• Fixed typo for some game rules
• Updated RNG for card shuffles

• Fixed typo for some game rules
• Autocomplete did not always work
• Updated RNG for card shuffles

Greetings, fellow Vampires,

Welcome to the first Bloody Hell Hotel Update! Before you sink your fangs into the meat of this update (classes), we'd like to go over commonly asked questions:

• Can I contribute?
  Yes. We invite the BHH community to contribute ideas and provide feedback. Ideas get sorted into categories and organized in a spreadsheet by our community managers, so we can refer to them at various stages of development. If your idea ends up being used in the game, you'll be featured in the credit roll and given a copy of the game when it launches. Three members have already done so. One of the ideas that was brought up happens to be the main focus of this update: the addition of Vampire Classes. If you're interested in getting involved, you can share your ideas on our Discord.
  
• Is there a release window?
  We know many of you can't wait to play the game & we're grateful to see so much enthusiasm. We also wanted to be upfront with you as to where we are in the development cycle (pre-Alpha). The quality bar for this project is as high as it gets - and quality takes time. We're committed to skipping Early Access and delivering a highly polished game on day 1. Therefore, we ask you to stay patient and possibly come along on this journey with us. There's a lot of exciting stuff coming up: regular updates, early previews, sneak peeks, AMA's with key team members, etc. This kind of game requires a lot of tweaking to get right and we won't compromise on quality to meet a self-imposed deadline.
  
• When can I see actual gameplay?
  We're aware that many of you want to see unedited & unaltered gameplay, just to get a better understanding of how the game plays. While Bloody Hell Hotel has been in development for nearly 19 months, it is simply too early to make an extended gameplay showcase. The game is much bigger than what the trailer shows. Some systems are either unfinished or not implemented yet, while others are subject to change. Multiple areas are missing. There's no UI yet, and hundreds of 3d assets are still being modeled and textured by our talented art team (led by an art director known for her work for Disney, Dreamworks, and Universal Studios). We're going to release unalerted & unedited gameplay footage with the developer's commentary when we feel it's ready. We also might have an open beta or a demo when the time comes (still TBD). Until then, we'll be posting regular updates on the development progress and sharing behind-the-scenes.
  
• Is there going to be VR Support?
  We've received many requests for VR support. There was no plan for it originally, but it quickly became clear to us that Bloody Hell Hotel would translate very well into a VR experience. We're putting it on our post-launch "to-do" list. VR support will be outsourced to a different studio that has a lot of experience in this area.
  
• Is there going to be Full Controller Support?
  We've received numerous requests for full controller support for the PC launch. We're now ready to confirm that there will be full controller support for PC on day 1.

The idea to introduce classes to BHH comes from our Discord community (the credit goes to @samplefrd3 specifically). We loved the idea, and so did the community. The game is no longer about one particular character. We're now taking an RPG-like approach: you'll be able to create your own character, choose one of the 6 classes, select gender, come up with a name for your Vampire, etc. In addition to visually distinct set of arms, each class will have their own unique skill tree. Most importantly, each class will offer a completely unique way of playing the game.



While we're still hard at work on implementing this big design change, we're excited to announce the 6 classes you'll be able to choose from:

Swift and adept, Darkstriders make their home in the shadows. These skulking vampires are masters of deception, manipulation, and subterfuge. Their dexterous forms make them feel comfortable in combat but also right at home in the kitchen, where they might be cooking the guests' their first – and possibly last – meal.

No one is quite sure what era or region Nekrocasters hail from – their origin remains a mystery. A relic from some unknown time, these mystical vampires are capable of supernatural powers unseen by modern eyes. The Nekrocaster’s terrifying form is devoid of humanity, and while it leaves them physically feeble and decrepit, their powerful magic carries them in combat and hotel management impeccably.

No vampire is as captivating as the Bloodcharmer. It's unclear how they do it, but Bloodcharmers have been known to persuade their victims to willingly donate some of their blood. Be it their natural charisma or some kind of dark magic, something about them just makes guests more generous. And those who bear witness to the Bloodcharmer's horrifying deeds? They continue their lives completely unphased as if entranced by a master hypnotist.

Named for their forceful feedings, Neckbreakers embrace the strength given to them by their vampiric blood. Those that give in to the animalistic power are capable of great physical feats, which makes them powerful warriors and perfect for blue-collar work like mining, forging, and smithing. Their natural strength is a great boon, but it leaves them with little interest in technology or chit-chatting with guests.

Capable of surviving the light of day, the Youngblood still remembers the taste of roasted pork and good wine. Clinging to clouded memories of their humanity, Youngbloods recall many human efficiencies, such as farming, technology, and small talk. Vampires of high society may turn up their noses at such frivolity, but even they long for the warmth of the sun's embrace.

