Beast Hour News

Raiders and Beasts!

Today, we will explain the reason behind having 8 players in the game session.

The game was initially planned for 10 players: 8 Raiders and 2 Beasts (we've already told about the first idea of the game). We've planned an unusual 'team vs team' mode, where the Beasts would compete with each other for the Raiders, and the latter could play both individually and in groups. In fact, this concept is similar to Dead by Daylight, but with more players.



Team vs Team

Then we decided to try a team variant of 5 Raiders vs 5 Beasts. We took inspiration from Nosgoth, a game with 8 players in one match (4 for each side), for this concept.

The experiment turned the game into a complete deathmatch: players began to run in groups, parkour took a back seat, and the large map became less meaningful for chases. Also, unlike Nosgoth, Beast Hour has no class divisions (like Tank, Support, and DD), which ultimately led us to abandon the 'team vs team' PvP approach.



Then the number of players has been reduced to 7: 5 Raiders and 2 Beasts (tests showed that having 1 monster is too boring). To diversify the gameplay, additional activity points have appeared on the already updated map: Arkana quests, escape mechanics, and altars for Beasts.



Arkana Storm and equal number of players

The ratio of 5 to 2 was interesting, but not ideal. 2 Beasts could only chase 2 Raiders. Even then, we've decided that Beast Hour would be a game without allies, which meant that 2 more Raiders could fight each other. That left one player, who basically shouldn't be afraid of an attack. So the solution came by itself: we added one more Beast and each player had an opponent.

But a new problem arose: due to the transition to the mechanics of respawns with their cancellation in the game's second phase, the last two or three players were hard to find each other in the final phase of the game on a large map for 8 participants. And that's where the idea of battle royale - space limitations, and the idea of not only narrowing the zone, but also moving it around the map - came to the rescue. This immediately solved the problem with the last players in the match and added variety.



So we've got a clear scheme for the game:

• there are 8 players in the match (5 Raiders and 3 Beasts),
  
• in the first phase everyone respawns, regardless of the character type,
  
• in the second phase, players can no longer respawn (only the Raiders have one try at the beginning),
  
• zone narrows and shifts, maximizing the drama of the finale.
  

Conclusion

Thanks for reading till the end! From time to time we try to change the number of players per match, but the current tests show that right now 5 vs 3 is the best ratio. This may change. What do you think would be the right number of players for Beast Hour? Share your opinion in the comments!

Make sure to check our regular livestreams on YouTube and Twitch channels, since it's a great opportunity for us to talk with you!

Follow Beast Hour on social media, wishlist on Steam and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring the game to a next level!

Beast Hour needs your help to prepare Italian, Korean and Japanese translations! And if you know German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic or Portuguese – we have a bunch of texts waiting for you to proofread them! You can contact us via email: [email protected]


If you want to discuss any form of cooperation with us, use this email: [email protected]


The Beast will come!

Raiders and Beasts!

Today we'd like to talk about characters' skins – the feature we started working on not so long ago.

That's quite a frequent question on our social media, if we're planning to add customization in the game. And the answer is always - yes!

All multiplayer games have skins, which devs regularly add into the game. That brings more variety and personality, because you can not only play as your favorite character, but also change his or her appearance as you like.

For quite a time our artists have been designing different skins, that would fit perfectly into the overall atmosphere of the game. This includes radical re-coloring of the standard look, as well as new appearance that completely transforms the character. From time to time we share such arts on our social media. However, we started to implement the customization system in the game itself just recently.

Standard re-color

Raiders

It wasn't hard to come up with skins for Raiders: since they are humans in suits, we just have divided their outfits on 3 customizable parts – head, arms and body. That allows players to mix and match them, creating unique looks.

Combination of different sets

Beasts

But we've faced some obstacles with Beasts. As they are naked monsters we can't split customization into 3 parts as we did for Raiders. Otherwise they would have visible "seams". Still we needed 3 customization parts, so we decided to change the following:

1. body type - the whole "naked" body and its coloring, what solves the problem of seams between the parts;

2. suit - different variations in clothing and decorations below the head/neck;

3. head - things for the head/neck, like extra "hats", "collars" etc.

Various combinations for Beasts

First prototypes

We already have a fair number of sketches that could be put to work and added to the game. But for the sake of time saving and testing the whole system (and, if necessary, tweak the images at the idea stage), we first added a set of the simplest "stubs".

