Update #39: Vault of the Void turns 1!
Hey everyone! I know I tend to waffle on a bit in these posts, but fair warning, this one will probably be a touch longer than usual. If you want to jump to what's changed, I’ll post a patch notes list at the bottom!
So, exactly 12 months ago now, I pushed the wrong button and published Vault of the Void to Steam. If you were there for it - I pushed Vault into LIVE release, instead of Early Access, which the Steam team were able to fix pretty quick for me, thankfully!
Back then, I couldn’t even really imagine writing this post, 12 months on. It feels like it was only a month ago - but so much has happened in the past year it's hard to recap it all. I expected that Vault would maybe find it’s way in 500 homes... dreamed of a number close to that! However it far exceeded the expectations that I, some random bloke from the bottom end of the world, ever expected. I thank you all so much for helping make Vault what it is. Every sale brings it one step closer to something I’d get to work on full time, and that's amazing!
Rather than text, let me recap with some screenshots and stats from the last 12 months!
[h3]The Numbers[/h3]
[h3]Run Counts for the past 12 months![/h3]
178,000 runs over the last 365 days. Thats nearly 500 runs a day... speechless
This will be Update #39. My goal was to update every week, for the first year. That quickly got away with me as I battled through longer, larger updates, heavy work schedules and just a hint of burn out. But I’m still proud that over 365 days, I was able to push out 39 updates. That’s not including the hotfixes everytime I screwed something up... which... was many...
I still remember the excitement of sitting down and watching Rhapsody’s Let’s Play videos right after launch. Watching how much the game has evolved not just visually (but no seriously, it was ugly back then!), but also content wise. It’s all because of you, the players - so again - thank you so much!
Of course, VotV wouldn’t be what it is without the awesome people who help me everyday. My companion artists, Mengo and Sasa. My animator, Sanjeev and web guru Luca. Also, the Internal Testing team and also the Card Council, who have helped so much with testing and generating ideas!!
A very special call out to Dabor as well - who many of you have spoken with over the Forums, the Discord channel, Streams etc. Dabor got involved in VotV early on during the Beta period, and now is such an integral part of the project - from balance to content creation, I’d be lost with him!
[h3]Early Access Period [/h3]
I’ll quickly address the 12 tonne elephant in the room. Back when I launched Vault, I said the EA period would be around 12 months. Many, many people have commented on how they feel Vault is already so deep and feature complete, that it could fit a 1.0 launch no worries. For me though - I’m not happy yet. There's more I want to do, more I want to add, more I want to polish. I’m going to keep Vault in EA for a little while longer. At a guess, I’d love to be aiming at this time next year for 1.0 - but my goal is to make Vault as good as it can be. And there's more I have to give.
[h2]Yo - enough! What’s new? [/h2]
Okay so full disclosure, after the Tempest update, I was pretty exhausted when it came to Vault (actually, exhausted with everything really!). That update came together pretty rapidly, and had me working close to 12-14 hours a day on Vault, across the art, code etc (and still needing to find time for client artwork and family). Extending that to a 4-6 week sprint, the last week or two I’ve been struggling to get back into things. I took a break for a bit, and thankfully I’m feeling much better now!
The Challenge Coin update is still coming. I’ve ironed out the details, and that is the next major thing. Expect that within the next 2 weeks I’d say. This will have a whole bunch of new coins, a proper setup to expand upon more as well. Class specific, rewards, Achievements and cute puppies (I can’t promise the puppies sorry).
This patch was focused on two things. The Bloodhive rework, and bringing back Arkaos.
[h2]The Bloodhive[/h2]
Sometimes I hear, in the stillness of the night, small cheers off in the distance. I know for a fact that’s Vault players rejoicing as they hit Floor 2 and spot the Bloodhive as their boss. A free win!
No longer.
The Bloodhive is back, and meaner than ever. No longer shall it be a pushover! The fight has been redesigned from the ground up, and it stands on its own now. Let’s take a look at the Bloodhive’s passive.
The fight has an interesting dynamic to it, balancing minion kills and stacking on the boss should be an interesting choice. And the minions will do their best to overwhelm you. Not the type of fight you want to drag out!
