Beast Hour News

Raiders & Beasts!

It’s been a busy month for our team, and today we are ready to share our latest update with you all!

Don’t forget to wishlist Beast Hour on Steam!



MAP

The previously empty temple and desolate catacombs beneath the city, as well as many other places around it, have started to change. The decoration is far from being finished, but it’s clear that Beast Hour is becoming better each day.



RIFT

Rifts are one of the sources to get Arkana (=EXP). Playing as Raider, you will have to find them, then capture and hold for some time. While you possess a Rift, you’ll get Arkana and healing every second. As the opened Rift creates a huge beam of light into the sky, other players will intervene: Raiders will try to take the Rift away from you, and Beasts will do their best to shut it down. But no Rift is infinite – once the Arkana deposits have been pumped out, there will appear a huge Drop of Arkana, which you will have to pick up manually.

Recently, we started adding new visuals and animations for Rifts capturing. It’s still a work-in-progress, but we are so excited with what has been done so far that we decided to give you a sneak peek.



NEW BEAST

We love Werewolves – that's one of the reasons, why we started developing Beast Hour. But almost right after we made our first playable demo, we realized that Beast Hour can be so much more. That’s why new a Beast is in the work!

Although this monster won't be available at Alpha, let us know what you think!



ROPE

Rope is one of our escape-mechanics we plan to add during the Alpha-testing.

Raiders can use ropes to get on the roof of the building very quickly – it especially comes in handy when you try to get away from Beasts or want to collect that shiny Arkana way up above you.

You can find out more about another escape-mechanic, “cracked wall”, in our previous newsletter.



IN ADDITION

Server-related work is almost ready. Alpha-testing is coming soon. You can read more about our preparations here.

As always, we stream the game and answer your questions every month – you can watch the latest video on our YouTube channel. Join our next stream in the middle of April!

Wishlist Beast Hour on Steam and follow us on social media as we post new content every day!

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

The Beast will come!

Raider and Beasts!

Beast Hour is approaching! Wishlist the game on Steam and sign up for Alpha-testing!



SPIDERS DISTRICT

The map is becoming better and better! This time the center of our attention was the so-called “Spider district” (not the final name).

I think you can safely assume that there are A LOT of spiders in there. But worry not – most of them are dead. What remains are cocoons, webs and bodies of both humans and spiders scattered all around the streets.

We’ve hidden many secrets for the players to uncover there. Do you have the courage to step in and find them?



FUNNY BUG

Some say bugs can’t be fun – we disagree!

We managed to prove that constantly exploding vault-objects give a good laugh. They drop your FPS but, hey, you cannot get all at the same time:)

Did you encounter any funny bugs playing games recently?



CRYSTALS

Crystals can be found almost anywhere on the map. During the game you are to locate and blow them up to then collect pieces of Arkana that burst out of the crystals. Follow the trails from the blast site to find that precious Arkana and become stronger!

It’s our latest but not the first iteration of this mechanic. For example, initially, you would have to activate the crystal and wait for about 30 seconds to collect the reward. Honestly, it was boring. We realized that pretty quickly and that’s why we remade the whole gameplay cycle.

Now we decided to improve the visuals of these crystals. Here’s the current version and a few new variations. Which one do you like the most?



DEAD BY DAYLIGHT MEETS BEAST HOUR

As developers of the asymmetric PvP-horror game, we are big fans of Dead by Daylight!

Last month we compared chasing in DbD with the one in Beast Hour. We shared the results with r/deadbydaylight community and they were very excited to try out our game:)

This time we imagined what if Zelus came into The Fog and met The Trapper. Who do you think will be prey in such a case?



ESCAPE-MECHANIC

Parkour is great! It’s the basis of our game. But even the best traceurs sometimes can’t do much against the tremendous might that Beasts possess. Because of that we’ve prepared something cool for you – new ways of escaping monsters. We call them – escape-mechanics.

The first one we’ve been playing with lately is a cracked wall. Raiders can roll right beneath it to keep Beast busy destroying the obstacle or finding a way around. It gives the pursued player a few extra seconds to hide and escape.

Have you seen such or similar mechanic in other games and how do you like it?



ON TOP OF THAT

We keep on working on servers and matchmaking to start Alpha-testing we all have been waiting for. You can read more about our preparations in our previous month’s summary here.

By the way, watch our latest Q&A-steam to find more info on the game as we answered many questions of our players!

Keep in touch with Beast Hour on social media channels – we post new content EVERY DAY! We are happy to see new players and can’t wait to give the game into your hands:)

Contact us via email if you want to participate in the development or feel like discussing other forms of cooperation – [email protected].

The Beast will come!

Hello everyone!

