HammerHelm News

An update to the Collectibles and Decor build includes the a new quest that rewards you with a lantern for your character and improved terrain flowers to go along with the new terrain grass ground texture!

New Terrain Flowers







Complete the Lantern Light quest to get a lantern for your character. It automatically turns on when you are underground and at night!


The lantern quest will automatically be the next quest you get upon loading this build. For new characters, it's the first quest you'll get after you complete the tutorial.

Right now I'm targeting Tuesday or Wednesday for the official update to the live branch. I want to add the larger town space and a few other things before releasing it.

If you'd like to try out the Beta 10 test build, you can get it through the test branch:

Important Note - I highly recommend starting a new save if you want to try out the test build. It will work with existing characters, but if you get any of the new stuff, you won't be able to go back to the regular build.

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Enter the password to download this build - NewDecorTest - and click Check Code
5. You should get a message that the code is correct
6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest

Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "Beta 10 (test)" in the title screen.

To get back to the Alpha client:

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Choose “None” from the drop down
5. Steam should then revert back to the Alpha client

Thank you again everyone for the support and feedback!

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]

• My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
  
• Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco

This is a quick update to fix some bugs in the Beta 10 build.

I was originally going to release this update to the main branch this weekend, but after giving it more thought there are still some things I want to add it, including:

• A larger town build space
  
• A lantern for your character (likely a quest to get this)
  
• Some memory optimization
  
• Some more fixes

Pushing the update back a bit also allows my Publisher, Soedesco, to help out with some things as well, which is really cool!

This build specifically has some controller related fixes in it.

• Added full 360 directional movement when using the left stick
  
• The left stick can now be used to interact with the UI in addition to the D-Pad
  
• Jumping with a controller now has height
  
• Added the close button to the Settings menu for controllers

I might try to pull some of the fixes from Beta 10 into a small patch for the live branch.

For those of you who are already playing on the test branch, the patch for this update is going to seem a lot bigger than just the above fixes. I rebuilt the asset loader that loads in stuff like trees, buildings, etc. and when I do that, it adds to the build size. I'm hoping to get the bigger town size completed and in the test branch over the weekend.

This build is shaping up to be one of the biggest updates for HammerHelm in a long time! I'm really exciting to share it with all of you.

If you'd like to try out the update, you can get t through the test branch:

Important Note - I highly recommend starting a new save if you want to try out the test build. It will work with existing characters, but if you get any of the new stuff, you won't be able to go back to the regular build.

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Enter the password to download this build - NewDecorTest - and click Check Code
5. You should get a message that the code is correct
6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest

Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "Beta 10 (test)" in the title screen.

To get back to the Alpha client:

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Choose “None” from the drop down
5. Steam should then revert back to the Alpha client

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]

• My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
  
• Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco

A quick update to the test build to add a Firefly Wall Lamp and a Firefly Standing Lamp that you can place in your home based on some feedback I received!



This build also includes a bit of balance work on the weapons and armor. A slight increase in ingots needed for the main material to counter-balance finding ore in the wild. The net effect overall should be that you'll get stuff slightly faster. I just didn't want it to be TOO fast!

I'm going to leave this build live for the rest of the day and probably release it to the main live branch tomorrow unless we find any big bugs. So far so good though!

If you'd like to try out the test build...

Important Note - I highly recommend starting a new save if you want to try out the test build. It will work with existing characters, but if you get any of the new stuff, you won't be able to go back to the regular build.

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Enter the password to download this build - NewDecorTest - and click Check Code
5. You should get a message that the code is correct
6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest

Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "Beta 10 (test)" in the title screen.

To get back to the Alpha client:

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Choose “None” from the drop down
5. Steam should then revert back to the Alpha client

Thank you again for all of the feedback and support. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco

I've uploaded a test build that includes the new collectibles and decor system to the test branch! Instructions to get the test build are towards the bottom of this announcement.

This build has a LOT of stuff in it, but I would like to primarily get feedback on the collectibles and decor system. The new system includes:

Scattered around the map you will be able find:

• Rose Bushes
  
• Beehives
  
• Fireflies
  
• Birch Tree Seeds
  
• Cherry Blossom Seeds
  
• Medium Ore Deposits
  
• Small Ore Deposits
  
• Supply Crates
  
• Alchemy Logs

Supply Crates can contain leather, raw meat, raw veggies, wheat, cotton, handles, or coal.

