection actions going negative. - This should prevent infinite foresight in rare cases, but we are still investigating the root cause.
Using route planner will no longer reset map tile markers but will only override planned route with green markers.
Thank you everyone -- more exciting new to come!
All for now! - Josh
Vault of the Void 2.0 -- Hotfix 2.2.5
Hello everyone -- I hope you're all enjoying 2.0 so far! Thank you to all who have reached out re: issues, we've been hotfixing over the last 24 hours any crashes or issues we've found.
We've just released a larger hotfix which includes the follow changes:
Cards and Artifacts
Fixed Tiny Gong not giving Opener on the first card played.
Fixed Haste not applying damage when playing Unbalanced Fury.
Fixed a rare case when the player may get stuck on the map and nowhere to move.
Harvest Season item artwork added.
Minor crash fixes.
General
Have added Click to Play back as an option
“Screen shake” can be turned off again.
Controller will now respect the "Hold to End Turn", rather than always being on. If you're on
When on Controller, you will also have an option in the in-game menu to change this during battle.
Added Exit button to Main Menu on Steam Deck.
Challenge Coin interface fixes, specifically with Controller.
Fixed an issue with Card Backs not being selectable sometimes on Controller.
Purging a stack of cards with Controller will now keep the cursor on the parent card afterwards.
Improved the Void Stone socketing process on Controller. You no longer need to hold the A button to initialize.
Have restored the "I will cleanse this place of evil" text to the Vault Guardian preview button.
Have restored a preview function for Battlefields (Mouse & Controller). Translation on that string will be coming shortly.
You can now purchase Alternative Artwork with the Controller.
Well continue to fix, update and optimise over the next couple of days! I'll try to do a recap when theres a bunch of changes to report!
Thanks again to you all, and thank you for the kind comments and reviews. Its been a grueling last few months and your kind words are lifting the spirts here!
All for now! - Josh
2.0 is Live + Traditional Chinese!
Hello everyone! I’ve been waiting to make this post for nearly 12 months, way back when I first started working on this huge rewrite. It’s been a long road, exciting, exhausting road, but today I can officially say...
2.0 is finally live!
Beta Stats & Thank-yous
I want to take the time to extend a huge thank you to all the people who helped make this possible. From the Internal testing team, all the way out to those of you who played on Beta Branch over the past 6 weeks. We’ve logged over 7,000 Runs and 100,000 fights, and without all your overwhelming support, 2.0 would never be as smooth as it (hopefully) is! Shu and I both appreciate you all for making our lives so much easier!
Bugs and Issues
Over the next 48 hours, Shu and I will be standing by to hotfix any issues right away that show up, so you might see a couple of random hotfixes dropping over the next little while! Whilst we hope most of the major issues have been picked up, the biggest concerns over the next few months will be tiny artifact/card interactions which slip by. With over 400 cards + 350 artifacts, testing all interactions with every situation is a tricky thing. Developing 2.0 sadly meant that we unfortunately threw out over 4+ years of development and bug reporting from the 1.x era. Whilst the new system is much more robust, there is always going to be small things that slip through the cracks. We’re confident that anything reported we’ll be able to hotfix within 48 hours, so please just let us know if you notice anything!
Traditional Chinese
As usual -- a HUGE thank you to all the translation volunteers! I'm excited to annouce today that Traditional Chinese is now support in Vault of the Void!
Differences
As with any rewrite or upgrade, there are going to be some differences or changes from the original. Small changes to font sizes, sounds, FX etc. Whilst some of this may be intentional, if we have missed something we’re more than happy to cycle back and fix these up, so please feel free to let us know. Please do note however, that some changes are inevitable, and some were intentional, for accessibility, expansion limitations or other reasons.
Daughter Patch
Coupled with the new engine, the Daugther balance and content patch is also in this version! To see an overview of the changes and updates, this post sums it up pretty well! Feedback so far has been really good, so I hope you all enjoy the new Daughter of the Void cards and changes!