Also, everytime I see the Bloodbag’s art I get a giggle. Wasn’t intentional, I promise.
[h2]Arkaos, The Beast of the Elements[/h2]
So far, two encounters have been sent to Encounter Jail. Arkaos, and the Mimic. Well, Arkaos was officially charged with being a poor sport, and letting players walk right through him with little-to-no resistance. He got off on a technicality, and officially has walked off a freeman.
(artwork by Dabor)
He’s promised to be better. He’s so determined in fact, that he even created a new Debuff to apply to players...
He does, of course, still offer his Elemental Beads after you defeat him. These are a lot more balanced, just small rewards, a token as such. However, by doing multiple runs and defeating the Void with each of the 4 Beads, you will unlock an achievement, and a very cool deck back...
[h2]Master of the Elements - Animated Deck Back[/h2]
If you like what you see, hunt down Arkaos and defeat him for his Beads! There’s actually two animations on this deck back, one which will play when you Purge a card or get Attacked! This was me trialling out the animation event system for use with the next Community Reward, the interactive battlefield :)
Thankfully it works!
[h2]Last few things[/h2]
A couple more new things quickly. A long awaited “Random Deck Back” option has been added, so you can randomly select between your unlocked deck backs!
A clear map highlights button has also been added, for when you’re trying out a few pathing options and would like to clear them all quickly and start again.
From Dust spell will now show its damage projection!
Lots of bug fixes, listed below!
[h2]Steam Trading Cards![/h2]
They’re out! They were officially released last week as they made it through approval. Can’t wait to see some of those emblems being repped on people's profiles! If you end up using a Background or Emblem, I’d love to see it!
[hr][/hr]
Thanks again for putting up with my absence as I caught my breath! I promise I’m back into things now, and working hard on that Challenge Coin update. I’m really excited for this one, I hope you are all as well!
As always, thank you so much for all the reviews. It helps so much with getting the game out there to more people, and means a lot. You may notice in game that I’ve added a little tracker to see as we approach the next Community Reward. If you don’t want this visible, you can just right click it and it will disappear forever!
Make sure you claim the 250 Review Reward if you haven’t already.
Much love to you all. Thanks for making Vaults first birthday a special one.
All for now
- Josh
[hr][/hr]
[hr][/hr]
New Features
- Added a new random deck back option!
- A new debuff has been added, Fumble! The next X non-affliction cards you draw are sent to discard and replaced with Volatile copies.
- Arkaos is back! He can now be found on the second floor.
- New special animated deck back added alongside the Arkaos achivement
- The Bloodnest fight has been reworked!
- Artifacts will now show if they're a Class Artifact or Neutral
- From Dust will now show damage projection
- Clear Map Highlights button!
Bugs
- Fixed a bug which caused text alignment to be off in the Patch Notes section.
- Fixed a bug which would disable you purchasing a Void Stone at the Soul Collector under certain conditions. This will take effect from new runs.
- Fixed a bug which caused the Rough Chisel Artifact to eat some of your Essence.
- Fixed a bug where saving/loading a deck would remove Afflictions (Voids, Sins etc)
- Fixed a bug which caused Butchers Blade to not trigger if you played a Volatile Card first.
- Fixed Echo Cloak showing "Delayed Block" instead of "Delay Block".
- Fixed Lost Spirt showing a wonky number for Battle Progress.
- You can now mouse over your Artifacts (including the I+ Instability Candle) when you have the Loot the Dead event hidden.
- I've sat down and spoken with Forged Soilder. He has agreed to actually do something on Turn 0 now, when playing with Ambush on.
- Smelling Salts will now correctly give Echo Wall 2, instead of 1
- Vanguard Shield & Leftovers now work on Turn 0 (Ambush) correctly.
- Have moved Swerving Currents Solo check to after damage is dealt, inline with how card effects are processed.
- Fixed an issue where the Artifact Chest may spawn with the same items.
- Fixed an issue with Save/Load features in the deck manager removing Voids.
