VALHALL: Harbinger News

This is a part of Indiegogo update which we are posting here for our Steam community to make sure you don't miss it. You can read full update in the Indiegogo updates section.

Сheck development progress

For the last time we have kept all the news on our Discord channel. It's time to make a public update!

Alpha has been launched over a month and has been available for testing each week.

The schedule wasn't changed:

US Servers:

• Tuesday: 5 - 7pm ET. (Tuesday: 9 - 11pm UTC.)
  
• Saturday: 8 - 10pm ET.( Sunday: 12 - 2am UTC.)
  

EU Servers:

• Thursday: 5 - 7pm UTC. (Thursday: 1 - 3pm ET.)
  
• Sunday: 7 - 9pm UTC. (Sunday: 3 - 5pm ET.)
  

Good news for those who participate in our tests. We have added radius voice chat!

Hold T button and talk, the others will hear you. The current radius is not final, it's big for testing purposes. Enjoy.




For those who are awaiting the next stage to play.

After the last trailer release we received a huge amount of feedback. Your words mean a lot for us, it was a great pleasure to read your impressions and consider suggestions. Our team thanks you!

While developing the combat system, basing on this feedback we were working on a special game mode, which will be launched the first one as a part of a new build!

It will have no NDA and will be full of fun.

We are going to have it closer to the end of July. In the next updates we will reveal all the necessary details on it and hope you will be excited as we are!

Also, all of us understand how amount of players is important for matchmaking. With this game mode we want to try to make a transition to 24/7 servers to let you play when you want. To make that happen we will let all our backers including owners of Early Access perk play this new game mode! Please await info about it in the next update. Owners of Beta perk, no worries, you keep having all your privileges coming with Beta access (you will be first to play BR&Siege mode, etc.).


As you know each current backer will get an amazing pack of bonuses which were published before.

And as we have already announced before - all these bonuses are available for players who became a backer before Alpha launching.



We didn't make an official update about the Alpha launching clear enough, some players thought it wasn't not out yet.

This is why we decided to extend the early backers benefits to 18th of June (Tuesday).

How to join Alpha

Best wishes!
Blackrose Arts

This is a part of Indiegogo update which we are posting here for our Steam community to make sure you don't miss it. You can read full update in the Indiegogo updates section.

As we promised in the past update, we present to you a video of the state of the Beta that's we're working on.

Official Siege Trailer

We hope that it will answer both questions that have frequently appeared after the previous update, chiefly regarding the price and the progress that has been made since the last gameplay video was published.

Also, due to a number of similar questions that we have received lately we would like to briefly clarify that we are maintaining our independence from publishers and investors.

This independence is necessary for our prolonged work as a community in VALHALL's development, because the future of this game must be paved by players and gamers. That is why, in spite of all the difficulties of developing at a low budget, which affects the timing of the implementation of certain plans, we fully disclose our nature of our indie development team.

All of this is thanks to you, everyone who has supported us up until this stage.

Сheck info about the Alpha launching

Best wishes!
Blackrose Arts

This is a part of Indiegogo update which we are posting here for our Steam community to make sure you don't miss it. You can read full update in the updates section.

Сheck development progress

And the day has come, mighty warriors of VALHALL!

It's time to announce the date of the Alpha testing period beginning - the 21st April!

The Alpha build is playable, but we want to use this time to finalize a number of features before the launching.

Testing will start according to the following schedule. Days Alpha Test will be available (each week):

• NA server Time: 5 pm - 7 pm ET (Tuesday)
  
  
• NA server Time: 8 pm - 10 pm ET (Saturday)
  
  
• EU server Time: 1 pm - 3 pm ET (Thursday)
  
  
• EU server Time: 3 pm - 5 pm ET (Sunday)

The presence of the schedule is caused by the necessity to consolidate matchmaking during the Alpha tests so that no one has to wait too long for matches to begin or play with a very small number of players on the map, as well as to conduct technical work between game sessions.

In scheduling, we tried to take into account the most convenient time intervals for all the involved time zones, based on the regional positioning of the bakers.

Moreover, we are open to suggestions and if you wish to adjust the specified times to make the schedule more convenient for you personally, or voice your opinion on our current schedule, please fill out this form:

https://forms.gle/gvQ6MHSzbxdgXKhu8

We would also ask that you take into account that the schedule can't be perfect for each participant, however, the option to vary and alter the schedule is still available, as we aim to allow each Alpha tester to be able to play at a convenient time.