Controller Support
We’ve been working hard on Controller Support over the past few weeks, and it's made it into this latest release! However, there are still some optimizations I’d like to do, and feedback to gather. It is a little different from 1.x implementation, because of the tweaks and improvements to the underlying stick movement/selection system. I hope it doesn’t cause too much discomfort, please reach out with any feedback you have!
Christmas Treasure Goblin
Because we were tied up with 2.0 work, the Christmas Treasure Goblin wasn’t able to make it into the game throughout December. To make up for this, we’ve extended this event to span till February 15th, so go grab your (disturbing?) Treasure Goblin card back!
What's Next?
As I originally said, 2.0 is only the beginning. It doesn’t have a load of new content, it's mostly a platform and commitment to the future. From here, we’re going to be setting up for Mobile, Switch, Steam Deck Verification and of course, new Classes! We’ll let the dust settle here then publicise plans moving forward!
Thank you everyone for your patience over the past 12 months. It's never easy to launch then disappear to reprogram things, but it's thanks to the amazing support from you all that we were able to make it happen. Vault of the Void has a bright future ahead, and this is just the beginning!
All for now! - Josh
2.0 Public Beta Available Now
Hello everyone! It's finally here -- the 2.0 Beta is live right now and accessible for everyone! It's been a long journey -- the game has been literally reprogrammed from scratch using a more recent version of the engine, and better optimisation methods throughout. Scroll down for more details!
What is 2.0?
2.0 was a massive undertaking, and whilst some new content was included, it shouldn’t be seen as a massive content patch. 2.0 is a commitment -- to the future of the game. Basically, by reprogramming the entire game, it has allowed us now to create a perfect foundation to work off for the future. This starts now, continues with the Mobile/Switch version and then goes into new classes, more content and game modes.
I hope you can forgive the time away from updates. Its been a long road, but I'm very excited now for the future of the game!
How To Access
To access the Beta, all you need to do is go to your Steam Library, find Vault of the Void and right click -> Properties. You’ll see a “Betas” tab, if you click that, look in the dropdown for a branch called “rewrite-beta”, and you should be good to go!
How Is My Progress Affected
When you first boot up 2.0, your original game profile will be ported to the new save file system. This should carry everything over, but is definitely the most intensive part of the merge. If you suffer any bugs in this stage, please reach out to me and we’ll ensure to get it fixed or manually port your profile. So far throughout our testing with players, we’ve had no issues in this process!
A note however -- this process only happens once. If you move back to 1.x, play some runs, then switch back to 2.0, those runs won’t be ported over. It should be a one time thing -- and I definitely suggest staying on 2.0 if you can! Once 2.0 goes live as well, you won’t lose any of your progress!
What is Missing?
Currently in the Beta, two major things are missing: Controller Support and Daily Draft. These both should be included within the next week or two, all things going according to plan. 2.0 won’t launch live without these features.
The big concern here is just for Steam Deck players, who won’t be able to play 2.0 just yet. But I’m working hard to get the Controller Support fully implemented back so this is ready to go!
Reporting Bugs
If you suffer any bugs, please join the Discord (if you’re able to) and reach out to me. Otherwise, you can add me as a friend on Steam, or send me an email (spidernestgames@gmail.com), whatever is easiest for you! Please note, that any crashes will have their data sent to our crash log, and we should be able to patch and fix within 24 hours without need for contact.
So -- What's in it?
As I said, 2.0 isn’t specifically a content patch, however it does have some content changed included! Here is a general overview on 2.0 changes, then a list of the Daughter of the Void Balance patch changes, plus some general things as well!
2.0 General Updates
- New save file system, all .json, meaning human readable and easier setup for speed running events. - Proper seeding system. - Minor improvements to Threat Prediction. - Full new scalable UI, with minor improvements everywhere. Perfect setup for small screen devices like Steam Deck, Mobile and Switch - New minimal version UI for enemies, for small screens. - ALL enemies are now animated. - Tweaks to map generation system. - PlayOps system for future custom cards and items (more on that to come). All cards and items have been fully reprogrammed to use this system. - New text rendering engine. - New simulation system, which means damage previews are always correct now. This also simulates artifacts and buffs, and displays their previews to the player. - Enemy death preview when card or artifact plays will kill the enemy. - Better particles effect system. - Huge improvements to performance.
