Hello everyone! Its been a while since Ive written anything, either here or on Kickstarter, and I apologize for that. The last few months have been a mental hell, and its been very difficult not to fall into depression. I owe you an explanation before getting into this patch. The studio is almost dead; I am now officially alone. The legal battles are finally over (at last), and Ill talk about them when I have the courage. Slowly, Im climbing back up. Regarding the studio and upcoming games, none of our public-fund requests have succeeded, and Noreyas sales are not doing great, which doesnt help. The few remaining members of the studio have now left, leaving me alone. Fortunately, Lune (pixel artist/animations) and Sarys (audio/music) are still working with me on our next games under a different type of contract. The important thing is that we will continue making things together, on a smaller scale! Also, I never introduced him, even though hes been active on the forums for a while. You might come across Thelvan, who is my partner in my other company and has helped a lot with the Linux/Steamdeck version. Hes also working with me on the console port (an article is coming!). Theres also Zeksa, my other partner, who is working on UpRunner and occasionally helps me with specific points. So, as you can tell, its a challenging period, and it doesnt make creating new patches or finishing Kickstarter rewards any easier. But as Ive promised many times, no one will be forgotten! Thats it for the studio updates; now you know the essentials. Lets move on to the fun part of this post!

The Sausage Hunt

Ive wanted to release a patch to fix some lingering bugs for a while. While working on that, one morning during a discussion with Lune, we came up with a funny idea (and we both needed a laugh): to create a small Christmas event featuring our favorite pet: the saussage (our nickname for the Dark Frogs). Heres the result, with this incredible video she made last week (it took her three hours, even though it doesnt seem like it!).
Noreya now has its first event achievement, which will be active throughout December and January: The Saussig Hunt. Objective: kill 100 Frogs wearing Christmas hats! If you enjoy this event, well consider adding more in the future ^-^

A New Performance Boost for the Game!

This is what I love about programmingthere are always more improvements to be made, even when you think youve reached the end! This time, I found two optimizations for the game. The first one involved not loading certain types of data (that was never visible) into the graphics card A simple solution that no one had noticed until now. The second improvement is a bit trickier to explain, but essentially, I managed to cheat graphically to reduce the number of instances generated for the environment. The impact is unnoticeable in smaller rooms, but in the larger ones, Ive managed to save between 300 and 500 instances (an instance is a kind of object duplicated in memory) per room! Thats no small thing ^-^ (and the console port will appreciate it). Its hard to explain and simplify with just a few images, but at least you know that Ive optimized performance again. I hope players with modest machines will benefit from it! (Sharing this image again because it makes me laugh)
Thats it for the updates! I wish you all happy holidaystake care of yourselves; its important! The article about the console port will be published in early 2025 to kick off the new year on a positive note! Now, lets move on to the patch notes. Patch 1.3.37 Add:

• christmas saussig
• Improve general performances
• Improve a bit performance in big rooms (b2_05, b2_23_1/2, giant worm)

Bugs

• remove G key which open a menu but is not configurable
• fix room b_3_16_L bad configuration in the wave, error that block the game
• if the boss die at the same time than you, you survive
• rework the exit for giant worm so player cannot skip the loot
• some monsters spawn in walls

