Hello vikings and Rocky-fans!

It’s April, and you might have noticed that we were a bit mischievous earlier this month… For clarity, we did a repost of our old April Fools jokes, and as funny as these videos may be they will remain only jokes. But the video that was brand new – the trailer for Rocky the Pet Rock – was no joke at all! Rocky is very much a real thing in the game, though we won’t go into detail about how to make your Rocky happy…

If you love Rocky, you will probably also love the Rocky plushie! The Makeship campaign to get your very own Rocky is live right now, and this will be your only chance to get one, so don’t miss it!



Speaking of plushies, it’s time to announce the winners of our Favour of Freya screenshot competition! The winners will each get a jumbo neck plushie, to give them emotional support in their continued virtual photography. The Scenic category we would like to award to BarefootCookie for this shot of a Charred warrior gazing out over the Ashlands. Wow!



And the Action category we would like to award to Thaddeus for capturing this moment during a battle with Lord Reto. Incredible! Thank you everyone who submitted a screenshot for the competition, it’s been so much fun to get a glimpse into your very own Valheim adventures!



Before we wrap up we have another part of the Voyage of Hervor Bloodtooth for you! As she continues to walk deeper into the snowy woods, it appears she’s not quite as alone as she first thought…



Of course we will also give you a screenshot of that mysterious building she encountered there at the end. What do you think it is, and who do you think built it?




And finally, time to highlight a building from the community! This month it was Stefonishin who caught our attention with this waterfront house. Well done!



If you want your creation to be featured in this section, use the hashtag #ValheimBotM on social media. Please also send us a DM with a link to your post, to make sure that we see it. You can view previous builds in this thread on Steam.

Rock on!

/The Iron Gate team

If you’d like to discuss the content of this post, please visit our Discord, or our forums on Reddit and Steam, or make a comment on social media!

We've gone digging deep into our archives today, vikings! We found some old stuff that you will recognize already (but we're putting it all here anyway so no one misses it), but we also found something that's been gathering dust for ages, perhaps even since the 90s! We made sure to digitize the old cassette for you, for your convenience.


* New build piece: Rock (it’s a friend!)
* New game mode: Haldor (become the best merchant ever)
* New weapon: Shotgun (extra damage against deer)
* New weapon: Deer Raiser (raise mighty deer to fight for you)
* New body type: Deer (when playing as a deer, other deer will not become frightened of you)

Greetings vikings!

We’d like to start off this post by saying thank you to everyone we met at GDC this year! It’s always a pleasure to get to meet people who have played our game, and this time around was no exception. It was great to meet you!

But a new blog post also means by now that it’s time for a new episode of the Voyage of Hervor Bloodtooth. As she is making her way further inland, what will she discover?



It may look like a peaceful place, but the Deep North can be more hostile than it first appears to be... That poor greydwarf!



Last time we opened up submissions for our screenshot competition, the Favour of Freya. We wanted to just take a moment to thank everyone who has submitted a picture so far, it’s a delight to go through them all! If you want to compete, you still have a couple of days left to submit your entry, as the competition closes on March 31st. Good luck!


This month we turn our gaze to “The Dragonhearth” by MythicBuilds. Impressive indeed!



If you want your creation to be featured in this section, use the hashtag #ValheimBotM on social media. Please also send us a DM with a link to your post, to make sure that we see it. You can view previous builds in this thread on Steam.

Skål!

/The Iron Gate team

If you’d like to discuss the content of this post, please visit our Discord, or our forums on Reddit and Steam, or make a comment on social media!

Just a small patch of fixes for you today, thanks for testing on the PTB!


* Fix a crash on Xbox that could occur when entering suspend mode while playing online multiplayer
* Fix memory leak for HUDs of dead enemies
* Moved pause menu back to where it originally was
* Fix two cases of log spam for server hosts related to block and permitted lists
* It’s now possible to hide boss and death markers via controller again

⚠️ Note: This update is for the Public Test branch of Valheim only, and may therefore be unstable!

Prior to launching this update to the Default version of the game, we want to have a chance to discover bugs and fine-tune the balancing to ensure the best game experience.

• ACCESS: Right-click Valheim in your Steam library, then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’ and type in the code “yesimadebackups”. The Public Test branch should now be available for you to select. The PTB FAQ can be found here.
  
  
• FEEDBACK: Please leave any feedback in the “#valheim-public-test” channel in our Discord or through the form on our website.

Please remember to be considerate towards players who are not participating in the Public Test, as some may prefer to avoid spoilers. As indicated by the access code, please ensure to create backups of your save files before playing.

Just a small patch of fixes for you today!


* Fix a crash on Xbox that could occur when entering suspend mode while playing online multiplayer
* Fix memory leak for HUDs of dead enemies
* Moved pause menu back to where it originally was
* Fix two cases of log spam for server hosts related to block and permitted lists
* It’s now possible to hide boss and death markers via controller again

It's once again time for a patch! Today we have a bunch of bug fixes and optimizations for you, such as fixing memory leaks and improving snap points for certain build pieces, and plenty more. Hopefully this patch will mean a smoother Valheim experience for all! Thank you to everyone who helped test the patch during the PTB round!