As we published before, every Beta access owner will also have access to the Alpha.

You will need to enter the code in the "betas" menu (we will attach screenshots manual) of the game on your Steam library, which will give you access to the Alpha version of the game client and will automatically be downloaded.

This code is one for everyone and it will be published in advance (update before Alpha), so you will have time to download the game before tests launching.

Please fill out this form to gain access to the Alpha:

https://forms.gle/vpmX1AS9jM6H85VSA

This is quite important and necessary to gain an accurate indication of server capacity during the testing period.



We also strongly recommend you join our discord server! We're planning to hold numerous community events during the testing phase.

If you would like to take part you will need to be a member in order to receive information and instructions. Games will be played, fun will be had, prizes will be won.

Moreover, connecting with us on Discord allows you to get in touch with the developers and our community during testing, share your opinions, recommendations, bugs (with screenshots please!) and overall make our community a better place.

Note: To get access the exclusive Alpha channels you will need:

- to be a member of our Discord server discord.gg/z5pwABS;

- to be a backer with Beta access;

- to fill in the form https://forms.gle/vpmX1AS9jM6H85VSA

Enjoy the testing with your new Viking family! P.S.We will upload a form where users will be able to report bugs with the launch update for those who don't want to use the Discord.

The combat system 2.0 is still half playable and has some serious issues which prevent its use in the game at this stage. This is why we are launching Alpha with the old one, however our team is working hard on the new version and we are sure you will understand our motives after the video with the combat system 2.0 gameplay and description is released - it will be before Alpha launch.

Throughout Alpha, we will release patches that will add some working elements from combat 2.0 to the current system. This will all be explained further with the release of our combat explanation video.

For those who missed the previous update, we recommend to check our progress there.
This one is text only, we want to surprise you with the next update's content.

With the launch of the Alpha we plan to implement the following changes to the bonuses for Early backers:

We didn't plan for the Alpha to be publicly accessible, and that decision was made this month at the request of the community.

For that reason, there will be some changes to the bonuses available to new backers. These changes don't apply to any current backers.

The extra Steam key for Early Access & the Full Game as well as all bonuses from our lost bet (which you can find in the previous update) will be available only up to the launch of the Alpha. This means that if you became a backer before the Alpha launch, this insane bundle of rewards is yours.

Note: If you became a backer before the Alpha launch, but you missed out on choosing your extra key via form as a loyalty reward, you contact with us via email at: [email protected] We will be sending extra keys closer to Early Access launch.

As many of you have already noticed, there have been some changes on the Indiegogo web page - this was planned to incorporate updates to all the perks along with the launch of the Alpha and switch to our new pricing policy. We already published that info with our update on 25th Dec.

Our pricing policy will be updated with the coming Beta release. This will allow you to reap the rewards of your loyalty with even more benefits due to your decision to support us during the earlier stages of development as an Early backer of our project.

More for less. For the convenience of understanding and comparing the prices on each stage (current, Beta, Steam) we have prepared a pricing table for all our future Backers for a visual comparison.


Warriors of VALHALL! As promised earlier, as the launch of the Alpha tests grows nearer, we will make an update with the password and video.

Thank you,

Blackrose Arts

This is a part of Indiegogo update which we are posting here for our Steam community to make sure you don't miss it. You can read full update in the updates section.

Сheck development progress

First of all, we are pleased to announce that you have now become apart of the recipients for the most extensive set of awards in VALHALL's development. As such, we would like to congratulate you on your perseverance and dedication to this community and its development.

A full list of awards can be found below:
And that's not all! As we move forward with development and approach the release of the Beta, we are very frequently urged to launch any build of VALHALL, regardless of its flaws of playable state.

We fully understand your wishes to make sure that VALHALL exists beyond the pages of Steam and Indiegogo and comes to working fruition, as accessible on your own computers.

Below is just a fraction of the sorts of comments we have received on this topic:



We only want to publicly release VALHALL when it is ready, and we have always envisaged this to be when the game is in a well rounded and well polished state. Not rushed one.

However, we found a way to satisfy the desire of the backers to touch the game as soon as possible, while maintaining our position.

So, heeding to the requests of a part of the community who really wants to make sure in the reality of VALHALL we would like to present a gift that is more valuable for them than anything we have presented to date.