[ 2024-12-17 09:41:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, Today we have a new patch that fixes the final bugs and adds a few small improvements. This is part of the ongoing work to port the game to consoles and my desire to have a game with as few bugs as possible! In this patch, we've mostly fixed things that weren't working properly or were a bit confusing. For example, the steles displayed on the world map are now lit when known, and greyed out when unknown. Another important point is the Steam achievementsthere were 3 achievements that could remain stuck: max life, max attack, and all steles. Thanks to a player who was stuck with these achievements, I was able to conduct some tests and use a bit of "brute force" coding, which should now allow these achievements to be unlocked. If you still have trouble unlocking them, feel free to open a ticket on the forum or discuss it with us on Discord, and Ill explain the procedure to fix the problem. Important: If you hadnt unlocked the teleportation spell but were still able to use it, that was due to a bug. Its now fixed, and you will need to unlock the spell in order to teleport from one statue to another. Patchlog: Fix: - input binding screen for the keyboard was showing Inputs button - fix achievement steles (memorials) count - fix skeleton hands grabbing side - fix items misplaced on map - fix steles (memorials) not displayed correctly on the map - fix some holes/mistakes in the worldmap - fix OOB in b1_08 now linking - fix falling pots in b2_05 -fix possible soft lock if no dash when going to b1_24 - fix some achievements cannot be obtained (or can be stuck) => max-attack / max-health - fix typo french - fix missing ceil in b3_08_L - fix teleport statue bug (can teleport without the skill) - fix ghost fusion - fix boss 6 errors - fix b2_20 giant worm chase does not trigger sometimes - fix swordmaster skill with ghost - fix save completion percent is not working correctly - fix hemenis was taking double damage

[ 2024-09-26 16:20:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings, Today Ive uploaded patch 1.3.2, which brings a few changes and fixes. Know that the console port is progressing; Ive written an article that I need to finalize before publishing. I hope to be able to show you the game running on the Switch soon!

Addition of a second "Knockback" skill

Ive added a new Knockback skill to the neutral skill tree, which is relatively quick to unlock. If you obtain both Knockback skills, the effects will be combined. I hope this little addition will please the players who requested it as a "default," since it can be unlocked very quickly (after Crawler, its quite achievable). Its not my intention to have a character with "a lot of default stuff," and I want to keep a game that can be completed without needing a huge arsenal. In my opinion, thats one of Noreyas great strengths.

Changes to the first zone / start of the game

Once again, Ive made changes to the first zone to satisfy/reduce the frustration of new players after watching many live streams and reading articles. It turns out that in the very first areas, there are the backers tombstones, which apparently tended to confuse players who didnt participate in the campaign. As a result, Ive removed all the tombstones from this area and placed them in a dedicated map that contains all the tombstones in one place. This map can still be easily found early in the game! The second change to the first zone is that the underground section of the forest used to be one-way, which frustrated many people who couldnt collect the heart tier on their first attempt. Ive added platforms that allow movement in both directions, which should reduce the number of players getting lost at the beginning of the game.

Adjustment to healing time based on difficulty

Similarly, I noticed that many players complained about not being able to heal during a boss fight, which is quite common in metroidvanias. In Noreya, there are moments to heal, but they are specific and only allow for one heal. Therefore, Ive decided to adjust the healing time based on the difficulty level, reducing the first heal by 0.5 seconds in normal mode!

Addition of various gold loot / rewards

I also took advantage of this update to add some gold nuggets in a few areas that were a bit too empty. Ive also increased the amount of gold given by certain rare monsters. And thats it for the key changes, heres the full patch log!

Patch Log:

Add/Improvements:

• change first area to remove tombs and allow both way in the underground forest
• add a dedicated map for the backers tombs
• change first heal speed
• add a new knockback skill in the skilltree

Fix:

• fix a critical error on boss 6
• fix markers reset after defeating a boss
• fix the teleportation to the statue can be used even if you dont have the skill
• fix bug with the gamepad binding when playing with a PS5 controller
• fix missing no respawn zone in the first area, to avoid falling in loop into the spikes
• fix the default values for the outline setting which was not applied

[ 2024-09-13 15:31:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, I hope you're having a great vacation and enjoying your summer (hang in there if you're working like me ^^). Today, we're delivering the new (and last?) major update of the game before fully focusing on the console versions. It's quite difficult to stay motivated to improve a game that hasnt found its audience, but I want to finish things properly, so I'll keep updating it as necessary.

Addition of the gamepad binding

It is now possible to configure the controller buttons. We've also restored the "B" button for "Back," but you'll need to go to the respective menu and hit "reset" as it's not set by default. :(
Teleportation to another statue now requires holding down X (which frees up the B button).

