Jul 29, 2022

Lands of Gimle - Cartographer's Notes #3 - Graveyards

Gimle: The Broken Prophecy - Julian_Hype

👋 Góðan daginn, Travelers!👋

Put on your shoes and throw the backpack over your shoulder! Today, once again, we are going on a long journey to visit the most amazing and breathtaking places in the gloomy world of Gimle. Fortunately, we have our cartographer's notes with us, so this task should be a bit easier. Okay, are you ready? Good! Let's set off on an expedition to visit...

and talk to the community and developers about the game!

...the Graveyards! 💀 👻 That's right - graveyards are an integral part of the Gimle landscape and a very important element of the culture of the local population. Let us honor their customs and get to know them better... but before we go, we have to warn you - the truth about misty cemeteries we will soon visit may turn out to be much deeper than it seems at first.

Cemeteries as an indispensable element of culture

As mentioned above, people of Gimle attach great importance to the afterlife and the burial of their dead. Perhaps it is due to their deep respect for tradition, or perhaps they are aware of the fact, that life in this dangerous realm is fragile and fleeting.

Anyway, you can be sure that Vikings never give up on the burial of their loved ones, even if it is associated with high risk and danger. They always respect the bodies, do their best to bury them with honor, and guarantee them a peaceful rest... which, unfortunately, does not always happen. In a Viking grave, you can find many interesting items that the deceased used during their lifetime. These can be - weapons, ⚔️ jewelry, trinkets, favorite items of everyday life, and even the remains of their animal companions - anything that can come in handy in the afterlife. When the time of the burial finally comes, family members and friends of the deceased gather around to mourn and pay their respect for the very last time. The final stage of the ceremony is laying the body in the grave.

The greatest of this world - Jarls, wise elders, or heroes - are sent to the other side in a very demonstrative and respectful way 👑 Their bodies are placed in a decorated boat filled with all kinds of valuables and artifacts, and then are pushed out into the water and set on fire. Such burials are rare and always arouse the great interest of the local population - what a way to go!

What awaits you after entering the graveyard?

In this case, it depends on the location and purpose of the graveyard. Those near the city or other large settlement will be rather bigger and better kept than a tiny (and often forgotten) cemeteries near the small villages.

One way or another, they are most often surrounded by a stone wall that defines their boundaries. Families of the rich and important citizens can afford to build a deep, magnificent tomb, while the poorer have to be content only with a tombstone or even a wooden slab. Thanks to special boards, you can find out who is buried in a given grave - unfortunately, some of the inscriptions have already been obliterated by time and weather ⌛️

Often, in honor of the dead, people place candles on the graves of their loved ones. You will spot them easily among the fog and humidity that often prevails here. Remember, that whatever your motives are, graveyards are not good places to visit alone... when you walk on soft soil around the tombstones, always keep your eyes and ears wide open. If you're lucky, you will never hear the tormented grunts and the sound of the rattling bones 💀 But if you do...

The Undead

As you probably already know, the inhabitants of Gimle are not easy to scare, but even the bravest warrior can feel a chill in his bones at the sight of a living dead - a real plague that disturbs the peace and natural order of life and death ☠️ Risen from their graves, the undead seem to have only one purpose - to erase all living things. Why is this happening? What causes such hatred and a mindless desire to destroy? Well... all we know is that the Undead are somehow related to the ancient magic of the old, pre-Ragnarok world. Who knows, maybe some great adventurer will someday explore this mystery and shed light on this strange, terrifying situation...

It's easy to conclude that the awakening of the dead makes it difficult for the people of Gimle to carry out their funeral traditions, visit graves, or even approach cemeteries. Each such attempt is risky and may eventually end up with making the army of the undead even larger... Fortunately, there are still a few brave heroes fighting on the living side 👊 thanks to them, the dead that rose to life can finally experience eternal peace. In some tombs, they may find a great reward for their struggles and hardships - it is said, that ancient, powerful items and astonishing treasures can be found there.

Add Gimle: The Broken Prophecy to your Wishlist!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1765920/Gimle_The_Broken_Prophecy/

Soon we will come back to you with more descriptions of the amazing creatures inhabiting the world of Gimle. You will learn what they are, what they look like and how to fight them! Be sure to follow our Social Media channels and join the Discord server to stay tuned. Until next time!

Have you heard about our other game - Builders of Greece?

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1273100/view/4939875685298421398

Jul 29, 2022

Lore: Vestige

PHAGEBORN: Online Card Game - Games Revolted

„Do not be so quick to judge, young one. The Vestige witches may be mad now but there was a time when they were the first to stand up and protect. Do you even know how the Vestige came to be? No? Well then, my child, sit down and listen. After all, I am The Storyteller...“

In the days far gone, Mother Issilith had many children. They all lived together happily until one of them, Lucille, started to yearn for more. She left her home and her siblings, leaving her past way of life behind. The journey led her to seek shelter beneath the large tree crowns where she created Bratuscula, or the Eternal Tree as you may know it, the beginning and end of every Vestige witch.
But if Lucille thought that her deeds would go unpunished, she was gravely mistaken. Her siblings, consumed with rage, cast a curse on Lucille so horrid and oh, so twisted... If Lucille was ever to have a child it would not live past its childhood years. For the one who betrays her family, only to live amongst inferior beings, does not deserve to feel the warmth of motherly love, only the harsh grip of excruciating pain. Eradicating her legacy will just be an added bonus.

