Vault of the Void News

Hello everyone!

Today's post is a preview of stuff to come! I wanted to take some time to showcase where things are at with the new Potion system! Potions have been something which really needed addressing in Vault for sometime. They were quite easily forgettable -- and oftentimes you’d find yourself with a plethora of colorful bottles remaining at the end of a run, which you would then begin dunking on the void with.

There were a few things I wanted to address here:

Firstly -- limiting the amount of Potions that could be used in a fight. I think this was pretty important, as it very often ended up being a situation where you’d remember them at the last minute, and just unload them all in your last fight, which isn’t a super compelling choice. This was partly due to their front loading nature as well, which...

Secondly -- Potions were proactive. You had to equip one before you went into a fight, which had an emphasis on system mastery. I do like that aspect, where a player knowing they might be in a tough matchup would cause them to bring a potion. However, oftentimes, you’d be mid-fight, and things would take a bad turn, and you’d really wish you brought a Potion to help. With this new system both are possible! The key here was to allow the players to arm themselves with a "just incase" button.

And as a final goal -- continue trying to make a system that is interesting, different, and that encourages the player to make tough choices, rather than just a carbon copy of something else out there.

[h3]So, how does that look? [/h3]

In Vault of the Void, Potions now have two effects, Brew and Belt. You can choose to add one to your Brew slot before each fight, and also one to your Belt slot before each fight (only ever one of each!).

When you Brew a Potion, its effects trigger at the start of combat, and often last the entire battle -- the same effect as the current system. However now you can also add a Potion to your Belt, a quick slot ability that you can cast in a moment of panic (or triumph!) mid battle. Belt potions won’t be consumed automatically either -- so if you finish a fight without using that Stealth Potion, it will be there for the next fight.



Here’s an example of a few of the Potions, with their differing effects (note: subject to change)


[h3]Potion of Stealth[/h3]
Brew: Creatures will skip their first turn.
Belt: Halve your current Threat.



[h3]Strength Potion[/h3]
Brew: At the start of each turn, gain 50% Rage.
Belt: Rage 125%.

[h3]Exploding Bottle[/h3]
Brew: Deal 25 damage to all enemies.
Belt: Apply Vulnerable 1. Deal 40 damage. (Single target)

On top of all this -- the Potion Merchant is getting a full UI rework, and all Potions are getting new art to help with the expansion of things. If you feel this system sets itself up well for expanding into class specific Potions -- or even unique Potions from events... well you’d be right! :)

I really hope you like the new system, and are willing to give it a try! So far testing has been mostly positive, and I’m looking forward to rolling this out. The current plan is to have this live by next weekend! It should make its way to the Beta Branch a few days before that also.

Thanks everyone!

All for now
- Josh

Hello everyone!

So the localisation patch is now a little over a week old and I’ve been getting lots of positive feedback! I’m so glad that many of you are now able to enjoy Vault of the Void in your local language, and hope the experience has been pleasant.

I’m just sweeping in with a quick little hotfix today -- usually I wouldn’t put together patch notes for a small patch like this, but I’ve been seeing a particular issue affecting a decent amount of players, and so wanted to address it publicly. Basically, a handful of players have been experiencing a “crash”, probably without much context or explanation. It seems to happen at random times, and then also somewhat often when reloading the game.

This was due to some memory issues going on. From what I can tell, this was mostly targeting laptops, and the issue stems from the laptop and GPU usage. I’ve done some work to optimise this, and also shorten load times on boot up as well. If you were suffering from this issue -- please let me know if this fixes the problem! As usual, I’ll keep an eye on crash logs over the next few days.

I’ve also managed to bundle in a few bug fixes as well -- all will be listed below!

Thank you again everyone for all the support! Some lovely reviews coming in from people all around the world, great to see many new players!

Thank you everyone -- all for now!!
- Josh




Bugs Fixes
-Changed the way Locale files are loaded on startup, resulting in much, much faster load times.
-Optimisation for Laptops, and minor tweaks for Desktop PCs.
-Fixed an issue where floor specific Well of Stars rewards were getting jumbled (extra elite spawn after finishing floor 2, for example).
-Fixed an issue with Battle Progress not lining up on the pre-fight screen.
-Fixed an issue where one particular enemy was a high achiever, and had Battle Progress exceeding 100%
-Fixed an issue where some tooltips would break their bounds on spawned cards.
-The Favour of Cancer Artifact now has the correct artwork.
-Changed wording on the +/- Shock popover.
-Taunt ability is now translated correctly.
-Fixed some button text in the Compendium.
-Translated the Seed text in battle.

Hello everyone! No need for a preamble -- today I’m very excited to announce that Vault of the Void is now playable in 7 different languages: Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish!