Skins prototypes

This is why most of the "skins" in the game now are very bright and colourful. It's no coincidence that we chose such a toxic palette - it makes it easier to find bugs and gives more insight into the system work.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading till the end. Which concept do you like best? Share your opinion in the comments!

Make sure to check our regular livestreams at YouTube and Twitch channels, since it's a great opportunity for us to talk with you!

Follow Beast Hour on social media, wishlist on Steam and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring the game to a next level!

Beast Hour needs your help to prepare Italian, Korean and Japanese translations! And if you know German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic or Portuguese – we have a bunch of texts waiting for you to proofread them! You can contact us via email: [email protected]


If you want to discuss any form of cooperation with us, use this email: [email protected]


The Beast will come!

Raiders and Beasts!

Gameplay and concept art usually come alongside. Cases when developers think of their game as "gray boxes" are pretty rare, since the story and characters one wants to play spontaneously appear in the mind.

Parkour knights

The very first idea for Beast Hour was a gothic castle, where knights should run away from beasts. So we chose medieval setting and put armor on all Raiders. Since from the beginning parkour was the key idea for the game, we quickly dropped the idea about knights as it would be impossible to run fast and deftly in heavy armor.



So a new Raider concept, which can be described as the mix of medieval age and steampunk, appeared. This visual was simplified, we left only greaves, helmet, and bracers. But even this seemed to be too much. Plus there was a problem with the weapon - what a knight without a sword - it wasn't clear what it should be and how the character would run with it during the parkour.



Steampunk ninja-wizards

We started experimenting a lot, trying to create something unique and averaged between ninjas, Dishonored characters and steampunk. After a while we've finally chosen the time epoch - World War I and the Industrial Revolution - and the Raiders became wizards.



So, the character wore a high collar cape (Doctor Strange-like), but we've noticed that Raider didn't look like a fighter and wasn't brutal enough.



WWI aesthetics

Collecting all the ideas, we began to combine them into something unusual and appropriate. The main references for inspiration were the already mentioned World War I, the game Order 1886, and stylized knightly elements. The weapons were integrated into the gauntlets, which looked like bracers. You may have already seen this Raider, because for quite a long time we used him as a cover for the game and social media.



Zelus, the first Raider

In one of the previous articles we've told about our decision to make each Raider unique. The helmet was taken off from the Raider and cape laps were lengthened (like Neo from "The Matrix" wore). And that's how the main Zelus' concept art was created. Later, while creating the 3d model, his appearance has changed just a little. For example, the hair had to be shortened, so that the indicator on the back was visible, and it would be easier to notice him in the dark.



Conclusion

Thanks for reading till the end. Creating a character is a big, challenging, but very interesting journey! We were happy to share our experience with you. Share your opinion in the comments!

Make sure to check our regular livestreams at YouTube and Twitch channels, since it's a great opportunity for us to talk with you!

Follow Beast Hour on social media, wishlist on Steam and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring the game to a next level!

Beast Hour needs your help to prepare Italian, Korean and Japanese translations! And if you know German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic or Portuguese – we have a bunch of texts waiting for you to proofread them! You can contact us via email: [email protected]


If you want to discuss any form of cooperation with us, use this email: [email protected]


The Beast will come!

Raiders & Beasts!

Today we'd like to take a look at the genre of asymmetric PvP games and share our experience of developing Beast Hour.

All new – well forgotten old

This genre exists for a long time and a lot of games have been released. When Beast Hour development started, we tried to find as much information about the first asymmetric games as possible. Then Giants: Citizen Kabuto, released in 2000 by Planet Moon Studios, caught our eye. This game is quite unique, as there are three races involved in a single match: 5 Sea Ripers, 3 Meccaryn and 1 giant Kabuto.

Analyzing other games is necessary for understanding the genre and a great source of inspiration for development. That's why we tried to study everything that could be useful in any way, mostly such games as Dead by Daylight, Evolve, Last Year, Predator: Hunting Grounds, Deathgarden.



Not a DbD-clone

Of course, the main idea of "ones run away - others catch them" for us was Dead by Daylight, released in 2016 by Behavior Studios. It was one of the first internal projects independently created and published by this studio. The game quickly gained an audience and now it's considered the most popular asymmetrical horror game.