We are launching Alpha under NDA!



After 15 days, the exact date of Alpha will be announced, which won't be started farther than 3 weeks from that announcement. No bets this time, only the date.

The launch of the Alpha will help you to understand how VALHALL looks. As we have seen from the comments and the questions that frequently arise, many people don't have a complete picture about the game. We want to fix that.

"Which combat system - Chivalry or For Honor" has been perhaps the most frequently asked question on this topic. Rest assured that all the uncertainty regarding this will be dispelled in the very near future.

The current Beta delay is all about the combat system we want VALHALL to have in a right state for a public release. In the old blogs, we have already told it is Chivalry type and showed the combat 1.0 we had with bugs. We want to launch Beta only with the combat system 2.0.

Combat system teaser video

Can it be longer? - Yes, this is a teaser and we will show a gameplay video about 10 minutes long!

It will give you an understanding of why we decided to delay the Beta, and why it’s worth to wait. In this video we will show the new combat system in depth.

It will be published 1 day before the Alpha launch.

As for the Alpha, everyone who has a key for the Beta will gain access to the Alpha absolutely free, despite it never being included in any Perk.

To gain access, all you will need to do is enter an additional password in the Steam game properties and the download will start. We will send it 1 day before launch.

And a very important moment, friends, please take this into account seriously. If you would prefer to experience the game as it is intended, and have a much better first impression, then we would encourage you to wait for the Beta. We didn't plan to run the public Alpha test because its build contains certain flaws which can influence on your experience of the game, uses the old combat system of build from previous Summer, all of which is being worked on and overhauled at the moment. This build also doesn't contain some elements, which will be listed with the Alpha launch.

As we mentioned, above we would like to introduce VALHALL to the world in a state which we are proud of, and the shortcomings of the Alpha lead us to restrict the use of game content online during on the network, namely the presence of NDA for Alpha.

And once again, NDA applies only to the Alpha.

For Beta, without any change - no restrictions and no NDA!

In order to ensure proper matchmaking, Alpha will be launched according to a certain schedule. It will be published along in the next update with the date announcement.

Besides, the launch of Alpha will probably have a positive effect on the growth in the number of bakers, which means more server hours for playing Beta already on the start.


There are things we prefer to keep for Wow-effect, but also it is important for us to keep you informed about the progress, so here is some of it.

Do you remember these guys from the trailer?



Also remember what we said in the last updates about the game course.Here is one you will meet in the game.



Also, the bow you voted in the short poll has been finished.




We have recently received a number of questions concerning to the future price of the game at the time of its Early Access release on Steam.

The price will be set at $29.99 USD in Early Access. This will be the base price on Steam (for the US). As you know, there is a system of regional coefficients for international prices, and therefore the cost of VALHALL will be adjusted per region.

The development of the game is almost entirely funded by the money raised from the crowdfunding campaign. Accordingly, the more funds we receive, the more human resources we are able to attract which directly affects the rate of development.

Rewarding our backers with in-game items as a bonuses is a way to thank you and create boost that help us increase the number of supporters as well.

That's why you currently have the best deal available, but also to receive a huge number of bonuses and even 1 extra key.

There will different categories of Early backers depending on the period of purchase for the future postrelease bonuses.

For us this is an opportunity to develop and release the game in a better state, and for you it is an opportunity to make very profitable acquisitions.

It is time to summarize the results of the latest community poll regarding arrow camera tracking. The overwhelming majority, precisely 81% voted for removal of this feature due to reasons which were published with the last update.

Many thanks to all who voted for your opinion! Arrow camera tracking was removed.

Many thanks once again to the help of our amazing community, the VALHALL Steam page has already been almost completely translated into 6 languages and more are in process. You can meet our amazing translators through this link: https://discord.gg/MC4VX3b
Thank you. Your support and words of encouragement mean the world to us at Blackrose Arts.

Your involvement, dedication and support of this development has been truly sensational, and we cherish our close, family like connection with all of you.

This will not be lost after the release. The future of VALHALL is largely built from your dedication and commitment to our community and the amazing nature of the friendships and relationships developed are precisely thanks to “You”, all those who support us right now.

We would like to foster the unique interactions that arise daily. From time to time we will be hosting special offers and events that we will not forget to include you in.

Without all of you, VALHALL would be impossible.

Blackrose Arts

This is a part of Indiegogo update which we are posting here for our Steam community to make sure you don't miss it. You can read full update in the updates section.