Content Updates
- Self-Inflicted Agony: Moved to uncommon - Strike with Blood: Changed to "Gain or reduce Soultithe until you have 10(6)." - Soul Spot: Changed to always cost 3, stack, and add 50(75)% damage instead of 25(50). - Maddening: Changed to 0 cost and deals +3 damage. - Dance of Darkness: Now Rebounds at baseline, and the upgrade is Gain 2 Corruption instead. - Dark Reflection: Costs 2 instead of 1 and gives Corruption equal to twice the cost now. Upgrade now triples the cost instead of rigging. - Limit: The upgrade is now the baseline, and also has "Soultithe 1, 2(5) times." - Shadow Utility: Has rebound at baseline. The upgrade adds "or Purge" and increases Delay Block from 2 to 4. - Build Up: Changed the upgrade to "Add a Void Coin to Discard." - Confession: -1 cost pre and post upgrade - What Lies Waiting: No longer gives 2 extra corruption on upgrade. - Unshackle: Now gives Rage 25% at baseline but Opener only gives 1(2) Deathstrike instead of 2(3). Upgrade also adds Rage 25% to the Opener. - Tax Evasion: The upgrade adds "Threshold 13:" as a condition for it Expelling. - Debt Repaid: Changed from "random enemy" to "all enemies" and lowered the Threshold from 5 to 4. - Wreath: Added "Gain 3 Corruption." baseline - Cursed Shield: Blocks +2 pre and post upgrade. The rest of the text is replaced with "Deal 3(4) damage to all enemies." - Unleash Darkness: Changed the discard to "Discard: Gain 2 Corruption if below 20." - Upgrading it removes "if below 20." - Proliferate: Deals +2 damage and has 2 lower threshold pre and post upgrade - Actus Reus and Mens Rea: Changed the 10's to 13's - Curse of Plenty: Gives +1 Corruption on Purge - Father's Wallet: Changed to "Add 2 Void Coins to hand, and 1(2) to Deck. Opener: Add 1 Void Coin to hand."
Artifacts:
- Void Manipulator (Daughter Starting Artifact): Daughter now always starts with a free Green Void Stone. - Unceasing Gear: Its effects are now equal to twice leftover energy. Also has "If you end your turn with 0 energy, gain 1 energy." (This triggers before the check, so you always get at least 2 corruption and delay block) - Discarded Totem: Moved to Common. Also restricted from showing up as a random artifact from shops. - Page of Prayers: Won't show up as a random artifact from shops. - Rubber Band: Also has Block 3 when you fail to meet a Threshold. - Cracked Sundial: Also applies Vulnerable 1 - Ancient Idol: Increased Block from 4 to 6 - New Daughter Common Artifact: Unpaid Bill: At the end of the turn, if you didn't play any Attack cards, Delay Rage equal to your Rage (max 75%). - New Daughter Common Artifact: First Penny: At the start of each Battle, add an Upgraded Void Coin to your Deck. - New Daughter Uncommon Artifact: Dark Leash: At the start of every even turn, add an Upgraded Unleash Darkness to hand. - New Daughter Uncommon Artifact: Old Couch: At the start of every ODD turn, add Void Coins to Discard equal to the current Battle Round. - New Daughter Elite Artifact: Commemorative Coin: Each turn, the first Void Coin you add to Hand, Deck or Discard is Upgraded. - New Daughter Elite Artifact Onyx Pendant: From turn 4 onward, your first card played each turn has Ghost. - New Daughter Elite Artifact Nihil Guard: At the start of each turn, Block equal to the amount of Afflictions in Deck and Discard. Block 3 for each Affliction in hand. - New Daughter Elite Artifact Entrenching Tool: At the start of each turn, Threshold 1: Rage 25%. Threshold 10: Draw & Discard 2. - New Daughter Elite Artifact Synthetic Stone: Rigged cards cost 1 less. - New Daughter Elite Artifact: Condemned Katana: All non-X cost Attacks only ever require 1 Death Strike. - New Daughter Elite Artifact: Memento: At the start of each turn. draw an Affliction. If there are none in your deck, add a Void Coin to deck. - New Daughter Rare Artifact: Seed Crystal: At the start of each battle, add a Blue Void Stone to each non-stoned card in your deck.