General Boss Fight Improvements

We've adjusted several attacks and hitboxes to make some bosses less unfair. With the console version, I'll likely revisit the attack timings (especially for the Sword Master), and a PC update will follow at that time. But nothing is certain yet. We've also modified the behavior of several enemies so they don't stay "on the edge of a platform," which made navigation difficult and sometimes forced you to take unfair damage.

Sound Additions and Adjustments

We've added new sounds to the game, enhancing the feel of combat and actions. Heres a non-exhaustive list:

• Specific sound when swinging in the air
• Scream for the crazy zombie
• Sound when obtaining a hammer piece
• Forge completion sound
• Charging sound for statue destruction
• Teleportation sound
• Sound when the Golden Guardian hits a wall
• Sound when the Golden Guardian is scared
• Crawleys scream at the start of the fight

We'll continue adding sounds as we identify any missing elements. PS: We're also working on the final versions of the music tracks and their mixing.

Removal of debug modes by default (now optional)

The O and P options used for debugging are now disabled by default. To reactivate them, you need to add the debug-mode option (without quotes) to the games launch parameters. This prevents newcomers from accidentally stumbling upon these keys or trying to use them, ending up in debug mode. In general, games don't offer this option, but I want to keep it because its useful for speedrunners and for identifying certain bugs more easily.

Addition of a mode for translators

Weve added a mode for those who wish to help improve the translations. You first need to add the "translator-mode" option (without quotes) to the games launch parameters (Manage -> Properties -> General -> Launch options). Then, you can access the following shortcuts:

• U to unlock all monsters
• I to unlock all steles
• K to display the next dialogue (as if interacting with a stele or statue)
• J to go back and display the previous one

Note that when this mode is active, achievements wont be recorded. This mode is solely for verifying whether the texts display correctly, spotting errors, and speeding up the verification process.

General Performance Improvements (again)

We've once again improved the game's performance by tweaking some algorithms here and there and removing unnecessary elements. Well release another patch to further enhance performance once the console version is completed! I've received a lot of responses to the Kickstarter form since the last email (about a month ago), so I'll be processing the data again and sending out keys either at the end of this week or next week. If you haven't responded yet or if you'd like to switch to the PC version, don't delay! I often receive responses the day after sending out an email, which of course, makes you wait longer Next week, I'll post an article detailing how were handling the game's console porting. It will be quite technical and only in English, as theres a lot of technical jargon. Thank you all for your support and feedback ^-^ If you haven't done so yet, I encourage you to leave a rating on the Steam store! (And if you encounter an issue, please reach out on the forum or Discord so we can resolve itI'm still very active on the game, and giving a negative rating for a fixable problem can be a bit discouraging.)

PATCH LOG:

Adds/Improvements:

• Gamepad mapping
• General boss improvements
• New SFX and SFX changes
• Add Crawley SFX
• Add Gold Guardian SFX
• Change enemies behavior to not stay on the edge of a platform
• Gamepad B = back (but you have to go in the gamepad mapping menu and reset it)
• Animation when looting the soul of a Boss
• Add the input name in the SkillTree to summons the chakrams (R2)
• Improve performances specifically on the maps with the Giant Worm (specifically after the chase)
• translator mode
• debug mode
• slow down the sounds when the animation is also slower

Bugs fixed:

• save completion value was wrong
• save data was corrupted on death leading to incorrect states between the success and the data in the game
• fix a critical error when dying right after the boss death
• fix collisions with the giant worm (specifically around the tail) leading to incorrect collisions and damages
• attack damage was not correctly resets when starting a new game after loading a previous one
• make the ghost stop attacking when the fade animation is played (when attacking as in a physical form)
• fix Boss 3 Ghost particles
• fix hidden zone fades was not working as expected
• health was not correctly displayed after loading many saves
• missing sounds on the Dark Lady
• fix Bat flap sounds (and reduce the volume)
• fix a very specific case when the blocks in a chase-room was not saved and restored so it was not possible to get the power-up behind the walls

[ 2024-08-21 12:38:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, A week after deploying patch 1.1, here we are already with patch 1.2! Indeed, a lot of things have been done since the release of the game, and not everything was ready for patch 1.1, which explains the short time between these two patches.
We have added a visual accessibility option in this patch, some visual and sound improvements, performance improvements on some problematic rooms in the "Catacombs" biome (I'm still trying to do better), an improved save system, and finally some bug fixes. Let's dive right into these new features.

