Greetings pilots!

Today's Dev Diary episode is about updated visuals too. We've shown you a bit how the maps have been changed, with new textures and lighting. There is another pretty significant thing, not only visually, but also gameplay-wise.

While working on the lighting, we have added more night maps. From now on, the modern helicopters won't be the only ones you could hide in the shadows. Actually, every map we currently have in Heliborne will be available in a night version.





Do you have any suggestions on how to utilize the darkness? We would be happy to hear out your ideas!


Last but not least, here's a sneak peek of another upcoming helicopter. This is a new scout/attack bird from Sikorsky powered with the same engine as Black Hawk — S-97 Raider. It was designed to replace Kiowa and made its first flight in 2015.


We are still deciding on how the prototype models shall be integrated into the current list of helicopters. One of ideas is to make prototypes a choosable option when creating a battle. Again, feel free to share your opinion!

Klabater's summer offensive continues!

Steam Summer Sale is now live and you can grab our amazing games with ice-cold discounts! Some of them are discounted for the very first time and others were never discounted so 'drastically'. Sooooo, what better time to complete your games collection than now? All the great titles like We. The Revolution, Help Will Come Tomorrow and Crossroads Inn are now available with very cool prices!

Below is a list of all discounted games from our publishing and dev portfolio, available from 25/06 to 09/07:

- Heliborne: -33%,
- Heliborne DLC: -50%,
- Regalia: Of Man and Monarchs: -75%,
- Regalia DLC: -75%,
- Alice VR: -80%,
- Apocalipsis: -80%,
- Apocalipsis DLC: -50%,
- From Shadows: -80%,
- Roarr!: -80%,
- We. The Revolution: -60%,
- Crossroads Inn: -33%,
- Crossroads Inn Digital Goodies: -50%,
- Crossroads Inn Season Pass: -50%,
- Help Will Come Tomorrow: -25%,
- SKYHILL: Black Mist: -10%

Don't waste time and get your favorite titles at a special price!

Klabater team

Hey Pilots!

Get ready for another AMA Session today starting at 16 CEST!

Join us on Discord and shot your questions without any hesitation!

https://discord.gg/JuXJKQX

Greetings pilots!

Finally, we have a lot to tell you in this dev diary post. The most important thing is that we have already finished the most challenging and time-consuming works, and transfer to the new version of Unity is almost completed. There are still a few things to do, but we expect to begin internal testing pretty soon.

One of the most noticeable changes that Enhanced Edition will bring is updated visuals. Since Heliborne was released in 2017 (and spent several more years in EA before that), we wanted to freshen it up with a more up-to-date look.

The first thing to do—update the environment. You might remember early screenshots from when we've been working on new terrain shader. A lot has been improved since then. Terrain shader and textures have been updated with new ones. We have also remastered original foliage and environment textures so they would better work with physically based rendering. On top of that, we've added post-processing to improve visual experience and give a unique atmosphere to every map.

It took quite a lot of time and nerves, but the result was worth it:



The next step was to make better-looking objects and update them in line with terrain and flora. So we've created new, more realistic shaders for helicopters and ground objects.




All that work not only makes Heliborne look better, but also lets us continue with console ports. And this is how all that looks in action:


We hope that you love those changes just like we do! Please let us know what you think about them in the comments.

One more thing. Every AMA, you ask us what will be next helicopters. Here is a work-in-progress untextured model. Can you recognize it?

Over and out!

Hi folks!

SKYHILL: Black Mist is out now! We are so excited! The waiting is over!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/990360/SKYHILL_Black_Mist/

To celebrate this long awaited moment Klabater has just set up a special discount for owners of any of Klabater's games:

🔥🔥Complete Skyhill collection (Skyhill & SKYHILL: Black Mist) with -20% discount
🔥🔥If you own other Klabater games - get ADDITIONAL -15% for SKYHILL: Black Mist

Delve inside the world of isometric survival-horror. Craft your way through the building filled with bloodthirtsty creatures, sneak behind them, set traps or use brutal strength. It's only up to you if you will survive!

In SKYHILL: Black Mist nothing is as it seems. Where did the mysterious Black Mist come from? Who summoned it and why? Try to distinguish reality from illusion. Find out what’s real and what’s not.

Thank you for your support!

Mandragora and Klabater team


*) Discounts multiply!

