Beast Hour News

Raiders and Beasts!

It's already the end of the first month of the new year. We hope you've had a great holidays and have returned to your work/study full of energy and inspiration!

New Year gifts from The Beast

As a small present to our community we prepared and posted an unusual gif on our social media: Beasts and Raiders are dancing can-can.



And in the game itself, Zelus got a New Year's hat! You may remember that the Werewolf wore the same hat last year (It's interesting, who will try it on the next year?).



The playtest we all are waiting for!

But it's not all! Just like you, we're waiting for an opportunity to play Beast Hour with all of you. Now it goes like this: we've already prepared the main content and now are just fixing some bugs, but, what's more important, our engineers are working on the netcode. Stay tuned to our social media, there we will tell you about the test in advance!



The Garden district changes

And what's about the game itself? We have been improving the map all the time and trying to make each district more interesting. This time, the biggest changes were made in the Garden district. Now we've added new railroads, a little cemetery and many more!



The Keeper of the haunted city

The Keeper is an important part of the Beast Hour universe, but now his voice could only be heard in the end of each match. So more Keeper's voice is coming! He will be commenting events in the game -- we've already started recording and adding more lines! Check out the video below and tell us what you think about it!

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Vampire

In the article about Vampire we've shown his model which wasn't yet ready. The work on the visuals is in full swing. Now Vampire has a more detailed body, head and even hair on it!



Conclusion

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!

We are looking for business & publishing partners for our game to make it even better. Spread the word!

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!

Raiders & Beasts!

Another year of Beast Hour development is behind. In today's newsletter we'll recall some of the coolest and the most memorable things that have happened this year as well as share our future hero plans!

News and streams

It was at the beginning of 2022 when we got an idea to regularly post news about Beast Hour in this format. We published the summary of 2021 and so it started – there was not a single month we missed and each time we shared something exciting about the game both on Steam and via emails. Not only do we not plan to stop doing so, but we want to make these newsletters even better and more informative. Share your suggestions for new formats and topics in the comments!



By the way, alongside the newsletters, at the beginning of 2022 we also started making Beast Hour Q&A-streams, so that you have a direct way of communicating with us. We are a very open team thus we've decided to give EVERYONE an opportunity to take part in those streams. The only thing you need to do is join our Discord server and its voice chat – and you're live with us! Come and participate in the upcoming Q&A-stream at the 13th of January 2023.

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January 2022

In the first month of the year we did a lot of cool stuff. The biggest accomplishment was the new UI which replaced an old and technical one. If you've been following Beast Hour long enough you probably remember that first game videos and gifs didn't have any UI at all. Not because we didn't have any, but because we didn't want to show an obviously unfinished aspect of the project.



On top of all of that, that was the month our fan wrote a Beast Hour rap song and we made a small clip out of it. You should check it out!

February 2022

In February the Spider district got updated and became an even more frightening and atmospheric place. Since then we kept on adding new pathways, mechanics and secrets to uncover – definitely visit it when you play Beast Hour next time!



March 2022

You asked us a lot and we heard you: in March we started developing a new hero – Vampire! The character was on a very early stage and so we could only show the first concept art. But, as it turned out, it was enough as we received a lot of positive feedback – thank you!



April 2022

During the whole development cycle Beast Hour supported only two languages: English and Russian. But we knew that wasn't enough – we wanted to be sure that players from all over the world would have a chance to play the game. At this point we started looking for fans who could help with localizations. The first language was Japanese (it was unexpected even for us!)

Now there are multiple translations in the work: Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Polish and Arabic. If you know Italian, Korean or Portuguese – we'd be happy to see you in our team! Just send us an email at [email protected]



May 2022

In May we decided to tell more about Ziplines – one of our escape mechanics. Using Ziplines Raiders can go down from high buildings to keep the distance from pursuing Beasts. During the year we also showed you:

- Cracked walls to roll under and stop the chaser.
- Ropes to go up on rooftops quickly.
- Portals to teleport to a random spot on the map.
- Bridges to move between high rooftops.
- Vault objects to jump over and get a speed boost.