New Cards:
- Contemplate: Rare Neutral Ability: 1 cost: Delay Draw 2. (Overcharge 1.) - Plunge: Common Daughter Ability: X-cost: Gain 3 Corruption X times. (Block 3 X times.) - Coin Toss: Common Daughter Ability: X-cost: Add X Void Coins to Deck. Add X Void Coins to Discard. Draw & Discard 1(2). - Harvest Season: Common Daughter Ability: 1 cost: Death Strike 1. Your next attack costs 1(2) less. - Torment: Common Daughter Attack: 1 cost: Deal 4(6) damage. Gain Corruption equal to damage dealt. Expel. - Revel: Common Daughter Heavy Attack: 2 cost: Draw 2 Afflictions. Deal 15(20) damage. (Purge: Add a Void Coin to deck - Possession: Uncommon Daughter Ability: 0 cost: This turn, deal damage to a random enemy equal to twice your excess Block and each time you discard a card, gain 1 Corruption. (Don't) Expel. - Lament: Uncommon Daughter Attack, 2 cost: (Soultithe 2.) Deal damage to all enemies equal to Soultithe. Gain Corruption and Delay Block equal to Soultithe. - Savings: Uncommon Daughter Ability: 1 cost: Add a Void Coin to Deck for every 6(5) threat. Draw & Discard 1 for every 12(10) threat. Expel. Discard: Gain 2(3) Corruption & Loop. - Oppression: Uncommon Daughter Buff, 1(2) cost: At the end of each turn, deal 25(50)% Corruption damage to all enemies. Expel. - Boiling Point: Rare Daughter Ability: 1(0) cost: Rage 25%. Death Strike 1. (Not) Inert. Expel. Discard: This triggers +1 next time it's played. - Good Karma: Rare Enlightened Buff: 2 cost: If you end your turn in Zen, enter Zen at the start of your next turn.
Non-Daughter Changes
- Sloth: Added "Delay Block 20 next turn." to it. Cripple no longer goes from 1 to 2 on upgrade. - Envy: Costs 2 less pre and post upgrade. - Replay: Increased Delay Block from 4 to 5. - Smash: Is now Common. - Killing Blow: Is now uncommon and deals +4 damage pre and post upgrade. - Something Extra: Removed the Swift requirement. Is now 1 cost "All Attack cards played will also apply Bleed 2. Expel. (Rigged.)" - State/Peace/Strength of Mind: All 3 buffs now have "Desync. Chain 1." to let them fold into Chains easily. - That'll Sting: Is now. "Deal 7 damage. Apply Bleed equal to twice (thrice) damage dealt." - Union: Is now "Deal 2(3) Future Strike, 6 times. Deal 6 Shii, 2(3) times." - Wishbone: Is now "The first 2 times each turn you draw a Bane, Draw 1." - Flask of Blue Juice: No longer takes Max HP to pick it up. Just is a flat "After winning a Battle, gain 90 Essence if it was Perfect." - Celerity: Added "Purge: Draw & Discard 1." - Opening Move: +2 damage pre and post upgrade. Upgrade now gives +1 Overcharge. - Wound: Applies +2 vuln pre and post upgrade. - Crippling Blow: Increased the damage to 25(30). - Silver Medal: Changed from Uncommon to Common.
2.0 Open Beta Begins December 1st!
Hello everyone!
