Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition News

Hello hunters!

Back in October, we announced that we would be slightly delaying the release of Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition (if you missed the official announcement, you can find it here).

Well, today we're pleased to announced we have a new official release date of November 12th!

We've taken the time we needed to polish up the game ready for release, and will just be bug testing between now and release day. We're also going to be reaching out once more to press, streamers and influencers so they know to take a look at the game ahead of it releasing.

We know a lot of you were understanding of why we felt the need to delay the game, but we want to take another chance to say just how much we appreciate the kind words and appreciation we've received from you all over the past 2 weeks. We hope you all enjoy sinking your fangs into Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition on November 12th! :heart:

Want to listen to the Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition soundtrack outside of the game? Or play it while you play the physical board game? We've got you covered with the Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition Soundtrack!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1454610/Fury_of_Dracula_Digital_Edition_Soundtrack/

On launch day, you’ll be able to grab a bundle that includes the game and the soundtrack too, if you want to take the Fury experience with you!

As part of this announcement, we thought we’d sit down with Dan Meadowcroft, the composer and performer behind the Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition soundtrack. Below he talks about how he created the music for the game, and his process for creating the soundtrack!

So, let’s start from the beginning! What were your inspirations for the soundtrack?

I started off looking at the theme of the game, and then music styles that fitted that theme. The soundtracks to Hammer Horror films was an obvious first call, but the less obvious thing to look at were the soundtracks for Sherlock Holmes media.

A lot of Sherlock soundtracks have a ‘detective theme’ with a Victorian influence, which fits perfectly for Fury of Dracula. I also looked at a lot of film noir soundtracks, as I wanted to make sure that the mystery element of the game didn’t get lost beneath the horror. For example, I found that vibraphones were used heavily in film noir, so I could use them to create the mysterious sound I wanted when I leaned into the detective elements of the game.

So I dove in to listening to tons of soundtracks to get an idea of the kind of sound I wanted.

In the end, the soundtrack for Fury is a fusion of 50s horror, gothic Victorian and noir detective that words really well - if I do say so!

So were those soundtracks how you picked which instruments are in the soundtrack?

Pretty much! Thanks to modern technology, I have a huge amount of instruments at my fingertips for when I’m composing and creating music digitally. But just because I have the ability to use something, doesn’t mean using it is the right call. Not every soundtrack needs more cowbell.

I took all the research I’d done and made a list of the instruments I should definitely use and the instruments I could use. I ended up with a strong list that would fit with the horror/detective theme I was going for, and carrying them through the entire soundtrack helps to keep it consistent while you listen.

One of the coolest things about the Fury of Dracula soundtrack is how the soundtrack changes based on Dracula’s influence. How did you go about doing that?

So, when I compose any music I always start by playing it on piano first. I use it as a ‘baseline’ for each track, and then build upon it by adding more instruments until I have the complete track.

By doing this, I could make sure that the core of each track increased in intensity with Dracula’s influence. It wasn’t just a case of ‘adding more intensity’ to an existing track, but making sure that each one was composed from the bottom up to reflect that increasing feeling of dread.

Was it a similar process for the sound effects in the game then?

Sort of! For the sound effects in the game I wanted to make sure it was more suited to what was happening in the moment, instead of fitting the overall theme of the game.

I wanted to make sure that the sound effects were gritty and visceral to fit the horror theme again, but also to fit the animations we have in the game. A lot of the combat animations can be quite gruesome, so having sound effects that amplify the shock of seeing that violence was super important.

I also implemented a lot of mechanical sounds, in order to bring through the feeling of being in the industrial revolution. When used in the right way, mechanical sounds can be quite unnerving, which of course adds to the horror as you play.

How long does it normally take you to make a soundtrack? Did Fury of Dracula take longer than usual?

I can give you the information about exactly how many hours it took me to make the soundtrack, but the actual process of making music is a lot longer than that.

A huge amount of time goes into the understanding of music, which then informs the music you create. All the time studying music theory, the time thinking about the music before you actually start putting it down and composing it all counts too. You can’t just sit down and make a soundtrack sadly - there is a huge amount of work you need to put in before you even ‘begin’.

Think about it like a house. When the house is finished, you can appreciate how nice it is without seeing all of the framework and foundations that were put in. But without that strong foundation, the whole house would come crashing down. Composing music is very similar.

You need to make sure that you put in the work to build a strong foundation to work from in order to make sure the finished product stands up.

How do you find working solo on a soundtrack?

It definitely has its perks! Doing the entire soundtrack and the sound effects myself means it’s a lot easier to keep the soundtrack consistent from start to finish. Once I nail down the theme and the type of sound I want the soundtrack to have, I can make sure it flows through the whole game from start to finish.

Of course, there are limits on what I can do solo. I can’t exactly play every single instrument on the soundtrack, even if I wanted to.

Also, it was quite nice to have a change of theme to work with. Previously I’d worked on the soundtracks for Talisman and Mystic Vale which do have their differences, but they do still fall into the ‘fantasy’ theme. Creating a horror/mystery fusion definitely meant I could flex some creative muscles I haven’t used in a while, which was nice.

Finally, if someone reads this and wants to know more about game soundtracks or how to start making their own, what would you recommend?

First of all, I’d be entirely honest with them - there is a very high bar of entry for making video game soundtracks. All that work I talked about that goes into making a soundtrack beforehand? A lot of the academic and music theory you’ve got to put in before you even get the job. It’s easier if you can work as a composer, but even then it’s a lot of work.

Understanding how different instruments work is a great way to get to grips with what you’ll need to know. Nowadays you can recreate a huge range of instruments digitally, so making sure you have a wide knowledge of how and when to use them will be massively useful to you.