So, exactly 12 months ago now, I pushed the wrong button and published Vault of the Void to Steam. If you were there for it - I pushed Vault into LIVE release, instead of Early Access, which the Steam team were able to fix pretty quick for me, thankfully!
Back then, I couldn’t even really imagine writing this post, 12 months on. It feels like it was only a month ago - but so much has happened in the past year it's hard to recap it all. I expected that Vault would maybe find it’s way in 500 homes... dreamed of a number close to that! However it far exceeded the expectations that I, some random bloke from the bottom end of the world, ever expected. I thank you all so much for helping make Vault what it is. Every sale brings it one step closer to something I’d get to work on full time, and that's amazing!
Rather than text, let me recap with some screenshots and stats from the last 12 months!
[h3]The Numbers[/h3]
- Cards: 212 -> 384
- Artifacts: 163 -> 268
- Spells: 21 -> 32
- Characters: 3 -> 4
- Impossible+ Modifiers: 0 -> 20
- Bugs: 1,340,010 -> a smaller number
- Eye Candy: 0 -> lots more
- Memes: 0 -> at least 10.
[h3]Run Counts for the past 12 months![/h3]
178,000 runs over the last 365 days. Thats nearly 500 runs a day... speechless
This will be Update #39. My goal was to update every week, for the first year. That quickly got away with me as I battled through longer, larger updates, heavy work schedules and just a hint of burn out. But I’m still proud that over 365 days, I was able to push out 39 updates. That’s not including the hotfixes everytime I screwed something up... which... was many...
I still remember the excitement of sitting down and watching Rhapsody’s Let’s Play videos right after launch. Watching how much the game has evolved not just visually (but no seriously, it was ugly back then!), but also content wise. It’s all because of you, the players - so again - thank you so much!
Of course, VotV wouldn’t be what it is without the awesome people who help me everyday. My companion artists, Mengo and Sasa. My animator, Sanjeev and web guru Luca. Also, the Internal Testing team and also the Card Council, who have helped so much with testing and generating ideas!!
A very special call out to Dabor as well - who many of you have spoken with over the Forums, the Discord channel, Streams etc. Dabor got involved in VotV early on during the Beta period, and now is such an integral part of the project - from balance to content creation, I’d be lost with him!
[h3]Early Access Period [/h3]
I’ll quickly address the 12 tonne elephant in the room. Back when I launched Vault, I said the EA period would be around 12 months. Many, many people have commented on how they feel Vault is already so deep and feature complete, that it could fit a 1.0 launch no worries. For me though - I’m not happy yet. There's more I want to do, more I want to add, more I want to polish. I’m going to keep Vault in EA for a little while longer. At a guess, I’d love to be aiming at this time next year for 1.0 - but my goal is to make Vault as good as it can be. And there's more I have to give.
[h2]Yo - enough! What’s new? [/h2]
Okay so full disclosure, after the Tempest update, I was pretty exhausted when it came to Vault (actually, exhausted with everything really!). That update came together pretty rapidly, and had me working close to 12-14 hours a day on Vault, across the art, code etc (and still needing to find time for client artwork and family). Extending that to a 4-6 week sprint, the last week or two I’ve been struggling to get back into things. I took a break for a bit, and thankfully I’m feeling much better now!
The Challenge Coin update is still coming. I’ve ironed out the details, and that is the next major thing. Expect that within the next 2 weeks I’d say. This will have a whole bunch of new coins, a proper setup to expand upon more as well. Class specific, rewards, Achievements and cute puppies (I can’t promise the puppies sorry).
This patch was focused on two things. The Bloodhive rework, and bringing back Arkaos.
[h2]The Bloodhive[/h2]
Sometimes I hear, in the stillness of the night, small cheers off in the distance. I know for a fact that’s Vault players rejoicing as they hit Floor 2 and spot the Bloodhive as their boss. A free win!
No longer.
The Bloodhive is back, and meaner than ever. No longer shall it be a pushover! The fight has been redesigned from the ground up, and it stands on its own now. Let’s take a look at the Bloodhive’s passive.
