20th July 2020
FURY OF DRACULA: DIGITAL EDITION - DEVELOPERS BLOG VOL.3
“I haven’t been sleeping, father. It started when the local peasantry began bemoaning their taxes even more so than usual. Now, please don’t go thinking that your son hath gone soft. No, there was something in their eyes. A new emptiness that filled me with dread. And every time I return, there seems to be less of them.
At night, I can feel something watching me. When I do dare to dream, my mind is filled with blood, tearing veins and an endless night. I know not what I have done to deserve such torment, but tonight I plan to confront whatever creature is observing me. Keep me in your prayers.”
Unsent letter of Sir Lucius Mortcombe, discovered by Professor Abraham Van Helsing on 16th December, 1885
Hello hunters!
It’s been a big month for Fury of Dracula, as we’ve just hit ‘Milestone 5’. We have a number of milestones for Fury of Dracula, and each one has a deadline and list of features we want to implement by the time we reach that deadline. This helps us keep on schedule, and make sure we’re focusing on adding the right features based on how long they take to implement. As we’ve just hit a new milestone, this means we’ve added a bunch of new stuff to the game, which we can’t wait to tell you all about.
So what have we been working on?
The Settings Menu
We now have a functioning settings menu! We’ve still got a bunch of stuff to add to it, but it works - which is definitely a start.
Labels for locations
Something we have to take into account when designing a game is the wide range of devices it’s going to be played on. From 4K PC monitors to compact phone screens, we need to make sure that Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition is playable at many different resolutions.
So, in order to make sure all the information the player needs is conveyed clearly, we’ve been working on how we label the different locations in the game.
Debug Features
Our testers need to be able to try breaking the game every single way they can, which is why developers implement debug features that allow us to manipulate the state of the game into whatever specific scenario we want to test at the time.
Hunters Size Changes
In our further efforts to make sure all the information players will need is conveyed properly, we’ve been working on how best to display the hunters on the map. Things got too crowded when they were all on the same city space, so we decided to try shrinking them!
Combat Card Animations
We’ve also implemented animations into all the combat cards in the game now - these should hopefully make your confrontations with Dracula even more intense!
You might notice that the cards look different when viewing them compared to when being used in combat - this is because we’ve adjusted the speed they play at in order for them to have more impact.
Refining the Look of the Game
For a game boasting ‘Gothic Horror’, we’d be doing a pretty bad job if we didn’t bring that theme across to the digital version! One of the ways we’re adding to the horror vibe is adding a ‘silent cinema’ style to the menus. Think ‘Nosferatu’ and the 1925 Phantom of the Opera film.
We’re still refining this look for the final version (for example, we want to make sure the film grain only appears behind the UI), but we hope you all like it!
So what are we working on next?
Some of the features we’re going to take a look at next include the AI for the game - we’ve got some very basic AI in the game at the moment but we’re planning on fleshing it out massively. We’re also going to be adding more debug features to help our QA team have an easier job testing features as we get closer to release.
We’re also getting things ready for our closed beta - thank you everyone who registered their interest!
How can I keep up to date with Fury of Dracula?
Add it to your wishlist and follow the game on Steam! That way you’ll get all the updates posted straight to you, and you’ll get notified when the game is available to purchase and play. Check it out on Steam here.
Stay tuned to our social media! We’re going to be sharing updates more and more as we get closer to release of the full game, including more blogs like this one.
Join us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to hear announcements as they happen. Or if you’d like to join the ranks of hunters on our Discord, you can join it here.