KickStarter Hibernaculum - sci-fi survival horror dungeon crawler from Wormwood Studios' Victor Pflug - coming Q4 2025

[Grauken]

The Last of the Mohicans

 

[Victor Pflug]

 

[Victor Pflug]

More of my threads moved & deleted?

Fuck me, lol

 

[Harthwain]

Is he Hibernaculum developer?

 

[Infinitron]

Big update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hibernaculumgame/hibernaculum-survival-horror-rpg/posts/4407597

Hibernaculum Mid-Year Update (2025)​

Greeting Hibernians!

Welcome once again to another sweepingly grand albeit mostly ill-assembled Hibernaculum backer update!

Now, it has been a good while since my last update - it seems every 3 months now is doable with our studio pipe-line and my multiple roles on board having run me so far off my feet at this point I'm essentially in space with the Ship.

So, I suppose in the spirit of this explanation I begin the pictodump of some of the aspects that have been completed, are underway or are fully polished, tested to a good extent and ready to roll, with as much explanation of the entire tapestry that I can muster on the fly, so to speak (because we still very much have more work to do!).

Much attention has been paid to the survival and integrating systems that make up our gameplay loop dynamic.
While we've had big advances pushing the level design as far as possible within our engine, it's often been more interesting seeing our secondary gameloop mechanics now fully come into play as we test character progression throughout the game. This is the stage where taking a little more time to refine and test how various systems interact and mingle in general gameplay has really paid off.

All ROLE (class) types have been fully outfitted for their entire XP/level tables allowing to finally finalize many in game UI assets as a result.
The toughest part of testing for me personally now is being distracted by the emergent gameplay randomly & unexpectedly during regular runs that really just leave me wanting to continue playing, and I will often forget the many variegates of the actual testing schedule at hand. So suffice to say we would like to expand our testing team very soon, as well.

It's way too time consuming for me to playtest for more than a few hours and still keep up asset production, design and implementation and so on & our current testing team pool is quite small indeed. Music and sound effects have suffered the most under my reign - sadly it's also me making all those! So I have to get on my own back about that soon and just shore up a few missing pieces before we roll into the final countdown and crunch as well. Everything takes time, and time - I suppose - is of the essence.

Mini-Boss battles have undergone significant upgrades and polish.
We have also had troubles building - of course - a bespoke RPG engine ostensibly entirely from scratch & carefully reverse-engineered from games of days long gone by - while still needing to update and put our own spin on the whole formula; in short it's been a battle.

A tough one. A lot of sleepless nights game breaking bugs that we fought for days, weeks - even longer at times on and off... This is something I've glossed over a lot since our funding campaign wrapped but the fact of the matter is the prototype we showed off earlier (one of them, as there has now been many) was scrapped entirely, unfortunately, as it was not performing all the functions I needed it to according to my original designs.

That was a difficult time but in the long run it has paid off tenfold. Making this engine properly, steadfastly, with my team the way I had originally designed and envisioned many many years ago down to every last molecule of detail (with room to dream more up along the way). This was the right way to go, and I'm so thankful we have accomplished that with your help.

It blows me away what we have working now, in house, with my partners at Studio LaBleue - a small group of like-minded people who have helped immensely with the programming and also been a big portion of the creative impetus behind all of our progress post-funding for Hibernaculum.

A lot of the key (and sub) features shown off were actually just animations at that point, and the prototype engine that was being built at the time just simply didn't fit my specs, didn't hit mark and could not -- unfortunately in the long run be utilized at all in any form which was a shame because I had personally spent a lot of time on it, as with the initial prototype I made with my brother a few years before that.

But those early, faltering steps led to a stride now that cannot be surpassed.

