Book of Hours News

"Cracktrack was a gift from the light above the world. When Glory touched the first life-motes with this language, they entered the waking world. They were Illuminated."

Big news first: GET HYPE! We can finally reveal that BOOK OF HOURS is launching on Steam and GOG (across Windows, Mac and Linux) on...



This means we can extend the beta and make it a more polished game on release. It's later than we'd hoped, but the feedback so far makes us think we could make this lil' library game really special. We want to take the time to do that. ✌

Now: click below to watch BOOK OF HOURS' first ever trailer!!!11!



Click to watch the STORM trailer!

This game is increasingly like an only slightly poisonous puzzle box of luxury chocolates. Is that a clear enough description? There are chambers and secrets and little jewels to find and lore to discover alongside Mrs Killes' cooking and the sound of rain on a stormy Cornish night. And deadly bon-bons. We originally intended to make a light, agile game like Cultist Simulator, which has tonnes of words in it (200,000+ including DLC, I think?) but hasn't had a good meal in weeks. But over the years BOOK OF HOURS gained a patina, and the game grew roots. It's now probably the 'deepest' game we've ever made, with layers and layers of lore lain on top of one another like resting bones in Mesozoic rock.

One of the key parts of BOOK OF HOURS that we haven't discussed much is the player's ability to influence the Secret Histories - or at least what's canonical in the Histories. The Wisdom Tree is part skill tree, in traditional RPG style ('I kill u with Horomachistry'; 'I am so unskilled in Bosk I cannot even wear this green hat'), but also part branching narrative, where the Librarian gets to decide what's 'true'. AK tweeted a thread on this recently, but to illustrate on example: every skill can be assigned to one of two nodes in the Wisdom Tree. Which one you choose not only increases your understanding of that particular Wisdom, but also makes a lore statement about the nature of the invisible world. Take 'Pentiments & Precursors', which can be assigned to Skolekosophy or Birdsong:



Is Medusa a Name of the Twins, or is she descended from the Carapace Cross? (Preservation suggests: whichever is true, you should be polite.)

AK's also been writing contagions, so our long-touted game description - "Defend your library against storm, fire, theft and the occasional theoplasmic assault" - is now a reality! Horribly, some contagions can spread to OTHER NEARBY THINGS:

"This book is blotched with keeperskin, a luminous fungus that grows in the Wood we see in sleep, and enters the world when a dreamer inhales its spores."

Then there are other types of contamination, which might not start a pandemic, but will make you equally unhappy. Take winkwell, for example, which illuminates parts of reality better left unseen:

"Sometimes when I turn this book to the right angle, I see an eye peering at me from its pages or covers. They close and fade when I leave them in the dark... but light will always bring them out eventually."

Enjoy! 😃😃😃😃

The latest beta build, BARONIAL, went live yesterday, adding all rooms in the central core of Hush House: this includes the ultra-hygge of the Librarian's Quarters; the glittering Hall of Mirrors, with its Pierrot le Fou energy; the homely charm of the Kitchen, where one might indulge in a shnack... Along with more text and functionality, we've also started incorporating a mini-Easter Egg hunt throughout the library, where you can (should you wish!) populate the Grand Ascent with the busts of all significant Barons and Librarians of the House that you'll find scattered through its 107 rooms. What happens if you get the order wrong when you assemble them up the stairs? Just ask poor ol' Abbot Thomas.

If you're signed up to the beta list but didn't get an email yesterday, don't worry! We'll be adding new testers about twice a week, so you have DOUBLE the chances next week of getting in. I understand statistics, I am a artist. DOUBLE.

Speaking of art, all Hush House art is now complete (including seasonal variants, which will be going in soon...), so we wave a sad goodbye to our fabulous Breton freelancer, Adrien. His Gallic personality and an infamous misunderstanding when we asked him to draw 'pigeon holes' - a phrase apparently that does not translate easily into French - will be missed. He ended on a bang, though: check out his version of 'Our Lady Beneath', the post-Roman chapel of the Sisterhood of the Knot in the bowels of the rock beneath Hush House:



(Larger image on the blog.)

I, meanwhile, have descended into trolling AK through aspects (there's one I drew the other day that I don't think he's spotted yet - he will probably make me take it out).



And I'm slowly but inexorably dropping gentle animations through the world, like a poor man's version of the Flowermaker.



Hope you like what you see so far of BOOK OF HOURS and its trailer! We really think it'll be something special that you haven't played before. More beta, more lore, more Secret Histories and more MORE coming over the next very rich four months. Please stand by. ♥

“Westengryre is what the early monks of St Brandan’s called it; that old green-sickness, the raptness of desolation, the terror of the wastes, and it is upon me now. The Wood. The Wood. The Wood…!”