During the next Beast Hour test you'll be able to experience them all!



June 2022

It was one of the most important months in Beast Hour history! At 19th of June we ran our first ever public testing with the fans. It's hard to describe the feeling – a mixture of excitement and anxiety that made it into the most memorable day of the year for our team!



July 2022

Nikitozzz drew the first Beast Hour fan comic! It's so great when your efforts inspire other people – for that alone it's worth developing games! In the following months Nikitozzz continued to make more artwork, some of which will soon be published in our social media channels – subscribe!



August 2022

After a few tests in a row it was decided to focus on solving the main issues the game had, including match connection problems and balancing. But it didn't mean we stopped making more features – on the contrary! In August we announced a number of them, and the most important one became the action log. It allows you to see the exact number of experience you get from every activity as well as informing you of events and the like. We also implemented sound settings, bridges and parkour improvements.



September 2022

In September we continued – nicknames were added, freezes at the start of every match were fixed and general map enhancements were done.



October 2022

It's a fact that thanks to Halloween many call October the spookiest month! We decided to celebrate this day by showcasing the Vampire in all its glory! It turned out to be a great article which is useful to other developers, lore enthusiasts and hardcore gamers who wish to know everything about heroes to get an advantage on the battlefield!



November 2022

This gloomy autumn month we dedicated to the map of Beast Hour and its history. This was the first 100% lore newsletter. Read it if you want to get acquainted with the city and not to get lost in there next time playing.



December 2022

And lastly, a few weeks ago during one of our internal playtests we played Beast Hour with the controller. After many matches we figured out the best layout for our team. What do you think of it and would you use it yourself?



QUIZ

Test your knowledge of Beast Hour 2022 by completing a special quiz! Share your results in the comments!

https://forms.gle/tdvh5wTAKu6tDMYY8



New Raider – Drake!

The most attentive of our fans remember that a year ago, in the summary of 2021, we hinted a new character but during the following months never mentioned him again. That's about to change! In one of the next newsletters he will be the center of our attention. Stay tuned!

One of the earliest concept arts of Drake:



Conclusion

Make sure to check our livestreams we regularly have at our YouTube and Twitch channels. The next stream will take place on 13th of January 2023, and the latest one you can find on YouTube.

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!

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

The New Year is just around the corner! We at Beast Hour development team wish you to stay strong and keep doing your best! And don't forget to have fun along the way!

The Beast will come!

Raiders & Beasts!

In today’s newsletter we’d love to share with you the haunted city development plans as well as the backstory of this scary place.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The following screenshots have been taken from a development build of Beast Hour and some of the map enhancements are not yet ready! Follow us on social media to see how the game evolves and changes.



Haunted city is divided into five districts: garden, burning, industrial, spider and city center. Let’s talk about each of them individually.

The Garden district

It got its name thanks to lavish greenery – this is the only place in the haunted city where you can find living trees and blooming flowers. It’s situated right at the foot of a high mountain. A good place to start our trip because the main source of Arkana, the most precious resource of Beast Hour universe, was originally extracted from under this very mountain. An extensive network of railroad tracks stretches across the whole district. It was built to transport Arkana to other parts of the city.



Under the Garden district you can also find underground tombs of ancient kings and queens illuminated by glowing mushrooms unique to this biome. These tombs form convenient pathways for both Raiders and Beasts to travel across the map.



An old wooden mill with ever spinning wind blades is another landmark of this area. No one knows for sure why even on the most quiet days these blades are always moving but it’s just one of many anomalies of this city.



The symbol of this place is the Bowl of Hygieia.



