Version 1.6: New engine & Local co-op
Today is a big day for our game as we are finally fulfilling half the game title: there are still no Vampires but at least there are SurvivorS now. We are adding a local co-op mode today!
Make sure to restart Steam to force the update on the main game and DLC packs!
Vampire Survivors is also launching on Nintendo Switch today and the Steam version is fully moving to a new engine!
ːvsgarlicː
You can play the whole of VS (including DLC packs) in 4 player local co-op now!
All you need is one controller per player and you can add up to 3 extra people on the character select screen and continue to play through your missions, hunt achievements etc. with your friends.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The biggest changes to playing VS in local co-op are, well... other people. In addition to the usual chaos of human interactions, there are also different options so you can customise your co-op games such as coloured outlines for your character and indicators, and we added some small multiplayer specific mechanics like The Friendship Amulet.
A question we get a lot is if there is online multiplayer coming too (yes, we're looking into online co-op too, but that is such a massive undertaking that we cannot make any promises at this time. Local co-op is a first step). For now we recommend using unofficial solutions like Steam Remote Play that let you play online with friends with Steam right away. As a completely remote team (we don’t live in a big castle together), we’ve found these are mostly reliable but do have some flaws, so make sure to head over to the FAQ for tips and smaller known issues that are out of our hands to fix.
We hope you will enjoy the co-op mode with your friends, foes, and any undead demons you may have summoned. And big thanks for making this possible, we would have never thought two years ago that we would make co-op happen and it’s all thanks to your support!
PS: You can find more answers to the most frequent co-op questions in our FAQ here.
ːvsgarlicː
Mamma mia! Vampire Survivors is also out on Nintendo Switch today! 4 player co-op and all updates are included. Same price as the Steam version, no surprises or hidden taxes! (actually there's a 10% launch discount)
A lot of people have been asking for cross-save, and the Nintendo Switch port will most likely increase demand even more. We're working on it: we have already run successful tests in moving saves between PC, mobile, and consoles, while also adding cloud save slots! We'll keep you updated, but save data is a very delicate thing, so this will really need a lot of testing and an adequate amount of time in the oven to be released in a safe, fully working state. Thanks for being patient!
ːvsgarlicː
As we have announced in the last update, Vampire Survivors on Steam is fully switching to its new engine today. The original and new engine have been running in parallel for a while and we are at a point now where there should be only very subtle differences left, so it’s time to make the switch so that we can focus on adding features that wouldn't have been achievable on the old engine.
If there are major differences or even something small but that's really annoying you in the new engine, please let us know on the forums or on Discord: last year we have discarded a fully working, first version of the new engine and started this one just to stay accurate to the original gameplay, so we're not afraid to tackle a few leftover differences :)
You can find the massive changelog for v1.6 here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1794680/view/3678929839479077754
And have a quick look at a comparison in performance on Steam Deck here:
https://youtu.be/z7HCGKzwRjs
ːvsgarlicː
The old engine will not be updated anymore, but it will be kept on a private beta branch for anyone who wants to stay on it. To access the private branch, use the password: PhaserVersion2023
We wanted to keep both versions running in parallel and provide a launcher, but the overhead is just not manageable. It's just smarter to focus our efforts on a single version of the game, even because certain features, like co-op or the future cross-save options, would just be a massive time sink to implement on the old engine and I'd rather put that time and energy on new content instead.
ːpoemgː
Thanks to the new engine being the new standard, we can finally work on large features that were very difficult, or borderline impossible, to develop on the old one.
There's a lot happening behind the scenes, but we'll start with a large feature that has been taking shape since December 2022 and that will add a lot of gameplay options and possibilities. I won't spoil anything as it's difficult to summarize it quickly, we'll properly announce and explain this new feature over the upcoming weeks. For now, I'll just share a mysterious screenshot:
While the screenshot depicts something from the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC just because it looks cool, please note that this new core feature is for everyone and it goes well beyond showing a different main menu background (btw the amazing artwork is from Matt Frith - it's also animated!).
It will be released in a free patch, together with a bit of new content
As you've surely noticed, we're not able anymore to release content at a fast pace, since the game is not anymore a single little .exe I can upload on Steam on my own. Between the DLCs and all the different platforms we're now on, doing a release involves testing, building, and uploading about 21 different things, and going through 4 different certification processes. Something as simple as someone from a certification team not liking the translation of a single word, in a single language, could block any release by days.
Sure, we could release on different platforms at different times, but we know how frustrating it is to wait for patches to reach your platform of choice while everyone else is playing new content, so we'd rather try to keep doing global releases on the same days.
To address this long-winded process, we're doing some heavy work behind the scenes to allow us to go back to, ideally, releasing content patches every month, so at a similar pace we had during early access. This will take quite some time, in the meantime we'll keep doing our best to deliver updates!
Thank you all once again!
- what you liked from this update, was from Luca, and what you didn't, was from the marketing team ːvsskullː
Oh, wait, there's more! ːdireyesː
Did you see any of the "Directer's Cut" footage online?
That's something we've been doing in most events (since TGS 2022): hiding some of the future content for the game in plain sight, but this time it blew up online! While the actual menu screen might never appear in game, all the new content shown in that version is scheduled to be fully developed and released in future free updates.
So here's a sneak peak of a handful among the dozens of characters and weapons that are getting developed for 2023 and beyond: https://youtu.be/M8GSUPBrhU8
Make sure to restart Steam to force the update on the main game and DLC packs!