New Visual Accessibility Option

I personally have no problem seeing a small character with low contrast. But I absolutely understand feedback from players who would have liked a bigger, more visible character, etc. Unfortunately, the graphical aspect of the game is entirely out of my control, as it is not my field of expertise. I am entirely dependent on what the team create. This is also part of what you learn while making the game. AAA games offer a ton of accessibility options, small indies, not nearly as many. And it's for a good reason: Its very time-consuming. Anyway, we had an idea that should please many people. This option has several parameters to allow you to make the game fits what you want it to be
This "outline" option can be found in the accessibility menu.
Feel free to let us know if its good, if youd like it bigger, or if you want other specific parameters (color, size of the outline, etc.).

Visual Improvements for Combat

If theres one thing the game was missing, in my opinion, its visual effects when hitting monsters. Unfortunately, even with a team of about ten people over three years, no one had a precise idea, and it was often a subject of disagreement, leading to a deadlock where the technical and art teams passed the subject back and forth, ultimately neglecting it. The second issue with feedback stuff related, is that you quickly get used to what you have, and even if its minimal, you no longer notice it. With the calm of summer and a bit of time to think and not rush, I had some ideas that we applied, and they are paying off. See for yourself. Heres what it looks like on normal monsters
And, the biggest improvement in my opinion, which will also provide much more understanding of "whats happening," heres what it looks like against ghosts when you try to attack them in physical form:
Additionally, the few monsters and bosses that have an invulnerable phase will now be much easier to read. All monsters and bosses benefit from this improvement. Moreover, we have also added dedicated sound effects when trying to hit a ghost without success, and another specific effect for attacking an armored monster in an untouchable phase.

Performance Improvements in the Catacombs Biome

This is a painful subject for me, but it must be admitted that the catacombs suffered from slowdowns, especially on certain specific rooms. First of all, its important to know that this part of the game was perfectly smooth before the official release. What caused the slowdown was fixing some bugs and better controlling memory leaks, combined with the fact that some rooms are really, really large, pushing the limits and saturating the game both technically and graphically. So, Ill be honest. Its not perfect yet. I say this because I know what I can do to further improve this area (and I will), but I wanted to have some improvements in this patch. To explain a bit, Noreya uses a "tile" system, so a map is defined in terms of size by a height/width ratio, multiplied to get the total tiles. Multiply that by the number of layers, and you realize there are a lot of objects to generate (and in some cases to manage). The rooms b2_02, b2_05 were way too large, with more than 6000 tiles for b2_05. I reduced this room (and its level design) to fall under 4000. Same for b2_02, I cut it a bit and reduced the number of things in it.
I took a lot of notes while performing that analyzing task, and Ill make sure to apply as many optimizations as possible to the console port (this will also come to PC!).

Improved Save System

Although I had already spent time developing a more robust system than what was in place, there were still issues. Either because the system locks access to the file (without knowing why), or because the game crash, or due to steam cloud conflicts. Anyway, it needed improvement. I have therefore improved the save system. It will now automatically create a copy of the save each time it is written. If it doesnt succeed, it will try to name it differently. Finally, when you launch the game, if the save is corrupted, it will try to read the copy, and if it still cant, it will try to read the cache, alerting you that the save was corrupted and it is attempting to recover it! If you still lose your save due to corruption, the game will save the content of a broken save in clear text. Open a ticket on the forum or on Discord, and I will do my best to repair your save! But honestly, Ive stress-tested it for several hours doing all sorts of things, and the game has always managed to recover the save! I would like to thank everyone who provides me feedback, whether positive or negative. I dont plan to abandon the game like this, especially when small details spoil the overall picture. And a big thank you to the testers and other players who help me test the beta versions! It doesnt seem like it, but thats really what takes the most time in this phase of the game. I think this was the last big patch of the summer, and now I will focus on the remaining bugs and the console port. I will write specific dev blogs, but I have no idea when or what it will be about yet.