[h2]Localisation Update[/h2]
The last few months have been a pretty extensive journey, as I learnt (the hard way) what it looks like to localize a game that wasn’t programmed to support it from the start. When I started working on Vault of the Void, my thinking was “If it gets to the point where it’s success means it requires localisation, then I’ll be fine doing it!”. I now know, there is a reason why all game dev tips start with Plan for localisation!

Funny enough -- the amount of work for me was nothing compared to the work of the amazing community translators themselves! Since December, the team across 6 languages have translated over 477,513 different words. It was very important for me to have translators working on the project who knew the game. All the translators were players first, and that was a huge benefit when it comes to supporting all the keywords, tooltips, interactions etc. Vault is a dense game, without a doubt, so having some prior knowledge before diving in was super important to ensuring the translation was as accurate as possible. A huge thank you to all who rallied together and made this possible -- very, very proud of the team that's been built.

Also, now that all my update posts have to be translated, I can’t waffle on as much as I used to! :D

That said, the job isn’t done! The team is very responsive to all feedback, and if you notice something is off, or displays incorrectly, or worse of all, is still in English -- there are two main ways to get in contact. Firstly, the Discord server! I’ve set up a new room called #localisation-feedback where you can provide any specific feedback! I’ve also created channels to chat with others in each of the new languages, so you’re more than welcome to come and hang out there.

The other place would be on the Forums -- there's a sticky post for Feedback. Many of the members are subscribed so they’ll see and action your feedback as it shows up!

So again -- another huge thank you to the team who made this possible. I’m so blessed to have such a great community form around this game. I’ve met so many wonderful people through Vault of the Void over the last 18 months, and my life is so much better for it!

[h2]The Mysterious Disappearance of Community Rewards[/h2]
Sadly, I was contacted by Steam and told to remove the Community Reward counter in the game -- I totally understand their standpoint there. It’s sad, I really enjoyed the process, and it was a huge help to myself (small, mostly solo dev with no publisher) to help spread the word. In light of this, my biggest issue is what to do with the 1,000 Reward? I had it already planned, I just need to get them animated!

Behold, the majesty of: the Treasure Goblin Affliction Pack!



I’ll get these all animated and find a way to get them to you all :) Even though there is no longer a Community Reward, I still really appreciate everyone who leaves a review for Vault of the Void. I’m very proud of the game that has formed from all the feedback and input from you all over the last 12-18 months.

[h2]Guest Artwork Packs[/h2]
So, I hinted at this last time, and since then, plans are in motion! With the setup to alternative artwork in place, keep your eyes peeled for some awesome guest artwork packs coming soon!

[h2]Challenge Coins [/h2]
Two new Challenge Coins have been added to the game! Couple of fun ones here, you’ll now be able to dive into “Great Devourer” and “Spell Roulette”. I hope you enjoy these CCs -- I know there's been a lot of great feedback when it comes to CCs, and hope they continue to help in mixing up your runs!

[hr][/hr]

Thats all from me for now -- I did manage to squeeze in a few bug fixes and graphical updates, as shown below. I should be back in a week or two with the new Potion update (they’re getting revamped!) as well as some more great content, including the promised balance pass!

All for now!
- Josh



Additions
===
- Localisation support! Vault of the Void is now fully playable in Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish
- Matron of Memories will now offer 4 *different* Potions!
- New UI design for Dark Idol
- 2 New Challenge Coins
- New UI for the Spellbook Screen

Bugs
===
- Celerity will now show correctly in the Compendium.
- Added a slight delay to Tooltips.
- Corrected an issue with save games not working, on very rare occasions.
- Fixed a bug when viewing Statistics on a fresh profile.
- Fixed the heading in battle when viewing your Expel pile.
- The game will now save at the Well of Stars, meaning you can exit and come back and still get your rewards

Hello everyone! I apologise for my silence over the last few weeks. It’s been a real grind, I’ve been heavily focused on getting the Localisation setup for Vault of the Void. And today -- finally -- I have some great news!

So, with a massive thank you to the amazing community members who have volunteered their time, Vault of the Void is now available to opt in and play in 6 different languages: Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French and German.

As of right now -- this is a public opt-in branch to ensure everything is all smooth, and things aren’t missing! If all goes well, then I’ll publish this to the live branch next weekend, March 4th!

As a note, I know this isn’t super exciting news for all players. I’d love to be swinging in with a bunch of new content for you all to digest! However, the nature of things is that Localisation had to get done, and it was a big demand in terms of my time. Also, being a solo-developer, that means that all my time spent there leaves 0 for other stuff sadly. 

Fear not however! The update next week will come bundled with 2 new Challenge coins, and I’ll also preview some new Alternative Artwork which I’m super excited about, as well as an update on plans for new stuff coming!! 

[h2]Okay, so first up, some details![/h2]
How do I opt-in?
It’s actually really easy!

• Head to your Steam Library and find Vault of the Void.
  