Сheck development progress

Since the last update we've archived some really impressive results in achieving our main goals and different additional tasks.

We are going to name the exact date of the Beta launch with the next update as the implementation of our new combat system and it's netcode improvements are still not quite at the level we need for the Beta launch.

Therefore, we are ready to make a bet with you to somehow atone our blame.

If we don't announce the Beta Test date on 16th March then all Early backers (anyone who has backed the game before the release of the Beta) will receive the next extra rewards for long-suffering:

On the other hand, if we will finish the implementing of the new combat system and publish the exact Beta date with the next update - these additional bonuses will be replaced by the Beta launch. Its a win-win right?



Moreover, we've hired 2 new technical artists and 1 new programmer to our team. They have already produced some outstanding work. Our small team is one of the key factors affecting the rate of progress on issues related to the launch of Beta, and we hope the increase in manpower helps speed up the development process.

After the final map lighting rebuild we uncovered a lot of issues relating to meshes, however, at this time we have managed to solve all of them.

In regards to optimization issues, initial processing time on the 7th of February was 45-70ms. A later test on the 21st showed a steady 16.6ms on high settings. It's a good result - 60-70 fps on high settings on a medium strength computer.

PC specifications requirements will be published with the launch of the Beta and then tweaked slightly for Early Access as we will continue the work in this direction. Meanwhile we have also managed to minimize the game file's size while overall adding more content.


As for other news, the implementation of the new combat system is underway. While this process is in full swing, our other work doesn't stand still. We're currently working on developing a new environment for warm-up mode. It is going to be something new.

Here are some examples of the new buildings:






Let's summarize the results of the community poll surrounding horns on the helmets, which was published with the last update. The overwhelming majority, precisely 71% - voted against having horns.

As a consequence, during both Beta and early access, the number of helmets with horns will be minimized.

However, as we said before exclusive items will still have designs which incorporate horns, we wanted to clarify this issue for the most helmets available in game.

During the Early Access period, we plan to implement the option to customize your weapons and armor including the toggling of horns on helmets. This solution will allow everyone to tailor their experience to their preferences, and determine the appearance of their own helmet. However, from this period in time, VALHALL will be centred around having very few if any horned helmets.

This is just one example of how a single post on our Steam discussions (kudos to Venset) has turned into something which we have considered and are now in the process of implementing. To add your suggestions to the development of VALHALL, please take a look at our Discord Server!

While we are still working on the combat system there is one something that we would like your help in deciding.

In the first combat version we had an arrow camera tracking feature for test. It was looking good, but we are worried that it might produce a way to gain an unfair advantage by essentially having a remote camera. At the same time it leaves you vulnerable to attack while your focus is on an arrow instead of your surroundings.

Should we remove arrow cam?

#quick-voting channel

https://discord.gg/ugJjpcp




We are very grateful to our community for help with translation. Here are the languages which are already in process.

French translators: @Hell_Frank, @Iceman, @Solved

Norwegian translators: @Demonshiver, @Sjugur

Dutch translators: @Shadix, @The Balbarian

Portuguese translator: @LapantinoPT

German translators: @bigbadbatz, @Kormakr, @LarsDerEisbär

To the end of this week you will be able to see our Steam page translated to some of these languages.
Also, the more languages are coming. Check our Discord #announcements for more details.

As you know, purchased as part of your Indiegogo package will be delivered with the start of Early Access.

That means that we still can make some changes to the "chest system" at this stage.

Therefore we want to make sure that we are on the right path and hear your thoughts and concerns surrounding an area which we are well aware can be devastating if gotten wrong.

Please fill this form

https://goo.gl/forms/56YQrapdscqeMAYI3



Today we have made the first change and we are sure that you'll like it. As you remember it was written on the campaign page that you will only receive 1 item from every chest.

From now on, 1 single chest will yield not one, but TWO items!

For example, you will receive both a piece of armor and a helmet from a Silver Chest instead of one or the other which was previously stated.

This decision is based not on desire to buy your patience, but rather for the sake of the game's success, in connection with the further perks price and for your overall enjoyment. We want you all to have the opportunity to customize your character and look unique when the time comes, as such, we have decided to increase the amount of items available for you to use in this process.

Once again, you will never be given items that you already posses from a
chest.





Stay awesome!

Blackrose Arts