The fight has an interesting dynamic to it, balancing minion kills and stacking on the boss should be an interesting choice. And the minions will do their best to overwhelm you. Not the type of fight you want to drag out!
Also, everytime I see the Bloodbag’s art I get a giggle. Wasn’t intentional, I promise.
[h2]Arkaos, The Beast of the Elements[/h2]
So far, two encounters have been sent to Encounter Jail. Arkaos, and the Mimic. Well, Arkaos was officially charged with being a poor sport, and letting players walk right through him with little-to-no resistance. He got off on a technicality, and officially has walked off a freeman.
(artwork by Dabor)He’s promised to be better. He’s so determined in fact, that he even created a new Debuff to apply to players...
He does, of course, still offer his Elemental Beads after you defeat him. These are a lot more balanced, just small rewards, a token as such. However, by doing multiple runs and defeating the Void with each of the 4 Beads, you will unlock an achievement, and a very cool deck back...
[h2]Master of the Elements - Animated Deck Back[/h2]
If you like what you see, hunt down Arkaos and defeat him for his Beads! There’s actually two animations on this deck back, one which will play when you Purge a card or get Attacked! This was me trialling out the animation event system for use with the next Community Reward, the interactive battlefield :)
Thankfully it works!
[h2]Last few things[/h2]
A couple more new things quickly. A long awaited “Random Deck Back” option has been added, so you can randomly select between your unlocked deck backs!
A clear map highlights button has also been added, for when you’re trying out a few pathing options and would like to clear them all quickly and start again.
From Dust spell will now show its damage projection!
Lots of bug fixes, listed below!
[h2]Steam Trading Cards![/h2]
They’re out! They were officially released last week as they made it through approval. Can’t wait to see some of those emblems being repped on people's profiles! If you end up using a Background or Emblem, I’d love to see it!
[hr][/hr]
Thanks again for putting up with my absence as I caught my breath! I promise I’m back into things now, and working hard on that Challenge Coin update. I’m really excited for this one, I hope you are all as well!
As always, thank you so much for all the reviews. It helps so much with getting the game out there to more people, and means a lot. You may notice in game that I’ve added a little tracker to see as we approach the next Community Reward. If you don’t want this visible, you can just right click it and it will disappear forever!
Make sure you claim the 250 Review Reward if you haven’t already.
Much love to you all. Thanks for making Vaults first birthday a special one.
All for now
- Josh
[hr][/hr]
[hr][/hr]
New Features
- Added a new random deck back option!
- A new debuff has been added, Fumble! The next X non-affliction cards you draw are sent to discard and replaced with Volatile copies.
- Arkaos is back! He can now be found on the second floor.
- New special animated deck back added alongside the Arkaos achivement
- The Bloodnest fight has been reworked!
- Artifacts will now show if they're a Class Artifact or Neutral
- From Dust will now show damage projection
- Clear Map Highlights button!
Bugs
- Fixed a bug which caused text alignment to be off in the Patch Notes section.
- Fixed a bug which would disable you purchasing a Void Stone at the Soul Collector under certain conditions. This will take effect from new runs.
- Fixed a bug which caused the Rough Chisel Artifact to eat some of your Essence.
- Fixed a bug where saving/loading a deck would remove Afflictions (Voids, Sins etc)
- Fixed a bug which caused Butchers Blade to not trigger if you played a Volatile Card first.
- Fixed Echo Cloak showing "Delayed Block" instead of "Delay Block".
- Fixed Lost Spirt showing a wonky number for Battle Progress.
- You can now mouse over your Artifacts (including the I+ Instability Candle) when you have the Loot the Dead event hidden.
- I've sat down and spoken with Forged Soilder. He has agreed to actually do something on Turn 0 now, when playing with Ambush on.
- Smelling Salts will now correctly give Echo Wall 2, instead of 1
- Vanguard Shield & Leftovers now work on Turn 0 (Ambush) correctly.
- Have moved Swerving Currents Solo check to after damage is dealt, inline with how card effects are processed.
- Fixed an issue where the Artifact Chest may spawn with the same items.
- Fixed an issue with Save/Load features in the deck manager removing Voids.