The Burning district

If the Garden is full of life (however strange it might be), the Burning district is the opposite. This is where most of Arkana was transported to and, probably, processed in. Due to a strange phenomenon this part of the city is constantly on fire which makes it impossible for any lifeforms to grow and survive. It’s not recommended to stay here for long as the strong burning smell and large amounts of carbon dioxide make it harder to breathe and explore. Not to mention the heat which is almost unbearable for any living creature.



Above this hellish landscape there is a huge zeppelin with a number of smaller balloons flying nearby. Some say they were used for Arkana processing purposes. Others claim they flew far away and landed after the city had been abandoned. In any case, nowadays the zeppelin and the balloons remain quiet watchers of Burning district. A skilled explorer can climb all the way up using ropes between balloons to get a great view of the place.



The symbol of this place is Cerberus.



The Industrial district

This was the heart of the haunted city’s technology development. Thanks to Arkana, local scientists made groundbreaking inventions and produced marvelous machinery that were centuries ahead of their time! The smoke from furnaces, the noise from plant equipment, the smell of molten metal – all of that were an indispensable part of the Industrial district. When the city was forgotten, the engines stopped and the sky became clear of the smoke once again. After hundreds of years the most adventurous Raiders are still finding new pieces of tech unseen anywhere else. Good place for raiding!



If you are brave enough, you may go below the ground level and explore an arena where both Cult and Order experimented on Werewolves and their evolution. Here’s where a lot of blood was spilled and where some of the most cruel fights between Beasts took place. This is not for the faint-hearted.



The symbol of this place is Gargoyle.



The Spider district

Despite the name, spiders were not the original inhabitants of this area. On the contrary, it was the most respectable and secure place where rich and powerful people used to live. But now it is the district even courageous Raiders try to avoid unless it’s absolutely necessary to go in there. The place is swarming with spiders, webs and hidden pitfalls, so watch out your every step here or you might end up caught by a giant spider in the catacombs where nobody will ever find you!



On top of it all, there are remains of the Spider Queen that even Werewolves and Vampires are afraid of! Be especially careful while exploring this part of the city!





The symbol of this place is the Reaper.



The City center

Probably the most well-preserved district of them all. Here you can find an abundance of statues, squares and a few narrow streets. It was the place of craftsmen, blacksmiths and shopkeepers. But this also was a place for executions where crowds of citizens gathered every day to watch this gruesome act of violence. Yet, its last victim is still alive and keeping the city safe from most of the intruders.



The grand Temple is located in the very center of the map. It’s the biggest and the highest building around. If you manage to climb to the very top, you can easily see the entirety of the city. Beneath the Temple there is a hidden library and a whole network of underground ways leading to every district.

The City center is where the city lived and thrived, but also where it died and was forgotten for many generations.



Conclusion

We hope you've enjoyed our small trip to the haunted city. If you like to see the place for yourself, please, wishlist Beast Hour on Steam and participate in future Alpha tests!

Make sure to check our livestreams we regularly have at our Youtube and Twitch channels for almost an entire year by now. The next stream will take place in the middle of December, and the latest one you can find on Youtube.

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

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

And if you want to take a deep dive into development with us or discuss other forms of cooperation, use this email: [email protected]

The Beast will come!

Raiders & Beasts!

Today's newsletter is going to be a special one. It's Halloween time – the night of pumpkins and glowing eyes, of bats and spooky stories! It's time to tell you more about the Vampire – our new Beast in the game!



It's important to mention that the Vampire is still in development. Do not expect this Beast to be added in the next public Alpha-test. Nevertheless, we've already put so much work into this character, so we've got A LOT to share with you!

Where did it all begin?

it’s necessary to start from the beginning. The original idea of Beast Hour could be described like: "knights run away from werewolves in a gothic castle". As one of our very first gameplay prototype testers noticed back then: "the game is like Super Mario with multiplayer & Werewolves – all you can do is run, jump and collect coins".