What would a Weather Factory game be if it didn’t try to kill you every so often? The Hours are much more merciful in Brancrug, but the House Without Walls still waits behind the world, and it’s still a dangerous place. Elements of the Soul are vulnerable to maladies if overused, or used unwisely. Chor is drawn into Duendracy by music only you can hear. Wist becomes tangled and Shell-Crossed with pre-human thoughts.. Ereb is vulnerable to Westengryre, and Phost… the HIGHER YOU RISE the MORE YOU SEE. You didn’t think we’d make too easy a game, did you?

On to the beta. Thanks so much for everyone who’s tested so far – it’s so helpful! AK mentioned this in a recent Reddit post, but here’s an easy visual guide to what happens next:



We’ll be removing access to the beta on Monday 17th (you’ll be able to load it after that point, but not get past the title screen), and reopening it on Thursday 27th April with a new expanded build, BARONIAL. We’ve also decided to add testers incrementally over the course of the rest of the beta. A bunch of people will get emails on the 27th, and every week or so – when AK updates Steam with a new build – a few more will find a tasty beta key in their inbox. I know some people were disappointed when they weren’t included in the first tranch of testers and had to wait a month before being in with another chance. This way everyone should be happier, AND we get a steady influx of new people to tell us our UI don’t work. Woo hoo!

Look how nice this one looks! And this is a screenshot, not a mock-up. We’re getting there…

Art-wise I’m astonished to say that we are ONE ROOM AWAY from all (base) art complete. There’s one place left to draw – a triple-sized subterranean chapel of the Sisterhood of the Triple Knot – but we’re looking pretty peachy. I’m now working on bringing it to life with animations (beta testers may have noticed the nice candle animations going in, for example) while Adrien makes a number of seasonal outside art and Important People busts you’ll find around Hush House. Here’s a sampling of what he’s up to. Any guesses on who these busts are?



Right! I’ll leave it here so we can get back to work on the game. More updates soon: beta hopefuls expect an email (maybe) on the 27th, and in two weeks’ time we have something important to share with all of youse. In the interests of getting hype…

I reckon we'll have five or six more mid-release updates like this, and then go to BARONIAL - the next batch of rooms, with a new batch of beta testers.

• BIG UI UPDATE - still WIP
  
• Updated prentice-level recipes, added scholar-level recipes
  
• fixed flicker problem with workstations
  
• 'see those trees / bend in the wind / I feel they've got a lot more sense than me'
  
• changed requirement for Gatehouse entry
  
• can't Seek Unusual Help with a fatigued Soul any more
  
• Made Timothy et al unique. I had thought maybe you hire them for a double helping, but it just confuses people
  
• Various aspect fixes
  
• Purging St R's reminders properly
  
• Tuned edge drag movement better
  
• Chor exaltation shouldn't give sky
  
• Fixed wrong connection in Wisdoms
  
• Trist shouldn't claim nectar as an exaltation benefit
  
• Borders on world
  
• Zoom out further
  
• Why does the barber attract all the typos?
  
• Heart consultations now possible
  
• Telescope is now a telescope, moor walks are pugs
  
• Sea's Edge is pugs
  
• Plants no longer get unhelpfully fatigued to 'petals'
  
• Placeholder to make the abandoned items issue easier to parse
  
• Moved troublesome trees
  
• Denzil doesn't hide his timer
  
• Slot glow tidy ups (niche glows currently hyperaggressive tho)
  
• calm seas + gentle mists
  
• Fixed revolutionary journal image
  
• Fixed unintentionally generous skill jump at skill 4
  
• Latest round of item development... including uniqueness for transient memories.
  
• Special-hired assistants don't get confused at night
  
• Knock text recast
  
• Calicite Supplications now studiable!
  
• Updated fallthrough hints
  
• lotsa new underground art (still invisible in beta)
  
• bottomless thing spheres no longer bottomless
  
• tray now occludes less
  
• skills tray arranges skills better
  
• 'shiny happy treesies holding hands' apparently
  
• sky tweaks
  
• slot dropcatcher tidyup
  

Just a mini update to confirm that BOOK OF HOURS has launched in closed beta! If you haven't signed up for the beta, register your interest here. And if you weren't picked for this round, don't worry! You might well be chosen for next month's group. (We'll be adding new people each month, so there are lots of chances to get a key.)

Good luck! To those of you currently playing, I hope you enjoy Brancrug. :)