VALHALL: Harbinger News

[h2]Vikings![/h2]

In this update, we have completely overhauled archery, introduced an additional new system for combat to make it more enjoyable, made many improvements to Survival based on player feedback, and fixed priority bugs.



Let's take a look!


[h2]Archery Overhaul[/h2]



Updated all bow animations for both first and third person views. Improved its locomotion and transitions.

After considering a lot of feedback, added a specific crosshair animation that plays along the string-pulling process and then disappears shortly after.

Made bow zoom attached to string pulling, right mouse button zooms and pulls. Reworked zooming to be smooth and effective.

Added a pulling time limit before autocancellation.



Added directional bow melee attacks. Choose a direction and use the mouse wheel forward/backward. You can even hit with your head (swing up and scroll the mouse wheel down).

Added dodges with the bow in different directions.

Improved shooting, arrow flight, and arrow hit sounds.

Fixed bow animations not changing after unequip and UI not removing.

Fixed bow and hands jittering when walking.

Removed movement slowdown when using the bow.

Fixed bow physics issues after equipping before the first shot.



Increased bow damage and adjusted how hitting different body parts causes damage.

Improved how pulling duration and shooting distance change damage.

Made deer and wolves killable by headshot.

Increased AI arrow dodge chance.

AI shooting is more accurate at longer distances but with a lower headshot chance.


[h2]Combat Improvements[/h2]

Improved physics and weightiness, bodies collide more realistically, and the hits feel more weighted.

Made it possible to just click to block for a second instead of only holding down the block button.

Adjusted running accelerations during unarmed state to allow for more precise movement.


[h2]Combat Targeting[/h2]



Added a system that helps in targeting enemies smoothly during stance mode and attacking.

It activates only when holding the attack button. While you hold it, the camera will smoothly adjust to keep your enemy in view.

You can still attack without it. Also, it can be fully deactivated in the Control Settings.

We welcome your thoughts on it after giving it a try.


[h2]Additional Settings[/h2]

Added No Combat Blur option, this allows you to turn off the depth of field effect (blur) during attacks.

Added No Interface option.

Added Motion Blur setting.


[h2]Trees & Chopping Update[/h2]



Added tree fall damage. Trees can now kill you.

Made trees not go through the ground but fall on it, added falling VFX, additional sound, and shake.

Increased delay before trees disappear.

Thin trees now give less wood than thick ones.

Removed screams during tree chopping.

Improved sounds of hits during chopping.

Improved timberaxe hit collision and physics.


[h2]Pickup Improvements[/h2]

Made pickup instant.

Improved tracing for easier aiming, now it's easier to pick up, noticeable improvement for the 3rd person view.

Fixed pickup issues for clients in co-op.


[h2]Fixed Bug Mixing Workstation Items[/h2]

Fixed the issues causing items from one workstation, like the furnace, to be visible during processes in another one, such as the campfire. Items no longer mix in co-op either.


[h2]Other Fixes[/h2]

Fixed bots on the island not attacking.

Fixed falling under the Norse Lights map and adjusted some visual holes in it.

Made Shift + LMB move items stuck in inventory, in addition to RMB.

Addressed attacks stopping while performing, leaving only hand movement. This issue is hard to fully track, we think there is a chance it could still happen, please let us know if this is the case.


[h2]Survival Balancing[/h2]

Lowered costs of many building elements that require wood to make it easier to build with.

Added more mushrooms around the map.

Increased Timberman axe durability.

Increased Raven sword durability.

Fixed pickaxe durability not working.


[h2]Stamina Balancing[/h2]

Increased delay before the last drain and started stamina regeneration.

Speeded up stamina regeneration significantly, making running across the map easier.


Thank you guys for sharing feedback. We hope you enjoy this update!


Skål!
Blackrose Arts

Greetings!

The latest patch had a bug related to placing objects in water. This is why you may have encountered issues with fishing trap placement. This small patch resolves the problem.

Skål!
Blackrose Arts

[h2]Vikings![/h2]

In today's update, we have added Survival Co-Op, which allows you to play together with your Steam friends.

This is an early version of co-op. As you may know, it's a further point on the roadmap, however, we decided to add it earlier because it was a very popular request from players.

Sometimes, we touch upon certain elements from future points of the roadmap, which might be a bit confusing. To clarify, we are currently approaching the 3rd point of the roadmap. These 2 are big, especially the combat upgrade. We are finishing them while simultaneously adding and fixing many things based on player feedback, and preparing something special for the 3rd point.