If Entity took Zelus into Dead by Daylight world, who would win?

It gave us a lot of ideas as we realized that players really like such games. But we didn't want to make another "DbD-clone". So, to the formula "1 immortal player against the opposing team" we've also added parkour elements and vertical gameplay. Thus, the first version of Beast Hour appeared. The game was: out of ten human Raiders random two turn into Beasts and hunt the remaining eight, trying to turn them into their pack's monsters.

Admittedly, it's problematic to find a perfect balance in games of this genre. An immortal boss-player is much stronger than any team member one-on-one, but a well-cooperated group drastically changes the balance in its favor. Plus, we didn't really like the idea of Beasts, one can do nothing against.



Main ideas

By trial and error approach, we came up with three main principles, on which Beast Hour development is based even today:

1. No allies game. Playing in teams, players would run together and enter team fights, so the whole point of parkour chases was lost. We wanted to focus on the dynamics of the game, which was only possible without teammates.

2. The option to fight back. Since now there are no allies, we gave the opportunity to freely choose the role and fight any player, whether it's Beast or Raider. By the way, the players who have previously tried Dead by Daylight, like this idea a lot. Survivors often say that they would like to have more opportunities to "mock" the killer.

3. Several bosses. The game involves three "bosses" at once, competing with each other for prey. It helps not only reinforce the ideas above, but also to create more "Beast after Raider" chases. It makes situations impossible where Raiders start to unintentionally team up against one Beast. Also the fights between monsters give a Raider more chances to survive.



On the whole, these principles gave the project its most important feature: the unique game experience of each match. Players decide whether to help or run, fight or flee, rely on cunning + agility or combat skills. This is what makes Beast Hour the game you want to play again and again.



Conclusion

Thanks for reading this article. We wanted to share our experience with asymmetric PvP development and perhaps answer some questions about Beast Hour genre. Share your opinion in the comments!

Make sure to check our regular livestreams at YouTube and Twitch channels, since it's a great opportunity for us to talk with you!

Follow Beast Hour on social media, wishlist on Steam and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring the game to a next level!

Beast Hour needs your help to prepare Italian and Korean translations! And if you know German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese or Portuguese – we have a bunch of texts waiting for you to proofread them! You can contact us via email: [email protected]


If you want to discuss any form of cooperation with us, use this email: [email protected]


The Beast will come!

Raiders and Beasts!

It’s time to melt cold Winter days with the flame of our new character – Drake!



Short backstory

In the article about Vampire, we’ve talked about how we came to the decision to make each character unique. Still we left something unmentioned: for each Raider we’ve chosen the element. Electricity coupled perfectly with the steampunk and fitted to the lore of our first Raider. That’s how Zelus, a scientist of the Industrial Revolution, was created.



As for Udoku, her poisonous gas was very suitable for the look of World War I anti-sister of Mercy.



Drake concept

After we’ve created two characters, we started to think what element should be chosen for the next character. The answer didn’t take long – fire! So, we started creating some concepts for Drake in the style of steampunk and even dieselpunk.



Then we’ve decided to make the design closer to the era of the first half of the XX century. The main reference for this was The Rocketeer.



Also, as the source of the inspiration, we look a lot at WWI aviators’ photos.



Drake’s design was good, but the eye sockets of his helmet were too similar with the Zelus’ glasses, so we’ve changed Drake a little.



Abilities

Concept is ready, element is chosen, but what’s about his abilities? We can’t show all of Drake abilities right now, since we’re still testing them. Something new is changing, adding or removing, so it's a work in progress. But there is something we’d like to share with you! Since we were creating Vampire along with Drake, we’ve decided to add him a jetpack, as a sort of “reaction” to Vampire’s gliding.



Conclusion

What do you think about the new character? Share your opinion – it’s very important for us. And don’t forget that we're creating Beast Hour for you!

Make sure to check our regular livestreams at YouTube and Twitch channels, since it's a great opportunity for us to talk with you!

Follow Beast Hour on social media and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring the game to a next level!

Beast Hour needs your help to prepare Italian, Portuguese and Korean translations! And if you know German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic or Japanese – we have a bunch of texts waiting for you to proofread them! You can contact us via email: [email protected]

If you want to discuss any form of cooperation with us, use this email: [email protected]

The Beast will come!