Before I leave you with a rather random smattering of our testing photo album (below) I'll also list out as I did last update the general items we've knocked down since I last touched base which will be hugely incomplete list - but might catch a few things these images don't touch on;

• Multiple additions and polish to our UI notably with inventory system and associated frames, the choice UI boxes, text boxes - also a lot of how we manage events has been finalized and polish considerably allowing full gameplay testing, with quests etc
• All ROLE types now have full XP progression from level 1-7 of character progression with all "spell lists" (item creation) abilities filled out for their levelling up, and all other dynamics in play to fully complete a character progression in game from start to finish - which allows us now to experiment with alternate quest path lines for varying character builds
• C&C items creation creation now possible for all ROLE types within game, with the ability to create items based on ROLE and SCLID stats now all fully functioning (most TECH, MED, and BASE type items are fully functional now as well)
• Our Gieger counter, motion tracker and a compass module and now working and interchangeable within the UI (depending on play style)
• RIO mechanics are upgradable as promised with 3 levels of progression to expand your robotic (optional) travel companion throughout the game
• Radiomedicine now all fully functional (which helps fighting enemies that can irradiate you, among other things)
• Vast numbers (150+) completely unique items are now fully working in game with (most) of their art and SFX assets completed as well (which again, is beginning to feel like a fully fleshed experience which is nice to say the least!)
• Multiple smaller refinements during testing across the board, crippled head and blindness for instance has been added (with flying enemy types being the lead cause of these type of injuries, naturally, like our KKV)
• All Nine Realms (levels) are in game now, with the latter levels in various stages of completion as we fill in events and quests and begin to really fill the atmosphere out, as well as the questing
• So much more than I can recall right at this moment! - but as always I will strive to update all platforms as frequently as possible as we begin to bring production full circle

New UI interface polish, new items, new role-based abilities and new functional devices are now being developed and polished to completion in much short order.
We are now on the home stretch. We have our game - for the most part and many of the smaller details and aspects I had hinted at or at worst simply hoped upon hope would could - and could even be done are now working, polished and in many cases working far and above into the overall gameplay in ways I could never even have hoped, nor imagined.

Current pipeline development is focused on the latter stages of the game, such as the Rift (currently under construction)
I do, very much look forward to the last asset creation push though too - actually writing the dialogue, making the music and SFX, painting every single art and animation assets are the bread and butter I live for in game development - not that designing a game and leading the team isn't rewarding, seeing that come together, and work, respectively but it's creating the parts that get implemented - artistically - I suppose you could say is the part I really enjoy so I'm going to leave you on that note a I fire up a vintage Yamaha SY-77 synthesizer and plot out some more grim sound for you to hear - to go along with these images!

New enemies and new animations have taken considerable development time but we love the results!

Even a safe hollow will not shield you from that radioactive pool you just waded through...

Ranged combat with a troglodyte may have you hot-footing about.

New event mechanics have taken considerable reworking, but are now functioning with smooth fluidity.

Giant Isopods move slowly but take a lot of hits... Unlike your own body at lower levels

This particular bug *really* killed me...

...Be seeing you! (soon - I'll go back to month to month with updates as we lead up to release - once crunch eases up somewhat so - don't worry!)

-Mords

 

[Victor Pflug]

 

[Infinitron]

Wow, so it's been a minute - we've been exceedingly busy with level building. questline and just rafts of in-between work, really has been crunch time at the moment but I thought I'd make some time to put together this little thing with some of our new NPC portrait artwork.

It has a few inspirations - but you'll unfortunately need to become a Patreon to get the inside details in that - plus some rambling it turns out I'm a little sick at the moment but anyway before I pass out from painkillers I thought I'd say a quick hi and yes - big thanks to all of our Hibernaculum contributors - we're making every single dollar go a very long way at the moment and I, and my studio very much appreciates all of your support, moral, monetary - everything. It means the world (literally, the world of Hibernaculum I suppose hehe!) but yes before I digress - hope you enjoy and I take a few minutes to fill out this video with some quick bug/play testing which quite frankly never stops.

 

[Victor Pflug]

 

[Victor Pflug]

Poor lil Thalp.

Went and lost her scalp.

Just a smol bean and had very little...

Halp.

 

[Victor Pflug]

 

[sebas]

Bro, I play video games as an escape from reality. You can find the blind and the deaf fighting it over politics in the bottom section of the forum. Thanks!

 

[Victor Pflug]

Keeping politics out my games at this point would be like making cheese without yeast.

 

[Victor Pflug]

Or cheese culture or whatever cheese makers use - I'm a moonshiner I only knows mah mashes lol

 

[Sudanczyk]

The reason why most game developers are such manchild quirkchungus redditors, is because as gamedeveloper you inherently are terminally online, so you soak all the degeneracy, popculture becomes your substitute for real culture and relationships, so you become this modern bugman without any friends, any deeper thoughts or any real connections. You could laugh at people like Victor Pflug for being narcissistic pedantic faggot, but honestly it's very tragic because behind this thin veil of endless irony hides a deeply troubled man, who most likely was bullied his entire life and didn't develop any meaningful relationship with anyone outside his parents, which is a commong thing among gamers, because the fact is, well adjusted people are busy living their lives to be wasting their lifetime playing videogames for toddlers. I hope that Victor takes care of his mental health because it's very telling that he keeps coming back here even if it's really obvious that people from this site live permamently rent-free inside his head. I hope that one day he'll leave the internet, touch grass as the redditors (his mutuals) say, and stops running away from his real life problems. I'm praying for you (without your consent) and I pray that one day you'll find a real life community that you can call your home and that will cure all your insecureties, maybe you'll even start getting political views from normal interactions and not from Xitter/Reddit threads! So stay strong and take care of yourself, because it is very obvious that you really need it.

 

[Haba]

Game dev in the 90s was so much better. The dev would spend weeks or months working on his game, then bring it over on disk so we could test the new version.

We'd break the game in various ways, tell him it sucks and call him a faggot. Then he'd go back home crying and fix the shit we pointed out.

 

[Victor Pflug]

Game dev in the 90s was so much better. The dev would spend weeks or months working on his game, then bring it over on disk so we could test the new version.

We'd break the game in various ways, tell him it sucks and call him a faggot. Then he'd go back home crying and fix the shit we pointed out.

That's an interesting fantasy you made up.

Here's a rough flowchart for some dialogue trees to organize things from the outset a little more - not sure if I'll get time to do this throughout I'm busy having someone break my game for me then insult me which would somehow make me work harder - as if that's a thing that realistically ever happened once in the history of game development.

I DO know what dev in the 2000's was like though. 2010 to 2013 to be precise.

I begin to code a game myself for a year or so. Make up a story about robots and their crashed airship, and a big city. Make all the assets myself. Run out of time to code so hire a guy a guy I met online, but then sadly discover during the course of production this guy I brought on to help code refuses to do anything above the absolute bare minimum and I have to hand hold him every single minute step of the way as we finish the game, leaving me wondering if it wasn't all that much more work simply to do the work myself and cut out the middle man - so to speak.

And it's certainly not as if I tried and testing that lack of "middle man coder" pretty recently, by doing precisely that.

No, tell me how you'd insult me and that would make me work harder, please. It just makes me want to show the world what I think a real game dev is even more?

Maybe not now - maybe not even in another ten years. But it will happen. The truth of the industry, will be out - and it's insults and behaviour as above that is a small but important indicator of the deep rot that have taken root in this industry - I think due in very large part to attitudes like yours, mate. So yeah. Actual history is being written right now & it's not some fake bullshit history that some dickhead just made up.

Let's see how it pans out shall we?

 

[Victor Pflug]

 

[Victor Pflug]

"The reason why most game developers are such manchild quirkchungus redditors"

Stopped reading here because if you're not a developer - your opinion really means very little to me, if offered, when not requested.

 

[Haba]

Game dev in the 90s was so much better. The dev would spend weeks or months working on his game, then bring it over on disk so we could test the new version.