There are bugs to fix and additional co-op features that we will add later. We welcome your feedback on it during the process.



Let's take a look!


[h2]Survival Co-Op[/h2]



There is a new Survival menu available in the Multiplayer tab. You can choose the save you would like to use to host. Then your friend can see your server in the Join tab and connect.

At the moment, there is no strict player amount limit. Of course, more players will put more strain on the server, but you can try with as many as you want. This is for testing purposes, later, we will set an optimal number.

You can also fight each other, loot, and destroy buildings if you want.



We've already fixed a huge number of Survival multiplayer bugs, but there are still some remaining. Hiring warriors has some issues, and ships don't work in co-op yet. We will address these problems.

To avoid issues with saving, in this patch, it is recommended that the client (someone who is connected to the host) exits the game first, followed by the host shutting it down.


[h2]Extended Combat Tutorial[/h2]

Added more information to the combat tutorial and an enemy to fight in the process. We will be adding more things to it from time to time.


[h2]Intro WIP[/h2]



We keep working on it, its fuller demonstration will be in the next update. Here are the gates you reach after you finish the path by following voices.

The issues with voices' sound position not being heard understandably and the issue with the sound stopping have been fixed. Fixed music not muting.


[h2]Animation Improvements[/h2]

Updated one-handed weapon idle and movement animations (improved walk, run, jump).

Slightly refined dual-wield animations. Adjusted first-person view bow animation.

Resolved issue with AI running animation slowdown.

Enhanced inverse kinematics to apply animations more naturally and reduce excessive stretching of body joints.


[h2]Faster Attack From Stance[/h2]

You attack faster from the stance as you are already partially in wind-up when you move the mouse in this state.


[h2]Important Combat Fixes[/h2]

Fixed helmet blocks its own character's attacks.

Fixed a bug where riposte was not working when holding the attack.

Fixed a visual effects particle issue with the huge shield bash.

Fixed some weapons not triggering death animations.

Fixed a bug where the character capsule collision would not disappear after death animations. This issue was also causing slight lag in multiplayer near the dead player, which has been fixed.


[h2]Combat Improvements[/h2]

Updated the way AI maintains distance, should provide you with more space.

Increased the speed of unarmed movement compared to armed.

Changed the fists key (X by default) to toggle off too instead of only toggling them on.

Deathmatch bots now occasionally switch to using shields.


[h2]Damage Post-Effects Update[/h2]

Changed how low health and damage receiving post-processes work. They should now be much clearer and less confusing.


[h2]Character Physics Improvement[/h2]



Improved body physics with world collisions, the character can now pass through obstacles where it would previously get stuck. Check out how the body bends.

Resolved issues with flax and other elements that were affecting character physics in strange ways.


[h2]Menu Updates[/h2]

Fixed Escape key in Audio settings discarding edits.

Fixed Ambient sound reset issue.

Fixed a button in the main menu not working in certain cases and updated the positions of the modes.

Fixed a bug in the main menu unexpectedly returning to the main screen.


[h2]Fixed Reconnection[/h2]

Fixed an issue where sometimes the game couldn't reconnect to a restarted server without restarting the game.


[h2]Survival Improvements[/h2]

Fixed hammer does not always destroy/repair objects due to physics.

Added the possibility to repair all objects.

Changed repair costs to 0.

Reduced crafting times.

Fixed a small hole in the pond.

Fixed player character's eyes not being visible.

Resolved a game crash related to a specific map area.

Improved the realism of grass bending.

Added a new one-handed battle axe for crafting, which is more durable and deals nice damage.


[h2]Ship Fixes[/h2]

Fixed the recent issue of ships getting stuck and resolved border collisions that were affecting sailing.

Increased the maximum sailing speed by 30%.


Thank you guys for sharing feedback. We hope you enjoy this update!


Skål!
Blackrose Arts

The new physics in the latest patch introduced a few bugs for animals. This minor patch addresses problems such as animals dying without allowing looting and ragdoll-related issues.

Skål!
Blackrose Arts

[h2]Vikings![/h2]

Today, we have a special update for the combat system, as it now incorporates active physics.

An intro for Survival is a work in progress but has been separately added for testing.

Numerous important improvements have been made to enhance both Survival and combat, taking into consideration valuable feedback.

Meanwhile, we are preparing a substantial update for activities in Survival related to combat as well.



Let's take a look!


