Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition News

Hello Hunters!

The big day is finally here! We got through a slight delay, worked hard alongside our wonderful beta testers and spent a whole year working hard on Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition through a global pandemic, and now it's finally available to purchase!

To celebrate, we're offering a week long launch discount, where you'll be able to grab the game for 10% off. And as thanks to everyone who has already supported our small studio, we're also offering everyone who owns Talisman: Digital Edition an extra 10% off the game! We wouldn't be where we are today without the support you've all given us over the years, so this is our way of saying thanks. ːheartː

We're also offering a discounted bundle for Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition that includes both the game and the official soundtrack. Our in-house composer has been working to make the perfect soundtrack for Fury of Dracula, and you can read more about it here if you're interested!

[h3]What happens now the game is released?[/h3]

First of all, we're going to all celebrate here at Nomad! We still can't all go into the office, so releasing a game feels a lot weirder than it normally would. We're sure we'll find a way to celebrate the release, but it definitely won't be our usual trip to the local pub! We'll also be keeping an eye on outlets for their reviews and coverage, and the community as well.

We're also not finished with Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition development! We'll be keeping a close eye on feedback and bug reports from our lovely community for things that need fixing, and we've already got a list of things we're going to be rolling out in future updates.

These include, but are not limited to:

• More tutorials/guides
  
• House rules
  
• Variations in AI difficulty
  
• 1v4 multiplayer
  
• iOS and Android support
  

We'll be putting together a fully fledged What's Next for Fury of Dracula? blog soon, to share a much more detailed update with you all. We're very open to suggestions on what you'd like to see, so please reach out to us if you have ideas!

You can chat to us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or if you’d like, you can bolster the ranks of hunters on our Discord

And finally, we want to thank everyone who has supported us in the run-up to launching Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition. It looks set to be the biggest launch in our history as a games studio, and that wouldn't be the case without your support. ːheartː

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!