Patch log:

Improvements:

• healing speed reduced and reviewed, getting faster the more you chain heal
• new accessibility option to add an outline to the player and the monsters
• new sounds and visual feedback while attacking monsters, with a specific case for Ghosts and Armored monsters
• achievements sync with Steam has been reworked and should now work correctly even if its a new save
• save system has been improved to create and load automatically a backup
• improvement of the performances in the big big rooms of the catacombs
• add a sound when you destroy a statue
• play again the sound when offering gold to a statue
• reduced the ratio required to fully discover a room

Bugs fixed:

• fix some achievements
• progress of the save is now correct
• fix the button next statue for old saves
• dont show the hammer button while under ghost form
• reset spider attack on enemies
• world map controls was not localized
• markers where shared between save
• stop vibration while changing a room
• healing in front of the forge instead of interacting with it
• various level art fixes
• various level design fixes
• fix many bugs related to the giant worm
• fix sounds bug with bats
• fix sounds bug with paramites
• fix many Salluste bugs

[ 2024-08-02 16:41:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings! As the summer is gently coming around in the south France, the heat is not stopping us and we keep improving the game and fixing bugs. Today, we bring you the first major update since the official release of the game!
It has been difficult for me to read all the reviews and decide what I wanted to change. I aspire for Noreya to remain a simple to pick up game, and I understand that some people would like to have everything from the start, but thats not my vision of a good video game. In any case, this update should please many people!

Revamp of the Giant Worm

In my opinion, this is the biggest failure of Noreya, as this boss was supposed to have a very puzzle aspect. In the end, it became a hit point sponge mixed with a platforming marathon. Despite this, I didnt think it would be judged as so hard and unfair, since there are many torches that allow you to rest and explore the area in ghost form to prepare your path. So, we have reworked it to offer several options to defeat it.

• there is now only one layer of destructible blocks, reducing the random aspect and allowing better memorization of the locations
• there are ghost tiles to create a reminder that this functionality exists, and that exploring in ghost form prevents you from being chased
• if you complete all the lights, the Worm will take a certain amount of damage relative to the difficulty level (30% on easy)
• touching the Worm will remove 6 hearts, allowing you to survive more than once (unless you arrive here with less than 6 hearts, but its not easy so the Worm shouldnt be a problem)
• the Bosss health bar indicates that you can deal damage to it, thus avoiding running in circles

All these modifications should allow you to better understand what is happening and to overcome it, either by attacking it, by lighting all the lights, or a mix of both (the most interesting in my opinion). This will also make the perfection achievement more accessible.
We have also worked on performance improvements specific to this fight.

Map Markers

This is something we wanted to do from the start, but due to time constraints and bugs, it was somewhat forgotten. You can now place 50 markers on the map as you wish!

Add a "next statue" button on the Map

Thanks to a player idea, we added this small but nice feature in the "World Map" menu. Just press a button and it will select automatically the next statue. You can still move around and select by hand the statue you want, but in case you are lost or just prefer to use a simple button, you now have the choice! ^-^

Changes regarding the time to heal and immune, and other minor things.

It's the kind of changes which are quite risky and that's why we do not change it right after the first review, we take the time to analyze, test and look at player's videos and streams. So we decided to reduce a little bit the time to heal. And to increase a little bit the immune duration after being hit. Also, the contrast setting value is now by default at 50 (not for the old saves). Finally, we adjusted some platforms tones in the assets, to make it more visible/readable.