Thank you all for being so patient over the past 8+ months. As painful as its been not being able to publish an update, today I’m pleased to announce that Vault of the Void 2.0 will enter Open Beta on December 1st! (This also includes the changes for the Daughter of the Void Balance patch!)
The game has been in Internal Beta for the past 2 months, and it's finally time to open things up! A few major things will be missing in the first Beta round, mainly just Controller Support and Daily Draft, but those should be reimplemented again fairly quickly (smoothing out the new leaderboard system!).
Thank you everyone again for your commitment to the game! I’m so excited to finally be able to get updates moving again. Also, Vault is currently on sale for 25% off, a great to pick up a copy heading into what will be a great 12+ months for Vault (new class talks have already picked up again!)
All for now! - Josh
Dev Diary: Internal Testing Has Begun!
Hello folks! Sorry it's been a HOT minute since the last Dev Diary update. Things ramped up hard and were progressing really well, I wanted to carry on momentum through with the code base as much as possible. Shu and I have been working hard here to get things at least into internal testing -- and today I’m pleased to announce that has finally started!
So far, internal testing only contains the Hidden. This is intentional, just to stress test some of the main systems and keep scope contained. So far, besides one minor issue that is now resolved, things have gone really well! Performance has increased substantially for testers so far, and support for smaller resolutions and lower end machines is much better! The Profile conversion process has also proceeded without a hitch, which is a huge relief!
When is Public Beta?
The plan here right now is to wait until all Classes are ready, then push into Public Beta. This will properly still have the Daily Draft locked out at first. The one thing it will have, however, is the Daughter of the Void update. The plan is to launch the 2.0 version on PC with the (long awaited) Daughter of the Void update bundled in. I’m targeting November/December for all this still, as I’m still committed to get things out before the end of the year.
Custom Cards/Artifacts
Whilst the systems are currently in place, we’re going to be putting together some documentation and scripts to better support this, however it will be after the 2.0 launch. We’ll also hold a few “workshops” to sit down with players and ensure that everything they want to do, they can do.
Mobile Testing
Once the PC Steam version is fully up-to-date, I'll provide more details on Mobile testing. This has been something we’ve been mindful of throughout this re-write, so any bugs fixed on PC are going to flow right down. Pretty much all screens so far have a Mobile/Small Screen version ready to go, so this process should be smooth! I think the end of the year is still a possibility for Mobile, however that may bleed into January if something unforeseen shows up! Switch will then begin testing after that!
Having such a long period of silence is never easy, and I apologize yet again for this! It's such a relief to finally have people playing this version, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. Throughout this process, I’m so thankful for the continued support, and a huge welcome to all the new players! We’ll be back on track with constant content updates again before too long!
Also, a huge shoutout to everyone who has left reviews recently! It helps immensely for us, and has been the driving force for keeping things positive as we push through this rewrite.
All for now -- more soon! Josh
Dev Diary: Simulation and Customisation
Hey everyone -- time for me to swing in with another Dev Diary update, sharing a bit of progress on the 2.0 Patch coming!
Not much preamble here from me -- just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the words of support on the last Dev Diary re: pricing structure. I was worried that some may feel let down a little by my pivot there, but it was really reassuring to see that everyone agrees with the decision! Thank you all!
Okay let's dive into things...
Card/Item Structure
So as I continue working through the battle screen, as I mentioned last week, it was time to get the cards working! I originally planned to continue with the old way of cards programming, where I just code up the effects manually in a card processor. Shu and I had a chat and want to try something however, and I’m glad we did!
Basically, the Card/Item/Void Stone code has now pivoted to a PlayOps system which uses JSON code on the card entries themselves to perform and list all the effects. The underlying setup here was a bit larger, however, the end result is a chance at something that everyone has been asking for -- mods(ish).
