Metavoidal News

[h3]Howzit, Metalheads![/h3]

Our guitars are turned up to eleven, our metaphorical mosh pit is prepped, and we're ready to powerslide our way onto your screens. Be sure to stretch out those limbs, zip-up that hoodie, and crack those corruption-busting knuckles because It's time for Metavoidal to hit the Next Fest Stage!

We've been slowly cranking up the tempo of development over the past year trying to finish the game on time, and now we're finally unleashing the final* version of MV's demo onto the world this June.

[h3]This Ain't Your Grandma's Polka Metal[/h3]
The Steam Next Fest demo is an updated glimpse into the symphony of destruction that is Metavoidal, and we're excited to unleash it. So prepare to shred through creatures born from the very essence of metal itself, all while head-nodding (at the very least) along to the new songs in MV's original soundtrack.

[h2]Our time in the studio[/h2]

It's been a hot second since we've updated our Steam demo (February, to be exact). So, get stuck in, play to the beat of your own drum(mer) and see if you've got the chops(ticks) to take down a band member! There has been a fair few tweaks and additions made to the game in the last 3 months, so...

Here's what we've been up to :

• Bestiary - Read all about the corrupted creatures you encounter in the cathedral
  
• Tracks Library - A sort of discography that gets updated as you find more tracks!
  
• New Lightning Album- It's sure to be an Electrifying experience
  
• Technique Roulette - Start every run off on the right foot by randomly getting a 4th move to add to your technique list
  
• Updated rooms - From the Sanctuary, to the forgotten hallowed halls of the basement, we've updated the layout to feel more homey, or at least given you enough space to stretch your legs
  
• Difficulty Settings - MV now comes with an Easy Mode! :D
  
• Multiple Bug Fixes - No more [redacted] during a run
  

We have some news that'll be coming your way in the next few months, but for now just sit back and enjoy the demo! :D

See you soon!

PS. Shout at us on any platform (Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, etc) if you encounter any bugs or issues! We'll hop on it ASAP!

I'll keep this short and sweet - During the week, as well as a little bit before & a little after, we will be streaming Metavoidal gameplay on our page. BUT for an hour a day, on 2 separate days, there will be a stream running that you can interact with!

It will probably be me (your friendly neighbourhood community manager) on Thursday the 13th, since the rest of the team are grinding hard to finish the game for a very special announcement coming up soon. But I'm planning on wrangling those cool cats into a little stream on the Friday.

I'll try to answer any and all questions (if you have them) but I'll mostly just be there to hang out, and I'd love for you to join us!

If you have any questions about Metavoidal, the way we make the game/music, or simply being a dev in South Africa, pop them through to me! I'll be your personal interviewer.

So join us [h2]Thursday, 13th June @ 11AM CAT[/h2] for some interactable gameplay!

When looking to set up a cult focused around metal music, it's all about location, location, location! So, we're going to take a closer look at where our mysterious metal band have set-up camp.



Each level ends with a challenge room, and each biome culminates in a boss fight with a Band Member to really test your metal. In-between are mini bosses, extra rooms, and challenges to make sure you tap into the tempo of game. Here's the breakdown of the world of Metavoidal:

[h3]The Sanctuary (pre-run)[/h3]
Where fresh-off-the-tour-bus drummers start to prepare for their escape attempt. The sanctuary is a dimly-lit space that is safe enough from the corrupted to fine-tune your skills, and prepare for the chaos that lies ahead.


[h3]The Church/Catacombs (Biome 1)[/h3]
This is where you'll stretch your bass drum kicking legs. Here, you'll encounter the corrupted forces of metal for the first time, and find the rhythm of the game. Decorated with church pews, ancient-looking bookshelves and a shocking amount of fire hazards, The Church is where you find your footing.


[h3]The Sewers/Graveyard (Biome 2)[/h3]
Where shit hits the fan

Where you have to put that double-bass pedal to the metal! If every escape attempt was a song, then this is where the cool build-up would be. You'll find yourself among crumbling tombstones and forgotten crypts of musicians unknown, and you'll have to face-off against new and even more foreboding foes.

In the graveyard you'll come to realise that every beat of your drumstick could be your last...


