Devlog - Bosses, cinematics
over 3 years 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. 

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 3 years 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.

New enemies

Tree Giant

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.

Nightmare Nepenthes

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.

Polearms

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.

The weapon designs have been inspired by real European 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!

Cheers,

Mikel & Ramon

Devlog - Level Design Update + New Enemy
over 3 years ago – Tue, Aug 02, 2022 at 02:48:17 PM

Hi all,

Welcome to the August backer update! It's peak summer here in The Netherlands and despite some incredibly hot days, we've made a lot of progress on the level design. Of course, this is an ongoing process, but today we'd like to show some parts of the levels, without giving away too many spoilers.

Below you can see a part of the Dim Hollows, a dark cavernous area filled with enemies, traps, and other things. 

Inquisitive players might also discover a wandering ghost down there.

Eastwick Grove is a forest area that leads to other parts of the woods. One of these parts is the Darkwoods, which is separated from the forest by 'The Twisted gate.

 Just like in the Prologue, we'd like to give our level a bit of an "entrance". That way it really feels like you're entering a dungeon (as you can see below).

We really like it when video games alternate between fast-pace combat sections and other more quiet parts. Below is an example of how we try to implement that in the game. The small puzzles will test both your platforming capabilities and your problem-solving skills.

The journey of a warrior is a lonesome one, but occasionally you'll meet some other characters. Friends or foes? Or maybe the answer is more nuanced?

New Enemy

The tree warrior is one of the new enemies you'll encounter in the forest.  Due to it's long arms, this enemy has a decent range of attack. It also has the ability to burrow underground and come up behind you, which makes them especially dangerous in groups.

That's it for today! We'll be updating you again when October starts. Until then, have a great summer, or winter (if you're on the other side of the globe)!

Cheers,

Mikel & Ramon

Devlog - progression update
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 03, 2022 at 02:56:09 PM

Hi all,

It's summer in the Netherlands, time for another update! We want to update you on our planning, our progress, and updates on the backer rewards.

 Planning update 

Beta postponed until Q1 2023

Now that it's June, we'll soon be entering the third quarter of 2022, when we had planned to release the beta build to backers. Reviewing our planning, we must conclude that we need more time to finish the beta. We want the beta to at least contain the opening section, the village,  the Arena, and two bigger quests, but we haven't made enough progress yet. Therefore, we're delaying the beta to Q1 of 2023.

We’re sorry about this. Kickstarter campaigns often come with delays, but we really wanted to be the exception to the rule. We were partly delayed by personal circumstances beyond our control, but also the arena took more time than we had anticipated. Now with the arena mostly done, we can use it to improve the quality of combat throughout the entire game. With that in place, we are determined to make Unsung Warriors a game of the quality you expect from us.

Early access

We've also reconsidered our plan for Early Access. Games with a high replayability factor - such as strategy games, rogue-like, or survival games - are very suitable for Early Access. For a game like Unsung Warriors, this approach makes less sense. And with the combined funding of Kickstarter and the Midgame fund, there is no financial necessity for us to release in Early Access.

Therefore, we've decided to skip public Early Access. We want to limit the impact on backers of this decision. Backers who have pledged for Early Access will be granted closed access to the game, probably not long after the beta release. To anyone reading this who is not a backer: we have to ask you to wait for the release of the full game, which is still scheduled for 2023.

Game Dev Update

In the past month, we've been mostly working on the village quests, opening sequence, and level design. We'd like to share some of the progress with you!

Small puzzles

As with any proper adventure game, your progression will not only depend on your fighting skills but also on your ability to solve small puzzles that gate your progression.

The great hall

This location is where the town assembly takes place. It's a warm and cozy place, where the villagers discuss hot topics such as how to deal with recent attacks on the village.

Time of day

Although our game doesn't feature a real time day-night cycle, some progression in quests will cause the time of day to leap forward.

 Backer rewards

In the last two months we've made progress on the backer rewards. Below are two pieces of art that can be found somewhere in the world of Unsung Warriors!

That's it for now. If you have any questions or remarks, feel free to let us know. We'll update you again in August!

Cheers,

Mikel & Ramon

Devlog - Gameplay Video, Speedrun
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 05, 2022 at 12:40:37 PM

Hi all!

We're approaching spring in the Netherlands, so time for our bi-monthly update. This time around we have written less text, and instead, spend our time on creating a video.

Arena gameplay video

Here you can see a video including commentary of us playing the arena. Please mind the following while watching:

• What you've seen is still subject to change, incomplete, and not bug-free.
• The arena is a side activity in the full game, but is rather important to us now to finetune combat mechanics.
• We've posted the full, unedited video in the backer's section of our Discord server. Not on Discord? Send me a message via Kickstarter, and I'll share the video with you.

Enjoy the video!

Prologue speedrun

Below you can see another video, by backer Abendix. He was able to beat the Prologue in 7:22, which is an astonishing achievement!

That's all we have for you today. We've currently shifted our focus from the arena to creating levels. We'll be posting another update in two months.

Cheers,
   Mikel & Ramon