Pilots!

There’s a lot of going on lately and we have even more news for you today! We have planned a special Free Weekend from 8th May, 10 AM (PT) to 11th May 10 AM (PT)

As you know, we plan a special Enhanced Edition of our game to be released around Fall this year. This is why we would love to welcome new players to our community and gather additional fresh feedback. In the same time, we already received detailed feedback from you, our long-time veterans, during streams and AMA sessions. We are extremely grateful for that!

So, here are some details regarding our plans for the upcoming weekend:
From 8th May, 10 AM (PT) to 11th May, 10 AM (PT), we will launch:

• A Free Weekend on Steam
  
• A free Navy Seals Camouflage Pack DLC available for all Heliborne players! It’s our gift to you guys. The new camos are really, really cool – see examples for yourself below

We have also planned additional community-dedicated events for this free weekend:
• Stream with Heliborne veteran players (Friday, May 8th)
• AMA session with developers on Discord (Sunday, May 10th)
• Q&A for beginners with veteran players on Discord (whole weekend)
• Tips and Tricks for beginners

NAVY SEALS CAMOUFLAGE DLC
During Free Heliborne Weekend, we will release a special DLC Navy Seals Camouflage Pack which will contain new camos for the following Helicopters:

• Screamin' Indians camo on MH-60s HSC-6
  
• Red Lion's camo on MH-60s HSC-15
  
• Eightballers camo on MH-60s HSC-8
  
• Black Jacks camo on MH-60s HSC-21
  
• Sea Knights on MH-60s HSC-22

Below please find selected screens for MH-60s HSC-6 and MH-60s HSC-15 new paintings:





NEXT STEPS FOR HELIBORNE BRAND

As if that is not enough, please check this detailed infographic explaining what kind of content will be released for Heliborne in upcoming months😊



Thank you for your support, justified criticism (yes, we appreciate it!) and faith in Heliborne.
Heliborne Team

Hello,

The game will be down for maintenance between 21:00 CET today and 5:00 AM CET tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Hi All!

It’s Klabater team here! We wanted to share news about another amazing game coming from our portfolio, developed by Mandragora Games. Hope you will find it interesting!

We are pleased to confirm that the isometric survival-horror, SKYHILL: Black Mist, will debut on PC on May 28th this year.

We will soon reveal gameplay trailers and raw footage from the game. We also plan live streams closer to premiere! Stay tuned! Below please check new screens from our game!

As you may know, SKYHILL: Black Mist is a follow-up to unique Skyhill game from 2015. A simple idea wrapped in 2D comic-book graphics appealed to thousands of players around the world, instantly becoming an indie bestseller with 200k units sold!

SKYHILL: Black Mist, the second installment of the series, is a combination of classic horror and gameplay straight from survival games. The game loosely parallels the original concept, but gameplay-wise it's a revolutionary step forward. This time the developers moved from 2D to 3D, presenting the action in an isometric view. The game mechanics have been significantly enhanced with stealth elements and solutions known from metroidvania-like games, including the ability to re-explore already visited locations to find previously inaccessible items and information. An important element of the game, also improved compared to the original, is a crafting system that allows players to craft items that will help them survive in the most difficult conditions.

he story in SKYHILL: Black Mist is inspired by the classic horror cinema, while also introducing mysterious and paranormal elements that we associate with such series as Stranger Things. The player cannot be sure what is true and what is an illusion. Locked in a haunted luxurious building complex owned by the mysterious corporation Skyhill Inc., he tries to understand who or what stands behind the eponymous Black Mist that turns people into mindless monsters.

Here’s short note from Eugene, head of SKYHILL: Black Mist project:

"I think of the first Skyhill as a kind of an introduction to what we're creating now for Black Mist. We had time to significantly improve and expand the main concept; only the haunted building was left from the original game. The scale and the scope of this new adventure are incomparably greater, both in terms of gameplay solutions and due to the transition to extensive 3D locations that can be freely explored. It's a big game, full of surprises and plot-twists. I hope both fans of the original game and new players will like it."

To sum everything up, please check the main features of the game below😊

Non-linear exploration

Discover the secrets of the SKYHILL Corporation building, its nooks, crannies, and hidden passages. Black Mist lurks everywhere, in the school building for the local kids, in an abandoned shopping center, as well as in the cinema you've recently visited with your daughter. SKYHILL: Black Mist is a combination of horror and metroidvania-like exploration game. 

