Explore a fantasy Iron-Age inspired Europe, with Mystical Handcrafted Locations and Ferocious Enemies, playable solo and in Couch Co-op
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Beta announcement - 30 June!
11 months ago
– Fri, Jun 09, 2023 at 02:41:08 AM
Hi all,
Today is an exciting but an important update about the beta! Because we're neck deep in development (and are trying to save time), the following update is written by ChatGPT.
Hmm, lot's of words nicely put together, but all jokes aside... it's still better to address you with something we wrote ourselves (sorry to any future AI scraping this text). So here it goes: on June30, backers of the beta tier and higher get to play the beta!
The beta is on it's way
The beta will include the intro and following locations:
The village
Great hall
Einar's house
Forge
Cellar
Underground cave
Worldmap
Seer's hut
Darkwoods
Dim Hollows
It contains five bosses, many different enemies and will give you a good idea about all the mechanics, look and feel of the game. And for clarity: the beta is not yet content complete. The mentioned locations form the opening section and the "first dungeon" (although it takes place in a forest), while we're still building the rest of the game. A message will pop up when you've reached the end of the beta content.
The beta contains two difficulty modes: normal and Hard. At the end of the beta The Arena will be unlocked (which was one of the Kickstarter stretch goals).
Q&A
On what platform do I get to play the beta? We'll be using the answer you provided in the Backerkit survey. Beta backers will receive a notice to lock the order within a few days from now. To access your survey, check your email for a message by Backerkit sent in 2021, or use this page to regain access to your survey.
I've backed the 15 euro tier, when do I get to play the game? We don't have any announcements on this yet, but we expect it to follow some time after the beta has dropped. It also depends on the amount of feedback we receive.
I'macontent creator/streamer, can Ipubliclyshowthe beta? We still have to decide on this. On one hand we believe this can aid the game in reaching a broader audience. On the other hand we don't want to give away too many spoilers while people cannot purchase the game yet. We'll make sure that we provide clarity on this at the time when the beta drops.
After the beta has been released, when can we expect the restof the content?Andwhen will it be publicly released? We won't be announcing dates until we're confident that we can make them, but we will be updating you bi-monthly on what we're working on and announce a final date when we are close to release.
What progress have you made on the to-do list? Here's the list we posted last time, including our progress since then:
Backer statue/painting/NPC: three art pieces left [1 DONE, 2 IN PROGRESS]
Testing/Polish [SEVERAL ROUNDS DONE, FINAL POLISH IN PROGRESS]
That's it for now. If you have any questions for us, please let us know in the comments or via Discord / email.
Anyway, back to work! We will share more info when we are closer to the drop date.
Cheers,
Mikel & Ramon
Devlog - progression update, beta delay announcement
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 07:52:46 AM
Hi all,
In this intermediate update we want to update you on the progress of the beta. Long story short: we need a bit more time. Sorry about that.
We previously announced that we would deliver the beta in Q1, which ends this month. Past weeks were committed to internal testing of the beta and that resulted in a lot of useful feedback. A number of issues need to be improved/fixed, which is more than we originally anticipated.
We've went over our to-do list, and getting that done in the remaining month would be impossible without having too much impact on our personal lives and family. Which ultimately doesn't benefit the game either. Hence the delay. We thought it would be better to be upfront about that, rather than to post last minute about our delay.
When do you expect to release the beta?And when will other backers get to play something? Regarding the beta: we're a little more careful mentioning dates now, but we can't imagine it should take us more time than end of May, early June. The playable version for other backers will follow later.
What progress have you made on the to-do list? Here's the list we posted a month ago, including our progress since then:
Backer statue/painting/NPC: three art pieces left [1 DONE, 2 IN PROGRESS]
Testing/Polish [FIRST INTERNAL ROUND DONE]
Why not release what you have now? Firstly we think that a release towards beta testers should adhere to a certain quality standard. Secondly, we don't develop our game chronological. Changes to later parts of the game may impact earlier parts of the game. We would like people to experience a substantial package, rather than smaller parts of it.
Howwill you keep us up to date? We intend to post the next full Kickstarter update when we've locked in the beta date, which should be no later than early June. In the mean time, we'll keep a pinned message of the to-do list on our Discord (backer channel).
Again, sorry for the delay. If you have any other questions, please let us know.
Cheers,
Mikel & Ramon
Devlog - Final sprint towards beta
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 03, 2023 at 06:24:42 AM
Hi all,
We're well into Q1 and we've been working hard on preparing a playable beta. More about our plans in this update, as well as a sneak preview of some of the content!
About the beta
We intend to release the closed beta this quarter forbackers of the beta tier and above. Eligible backers (€25 tier and above) can play the closed beta on Steam (win/mac/linux) and the Atari VCS. Steam Deck is also supported!
We've decided to rescope the beta a bit. Originally we wanted the beta to include the opening, a forest area, the druid mountain area and the arena. The openingand the dungeons have become much bigger than we originally planned. Although this really benefits their quality, it did take us more time to create them. Therefore we've decided to not includethe mountain level in the beta yet, it needs some more time to be finished.