Boss Health Bars

This was something that was discussed within the team and wasnt implemented initially. No one knew if it was good or not, as many games we draw inspiration from do not use this feature. But the Giant Worm is one of the bosses for which having a visible health bar allows players to know that they need to deal damage to it. It also allows players to hold on when theres little health left, providing a visible sense of progress on the screen. I believe that nowadays, a health bar on bosses is something all games should have, as many players get frustrated and dont retry even though they were almost successful. I admit I was badly influenced as a designer by many titles that inspired me.
You can also note that the health bars of each boss in the game indicate the different phases if there are any. We hope this new addition will be welcome and help you hold on against the terrible worm from hell ^-^!

Change to the True Ending - More Teleportation Statues

Obtaining the true ending is intentionally tedious in Noreya. If it were enough to teleport to all the statues, it would be too easy; we might as well offer it directly when acquiring the items. However, once acquired, we are limited in terms of teleportation choices, and I agree that it is tedious for no reason. We have therefore decided to transform all destroyed statues into Aleph statues, but only once the true ending is unlocked!

Controller Vibration

This is something I felt was really missing in the game. We have now added vibration to the controller. Its the kind of little thing you underestimate as a designer, and you realize how much it enhances the game once its integrated.

Next Stream Date!

Its not easy to find a date when you have children and many passions, ahah, but Ive decided. It will be Thursday, July 25th, starting at 6 PM! We will meet on the Studios channel, talk a bit about development, Kickstarter rewards, console porting, and then I will start a new game ^-^ This will be an opportunity for a Q&A session in a relaxed atmosphere. Dreamirl Channel: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamirl Thats all for the major changes in this patch. We still need to add the ability to configure controller buttons, which isnt simple, but it will be available in the next patch, I hope! Here is the detailed list.

Improvements/Changes:

• Boss life bar
• Giant worm rework + performance optimizations
• Add markers on the world map
• Gamepad vibrations
• You now must hold the button to destroy a statue and forge the hammer
• Retake on many rooms in the Ruins of Lemia to add some dark background behind the spikes (lack of readability)
• A few level-art fix
• Add a specific sound to the running zombie
• Gamepad disconnect trigger the pause menu
• Aleph statues will replace the destroyed ones after the true ending is unlocked
• Shortcut button to select automatically the next statue
• Add a "save lost" warning when quitting the game
• Add a "die" option on the menu to force our character death

Bugs:

• attack damage up to 18000
• Golden Widow camera lock if it dies to quickly and in some other situations
• Hit Flash reveals secret zones
• Sword Master can go through the walls while dashing
• Destroyed statue sound replay when entering the room
• Game crash if opening the world map while changing a room at a specific timing
• Ghost monsters do not display as a Ghost if they spawn while we are already in a Ghost form
• Giant Worm going through Halo / stuck
• Final Boss projectiles sounds bug
• optimization in menus
• fix some maps with a wrong layer contrast
• fix many small spiders wrong offset/direction on init
• fix player being able to open map and skillTree during a cutscene

[ 2024-07-24 17:29:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, While waiting for the next patch we have a good news to share.
We love pixel art games, and we know you do too. So, lets celebrate together Were super excited to share that Noreya: The Gold Project joins PixElated Festival next week! This festival is featuring some of the best pixel art games on Steam. From retro-style classics to contemporary indie gems all in one place! There will be discounts live streams art contest demos developer chats all centred around your favorite games. Check out the official line-up and more information about the event here: http://pixelatedfest.com/ We will be streaming the game during the event, but also this Thursday 25th around 6PM CET on Twitch, talking about gamedev stuff and the rewards of the Kickstarter event. The PixElated Festival sounds like an awesome pack of indie games and I'm excited to discover all those new games and try some demos. See you there!