Survive at any cost
The Black Mist covering the area has poisoned your body and soul. You have to constantly look for medicine to survive, and analyze the situation all the time so as not to go crazy. You must stay alive by collecting and managing resources. Create new items and weapons, all for the sake of surviving long enough. Try to do all you can to turn from prey into a hunter!

Play your way

It's up to you how you handle the hardships you face and the opponents who try to kill you at every step of the journey. Take advantage of the surroundings, set traps for enemies, sneak behind them or use brutal animal strength. You decide.

The secret of the Black Mist

In Skyhill: Black Mist nothing is as it seems. Where did the mysterious Black Mist come from? Who summoned it and why? Discover the secret behind it and try to distinguish reality from illusion. Find out what's real and what's not.



Sooo, we are very close to release and you can expect more info about the game in upcoming weeks!

Mandragora and Klabater team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/990360/SKYHILL_Black_Mist/

Greetings, Pilots!

In today’s Dev Diary we would like to share some news from Heliborne’s hangar from the last 2 weeks!

Map updates in Heliborne: Enhanced Edition



In Heliborne: Enhanced Edition we plan to tweak all maps. Those are the first screenshots from the new The Gulf of Tonkin! As you can see, new textures, better lighting, and color saturation! Hope you like what you see!

Navy Seals - New DLC available in May!

The most important information from the last 2 weeks is that during Free Weekend of Heliborne there will be a premiere of new DLC for the game! Navy Seals, because it will be the name of it, will consist of new camos for your helicopters! Here you can find some screenshots of them!

Screamin' Indians on MH-60s HSC-6



Red Lions on MH-60s HSC-15



Eightballers on MH-60s HSC-8



Black Jacks on MH-60s HSC-21



Sea Knights on MH-60s HSC-22



Share your opinion with us!

Over and out!

Pilots!

We know how curious you are about Heliborne: Enhanced Edition. That’s why we decided to create more content from the dev team in the upcoming weeks!

Since today, every 2 weeks we will be posting “Dev Diary” in which you will be able to gain firsthand knowledge about the planned Enhanced Edition!

What’s more, every 2 weeks we are planning AMA sessions for you! If you have any questions about the game, save it and ask it during this Q & A sessions. Starting on the 16th of April on Heliborne’s Discord channel. At the first fire goes Roman, Game Designer of Heliborne!

Furthermore, during the recent AMA session in January, you asked how are we going to increase the number of players in the game. We told you that we are planning loads of actions and promos in the game. And the time has come! We would like to invite all of you to join us during first-ever Steam Free Weekend for Heliborne! During this weekend all Steam users will be able to download the game and play with you! We are planning loads of activities both for new players and veterans. And of course, you will have a chance to win some cool prizes during the whole weekend! Save the date in your calendar - 8th to 11th of May!

Last but not least, LIVE STREAMS! First one - 14th of April on Heliborne Steam card. This time, we will be playing some PvE missions :)

And now, the main thing! Update on Heliborne: Enhanced Edition works and development!

1. Improved multiplayer engine and a matchmaking system

In our survey form, in which we asked you to let us know about the most anticipated changes and improvements, many among you mentioned multiplayer engine update in the first place. We decided to focus on this feature What’s more, we decided to add matchmaking to make PvP even more competitive. In our plans there is also a new rank system, but we will confirm it in more details later.

2. Moved the game to a newer version of the engine (new Unity)

Upgrade for new Unity engine is mostly required to port the game for consoles. That’s the main advantage of this point development-wise, but let’s not forget that the game obviously looks much better already thanks to this change.

3. A new UI project has been created - we are currently implementing it

Some of you reported that UI is good enough, but many stressed the fact that we should modernize it a bit as it is already visually outdated. Sooo… We made it more clear readable. You will be able to see the results of our work on our Facebook and VK pages this Saturday on #ScreenshotSaturday!

4. Optimization of existing maps, change of lighting system and post-processes - ongoing

Heliborne has never been a challenging game for your PCs, but we received reports, that in some areas your FPS drops. That’s why we decided to check all maps and polish them. On some, we changed the lighting system. With those changes and new UI Enhanced Edition will look gorgeous!

Hope you will like this kind of messages and see you on stream!

Over and out!