[h2]Active Combat Physics[/h2]



The physics in the game have reached a new level. Characters now possess active body physics, meaning they are highly interactive in a cool way, and you can use it to your advantage in battles.



And you can play with these physics in multiplayer mode.

For animals, such physics will be fully set up in future updates.

We welcome feedback, as we will be tweaking it to make it more interactive and useful. It will improve further. If you encounter a bug, please let us know.


[h2]Improved Character Stability[/h2]

The character now moves more stably. The stance mode is activated only by holding the attack button, there is no auto activation. Also, there is no longer an issue with staying in stance mode indefinitely.


[h2]Faster Loading[/h2]

With the recent changes, there is no longer a "Prepare yourself" screen. The loading is faster and includes a smooth fade-out effect.


[h2]Improved Riposte[/h2]

Riposte can now be felt more acutely, as it is faster and easier to transition into.


[h2]Berserk State Stats Boost[/h2]

Upon activating the Berserk state, it now provides a health and stamina boost.


[h2]First / Third View Perspective Saving[/h2]

Your preferred view perspective is now automatically saved.


[h2]Animated Stamina[/h2]

It should be easier to understand when your stamina is running out with a new animation.


[h2]Improved Networking Stability[/h2]

Fewer lags, a smoother multiplayer experience.


[h2]Combat Balancing[/h2]

Adjusted delay before attacking after hit reaction slightly.

Decreased damage from AI.

Stamina regenerates faster.

Attacks cost a bit more stamina. Note: we might decrease it in the next patch, let us know if you find it challenging to maintain stamina. The idea is to recover it during the fight, similar to a boost after a parry.

Sprinting costs slightly more stamina.

Parrying provides more stamina.

Reduced stamina costs for holding block.

Tweaked AI health.


[h2]Other Combat Adjustments & Fixes[/h2]

Fixed getting stuck in a block after weapon destruction.

Adjusted the shield's directional block for smoother and more effective usage.

Updated AI behavior to make movement more interesting and easier to handle when facing a few enemies.

Addressed several bugs of the Mjolnir and allowed movement during its activation.

Temporarily disabled ragdolling from kicks while alive.

The bow animations broke very badly in this update after adding physics. Initial adjustments have been made, but further work is needed.

Updated death UI animations.

Resolved the T pose when unarmed bug.

Fixed the 2h axe not causing damage in certain cases.

Corrected the character's permanent movement speed increase issue in multiplayer.

Improved the overhead one-handed attack with a faster animation.


[h2]Tweaked Sprinting Control[/h2]

Movement is more mobile, sprinting diagonally is possible, and turning right/left no longer cancels sprinting. However, sprinting cannot be initiated when moving left, right, or backwards.


[h2]More Branches & Stones[/h2]

Scattered more branches, usually found near the trees. and small stones.


[h2]Accumulations of Iron Ore & Raid Camp[/h2]



Added a location where a significant amount of iron ore has accumulated.

This location is defended by a hostile camp, eliminate them to mine a lot of ore faster.

Also, iron ore doesn't always spawn as a single entity, sometimes it appears in groups now, and there is more of it.


[h2]Ore Mining Improvement[/h2]

Fixed the issue of iron and stone ore breaking into pieces instantly. Now, they can be mined much more easily in the place they are located.


[h2]Survival Improvements & Balancing[/h2]

Added a building snap point from the roof to the celling for constructing larger houses.

Fixed stairs placement.

Fixed a crash that occurred during the camp quest.

Fixed the issue of traders not restocking over time. If the Queen bee is out of stock, please check back in 10 minutes.

Made some material improvements.

Increased timberaxe durability until new axes arrive.

Implemented diverse UI updates.

Balanced iron craft costs. The trader now sells it at a cheaper price.

Reduced crafting times for certain items.

Increased the amount of meat and hides obtained from deer.

Reduced wood costs for ship construction, but leather is now required.

Leather is now a part of the default shield crafting recipe.

You can now sell leather to the trader.


[h2]Intro Work in Progress[/h2]



Slide through the Singleplayer game modes and find the Tutorial & Path to the Gates.

This is a work in progress, which will become an intro/lore introduction for Survival later.

In the next update, we will finish the Combat Tutorial there.

The other part of it is a goal - follow the sound of voices and find the Gates while fighting enemies on the way.

We will add and show more about it in the next update.


Thank you guys for sharing feedback. We hope you enjoy this update!


Skål!
Blackrose Arts