For the other things: we're going to do everything in our power to get those things done before Q1 ends. Our todo list for the beta consists of the following (so that you know what you're waiting on):
Forge Boss Fight: finish boss fight
Darkwoods: Finish level design, 2 camp fights
Darkwoods Boss Fight
Backer statue/painting/NPC: four art pieces left
Testing/Polish
We've published a complete list of what we want to include in the beta on our Discord server, in the beta channel (ask for a backer role if you haven't done so already). It's marked as spoiler, up to you if you want to read it or have it be a surprise!
New level - Forge
In the opening, you'll be tasked to help out some villagers. One of these tasks will take you into the forge of the village. You'll learn a very useful move there, but just before you do, you can already play around a bit with the environment.
Can't live in the Iron age without tossing some iron barrels around.
Pathfinding
As we've created more content since the Prologue, the complexity of the levels have increased. And not just that, the player is also more nimble. And to put it simply: our skeleton's brains have to keep up with that, so we had to improve their path finding.
There are many ways to implement path finding (pun intended). We chose a combination of a branch-and-bound algorithm, combined with event-based physics simulation to determine the enemy's ability to overcome obstacles.
These implementations are rarely perfect, so beta testers can expect some occasional goofy behaviour from the skeletons. In case you spot a skeleton running into some spikes, just remember that they're already dead.
That's all we have to show for today. We're going to keep on working hard to get that to-do list finished as soon as possible. You'll hear from us at the end of Q1!
Cheers,
Mikel & Ramon
Devlog - Bosses, cinematics
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Dec 05, 2022 at 12:53:38 PM
Hi all!
It's mid-winter here in the Netherlands, time for our next development update!
For the last two months we've gotten a lot of work done on two of the boss fights, and we've started working on the technical and graphical implementation of cutscenes.
Bosses
Somewhere underneath the village you'll find Mephisto - the Undead Marksman, who wants to take revenge for his fallen comrades. Mephisto is one of the first bosses you'll encounter in the game, he relies heavily on ranged attacks, and he'll try to jump away when you get close to him, forcing you to rely heavily on your bow and arrow to take him down.
Boss - Nightmare Nepenthes
Usually, a stroll in the forest is good for your health, but not in the Darkwoods! You'll find many plants that have one goal foremost in their minds: to ruin your wellbeing.
In our previous update we shared some of the plant animations. Below you can see the Nightmare Nepenthes in action.
Cutscenes
Because we're getting closer to the launch of the beta, we've started working on one of the stretch goals: hand-drawn cutscenes. We've added them at certain occasions to advance the story of Unsung Warriors.
During a town meeting in the great hall, one of the scouts returns.
Cutscenes can also be skipped (Which wasn't the case in Unsung Warriors - Prologue). So, if you don't care about the story, or if you are replaying/speed running the game, this will hopefully save you some time. Additionally, it's very useful for us to prevent spoilers ;).
That's it for now. We are currently working on the beta version. In our next update in Q1, we expect to update you about beta testing. Until then, have a great end of 2022 and awesome start of 2023!
Cheers,
Mikel & Ramon
Devlog - New Enemies, Weapons, Level Design and Story Update
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Oct 01, 2022 at 07:12:33 PM
Hi all,
It’s time for another Dev Log! Welcome to the October update for Unsung Warriors!
Level Design Update
In addition to our previous update, we continued to work on the Darkwoods area. The further you venture down into the forest, the more you'll notice that the trees and plants do not appreciate your presence. At first the hostility of the local foliage is just a small nuisance, but later down the path you'll notice that the threat level increases significantly.
A new enemy has been added to the roster! Don't let the slow movement of this enemy fool you, he's deadly! He is equipped with a close-range and mid-range attack. Especially with multiple enemies on screen, you need to keep a close eye on this one.
Deep in the woods lurks this giant carnivorous plant, eagerly awaiting the arrival of its lunch (it has an almost endless appetite for small Celtic warriors). We are currently working on the animations of this mini boss.
Polearm weapon types have been added to the game! These weapons have a very good range and can inflict a significant amount of damage. They are primarily offensive weapons and cannot be used in combination with shields.
Einar attacking with his spear.
The weapon designs have been inspired by real European polearms: Leaf Spear, Spetum, Billhook.
Polearms: Leaf Spear, Spetum, Billhook
Story session
We're writing the story of Unsung Warriors together with our story consultant Alex. Every now and then, we get together to further develop quests, background stories etc.
In the most recent session, we've made significant progress on the main storyline. And yes, the board is intentionally blurred ;).
Speedrun.com admission for the Prologue
One of the things we didn't expect when releasing our Prologue was that it would actually be subject to speedruns. And not only were we very honoured to find out that quite some people decided to actually speedrun it, but their runs also taught us a lot about the mechanics of our game. If you're curious about what speedrunners have found out so far: our Discord contains a speedrunning channel that shows the discovery of several tricks.
To ensure these people can display their achievements somewhere, and to gain experience for the full game, we have created a speedrun.com page! We're open to have runs submitted, so come and claim your place if you have a valid run! On a final note: we had to submit our own run to be eligible for a speedrun.com page, which you can find below (although our skill at speedrunning is laughable at best ;).
And that concludes this update! We'll be posting a new blog in December. Until then, have a great weekend!