I’ll clarify a little bit more -- right now the way things are setup means that custom Cards and Items are technically possible. Shu and I will be working on some documentation to show what methods and calls are permitted from custom stuff, and how to code these. A lot of this we're still trying to figure out the best way forward, but we also don't want to clog up the pipeline of 2.0 and Mobile release too much right now. The ability to code and load your own custom cards and items probably won’t be ready at 2.0 -- we’re not pushing too much focus there right now. Rather, right now, we’re working on the infrastructure to allow this in the future. Here is an example of a few cards:
These are a few more simple examples, however hopefully it shows how easy it will be to string some new cards together. More on this to come in the future, but very excited about how this is working!
Simulated Results
One of the other major let downs of 1.x, is the damage preview scripts. Probably the most !bug reported issue on the Discord is based on damage previews being wrong on cards. Previously, this was mostly hand code with me, a 1300+ line script with many "ifs" and catchs and exceptions trying to semi-simulate results. This also never took into account Artifacts or other effects.
I decided to rectify this issue!
The way I’ve code things now, the game has a full card and artifact simulation process going on when you hold a card up to play. The game simulates the results before the card is played, showing the exact amount of damage, no matter the Void Stone, trigger count, Rage mid-trigger, enemy status etc. So far, it's perfectly accurate and the ability to preview Artifact effects at the same time is great as well!
Heres an example of Fan of Blades ready to trigger (I gave Smash Swift in this example to test the Rage stacking mid trigger). You can see the small amount of Bleed showing on preview.
It brings up a small discussion that's been going on internally right now -- and that is the simulation of random effects. Take for example, Grapeshot. As programmed right now, holding Grapeshot up to play will actually preview the exact damage results across enemies on the field. This has been a bit of a hot topic internally, and most people are leaning towards wanting this information not shown. Whilst the system is set up to support it, a decision on if it will be enabled or not will be made shortly!
Simulated Grapehot:
Event Rooms
Shu has been actively working on Event Rooms, and as of this typing, I think it's just the Well of Stars left to code up! All events are in the Run JSON, predetermined, with the long standing bug of some rooms “not being re-enterable” finally fixed. I’ll be moving to these rooms and redoing the UI on all these after battle, to make sure they’re working to the new UI Scaling and small screen layouts.
Run JSON
As part of the Event Rooms, Shu has also been working through the Run JSON to ensure its all in there, and cleaned up and ready to go. The structure seems pretty set in stone, and we’ll be testing it more over the next 2 weeks. However, if it gets the tick of approval, I’m going to be releasing an example of this JSON early here for you all. This means that those of you who like to make tools/websites etc for these games, you’ll be able to see how things are structured. Also, it means the Speed Running/Competition community can get an early look at things to set up processes on their end. More of that in the next blog!
Overall, that's pretty much where things stand now. I just got the final few animations back from Sanjeev as well, so the Swamp Witch Totems and also the Voidling are all finally animated! There's much more happening and we’re working around the clock to get this finalised and released on PC, so you all can be playing this whilst we optimise the last few bits for Mobile and smallscreens.
I’m still optimistic about getting a PC Beta out hopefully around mid August, even if its just for the Hidden to start with. I can’t wait to have this done so we can start crushing out some awesome new content for Vault!
Thank you everyone for the kind reviews, and for staying so patient during this process. I’ll make sure it's worth the wait!
All for now - Josh
Dev Diary: To Battle!
Hello folks! Its been almost a full month now since the last Dev Diary -- I was so caught up in work I didn’t manage to step aside and get you all updated, sorry about that! I’m here now to give a full run down on where things are currently at.
Before I begin, a quick heads up to let you all know that Vault is currently on Sale for 25% off to celebrate the Steam Summer Sale!
For those new here, I'm currently in the middle of doing a full rewrite of the game code to support future content expansions, and most importantly, exporting to Mobile and Switch in the future. Today I'm giving another update on how things are progressing on that front :)
Alright let's dive in!
Animations
Sanjeev the Animation Wizard has been hard at work just crushing out all the Monster Animations for the game, and converting them over. As of right now, all Monsters have been re-animated with both the condensed and expanded frame style, ready to be imported into the game! Export and re-import of all these is slated for later this week. A huge task and another exciting milestone.