[h3]The Bone Desert/**REDACTED** (Biome 3)[/h3]
Where you will start to taste freedom, but start to question if you're a good enough drummer to see this through. The Bone Desert is littered with past failures, and hides buried secrets under the sands of time. This is where you will face your greatest challenge, and possibly gain your greatest reward.


In time you'll become intimately knowledgeable of each pixel of these biomes as you attempt to give your poor drummer the freedom they deserve. But until then, you must excuse us for keeping some of the details up our hoodies' sleeves. We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.

We're really excited to get this game into your hands! So mark your calendars for the Endless Replayability Fest in May to try out an updated demo.

Keep an eye out for more Metavoidal news in the next couple of months. Its debut might be closer than you think!

For general updates & to see the progress of the game, please follow our social media pages! You can find the links to all of them

See you at the next update,

[h2]Xin nian hao, from the Yellow Lab team![/h2]

While we've opted to not participate in this February's Steam Next Fest, we're incredibly happy to announce that we will be celebrating the Chinese New Year with our friends at Astrolabe Games. Right here on Steam!



For the duration of the event, which runs from the 7th to the 14th of Feb, you can play the latest version of Metavoidal's Demo. Quite a lot has changed since we released it for the first time in December, so be sure to play it to see what we've been up to.

[h3]The quick highlights of what we've changed include:[/h3]

• New enemy variations
  
• A new meta currency system - finally you can use Exposure to buy things!
  
• An updated tutorial
  
• The highly requested video settings menu
  
• Improved drummer technique system
  

In this version we've also included a player survey inside the main menu, if you feel up to helping us make the game experience better. Your feedback has been what's helped shape Metavoidal into what it is today, so your survey answers will go a long way in making MV the best it can be!

Let us know what you think, and as always don't forget to add MV to your wishlists!

We hope you enjoy your time in the game, and
Gong xi fa cai!

- Love, The YLG Team

Happy 2024 to all you metal-heads out there! Welcome to another installment of "What's up with Metavoidal?", where we try to make sense of our own weird design choices by explaining it to you as best we can!



We've been a bit secretive about what kind of powers are lurking under the hood of Metavoidal; partially because we were waiting for the right time, and partially because we didn't have a clear idea of what they looked like when we first started playing around with the idea.

But with the development moving forward at the pace of a Dragonforce song, we decided to show you some of the things we've come up with. The list will be expanded as we go, but here's what we can share so far!

[h3]TRINKETS[/h3]


In short, they're kind of what it says on the tin; Trinkets are knick-knacks, if you will, that you can discover during a run. From a nudge of extra health and defense, to tapping into that new corrupted musical bone in your body, they're your good luck charm for the fight ahead. The trinkets we have planned so far are:

• BingBong's Leg: Killing enemies replenishes dodge charges
  
• Blue Book: Gives you extra health & drumstick slots, and dodge charges
  
• Golden Guitar Pick: Increases your movement & attack speed for a time after collecting picks
  
• Moon Gel: Instead of dying you become invulnerable for a time, and gain back half your health
  
• Glass Drum: Your attacks deal double, but you also take double damage from enemies
  
• Golden Egg: Increases the amount of picks you find between every couch cushion
  

There are more planned, but we love involving players into the development of the game. So if you have any ideas for more trinkets, and what they can do, please throw them at us like a drummer would throw their sticks at a crowd; with fervent disregard for the person on the receiving end...

[h3]MECHANICS[/h3]


This one isn't too complicated, but there are some caveats to getting trinkets in-game. Namely, they have a possibility of spawning from guitar cases you find in a level BUT you will have a greater chance of getting a drop when completing Challenge Rooms.

We'll discuss what those are at a later stage, but they, too, are pretty much what it says on the tin. Rooms that spawn in a level that are there to challenge you. Risk & reward rooms, basically.

We'll (hopefully) be doing more updates like this as we get closer to launch to show you what we've got going on in the background, so keep an eye out for future posts!

And as always, this is a living project. There might be some adjustments made on the game's features before release that we've found would be better for the overall game. So if you're reading this, and it isn't so in MV anymore, just know it was a call made for a reason.

Thanks so much for reading, and see you in the next one!

(And don't forget to wishlist the game if you liked what we're working on!)