• Right click and select Properties
  
• You’ll see a “Betas” option on the left. If you head there, drop down the box and select “Localisation”.
  
• Close that screen and Steam will do the rest!
  

Will my save files carry over?
Yes! Any data you had before will carry over between branches, and all games logged on the Localisation branch will indeed be logged to your main profile. Please keep in mind though -- going back to the Live Branch may cause some characters to not appear in game logs etc, as the Live Branch version doesn’t have the support fonts and language files. Ideally, it would be best to play on the Localisation branch until the Live Branch is updated on March 4th.

I’m an English speaker -- any benefit to moving over?
There were also a few small bug fixes included in this build, although to be fair, most of the time was in translation work. However, with all the new font and string changes, it would be awesome to confirm testing in English as well!

Where can I log feedback?
As always, the Discord is a great place to reach out re: this stuff. However, I’ve also set up a stickied forum post right here. I’ll be cycling through this everyday for any issues.

As always, I'm here to answer any questions you may have! I can't stress enough how thankful I am, and I'm sure we all are collectively to the AMAZING people who helped to translate this. Vault of the Void ended up with over 40,000 words that required translation, and I'm blown away by the out pouring of support over the last few months.

谢谢, ありがとう, Grazie, Gracias, Merci & Danke!!

Hello everyone!

Ahh - I finally got here. I’ll admit -- I took the scenic route it seems.. let me explain!

I had originally planned to have this patch out late last week, or over the weekend at the latest. However, life had other plans -- including hitting my family and I with a bout of COVID! Thankfully, it was pretty light for me, only lasting a day or two, but it did set things back a little. My appologies for taking so long with these fixes -- I'd much rather have them out eariler but with Localisation still going on its hard to find a break point to push a build inbetween thing!

However we’re here now, and I’m excited to get this out. Translation is still going on (I’m still pulling strings out of the game!) -- and progressing very well (the game is actually playable in several languages!). However I’ve managed to sneak this update in between all that. Let’s dive in.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
Let’s start with the boring stuff first hey? Bugs. Ew. But -- there's been a bunch of them. The biggest issues I’ve seen reported seem to be around missing strings. This was because of all the Localisation stuff going on -- really sorry about that. Desync now has a tooltip -- and that tooltip isn’t the Shii tooltip like it’s been. I’ll post a full patch notes below of all the bugs I remember fixing -- I’m sure there were much more!

[h2]Card Stacking[/h2]
So this is something which is a working prototype right now -- card stacking! One of the coolest features (I think) of Vault of the Void is -- no hand size limit. But, that can lead to some ... interesting things when it comes to Hidden Blade spam. Fun to play -- but tricky to interact with.



No longer! Card stacking is now a thing which allows those cards to form up into a neat little stack, once added to your hand! Please let me know of any issues you have with this -- if all is well I’ll probably roll this out to Banes, Dazes and the likes as well!



[h2]Save Game - again.. [/h2]
So, I’ve still been battling some issues with Save Game files. I think I’ve found the solution now! Huge thanks to Valouvalou (who made Loop Odyssey -- go check it out!). Similar situtation with them (and many others), and it looks like they’ve found a solution! I’ve rolled out a simliar fix in this update -- please let me know if you have any more profile/save game wipes (useually this occurs during a black out or PC crash).

Fingers crossed!!

[h2]Challenge Coins[/h2]
So -- whilst my hands are tied a little expanding too much right now with the Localisation process going on -- there is one thing I can add more off. Challenge Coins! 4 new coins have been added, one for each Class! The reception to the Challenge Coin update has been overwhelming, I apprecaite each and everyone one of you who have enjoyed the new system, and taken the time to let me know! The quest to fill this out with more and more coins will continue!

I hope you enjoy these new ones as much as the past ones!



[h2]750 Review Reward[/h2]
Okay -- so I’m blown away, but we’ve actually already hit the 750 Review Count (just ticked over today)! Unreal -- I can’t thank you all enough. The 750 Community Reward is ready to be claimed in game. Some of you may have seen a new system implemented last patch -- the Alternative Artwork screen under unlocks. Here is a chance for me to start giving out some awesome rewards, in the form of cool artwork variations, animated cards, themed sets -- lots to expand upon.

I’m actually pretty excited about this system -- it has a lot of cool potential! I’d love to see guest artwork featured, crossovers with other games, all fun things like that!

First cab of the rank -- some alternative artwork for everyone's favorite Hidden Blade! That’s right, the Soul Knife can be claimed with the code ‘SoulKnife’ right now! It’s full size, animated, and I hope you like it!! Rather than boring Hidden Blades -- why not weild a weapon powered by the very Souls you collected!



It’s an absolute pleasure to be able to take a little time to make cool rewards and cosmetic unlocks like this. I’ve already got the reward for 1000 Reviews in the making -- a set of Alternative Artwork cards. And the theme is... well... interesting ...