Instability
Shu has wrapped up the Instability screen and got it working very smoothly. The screen now also has been setup with pagination for smaller screens, (ignore my Max Instability here, we’ve been testing the unlocks there as well!)
Event Rooms
Shu has now moved over to getting the Events queued up and working. To start with, work has begun on the black screen, full image style events (Matron of Memories, Shrine, Ravens Gift etc).
So far, completed are :
Matron of Memories
Ravens Gift
Shrine
Dark Idol
Treasure Room
Aftertifact Treasure Room
We have a meeting today to sweep over these and finalize the art/particles and get them squared away 100%. They also support 2 page styles for smaller screens (Mobile and Switch!) due to a lot of the text being quite long. Really happy with progress here, and we should be moving onto the rest of the rooms next!
Battle Screen
This is one I’ve been putting off for some time, due to how ominous the task was. But I kicked myself into gear and have been progressing very nicely so far. The Battle screen is where you spend about 80% of your time, and I’m very particular about getting things right. This is not only an opportunity to fully optimise the system, but also to ensure that gameplay on Mobile and small screens is smooth and enjoyable, and doesn’t feel like a hacky port.
I started with the State Machine and rewrote that to be more robust and stable than the previous. I also defined a few more states to clarify things like “Start of Turn” and “Start of Players Turn” etc to help clearly define when things happen, at least in the code! I then started with “At the start of your turn” stuff, known internally as “Player Upkeep”. There were a huge amount of artifacts, abilities and effects to move over here, and that is now all setup correctly and working. Once I was able to progress through a turn, it was time to add the Enemies!
Migrating the Enemy code was a long job of copy and pasting and moving scripts over, but it also gave me a chance to audit their State Machine, and clear up a lot of stuff. Previously things like Bleed, Future Strike, Shii checks etc were all looped into the one state, so I was able to split that out for easier processing and triggering. As of right now, I have fully migrated over the Enemies, they now spawn, respawn, select their actions as they should, perform their actions as they should, and die like they (hopefully) should. Once I import over all the new animations, these should 100% be sorted!
So now -- it's onto probably the biggest component to a card game... the cards! I’ve got these all setup in deck viewer and external to battle, however it's now time to migrate over cards which are intractable and playable! I’ll be getting started with that later this week, and will have more to share in the next Dev Blog!
Pricing
I wanted to take some time here to talk about pricing on other platforms. Although this post's goal is to update everyone on the Steam version, I did want to mention this briefly here. Firstly, I’ll admit I’m very new to this space so originally when I announced other platforms, I went with my gut. However, I’ve had some time now to talk with some other developers who have been super generous with their time, and learnt a bit more about the mobile market. So here is where I need to backtrack a little on what I said, and I’m really sorry about this. Originally I was going to have Vault priced on mobile as Free, with paid unlocks for the 3 later classes (Hidden would be unlocked automatically).
After learning a bit more about the mobile market, and the nature of “Free” games, I decided it’s really not the space where I want Vault to play in. I want to offer a fair priced product, with one off purchase unlocks, rather than try to compete with loot crates and predatory purchase models. For this reason, I’ve decided to move Vault of the Void to a single price upfront purchase on Mobile, which will have all content unlocked. At the end of the day, the price for the end user will be the same, but I really do apologize to anyone who was waiting hoping for a free upfront version of the game.
With that said, I do want to look into the possibility of a Steam Demo with this new version as well, allowing players a chance to try Vault of the Void on Steam obligation free. I’ll be looking more into that in the coming months!
Okay -- that's all from me here! I thank you all so much for your patience. It's so painful to not be able to provide you all with new content for so long, but I promise lots of awesome new stuff to come as soon as this is done. Both Shu and I are optimistic about getting a PC Beta out on Steam in the next 4-6 weeks or so, which will run on an opt-in branch whilst we finalize controller implementation and small screen displays. From there, I’ll provide details on other Betas!
Thank you everyone for all your support! I’ll be back in 2 weeks with more good news!