Alchemy Logs can contain any of the alchemy ingredients. Similar to ore deposits, what you find depends on how far you have progressed.

The system starts out placing only a few of each but as time progresses in the game, you'll find these items become slightly more available. They aren't meant to be super common though!

The new Town Decor structures include:

• Apiaries
  
• Cherry Blossoms
  
• Rose Bushes
  
• Rose Trellises
  
• Birch Trees

If you place Apiaries near a Brewery, your townspeople will get a larger mood buff from beer.

To build any of the above structures, you can place the resources inside the Storehouse. All of the UI related to town resources have been updated to show the new resources.



Important Note - I highly recommend starting a new save if you want to try out the test build. It will work with existing characters, but if you get any of the new stuff, you won't be able to go back to the regular build.

As mentioned above, this build has a lot of other stuff in it, including the new level up animation, the better looking coins from dungeon chests, and a bunch of fixes. But for this update, I'm focusing on the new collectibles and decor. Once this build is ready for full release I'll include everything in the patch notes!

Would love to hear your feedback on the collectibles and the new decor!

If you'd like to try out the test build, you can get it by doing this...

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Enter the password to download this build - NewDecorTest - and click Check Code
5. You should get a message that the code is correct
6. Click the drop-down box and select BigUpdateTest

Steam should immediately start a new download with the test client. The new game should be called "HammerHelm [bigupdatetest]". Once the download is complete you can launch the game and you should see "Beta 10 (test)" in the title screen.

To get back to the Alpha client:

1. In the Steam Client Library where it lists all of your games, right click on HammerHelm
2. Click Preferences
3. In the window that opens, select the "Betas" Tab
4. Choose “None” from the drop down
5. Steam should then revert back to the Alpha client

Thank you again for all of the feedback and support. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]

• My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
  
• Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco

The resource spawning system has grown once again to include a new resource type - supply crates!

Supply crates can be smashed just like the crates in dungeons, except these crates can yield many different resources, including:

• Leather
  
• Raw veggies
  
• Raw Meat
  
• Cotton
  
• Wheat
  
• Handles
  
• Coal

It's a small amount from each crate, but it gives you a chance to collect resources that your town may be short on or get resources that your town can't currently produce at all yet. I might also add a small, short duration, mood buff for the town when you drop off these resources.

Smashing a supply crate.



And I added butterflies to the Rose Trellis. I never knew how much I needed butterflies in my town until I did this! :)



You'll also be able to place a group of Rose Bushes, in addition to the Rose Trellis, using the Roses you find in the world.

An updated shot of all of the new stuff, including the Rose Bush. When you place them in town they'll come in groups of three or four.



I'm also working on some other things, not specifically related to the resource system.



A much better effect for smashing the gold crates in dungeons. Also note the little lantern on the Dwarf's hip. That will be craftable using Iron Ore and Fireflies. It will automatically turn on at night and when underground. I might add other uses for the new resources as well - either new things for your character or new things for your home, or both!

With the addition of the new resources and the supply crates I'm going to update the Town Resource UI to show the new resources and the Storehouse UI to allow you to add and remove the resources found in Supply Crates.

Another thing I am working on is improving the look of the world a bit, starting with the ground texture and the grass. In this shot you can see the current (left) vs. my latest test (right). I think the right looks way better as the current ground and grass don't match particularly well and the ground has too much dark contrast. The grass on the right also has some slight color variance in it in addition to matching the ground a bit better.

(click to see larger version}

I also have a few other things in the works too. This is going to be a pretty big update! I was hoping to launch it on Sunday, but I think I'm going to need some more time. Adding all of these resources also means I need to balance out some of the numbers and with the new decor, I want to make the buildable area larger. Changing that area actually affects a lot of other things, but it's worth doing. I'd hate to add all of this stuff and then have you all run out of space to place them!

As always, feedback is encouraged and welcomed! Thank you all for your continued support of HammerHelm. Making this game has been a real dream come true and I am so glad to have all of you with me on this journey!

-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]

• My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
  
• Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco