UPDATE 2 HAS SHIPPED

Just in time for PAX West (purely by coincidence), Vanishing Realms Update 2 is finally available! This is a major release which attempts to address several months of community feedback, and takes a big bite out of the work originally planned to complete Early Access. The game should now exceed 2 hours for a typical play through, perhaps double for players who have the fortitude to replay the new Warrior's Challenge (hard mode). There are now many more item and world interactions available, so it'll be interesting to see how long it takes folks to complete the game. Many thanks to early beta testers DF, AB and BJ for going above and beyond.



HIGHLIGHTS



HARD MODE: Titled "Warrior's Challenge", hard mode offers a significant melee and ranged combat challenge for advanced players. Monsters are stronger, faster, more agressive and smarter in melee and ranged combat. In the Warrior's Challenge, players no longer regenerate health when damaged, so health management becomes a critical aspect of gameplay. If a player dies in combat, all monsters still living will restore back to (near) full health.



NEW COMBAT AI: In hard mode, monsters can dodge, parry, attack player open defenses and perform linked attack combinations. Large monsters can shove/bash. Monsters pursue the player, avoid each other, and generally move more freely. Some monsters can perform simultaneous movement with attack/defense behaviors. Monsters will now glance at interesting targets, such as player weapons. Not a tactical feature, but fun to watch them 'think'. Over 40 new melee combat animations were added.



MID-GAME EXPANSION: Without giving away too many spoilers, the outdoor area in the mid-game is greatly expanded, and includes a new dungeon area preceding the introduction of a new weapon.



REPLAYABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: There are 3 new achievements , one for completing each chapter on hard, and one which is archery-related. The Ruby Chalice achievement is more challenging, as now for each play session the chalices respawn in different secret locations. Much exploration is required.



REPLAYABLE CHECKPOINTS: From the game opening screen, it is now possible to select and replay from any checkpoint you've previously reached. As you play forward, you'll overwrite previously reached checkpoints as you encounter them again. This only works with new player names created with this update. From the opening screen ui, you may select a previously played checkpoint, and the ui will show your progress on all achievements at the moment you reached the checkpoint. You can optionally replay any checkpoint in Warrior's Challenge mode.



NEW WEAPON BEHAVIORS: The bow is now aimed with both the front and back hands, hopefully providing a more natural and stable aiming solution. There is a new two-handed melee weapon that requires considerable skill to wield effectively. Weapons do no damage if held statically within a monster's body or shield, and show this with a 'faded' state on the blade.



ITEM INTERACTIONS: Burn, Grab, Break, Throw many objects that were previously inert. These behaviors are now integral to optimal/successful gameplay. Some forms of breaking, burning and throwing are closely related to the acquisition of hidden/unreachable treasure, for instance. Physics is now enabled for many object interactions. NOTE: Water interactions are not yet implemented. Some shop items now cost more in-game to reflect the additional hidden treasure, especially in the expanded mid-section of the game.



ARENA CHANGES: The timed aspect of the Rite Of Steel arena has been relaxed, so all players will have more time to complete each challenge. This also makes the Warrior's Challenge in the Arena feasible to complete, given the expanded duration of most melee combat in that mode.



NEW SKELETON MODELS: Skeleton swordsmen have been split into three distinct classes. Their models have been heavily modified with new helmets, armor, shields, tunics and some weapons to better reflect their moderate/advanced/expert fighting skills.



VISIBLE STATS IN PAUSE: When players pause the game, all achievement stats are now visible in the pause room, including checkpoint progress. Helpful when folks want to check on achievement progress mid-game.



TELEPORT SPLINE: The teleport ray is now a curved spline that responds dynamically to the contours of the world, indicating range limits and movement rates a little more clearly. On consecutive teleports, the teleport ray extends its range over time, 'walking' through the world ahead of the player. So, you can teleport consecutively very quickly, but not very far, or very far, but not very quickly. This helps outdoor movement rates feel a bit more sensible.





END GAME QUIT: By popular demand, there's now an END GAME button at ... the end of the game. So player's don't have to use the Steam Overlay to exit.



MISC: Many misc bug fixes. Large breakable crates, barrels take fewer hits to destroy. Fog and lighting fade smoothly between areas rather than 'popping'. New sounds for coin pickup, player damage, some sword sounds, many new environmental sounds for new area. New monster spawn fx. All outdoor terrain segments were combined into a single large terrain for a modest performance gain. Tree shader now sorts correctly, so leaves don't appear to be floating too near/far from viewer in VR. Monsters don't continue to attack while a player is dead. Haptics bug fixed that was causing reduced haptic pulses in some conditions. Lots of groundwork for localization support.