Oh you want to see a preview? Okay...



Oh no? Oh, yessss!

[h2]500 Review Reward[/h2]
So on a slightly more serious note... anyone who has read my posts before knows how upset I was about the 500 Reward situation. I did everything I could to try and avoid something like this happening, and sadly the way the situation unfolded wasn’t great. However, I’m pleased to annouce that -- its finally ready.

Firstly, huge thank you to my fellow artist Mengo for helping me with the base layout here. We worked on this together, I threw down the final rendering and setup things for animation -- and then Sanjeev my animator crushed it. Again. (As a reward, looks like he'll be animated a bunch of Treasure Goblins realllll soon)

So I’ll be upfront, I mentioned this in the Discord, but I was pretty nervous when it game to this. Because of how overdue it is, the drama surronding it, and the anticipation, I was very worried it would be a flop and a let down. An "Oh. Is that it?"...

However, everyone who’s tested it so far has had great things to say -- so I really hope you all think the same!

Firstly -- the code. ‘LateToTheParty’ will unlock this gem for you.

Elements of the board react and light up to things you do -- ending turn, taking threat, killing mobs etc. There is also a little hidden gem in there if you’re feeling particularly... musical. A huge shoutout to Cody from CpawsMusic, (who has done the soundtrack for VotV), but was an absolute legend in helping me out with the Rune sounds. You'll find out when you click on them :)

Who’s going to be the first one to send me a video of them playing a song on the Runes? :D

In closing with all this -- I'm going to vow to never let this happen again. I'm really, REALLY sorry it was overdue. You all did your part in leaving the Reviews. I didn't. I really do hope you enjoy the Battlefield however :)

[hr][/hr]

Woo ! At the bottom already? I'll close with my usual thank you for all the amazing support and kind words. At least once a day I have someone join the Discord, reach out on Reddit, Twitter or email to express how much Vault means to them and how much they enjoy it. Game dev is exhausting -- but you all make it so worthwhile and such a rewarding experience. Thank you!

More Localisation work for me over the next few weeks. Then -- into that balance pass I've promised (can't do that mid translation :( ) and into some fresh content!!

Take care everyone -- all for now!

- Josh




New things!
- There is an option in the menu to auto add Potions during the Void fight
- Hidden Blades and Silent Shivs now stack in your hand! This is a prototype still and will be rolled out to other cards eventually
- Alternative Artwork is now a thing - use the code 'SoulKnife' for the alternative Hidden Blade artwork! (750 Community Reward)
- Finally - the Interactive Background is finished! You can unlock it by using the code 'LateToTheParty'!
- 4 new Challenge Coins
- In your Run History, there is now a Copy Seed button, which you can use with the new...
- Paste Seed button!
- Finally, new artwork for Bane, Daze, Exhaustion, Infection and Remorse.
- In the options menu, there is an option to have a Discovery Tooltip visible. This means that in game, any artifact or card you haven't "Discovered" will gain an extra tooltip
- Void Stones can now be viewed in the Compendium
- Yet again, another Save file system update. Please let me know if you have any issues with data loss!
- The Community Reward tracker has been bumped to 1000!
- New Spell Button on the top bar - allowing you to quickly view your spells in a Tooltip.

Bugs
- Fixed Bruce not having a description on his Passive ability
- Fixed the Soul Merchant showing "0" on the Void Stones
- Fixed an issue with random targeting on some cards
- Finally fixed the min price tooltip when playing with Tight Pockets!
- Fixed the Desync tooltip turning into the Shii tooltip
- Fixed the link to Noxious's Twitter on the Store page
- Added Bane, Daze, Exhaustion, Infection and Remorse to the Compendium
- Fixed an issue with the Merchant, flickering buttons and the Zeal Menu
- Fixed an issue with Fortitude effecting damage prediction
- Fixed the Treasusre Chest re-roll issue
- Fixed an issue with targeting an immune enemy with a Shii attack
- Winged Circlet text fixed
- Bare Bones Coin Challenge now will allow you get the Upgrade Point in the Artifact Chest
- Fixed a bug which stopped Volatile cards from glowing when Discarding
- Fixed Discharge from Tesla Trident ignoring Reroute
- Fixed a bug with Jewel of the Void
- Debt Repaid Purge now affected by Rage
- State of Mind Purge no longer affected by Rage
- Removed the Artifact Chest on the Pre-Fight for Daily Draft
- Fixed issues with Jade Mantis
- Vanguard Shield fixed
- Reworked some card keyword stuff in setup for Localisation
- Tweaking to the Compendium and Card Discovery numbers
- You can now re-enable the Community Reward Main Menu feature from Options-> Debug
- Hold to End Turn now extends to the shortcut (Space Bar)
- Unholy Effigy will now affect Fumble correctly