* Various optimizations for memory usage
* Various bug fixes and improvements
* Various fixes to build pieces
* Various Xbox improvements
* Various Mac improvements


All platforms:
* Optimized Asset Bundles, reducing start-up times by up to 75%, build size by up to 35% and memory usage by 110 MB. Should also reduce the download size of future patches.
* Optimized UI rendering, improving FPS by 5-10% when CPU bound
* Fixed memory leak that occurred when generating subsequent new worlds
* Changed certain sound files to be loaded in background, reducing some specific lag spikes
* Added a fix for movement to behave the same when holding down secondary attack while moving with the gamepad as on keyboard.
* Removed “Detailed particle systems” from Graphics settings and make the “off” setting the default.
* Added a fix to allocate less memory and lower execution time for certain types of input
* Fixed a bug that caused inaccurate collision detection between AoEs and characters in multiplayer scenarios, e.g. sometimes catching on fire even when not walking into the fire.
* Fixed mouse being stuck held down after naming a map pin with virtual keyboard.
* Improved chat message and sign compliance with platform privileges, parental controls and local block list
* Game now shows in-game player names in Player List for cross-network users as well
* Reduced memory usage of profile pictures in Player List
* Fixed a bug where tooltips in settings menu did not show up in-game
* Fixed a freeze that could occur when changing the permitted list
* Boss and death map icons are no longer manually placeable via controller
* Asksvin trophy icon now matches the colour of the actual trophy
* Cooked Asksvin Tail and Roasted Crust Pie no longer sparkle when attached to an itemstand
* Tweaked snap points of Ashwood Stakewalls for better alignment
* Tweaked snap points for Grausten wall 2x2 for better alignment
* Grausten arches are now allowed to be placed in different orientations in the same position
* Grausten Roof Corner no longer changes position when damaged
* Blackmarble floor triangle and tip are no longer burnable
* Fixed an issue that made some events able to trigger without their conditions being met
* Hiding UI with CTRL + F3 now also hides sailing UI and Pause Menu UI
* A brief message is now shown when hiding UI using a gamepad
* Updated localization

Xbox/MS:
* Game no longer needs to be restarted to observe profile updates in the game
* Added invite button to pause menu
* Reduce network usage somewhat for functionality related to Xbox network.
* Gamepad association UI now reappears if the gamepad is disconnected and a keyboard & mouse is not connected, or if gamepad input when no user is assigned to it
* Reduced risk of crashes
* Chat messages can no longer be sent if text communication is disabled via system. Also shows a system UI popup telling users to change the setting if they want to chat
* On the console, when starting the game for the first time, the game language is now auto-selected based on the console language.
* Character names are now filtered as UGC in received chat messages and player list
* Fixed a bug that could make the “Game Preview” popup appear again after being dismissed
* Reduced reserved space on Xbox console, reducing disk usage by up to 1 GiB

Mac App Store:
* Updated minimum compatible MacOS version to 10.15
* Now uses TAA instead of FXAA for anti-aliasing
* Improved success rate for Game Center friend invites
* Fixed a bug related to viewing text on signs while not signed in to Game Center

⚠️ Note: This update is for the Public Test branch of Valheim only, and may therefore be unstable!

Prior to launching this update to the Default version of the game, we want to have a chance to discover bugs and fine-tune the balancing to ensure the best game experience.

• ACCESS: Right-click Valheim in your Steam library, then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’ and type in the code “yesimadebackups”. The Public Test branch should now be available for you to select. The PTB FAQ can be found here.
  
  
• FEEDBACK: Please leave any feedback in the “#valheim-public-test” channel in our Discord or through the form on our website.

Please remember to be considerate towards players who are not participating in the Public Test, as some may prefer to avoid spoilers. As indicated by the access code, please ensure to create backups of your save files before playing.

Another batch of tweaks for the PTB, including fixing stuff we thought was fixed before 🙈


Fixes & Improvements:
* Staff of Protection is actually once again protecting other players in multiplayer
* Hiding UI with CTRL + F3 now also hides sailing UI and Pause Menu UI
* A brief message is now shown when hiding UI using a gamepad
* When trying to connect to a server using an incompatible version of Valheim, the correct message regarding incompatible version is now shown instead of a message regarding the host not allowing crossplatform on the server
* Updated localization

Greetings vikings!

Another month has gone by and it’s time for another peek into the development of Valheim. We’re happy to see that so many of you seemed excited to follow Hervor Bloodtooth on her Deep North journey, and thus we’d like to share Part 2 with you!



Like last time, we will of course share a still image of the teaser as well. Beware of spoilers though, as we present to you the first creature from the Deep North:



While we’re busy working on the Deep North, we also want to invite you to another competition: The Favour of Freya! This time it’s more artistic rather than combat-focused, as we want you to send us your very best screenshots! With one category for action and one for scenic photography, we hope you will unleash your creativity and let us glimpse into your own Valheim adventures. Two winners will be awarded with a jumbo neck plushie from Heroic Replicas, so don’t miss out!




As always, we want to highlight something from the community. This month our attention was caught by a portal hub, built by CapCrumbsGaming. Nicely done!



If you want your creation to be featured in this section, use the hashtag #ValheimBotM on social media. Please also send us a DM with a link to your post, to make sure that we see it. You can view previous builds in this thread on Steam.

Skål!

/The Iron Gate team

If you’d like to discuss the content of this post, please visit our Discord, or our forums on Reddit and Steam, or make a comment on social media!

⚠️ Note: This update is for the Public Test branch of Valheim only, and may therefore be unstable!

Prior to launching this update to the Default version of the game, we want to have a chance to discover bugs and fine-tune the balancing to ensure the best game experience.

• ACCESS: Right-click Valheim in your Steam library, then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’ and type in the code “yesimadebackups”. The Public Test branch should now be available for you to select. The PTB FAQ can be found here.
  
  
• FEEDBACK: Please leave any feedback in the “#valheim-public-test” channel in our Discord or through the form on our website.

Please remember to be considerate towards players who are not participating in the Public Test, as some may prefer to avoid spoilers. As indicated by the access code, please ensure to create backups of your save files before playing.

Hello vikings! We've got some tweaks and fixes for the current PTB ready for you, so hopefully everything should be working smoothly now!


Fixes & Improvements:
* Changed back an assembly name to match the live version (reducing the reasons for mods breaking when the patch goes live)
* Fixed an exception that could occur if a keybind was set to “None”
* Fire SFX once more has the same priority as other sounds
* Staff of Protection is once again protecting other players in multiplayer

⚠️ Note: This update is for the Public Test branch of Valheim only, and may therefore be unstable!

Prior to launching this update to the Default version of the game, we want to have a chance to discover bugs and fine-tune the balancing to ensure the best game experience.

• ACCESS: Right-click Valheim in your Steam library, then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’ and type in the code “yesimadebackups”. The Public Test branch should now be available for you to select. The PTB FAQ can be found here.
  
  
• FEEDBACK: Please leave any feedback in the “#valheim-public-test” channel in our Discord or through the form on our website.

Please remember to be considerate towards players who are not participating in the Public Test, as some may prefer to avoid spoilers. As indicated by the access code, please ensure to create backups of your save files before playing.

It's once again time for a patch! Today we have a bunch of bug fixes and optimizations for you, such as fixing memory leaks and improving snap points for certain build pieces, and plenty more. Hopefully this patch will mean a smoother Valheim experience for all!

* Various optimizations for memory usage
* Various bug fixes and improvements
* Various fixes to build pieces
* Various Xbox improvements



Fixes & Improvements:
* Optimized Asset Bundles, reducing start-up times by up to 75%, build size by up to 35% and memory usage by 110 MB. Should also reduce the download size of future patches.
* Optimized UI rendering, improving FPS by 5-10% when CPU bound
* Fixed memory leak that occurred when generating subsequent new worlds
* Changed certain sound files to be loaded in background, reducing some specific lag spikes
* Added a fix for movement to behave the same when holding down secondary attack while moving with the gamepad as on keyboard.
* Removed “Detailed particle systems” from Graphics settings and made the “off” setting the default.
* Game now allocates less memory and lower execution time for certain types of input
* Fixed a bug that caused inaccurate collision detection between AoEs and characters in multiplayer scenarios, e.g. sometimes catching on fire even when not walking into the fire.
* Fixed mouse being stuck held down after naming a map pin with virtual keyboard.
* Improved chat message and sign compliance with platform privileges, parental controls and local block list
* In-game player names are now shown in Player List for cross-network users as well
* Reduced memory usage of profile pictures in Player List
* Fixed a bug where tooltips in settings menu did not show up in-game
* Fixed a freeze that could occur when changing the permitted list
* Asksvin trophy icon now matches the colour of the actual trophy
* Cooked Asksvin Tail and Roasted Crust Pie no longer sparkles when attached to an item stand
* Tweaked snap points of Ashwood Stakewalls for better alignment
* Tweaked snap points for Grausten wall 2x2 for better alignment
* Grausten arches are now allowed to be placed in different orientations in the same position
* Grausten Roof Corner no longer change position when damaged
* Black Marble floor triangle and tip are no longer burnable
* Fixed an issue that made some events able to trigger without their conditions being met


Xbox/MS:
* You no longer need to restart to observe profile updates in the game
* Added invite button to pause menu
* Reduced network usage somewhat for functionality related to Xbox network
* Gamepad association UI now reappears if the gamepad is disconnected and a keyboard & mouse is not connected, or if gamepad input when no user is assigned to it
* Reduced risk of crashes
* Chat messages can no longer be sent if text communication is disabled via system. Also shows a system UI popup telling users to change the setting if they want to chat
* On the console, when starting the game for the first time, the game language is now auto-selected based on the console language.
* Character names are now filtered as UGC in received chat messages and player list
* Fixed a bug that could make the “Game Preview” popup appear again after being dismissed
* Reduced reserved space on Xbox console, reducing disk usage by up to 1 GiB
* The game now prevents entering text on signs or renaming animals if UGC privilege is denied, and shows resolve privilege UI in that case.