We'd break the game in various ways, tell him it sucks and call him a faggot. Then he'd go back home crying and fix the shit we pointed out.

That's an interesting fantasy you made up.

Well, that fantasy has landed my name in the credits of a couple games, so it must be a good one.

You'll do notice that nowhere there did I mention anything about working harder. The all we know he could've been drinking moonshine in between the builds. But the builds, they did come.

What didn't happen were the pointless internet arguments, doom scrolling cat videos and jerking off to online porn.

Whenever the game came, complete focus, just you and that floppy. With a lot of boredom and waiting in between.

 

[cvv]

Bruh, have you looked around lately? Have you noticed what is this wondrous place you're frequently posting to?

I mean, we accept everyone, no matter how retarded, even actual nazis and brainded commies like you, we don't care.

But the moment your crackpot commie redditor friends and supporters suss out you're associated with RPG Fucking Codex you might as well shave your head and get a swastika tattoo coz the others will treat you as Himmler's best friend anyway.

 

[gosujuha]

The reason why most game developers are such manchild quirkchungus redditors, is because as gamedeveloper you inherently are terminally online, so you soak all the degeneracy, popculture becomes your substitute for real culture and relationships, so you become this modern bugman without any friends, any deeper thoughts or any real connections. You could laugh at people like Victor Pflug for being narcissistic pedantic faggot, but honestly it's very tragic because behind this thin veil of endless irony hides a deeply troubled man, who most likely was bullied his entire life and didn't develop any meaningful relationship with anyone outside his parents, which is a commong thing among gamers, because the fact is, well adjusted people are busy living their lives to be wasting their lifetime playing videogames for toddlers. I hope that Victor takes care of his mental health because it's very telling that he keeps coming back here even if it's really obvious that people from this site live permamently rent-free inside his head. I hope that one day he'll leave the internet, touch grass as the redditors (his mutuals) say, and stops running away from his real life problems. I'm praying for you (without your consent) and I pray that one day you'll find a real life community that you can call your home and that will cure all your insecureties, maybe you'll even start getting political views from normal interactions and not from Xitter/Reddit threads! So stay strong and take care of yourself, because it is very obvious that you really need it.

Truth is you know nothing about his life and are just guessing, just like when you are guessing why your parents lie about how many kids they are having. I hope Victor continues to create art he is creating now, art that you could only dream of creating.

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Damn, game looks really cool

 

[Diggfinger]

Big update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hibernaculumgame/hibernaculum-survival-horror-rpg/posts/4407597

Hibernaculum Mid-Year Update (2025)​

Greeting Hibernians!

Welcome once again to another sweepingly grand albeit mostly ill-assembled Hibernaculum backer update!

Now, it has been a good while since my last update - it seems every 3 months now is doable with our studio pipe-line and my multiple roles on board having run me so far off my feet at this point I'm essentially in space with the Ship.

So, I suppose in the spirit of this explanation I begin the pictodump of some of the aspects that have been completed, are underway or are fully polished, tested to a good extent and ready to roll, with as much explanation of the entire tapestry that I can muster on the fly, so to speak (because we still very much have more work to do!).


...Be seeing you! (soon - I'll go back to month to month with updates as we lead up to release - once crunch eases up somewhat so - don't worry!)

-Mords

Congrats to the team on this milestone!
Really looking forward to playing this game

Spoiler

 

[Victor Pflug]

 

[Victor Pflug]

Not sure what's in that news article at all - just saw the ultra toxic old school materiel I used in my old school retro tech game as a RT.

Not politically related at all I mean certainly no nation in the 1st world would be near stupid enough to repeal a ban on a materiel that causes more damages in lawsuits, loss of life and cleanup efforts than ten thousand Exxon Valdezes going to ground but hey gotta have a "hook" to retweet, you know - so yeah just letting u know this is random and NOT politically motivated at all.

So we good :D