Arcen Games is proud to roll out new info and media for their upcoming procedurally-generated action-adventure title A Valley Without Wind. Today is especially notable for the game, as for the first time actual gameplay has been implemented into the PreAlpha build; thus launching it past the "running around in the woods sim" phase and into the much more satisfying "shooting fireballs and not getting killed by robots" phase.
Much has been tweaked and added to the artwork since AVWW's reveal last week. The placeholder building has been replaced with the real thing, several actually, improvements for the character's run animation and the white borders around certain graphics, the appearance of a pair of magic spells, and the introduction of the game's first enemy.
Arcen head Chris Park on the progress:
"We're still just getting started of course, but we're also really proud of how fast we've been able to get the game to even this stage -- three weeks of dev time! By the time we hit publish alpha in another month to month and a half, this is going to be quite a cool game. And it's still only going to grow from there!...And by the way, the respawns that you see of the character in this video are temporary. Perma-death is still very much coming, so never fear!"
8 new screenshots of the latest build are linked below, and a video showcasing the latest features and additions of the PreAlpha can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Cn881LSnI&hd=1. The latest in-game music track by Pablo Vega is also in the video, as the composer continues to build and share AVWW's expanding soundtrack bit by 8-bit. Speaking of the composer, Vega has written up a new dev diary giving a glimpse into his methods on constructing a game soundtrack and providing his take on the "no such thing as original music" theory. Check it out here: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-look-into-old-sounds.html.
Stay tuned! We'll have new media every week as we get closer and closer to our alpha release in March. Interested parties are encouraged to view the video in HD (720p) and the screens in their original resolution. The shots can be viewed here:
PreAlpha-v003-BurnWinterGrasses
PreAlpha-v003-Characterdeath
PreAlpha-v003-Houses
PreAlpha-v003-Roadside
PreAlpha-v003-RobotAttack
PreAlpha-v003-TeleportCliff
PreAlpha-v003-TeleportWinter
PreAlpha-v003-WinterRobots
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the evelopment of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
I love the graphics. It's like a surreal painting in motion.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteDespite early criticisms of the art style, I think it will turn out to be a strength. This odd, dream like appearance of the game will lend a great deal of atmosphere, making exploration feel quite uncanny.
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