[ 2024-07-22 15:06:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Almost two weeks have passed since the official release, and I have been very happy to watch plenty of streams, videos, feedback, and reviews. While some people do not appreciate the simplicity and mobility offered by the game, many players have achieved 100% completion and overall enjoy the experience, with speedruns starting rules the game and post new records. Although I am convinced that each game is different and cannot please everyone, Noreya was designed to be accessible in terms of difficulty and navigation within the world. The comparison to the two major titles that everyone uses as a reference is enough to objectively compare the relevant points. In this sense, I will not make hasty changes to please a few peoples, in the first 30 minutes of gameplay. Noreya will offer you a unique experience (which I believe is very good) but not in such a short time. However, with the game's release, many interesting suggestions have been made! ANd if you've been reading the dev blogs, you know I like to include player's ideas. Some are already implemented in this new patch, and others are coming. Let's talk about it, you know the format (and if you are new here, welcome! I invite you to read the previous ones).

Improving Game Readability

This is the kind of thing that makes the art team cry of pain, but many of you have asked for something to be done. So we have added two things. - You now have access to a contrast adjustment from the accessibility menu, which will affect the background layers. Heres a small sample in 3 images.
- All foreground layers are now slightly transparent, which greatly improves readability when certain decor elements pass in front. Why did we choose opacity instead of redoing all the foregrounds? Because its faster, it maintains a sense of things passing in front while preserving readability. In my opinion, it was the best choice to make.

Improving the Beginning of the Game

We have read that the beginning of the game was judged too hard and unfair, and that it didnt showcase what the game offers. From what I understand, the quantity of monsters, but especially the presence of ghostly monsters, was problematic because encountering monsters that cannot be defeated is unusual, and many of you were forcing against them. So, I decided to reduce their number and add cages around them to reduce the punitive aspect of the levels concerned. Also, I even added small rewards for those who venture into that area.
The addition of cages should help new players understand that the game contains new mechanics for later, but also that these monsters cannot pass through. Initially, this was something reserved for the Ruins of Lemia, but the impatience of new players didnt allow them the time to get there. I dont know if this will be enough; its complicated to offer more without destroying the way the world is designed. I remain vigilant to feedback and continue to think about it.

Addition of atk+ pickups in the world

Just below the hearts and fragments, we have added swords for each boost you have collected in the world. Note, this does not take into account skills or boss souls collected.

What we will add (in progress)

Without going into full detail, here is a non-exhaustive list of what will be added:

Health gauge on bosses

When the team was working on the project, no one knew if we should add it or not. Based on some Metroidvanias, the team voted no. With the hindsight of the game's release, and especially because of the Giant Worm, I thought it was worth adding a health gauge that will provide a reference point during this misunderstood marathon and an indicator of what needs to be done. As a player, I have experience with games that offer a health bar and those that do not (without any visual degradation), and I dont think its an addition that will denature the game, so lets go for it!

Map markers

This was something I wanted to do, but we were already struggling to meet deadlines and release the game without it being a bug party (and there are still bugs). So this feature will be released very soon! It will make map exploration easier with the aids that already exist ^-^

Automatic statue selector

This is a feature that has been suggested on reddit. And no one in the team had thought of: the ability to automatically select the next available statue to teleport to. The only complexity is choosing which button to use because there are already quite a few things ^^ but aside that, its not very complicated to implement.

Controller button binding (and mouse?)

A recurring topic, and its not that easy. Several weeks have already been lost on this subject. Ill see if its possible to try again, this time successfully o/

Why everything requested is not added / QoL at the beginning

I have seen too many games become bad because the development team followed a few complaints about frustration and difficulty. Don't get me wrong, it's not an easy topic. And it is important, as a designer, to put things into perspective and be objective. As you know, I like to share with you the experience of creating a game in all its facets, and a few people have asked us to have several skills by default in the game, without spending 1 hour, so let's take a quick tour.

Knockback at the beginning of the game.

The obvious comparison with this one is Hollow Knight. Indeed in HK you have it from the beginning, but you also suffer from it, which causes your character to gradually move back, putting you in trouble on platforms. Also, the HK character is much slower and less responsive than Kali. Adding this skill at the beginning of the game would make it thoughtless, creating a "run and gun" attack button would be enough to get out of all situations, rather than moving, thinking about the movement to make, and understanding the enemies. Therefore, it will not be unlocked at the beginning. Step back, attack again, this is enough to beat the game trust me.