Respected far and wide, the Primortal are vampire royalty, dating back further than any other vampire clan. Because of their high status within the Vampiric Council, the Primortal are granted special privileges. They could sit back and enjoy the easy life, but the aristocratic bloodline is not afraid to get their hands (and fangs) dirty. These powerful and cunning vampires know how to run castles – a hotel should be no problem.

You may have noticed the mention of the Vampiric Council - we'll explain its significance and how it affects gameplay in future updates.



Here's how we recorded music for the trailer with a 60-piece symphony orchestra. The soundtrack for the entire game will be recorded with the same orchestra and mixed by the recording engineer known for his work on such films as Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Dark Knight Rises.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKEfJaeOsGI

• BHH Discord
  
• BHH Twitter
  
• 3 Things You Should Know About BHH

• OptiTrack
  
• Perception Neuron
  
• Hybrid VR Rigs

A Hybrid VR rig is when you use a VR headset and it's controllers that are not tracked by basestations (EX: Oculus), but you use Vive Trackers for legs and chest tracking (which do require basestations).

This is tricky because each VR system has their own coordinate systems so the vive trackers wouldn't know their position in relation to the VR headset. We've developed a system to align the different tracking methods. That said, depending on how you put on your chest tracking, it might put your head on backwards. We have a button to fix that just-in-case.

• Muscle Smoothing
  
• VRM Avatar List now sorting properly

Hello all!

We are two indie developers, Lukas (me) and Martin, working on a Darfall game, where you build, defend, loot, explore and survive waves of undead invasions during the night.

This is the first dev blog, we hope one of many, where we introduce the game and ourselves to you.

I started this project several years back as a solo programmer. The original game was a player controlling this viking village, balancing its economy, all made using just 2D graphics.
The project later transformed into a 3D game, where you fought over a control of various islands inhabited by enemy factions :D
Later on, I removed the islands and just made one giant map where you built a city and defended against invasions. This was more or less the idea of the game we currently have. We then introduced some unique mechanics, like leveling and equipping a hero, crafting of items in your city, or a day & night cycle.



A year ago, my artist friend Martin joined me in this endeavor. Martin did a great work on marketing, steam page, game trailer and the UI art. We also do a game design together, so you can imagine how two different mindsets have to work together and try to connect ideas into a single one (while still trying to stay friends :D)

You can watch the announcement trailer Martin made here:


The project is done in a Unity engine, as this is the engine I've been working with for almost 10 years, both in hobby projects and professionally.



Above you can see the entire map generated from the Unity editor view.

And this is where all the work is done from my side on the project


And this is Martin's desk, you can see the creative notepad he uses for his sketches and ideas :D


We hope you liked this brief introduction about us and the project :) Next dev blog post will be about the Main Menu rework we focused in the past week.

See you in the next blog post!

Martin and Lukas from Play Square Games

• Fixed typo for some game rules
• Autocomplete did not always work

Update v1.04 adds a brand-new feature: Focus Mode. You can enable it in Settings > Accessibility and once active it will load levels without decorations (trees, rivers, etc.) - see the attached image for an idea of what to expect.



With this mode enabled, all distractions will be hidden, and you can focus just on the puzzle. An additional benefit of Focus Mode is that loading times for levels will be shorter which should allow players experiencing these issues to play the game while we work on a more permanent solution.

TL;DR - if you’re experiencing crashes or problems with loading times, Focus Mode might help.

• Added Focus Mode,
  
• > It can be found in Main Menu > Settings > Accessibility,
  
• > When enabled, levels will be loaded without decorations, improving loading times & performance while also making it easier to focus on the puzzle,
  
• Fixed version number in main menu being cut off by screen edges on certain devices,
  
• Fixed arrow buttons in settings not changing their sprites when interacted with,

• Steam Deck input is not working as intended, for a workaround please refer to https://steamcommunity.com/app/1967510/discussions/0/3426698343833828352/#c3426698343835002953
  
• On level 1-9 the tutorial can sometimes improperly point the player to tap on a tile that is untappable,
  
• On some devices the game crashes during loading,
  
• [MacOS] Using the V-Sync toggle in Settings can sometimes freeze the game, this is related to a Unity issue which should be fixed once we update the editor: https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/issues/mac-metal-player-freezes-when-vsync-is-turned-on-with-button-onclick-event

Fixes a crash which would occur if you chose to watch Love From Beyond while playing Misa's route. This patch does not contain any other changes

• Fixed typo for some game rules
• Autocomplete did not always work
• Updated RNG for card shuffles

• Fixed typo for some game rules
• Autocomplete did not always work
• Updated RNG for card shuffles