Vampire Survivors is also launching on Nintendo Switch today and the Steam version is fully moving to a new engine!
ːvsgarlicː
Local co-op update out now!
You can play the whole of VS (including DLC packs) in 4 player local co-op now!
All you need is one controller per player and you can add up to 3 extra people on the character select screen and continue to play through your missions, hunt achievements etc. with your friends.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The biggest changes to playing VS in local co-op are, well... other people. In addition to the usual chaos of human interactions, there are also different options so you can customise your co-op games such as coloured outlines for your character and indicators, and we added some small multiplayer specific mechanics like The Friendship Amulet.
A question we get a lot is if there is online multiplayer coming too (yes, we're looking into online co-op too, but that is such a massive undertaking that we cannot make any promises at this time. Local co-op is a first step). For now we recommend using unofficial solutions like Steam Remote Play that let you play online with friends with Steam right away. As a completely remote team (we don’t live in a big castle together), we’ve found these are mostly reliable but do have some flaws, so make sure to head over to the FAQ for tips and smaller known issues that are out of our hands to fix.
We hope you will enjoy the co-op mode with your friends, foes, and any undead demons you may have summoned. And big thanks for making this possible, we would have never thought two years ago that we would make co-op happen and it’s all thanks to your support!
PS: You can find more answers to the most frequent co-op questions in our FAQ here.
ːvsgarlicː
Out now on Nintendo Switch
Mamma mia! Vampire Survivors is also out on Nintendo Switch today! 4 player co-op and all updates are included. Same price as the Steam version, no surprises or hidden taxes! (actually there's a 10% launch discount)
A lot of people have been asking for cross-save, and the Nintendo Switch port will most likely increase demand even more. We're working on it: we have already run successful tests in moving saves between PC, mobile, and consoles, while also adding cloud save slots! We'll keep you updated, but save data is a very delicate thing, so this will really need a lot of testing and an adequate amount of time in the oven to be released in a safe, fully working state. Thanks for being patient!
ːvsgarlicː
Full switch to new engine
As we have announced in the last update, Vampire Survivors on Steam is fully switching to its new engine today. The original and new engine have been running in parallel for a while and we are at a point now where there should be only very subtle differences left, so it’s time to make the switch so that we can focus on adding features that wouldn't have been achievable on the old engine.
If there are major differences or even something small but that's really annoying you in the new engine, please let us know on the forums or on Discord: last year we have discarded a fully working, first version of the new engine and started this one just to stay accurate to the original gameplay, so we're not afraid to tackle a few leftover differences :)
You can find the massive changelog for v1.6 here: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1794680/view/3678929839479077754
And have a quick look at a comparison in performance on Steam Deck here:
https://youtu.be/z7HCGKzwRjs
ːvsgarlicː
Can I still play on the old engine?
The old engine will not be updated anymore, but it will be kept on a private beta branch for anyone who wants to stay on it. To access the private branch, use the password: PhaserVersion2023
We wanted to keep both versions running in parallel and provide a launcher, but the overhead is just not manageable. It's just smarter to focus our efforts on a single version of the game, even because certain features, like co-op or the future cross-save options, would just be a massive time sink to implement on the old engine and I'd rather put that time and energy on new content instead.
ːpoemgː
What's next
Thanks to the new engine being the new standard, we can finally work on large features that were very difficult, or borderline impossible, to develop on the old one.
There's a lot happening behind the scenes, but we'll start with a large feature that has been taking shape since December 2022 and that will add a lot of gameplay options and possibilities. I won't spoil anything as it's difficult to summarize it quickly, we'll properly announce and explain this new feature over the upcoming weeks. For now, I'll just share a mysterious screenshot:
While the screenshot depicts something from the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC just because it looks cool, please note that this new core feature is for everyone and it goes well beyond showing a different main menu background (btw the amazing artwork is from Matt Frith - it's also animated!).
It will be released in a free patch, together with a bit of new content
As you've surely noticed, we're not able anymore to release content at a fast pace, since the game is not anymore a single little .exe I can upload on Steam on my own. Between the DLCs and all the different platforms we're now on, doing a release involves testing, building, and uploading about 21 different things, and going through 4 different certification processes. Something as simple as someone from a certification team not liking the translation of a single word, in a single language, could block any release by days.
Sure, we could release on different platforms at different times, but we know how frustrating it is to wait for patches to reach your platform of choice while everyone else is playing new content, so we'd rather try to keep doing global releases on the same days.
To address this long-winded process, we're doing some heavy work behind the scenes to allow us to go back to, ideally, releasing content patches every month, so at a similar pace we had during early access. This will take quite some time, in the meantime we'll keep doing our best to deliver updates!
Thank you all once again!
- what you liked from this update, was from Luca, and what you didn't, was from the marketing team ːvsskullː
Oh, wait, there's more! ːdireyesː
Did you see any of the "Directer's Cut" footage online?
That's something we've been doing in most events (since TGS 2022): hiding some of the future content for the game in plain sight, but this time it blew up online! While the actual menu screen might never appear in game, all the new content shown in that version is scheduled to be fully developed and released in future free updates.
So here's a sneak peak of a handful among the dozens of characters and weapons that are getting developed for 2023 and beyond: https://youtu.be/M8GSUPBrhU8
