Valhalla Hills - a modern city builder by Funatics and Daedalic

[vonAchdorf]

Funatics ("Cultures") is making a "modern builder game, inspired by classical systems like Settlers 2 and Cultures". Daedalic will be publisher. Apparently they made the announcement during E3, but no one noticed, most stories in the (German) press are from this week.

Valhalla Hills is a building strategy game in the tradition of games like The Settlers or “Cultures”. The player has to lead his outcast Viking heroes to the top of a mountain, where a magical portal is leading to Valhalla. But to do so the Vikings need to do one thing first: Survive!

The player faces challenges and dangers in the inhospitable mountain region and find a way to the peak. Since the Vikings wouldn’t survive long in this territory the player has to take good care of them, protect them, clothe them and feed them as well as help them to fend off ghostly residents and wild beasts.

• the game will run on Unreal Engine 4
• indirect controls
• protagonists with their own personality and needs (mead)
• day and night cycle
• well-balanced economy
• generated maps
• Early Access on Steam August 24th, 2015
• lead designer / developer is Thomas Häuser (The Settlers 2)

http://www.valhalla-hills.com

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Looks ass.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Looks ass.

True.

The "unique art style" was developed by Funatics executive Thorsten Kneisel in cooperation with "experts like Ralf Marczinczik (Gothic, Settlers 6) and Oswin Neumann (Settlers 7, Risen 2)". Glad that they didn't do the art style for "ELEX".

At least the female aren't sexualized.

 

[Excidium II]

Looks ass.

True.

The "unique art style" was developed by Funatics executive Thorsten Kneisel in cooperation with "experts like Ralf Marczinczik (Gothic, Settlers 6) and Oswin Neumann (Settlers 7, Risen 2)". Glad that they didn't do the art style for "ELEX".

At least the female aren't sexualized.

What if stocky fat women is the artist's fetish

 

[Raapys]

Looks like WoW/W3 with round trees and bushes thrown in for good measure. And some kind of fog filter.

 

[:Flash:]

I thought Funatics went bankrupt after Zanzarah.

 

[Stokowski]

The Settlers' resource chains were such that only a particularly Teutonic mindset could consider them "fun".

 

[laclongquan]

Yeah~ Best I can do with that shit is Knight and Merchant. Settler series just leave me cold, let alone Ano Domini~

 

[sexbad?]

Looks ass.

why the fuck is there chromatic aberration in a top-down game about vikings

 

[Bubbles]

Wait, we actually have a thread about this game? Well, that case: we're going to meet the VH devs at Gamescom as part of a larger "Daedalic indies" presentation. If you guys could actually come up a question, it would probably win some sort of "world first" award.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

Wait, we actually have a thread about this game? Well, that case: we're going to meet the VH devs at Gamescom as part of a larger "Daedalic indies" presentation. If you guys could actually come up a question, it would probably win some sort of "world first" award.

Given the art style, are they aiming this game towards pre-schoolers?

 

[vonAchdorf]

Some gameplay scenes in this video:

(English available only via subtitles)

 

[laclongquan]

Do the Vikings go a-viking each summer? Aka Do they get a long boat and raid along the coast?

Do the vikings trade with other settlements by boats?

Do they have heroes (specific VIkings with certain traits)??

Do they have priest/shaman? Do the religion allow sacrifice? Do they sacrifice living humans? Do they raid other settlement for that or there's local volunteer.

 

[Bubbles]

This is coming to Early Access in 2 weeks. The Gamescom report will tell all.

 

[Grokalibre]

When you have nothing to say, complain about art!

 

[Bubbles]

I have it on good authority that the report will not complain about the art.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Dev Diary 2: The Engine


Some scenes from the UE4 editor. Day/Night-Cycle.

Q&A:

• playable offline
• no multiplayer in EA
• EA starting Aug 24th
• no editor

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

The Settlers' resource chains were such that only a particularly Teutonic mindset could consider them "fun".

Why particularly Teutonic mindset?

 

[vonAchdorf]

The game will come to Early Access on August 24th.