Eager to help and protect, the Vestige witches soon became the protectors of nature and all living creatures in their midst. The most powerful ones were even handpicked by Lucille herself and bestowed with a gift of immortality, so if someone managed to kill them they would just be reborn with all of their memories intact. They lived in harmony, happy and thriving. Until Lucille had a daughter. After a few years, the child fell ill. Lucille tried everything she could to save her. But nothing worked, healing magic couldn't save her life. Devastated with grief she became desperate. In one last attempt to save her child, Lucille sacrificed a part of herself so she would become one with her daughter again. And so it was.
As the time flew by we can only assume that the curse affected Lucille too. She started to lose herself, madness crept into her mind, and even the Vestige had to turn against her. But they couldn't hurt the High Queen, their Mother, they were made in her image and likeness after all. And they sealed her away so she couldn't hurt anyone. The immortal witches fell into deep slumber afterwards, only to wake up if their protection is needed.

„The rest of the story you should remember, my child. It is with the arrival of the Phage that the Vestige witches started to go mad as well, without even knowing why. Such a shame...“

Jul 29, 2022

Beast Hour. №12. July 2022

Beast Hour - Meligos

Raiders & Beasts!

The second test of Beast Hour is over. We’ve received A LOT of feedback – thank you for participating and telling us your ideas. New tests are coming, so stay tuned and don't miss out!

During these amazing playtests and after them you've been asking about many things. We try to answer everyone on Discord, Twitter, Reddit, via DMs, etc. as new questions keep coming all the time. This particular newsletter highlights the most popular topics and shares some plans for the future.

Server-connection issues

When the servers go live for the first time, something always goes wrong. And it did. The most noticeable problem was waiting for the connection to a match. Some people spent up to 30 minutes looking for a match. That was really unfortunate.

BUT! The combination of the dev team work & cool advice of server engineers from our community worked like magic! During the second test the situation greatly improved, and the average wait time was no longer than about 3 minutes. We keep on making servers better, as there is always room for improvement.

3 hours limitation

Both of the tests were limited in terms of time available to play. That was done due to the following reasons:

1) Beast Hour is still in development and our audience is still growing (you are really very kind and supportive, by the way!) So, to be sure that there are enough players to play with, we set this exact day and time window to bring everybody together.

2) As the server infrastructure is currently working in a test mode, it can't be running 24/7. It’s simply not possible at this stage of development, unfortunately.

We totally understand that these playtest time windows cannot be perfect for everyone. Especially for people in Asia and Australia. The choice of the time was based on Steam data – usually during these hours players play action PvP games like Beast Hour. So, this way most part of our community can get their hands on the game.

If you want to make tests last longer and more, visit our Patreon page – every donation matters!

Or do the most important thing: come and participate in future tests, tell your friends about Beast Hour, follow us on social media & share our posts! Remember – multiplayer game is its community!

Beasts are too strong

Beast Hour is a game about intense and dynamic parkour chases between Raiders and Beasts. From the very beginning of development we wanted players to feel that monsters are hunters and human characters are prey. That’s why, for example, Werewolves deal much more damage. It should be an especially difficult challenge if a Raider decides to fight a Beast rather than run away.

But it’s important to mention that there are only 3 Beasts and 5 Raiders in every single match. It’s a well-considered decision made to balance the game. Yet it’s not enough. Werewolves are, of course, stronger but Raiders are more nimble in the matter of movement, so use it! Parkour and never ever try to run in a straight line!

Game freezes

We have a small yet annoying issue at the very beginning of the match. The thing is that for a few seconds there are no game objects to interact with, and once they appear on the map, the game freezes not for long no matter how good your PC is. Truth be told, many multiplayer games face the same problem, but they manage to find a way to conceal it one way or another.

In our case the plan is to add corresponding tutorial screens, which will be shown to every player, according to a character he/she has chosen. And only after that the player gets the control over the character and the match starts. By doing so, on the one hand, new players are introduced to the rules of the game no matter what, and, on the other hand, this unpleasant yet necessary situation is hidden.

By the way, we have a video tutorial! Please, watch it before your next test!

In addition

Keep asking questions and check our future newsletters for answers!

We stream Beast Hour and answer your questions every month – you can watch the latest video on our YouTube channel. Join the next stream in the middle of August!

Wishlist Beast Hour on Steam and follow us on social media as we post new content every day! Support on Patreon also helps very much!

Contact us via email if you want to participate in the development or would like to discuss other forms of cooperation – bizdev@beasthour.com.

The Beast will come!