Thanks for taking the time to chat Dan!

Hey no worries, hopefully that gives people an idea of what it was like putting together the soundtrack for Fury of Dracula.

Hello hunters!

We have decided to move the launch of Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition from October 29th to mid-November.

This of course was a decision we didn't take lightly. Months ago when we were planning out how long Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition would take to develop and get ready, we realised we could hit a Halloween release date. After lots of talking within our team, we decided that it was too good an opportunity to miss for a horror themed board game. Over the last month our small team has been working hard from our home offices to get the game ready, and sadly we've decided that we're not happy to release the game in its current state.

At the time of writing, Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition is finished both content and gameplay-wise. However, we're still working to make the tutorials the best we can for new players. We're ironing out bugs in order to make sure that the game is a smooth, polished experience when you finally get your hands on it. We're also polishing up the online experience, so that even if you can't see friends from across the table to play board games together, you can still stay connected by playing Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition across the internet.

We know that many of you are putting your trust in us to make the best adaptation of Fury of Dracula that we can, and that going back on our announced release date puts that trust into question. We hope that you can understand why we've made this decision, and that our open and honest communication shows our commitment to deserving your trust.

If you've got questions, feel free to reach out to us anytime!

Thank you for your patience and love - The Nomad Games Team ːheartː

On Friday 23rd October, our very own marketing gremlin Tom Young will be sitting down to play Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition with Kenneth Hite, role-playing game designer, Dracula expert and lead designer on the 5th edition of Vampire: The Masquerade!



They'll be playing the beta version of the game, so you can have a sneak peek of it before it releases on October 29th!

Find out more and set a reminder for the event here!

We’re close now, I can feel it. My blood aches as we get closer and closer to our encounter with Dracula. Every night I dream of that same crimson sea, my eyes transfixed on the inhuman beast who stalks its waves with gnashing teeth. It knows we’re closing in, and the beast hungers.

• Excerpt from Mina Harker's diary, dated March 1894
  

Hello hunters!

We’ve got an especially exciting Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition developer blog for you all this week, as a lot of placeholder assets have been converted into their final versions. For months now, we’ve been sharing screenshots where specific features were improved, but all the cool stuff in the background was still being worked on. With all these final assets in the game, you can get a much better idea of how the game will look when you get your hands on it.

Also, thanks to the positive feedback we’ve been getting on these blogs, we’ve been looking at what we can do to replace them when Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition has actually been released. If you have any ideas for what you’d like to hear from us, feel free to reach out and let us know!

But enough about that, it’s time to share what we’ve been working on this week!

[h3]Interactive guides[/h3]

Along with our dedicated tutorials, we’ve now put interactive tutorials into the game! These helpful tips will pop up during the game to remind you how certain mechanics work. These can be toggled on and off, and are designed to give you a helping hand when you come across a new feature you haven’t encountered before.



[h3]Updating the credits[/h3]

This took a while to get around to, but we’ve finally made the credits look nice! We’ve also got specific music for the credits for when you’re looking through all of our fantastic names, and what we did to help bring this game to life.



This is where our beta testers will also be featured, as thanks for helping us iron out bugs and giving feedback on the game!

[h3]Updating the artwork[/h3]

Remember how the card area down at the bottom of the screen used to look? Our art team have now got around to updating the card holder with isometric decks and the final flourishes. Looks much better, right?



That’s not the only part of the user interface we’ve made look fancier though! Check out the new look we’ve given to the trail too.



[h3]Dracula Marker[/h3]

A new feature we’ve added in this update is the ‘Dracula Marker’. This is a special pin that players can place to signal to other hunters where they think Dracula is at the moment. Have you got a sneaking suspicion that Dracula is lurking in London? Let the other players know by placing your Dracula marker there!



We designed this feature in order to help players easily signal key information to each other quickly, so we hope you find it useful when the game launches!

[h3]Added a bunch of new menus[/h3]

While we were swapping out placeholders, we also updated a load of different menus as well. First up was the menu for when you need to choose a specific space on Dracula’s trail. Now you’re presented with a visual of the different spaces, to help you make a better choice!



Do you need to select cards, or make choices about them? We’ve got fancy looking new menus for that too!



[h3]Ending the Game[/h3]
We’ve also added visuals to the end of the game that change depending on who is the victor. We want to make sure the winner gets the chance to bask in their victory, and these visuals should hopefully help with that!

We’ve also updated the end game music so that it now changes depending on who wins, and Dracula sounds a lot more grim than a hunter victory!

[h3]New Exit button[/h3]

Speaking of ending the game, being able to quit a game is pretty important right? Well the good news is that we’ve just made quitting your latest hunting session a bit easier by making a brand new ‘Exit Game’ button on the main menu.



If you remember, we used to have an ‘X’ button in the top right corner, but we decided that having it be part of the menu made more sense!

[h3]What are we working on next?[/h3]
We’ve got a number of things we’re working on next, but the main thing will be crushing the bugs and issues our beta testers tell us about! They’ve been doing a great job of pointing out things that we can improve and bugs that have cropped up, which we massively appreciate.

We’re also going to be working on adding more final art assets, such as making the notifications that pop up in the game look as they should.

We’re also going to be doing some more technical things like adding a framerate limiter to the menus in the game, as we had a few beta testers notice spikes in CPU usage when they were playing.

[h3]How can I keep up to date with Fury of Dracula?[/h3]

Add it to your wishlist and follow the game on Steam! That way you’ll get all the updates posted straight to you, and you’ll get notified when the game is available to purchase and play.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/958530/Fury_of_Dracula_Digital_Edition/

Join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to hear announcements as they happen. Or if you’d like, you can bolster the ranks of hunters on our Discord and chat to the devs!