We are developers of Beast Hour – asymmetric PvP-horror with parkour & monsters!

The game is being made primarily for PC players of horror, asymmetric and online games. Our indie team has made a long way and now Beast Hour is in the pre-Alpha stage. Here’s where you can sign up for Alpha-testing.



We love talking with our players! That's why we want to tell you more about the game’s development, share details about the behind-the-scenes content and, in general, keep you in touch with everything interesting happening with Beast Hour. The beginning of a new year is thematically the best time to start, isn’t it?:)

USER INTERFACE (UI)

It’d be fair to say that Beast Hour didn’t have a proper UI at all. I mean, user interface was technically in place but the thing is – it was a temporary solution that wasn’t particularly good-looking and user-friendly.

Last year we started prototyping a new UI almost from scratch. This month the first new version has seen the light of day and it has been put to the test.

Just compare how user interface looked like back then and now:

Main menu:



During the gameplay:



I want to make it 100% clear – it’s NOT A FINAL VERSION. On the one hand, we already have the plans for UI improvements and, on the other hand, what is more important, there will be Beast Hour Alpha testers’ feedback.

LOCATIONS

The center of attention this time has become the “green district” where mushrooms have grown and many new mini-locations appeared, such as a windmill, graveyard and other fascinating places!

Underground location of the green district. December of 2021 and January of 2022:



Windmill:



BEAST HOUR COMMUNITY CREATIONS

We do love our fans and they reciprocate our feelings! For example, MrAvogato has made a rap song about Beast Hour which we then turned into a full-fledged clip. Check it out!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
It’s inconceivably cool when our work inspires others – we as well draw inspiration from other games, many of which gave us ideas to start the development of Beast Hour.

BUGS

I remember how someone asked us: what was the funniest bug you ever had in Beast Hour. Truth be told, we were confused as realized that there was nothing especially interesting to share on the matter (more often bugs annoy rather than entertain our devteam). But right after there finally appeared a funny one: every character on the map increased in size in 2 or even 5 times.



But this month we’ve got a new hilarious bug: a character starts spinning while interacting with Arkana – the source of EXP in Beast Hour:



Of course, the problem has already been fixed by now but it was good fun playing with it:)

MOST SUCCESSFUL POST

We got into the habit of posting a new piece of content on our social media channels at least once a day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekend or a holiday even. It’s not easy to work at such a pace but we believe that this is the way.

The most chunk of attention, likes and retweets we got under this post on Twitter. This gif shows how Beast Hour looked like a bit more than a year ago from now.

And what do you think: is full decoration crucial or are you ready to play the game at an early stage?



STEAM-PAGE UPDATE

Steam-page is like the face of the project. For more than half a year we didn’t change its content at all. At the end of December it became clear that it’s the wrong approach. Many screenshots got outdated and the description was too cumbersome. It was time to change!

The logline of the project got remade with the strong emphasis put on the asymmetrical nature of Beast Hour. We also tried to describe our key features in a better way. Every new screenshot now ought to have an interesting narrative conveying through it.

Just have a look yourself!



OPEN Q&A-STREAM

Ever since the launch of Beast Hour Patreon-page we held a closed Q&A-stream every month for our supporters. Now it’s open to everyone!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We did have some sound issues but hopefully they will get resolved within a few months:)

START OF ALPHA-TESTING

Right now all of our programmers are busy preparing servers for the launch of Alpha. Gameplay-wise the game is mostly ready, but the process of connecting to a game server is not an easy thing to do:

One of the developers creates a room thereby becoming a server.
Then he or she sends other players his or her IP address.
They put this IP address into a special line.
Players connect to the server and they can play.
After the end of the match players have to redo everything again.

Once the programmers have finished their work, the connection becomes much easier:

You press “Play”.
Then you connect to an automatically created server.
Profit!

We do our best to hasten the day this matter is settled to start Alpha-testing!



But if you are eager to try the game out right now, we have a solution for you – join us on Patreon! You’ll also be first to receive our lore materials about the game, you’ll get access to a closed chat and special roles on Discord and your name will be in the credits. We value this support very much!

Join our social media channels, wishlist the game on Steam and tell your friends about Beast Hour. Every player matters!

Contact us via email if you want to participate in the development or feel like discussing other forms of cooperation – [email protected].

The Beast will come!

[h3]Raiders & Beasts, hear our call! [/h3]

2021 is coming to an end. Hope it was a good year for you – please, share your thoughts of 2021 as we are eager to learn how you’ve been doing!

Our turn comes first :)

[h3]ANNOUNCEMENT[/h3]

2021 was special as it’s the year we announced Beast Hour back on April, 23.

Before the announcement a lot of work was done: Steam-page, accounts & content for social media channels, Beast Hour website and many more minor things.