Game rules were very simple – in the beginning of the match two random players out of ten became Werewolves. The remaining human players (it was before we came up with the name "Raiders") had to find, collect and bring spheres to activate portals. Once a player collected enough, he/she would be able to escape & win the game. Werewolves had to hunt down Raiders to turn them into monsters! With each minute the number of Raiders was decreasing and the number of Beasts – increasing! As a Raider you didn't have a chance to slack off because even the most skilled player couldn't stand against a pack of Werewolves.

Initially, we were not going to make each Raider unique. On the contrary, the plan was to have a blank slate to customize as much as possible. Only selected few pieces of armour could impact the hero's abilities. Yet, the following series of tests proved that our audience was not interested in this approach, and, truth be told, neither were we.



We decided to go with individual personalities and gameplay styles. Many players enjoyed playing as Werewolves – not many games bring them to the fore – we also realized that we needed more Beasts diversity too.

Why the Vampire?

We asked a bunch of people: "What other Beasts would you like to see in Beast Hour?" The answers varied, but the most common one was evident – Vampires! That's really not surprising, as vampires are very popular in modern games and movies. Plus, they are ideal for our game's setting! On top of that, we wanted to make something completely different from Werewolf gameplay – we wanted to make a flying Beast!



It was obvious that our Vampire should not only be easily recognizable, but also unique and memorable. We intentionally did not use the image of a "vampire aristocrat" – it would have gone against our vision. The character should be "the terror that flaps in the night".

We started to work on first sketches (yes, they were made on copy papers with a pencil):



Our sources of inspiration came from games and movies first of all. We were especially interested in characters from the "Van Helsing", "Underworld" and "Batman" movies. Talking about games, the greatest influence came from "Nosgoth", “Castlevania” and “Order 1886”. That's how we made reference boards like this one:



Typically, Vampires are portrayed like dark angels with human hands and webbed wings behind their back. But notice the fact that bat's wings are also their hands, which is a very unusual concept for Vampires in pop culture. So, this was the approach we used for our character.



How do you play it?

During the creation process an obvious question appeared: "What's it like to play as a Vampire?" To answer this we played many games with somewhat similar gameplay we wanted to deliver in Beast Hour. First of all, let's mention Nosgoth. Our team loves this title and thanks to a still very active and supportive community on Discord we managed to get a lot of useful info about the game mechanics and its heroes.



Sentinel from Nosgoth became a reference character for a number of Vampire abilities in Beast Hour. For example, we implemented our variation of Wing Flap skill. In Beast Hour it comes in handy considering we've got a very vertical oriented gameplay where you can throw enemies off the rooftops.



Also, Takeoff ability from Nosgoth seemed fitting to Beast Hour gameplay. This skill allows you to very rapidly gain altitude from any open area on the map.



Sentinel's flight had almost no limits – you could fly all over the map as you please, but for Beast Hour we decided that it would be a wrong decision to copy that. We call our game "parkour horror" for a reason – all Beasts should also explore the streets, use walls and look for prey in underground pathways. That's why we chose to use gliding.



For this mechanic we took inspiration from Batman Arkham Knight. In this game you could glide and do a cool move called Dive Bomb. It's a special attack you can make while gliding – your character starts to fall down to a point on the ground you picked and deals damage to enemies around the landing spot. By the way, if you haven't yet played this phenomenal game by Rocksteady Studios – go ahead and do it asap!

Is the Vampire ready?

No. We want to stress once again that this Beast is not yet ready. Or, as we call it, ready in "grey form".



That's how we make characters for Beast Hour: it starts with a concept art. Then we create a draft 3D-model in A-pose and see how it looks like in the engine (we use Unity). After some adjustments implemented (to make sure the size and body proportions of the character work fine in an actual game environment) the draft model is used to create rigs and animations. At this point we also make VFX. Once satisfied with the results – we build a high poly model, create and add textures, fix bugs.



Right now we are in the very final phase. Thus, to give you the Vampire to play with, we first need to finish its visuals and resolve bugs. The thing is that the Vampire has three types of movement – running, parkouring and flying. The transition mechanics between these states are the most challenging to fix, yet we've almost finished that process!