​

But the most important and complicated task for us was the announce trailer. The team had never done anything like this before and put a lot of effort and time into it. Now we are truly proud of the result as this trailer represents the essence of Beast Hour gameplay and atmosphere.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]​MAP[/h3]

Just to give you an example of how far the game has come this year, let’s see how Beast Hour looked like at the beginning of 2021 and the very end of it:

Burning district:

​

Factory district:



Temple:



We’ve basically reworked the whole map to be sure that Beast Hour looks and feels great to play. The streets of the haunted city ought to be immersive for every Raider and Beast. We keep on working on this part of the game so the next year will bring even more great progress!

[h3]UDOKU[/h3]

In terms of characters, we have made an entire new Raider – Udoku Hiro. She is a poison-throwing lady deadly for those who dare to recklessly approach her without giving it a proper thought.

Udoku concept art:


​​
The original idea was simple: the opposite gameplay of our first Raider – Zelus. Unlike him, she deals damage not via direct hits but through AoE DoT. Udoku uses double (and even triple!) jumps instead of blink, can blind enemies and leave a poisonous trail behind, which gives her a great advantage while running away from Beasts.

Udoku in action:



[h3]WATCH AND READ[/h3]

2021 was also the year Beast Hour started participating in special gaming events. DreamHack Beyond became the first one. During the event we held a Q&A-stream which you can watch right now!
*It was at 5 a.m. our time – that’s why the devs look so sleepy :)
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
For our Russian-speaking community there is an interview with the creative director of Beast Hour, Anton Morozov:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
​If you know Spanish, here's the interview for you as well!


[h3]ALPHA-TESTING[/h3]

Our team has almost doubled in size during 2021. That’s because we want to start Alpha-testing for you to enjoy Beast Hour as soon as possible. 2022 is going to be a huge one for Beast Hour!

Sign up for the Alpha-testing coming in 2022!

Support us on Patreon to participate in closed playtests with devs, put your name in the credits, have a personal talk with us and many more!

Or just follow us on social media channels, wishlist the game and spread the word about Beast Hour. Every player matters!

If you want to help us with advice & feedback, just drop an e-mail at [email protected]!

Thank you for being with us on this journey!

The Beast will come!

[h3]P. S.[/h3]
Any ideas who that might be?..

Hi! Today we want to tell you about Beast Hour development story. The idea of our own game came to us back in 2017 and the initial concept was: ninjas vs werewolves. The main references were: parkour chases gameplay from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, the aesthetics of Order 1886, and also the asymmetric elements from Nosgoth and Dead by Daylight. Soon we made the first prototype.

One of the first animations, 2017. Do you also enjoy the wallrun animation? :)

At that time Raiders used parkour to gather special spheres and bring them to Altars to escape. Beasts (two random players) hunted down Raiders in order to turn them into the same monsters. If you escape the map as Raider – you win. If at some point you got turned into Beast – you had to kill as many Raiders as possible.
The team was focused on the controls system and parkour, camera work, and the creation of a location for vertical gameplay.

First half of 2018

The hardest part was parkour. When we started there were no PvP third-person games focusing on parkour chases to get direct inspiration from. That was a tricky part but also a cool one: we knew we would be first to make something like this, but it required much effort and time. In 2018 some of our team members started to work on the game full-time. Comprehensive work began.

Second half of 2018

“Great games are played, not made” – if we had known this Todd Howard’s quote back then, we would have made it our motto. Why? – playtests among the team with frequent invitations of friends and relatives are permanent practice ever since the beginning of the development.

2019 version

At that time a lot of people in the team thought that the release was within our grasp. It was just a question of fixing the bugs, polishing the interface, and drawing the attention of the bloggers and we could release. The turning point was between 2019 and 2020. Our programmer paid the team’s attention that we were not developing the rules and it was just boring to play. It was a shock for us, but after a while we all agreed and decided that we needed to change the gameplay.

2020 version

The map, which was completely ready, and a large part of the match rules were remade from scratch. Now a player had to choose the character at the beginning of the match and could not change it during the game. We experimented with team modes but decided that it was not the gameplay for us and chose ‘no allies’ solution. We went through not less than four new maps playtesting just grey-box. We ran dozens of playtests and finally, by the end of 2020, we found the necessary formula.


2021 version

Now we are working on Alpha-testing and we put all our effort to launch it as soon as possible. For the past year, our team has doubled!

There is a bunch of ways to help us hasten Beast Hour:

1. Sign up for Alpha-testing!
   
2. Support us on Patreon.
   
3. Follow Beast Hour on Twitter, Discord, Instagram and Reddit.
   
4. Tell your friends about Beast Hour!
   

Thank you!

The Beast will come!