Do Vampires have any lore?

For every character, faction and location in the game we come up with lore. It's much easier to create visuals and build a gameplay style if you are aware of the hero's background. Now we are ready to share the most vital facts about these creatures, but be ready to find out much more in the game itself!

So, Vampires in the Beast Hour universe are united under the Eternal Ones clan banner. They got their name due to the almost eternal lifespan every Vampire is blessed with. Some of the clan members remember how the world looked like more than 3,000 years ago!



Eternal Ones have a single leader and are divided into two generations:

1) Aztli Talla ("Blood Mistress") – the Empress of the fallen empire and the head of the Vampires. She possesses an unprecedented power when in her Beast form, but she also can turn into a human.

2) The First Generation – the higher nobility and the circle of Aztli Talla's closest servants. As a result of their long hibernation they have lost the ability to return to human form. Their power is inferior to Blood Mistress.

3) The Second Generation – the youngest (not older than 550 years) and the most numerous generation. They still can turn into humans, but their power is significantly inferior as compared to the First Generation.

Eternal Ones believe that the end of the world – Beast Hour – shall soon come. In their interpretation of the prophecy the Blood God will return and plunge the whole world into darkness, thus making Vampires no longer afraid of the sunlight. In this new age the Eternal Hunt shall start – an endless battle between Werewolves, Vampires and other clans will rage across the continents. Only the strongest and most worthy will prevail in this battle to rule over the new eternity.



To sum it up

Our whole team behind Beast Hour development can't wait for you to get your hands on the Vampire! If you have any questions – go ahead and ask, we'll do our best to answer. Have no doubt – we're making Beast Hour for you!

Please, make sure to check out our livestreams we regularly have at our Youtube and Twitch channels for almost an entire year by now. The next stream will take place in the middle of November, and the latest one you can found on Youtube.

Wishlist Beast Hour on Steam, follow us on social media channels and support on Patreon – it does help our small indie team to bring Beast Hour to a next level!

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

And if you want to take a deep dive in development or discuss other forms of cooperation, use this: [email protected]

The Beast will come!

Raiders & Beasts!

September has started and ended so swiftly, we can't believe it! We've been so busy making new content for the future Alpha test! Map changes, new features, quality of life improvements – all of it is coming soon! Let us show you what we’ve got in stock for you!



Map visuals

First off, the map of the game. Our artists, 3D-modelers and level designers have been very busy adding variety to the haunted city. Underground pathways and landmarks have been added, along with improvements in the natural environment – and that's just the beginning!



Nicknames

The gameplay feature you’ve been asking us a lot for is the addition of nicknames. Now it’s possible to assign your in-game nickname, so the next time you fight or kill someone, they will know your name (or vice versa)!



No more freezes

As we’ve explained in one of our previous newsletters, the freezes that took place at the start of every match were caused by a technical necessity. Now we’ve fixed the issue, so you can enjoy the game without freezes – and with new hint screens!



Zip Lines

Running away from Werewolves is difficult and we know that perfectly well. The feature currently in development and planned for the next playtest, is Zip Lines. They will help you get down from high rooftops with ease, in order to get some distance between you and a Beast.



Archive footage of the first Zip Line test. As you can see, not all Zelus' inventions work as intended from the start...



NEW TEST is coming in the second part of autumn!

We're not ready to give an exact date yet, but rest assured – a new Beast Hour test is just around the corner! It will include features mentioned in this very newsletter, ones we discussed in a previous issue, and a few pleasant surprises! Keep an eye on the news to update Steam game version in advance!



In addition

We stream Beast Hour and answer your questions every month – watch the latest video on our YouTube channel. Join us on the next stream in the middle of October!

Wishlist Beast Hour on Steam and follow us on social media as we post new content every day! Your support on Patreon also helps very much!

Contact us via email if you want to participate in development or would like to discuss other forms of cooperation – [email protected]

The Beast will come!