Dash at the beginning

I dont know if this request comes from the fact that its the first skill obtained in Hollow Knight or that some games offer a roll/dodge from the start (with a strong Souls-like presence). But in Noreya, it will take you about 2 hours to unlock the dash (unless you explore each area as soon as possible), and having it will open many passages. The dash in Noreya is a movement ability rather than a combat one because the characters natural mobility doesnt need a dash against any enemy. Most of the time moving from left to right is enough to dodge, or a well-placed small jump. Anyway, offering such a combat-oriented skill at the beginning of the game would ruin almost all the monster patterns, as they were designed around the game as it is right now. In a game like Blasphemous, for example, monsters were designed with the players ability to parry and dodge in mind. If you miss this feature, take a break and analyze the monsters giving you troubles. Youll quickly find a solution! (rushing in doesnt work very well at the beginning of the game btw!)

Change the name of the normal mode to hard

In my opinion, its the hard mode that should be renamed to normal because reappearing at the beginning of the level is clearly not the norm. You should know that the difficulty modes in Noreya do not affect the monsters or exploration. Only the bosses health, health recovery (via loot in pots), and the purchase of skill points are affected. Everything else is the same. If you struggle on normal, try the game on easy; youll see that theres no big difference, but you can recover up to 3 hearts at each map transition for free, allowing you to rush more at the beginning of the game without being punished. After a few hours of play and obtaining automatic regeneration and life steal, no matter the difficulty mode, its no longer a big issue. Im rather bad as a player, so I designed an easy mode for myself, and I rush the game without thinking on easy. The normal mode requires me to concentrate more, and the hard mode, in my opinion, is the equivalent of Hollow Knight (for my skill at least).

Untouchable monsters at the beginning of the game

The famous ghosts that cannot be killed until you find the holy skill. I understand that this is frustrating, especially in an era where games give you everything from the start, and in my opinion, it would be a total waste of pleasure to give the ghost skill at the beginning of the game. Sure, it might highlight this original feature more. But what a loss of flavor, after struggling through so many maps, you get the power to get revenge, and the game reveals itself from another angle (puzzling). At the beginning of the development, the path to reach the Dark Lady was much longer and without indication! That was really tough. Over the years, we have always wondered whether we should put this feature at the beginning of the game or not, and although people who test the game for 1 hour (via the demo or purchase before refunding) will never see this feature, it would be, in my opinion, a pure waste to unlock it earlier. Noreya doesnt want to play the wow card that everyone is playing those days; we want it to take its time, like savoring a good meal. Also, the rework that I've done to the first area in the Forest should help understanding this kind of monsters, and reduce the frustration hopefully. From what I remember, these are the main points that come to my mind. And I know that some people will not agree with what I write here! No problem, we are free to have opinions and respect them ^-^ As a designer we have to take decisions and many time the team was unsure. I absolutely made sure not to create a Souls-like, as it is trendy, because its too hard (for me) and requires too much investment for many people (like parents, yes I am also one of them) who dont have 200 hours to spend in a game to beat a boss (no the Giant Worm do not requires so much time, yes it is long, bug you can breath in the light as much as you want). There are frustrating things, but they have a reason to be. If you dont enjoy your experience with the game and you chose normal mode, then switch to easy. In this mode, run and gun is much more forgiving.

Some Boss Adjustments

We made a few adjustments to the bosses, beyond fixing bugs. - Salluste now projects shockwaves on the ground, which reduces mindless brute force attacks! - The Giant Worm has had its health reduced by almost 20% again! The other bosses have not undergone changes except for bug fixes.

Improvement of Save and Memory Leaks (again)

Although this topic was addressed before the official release, during very long game sessions and "100%" playthroughs, there are still some issues that we are resolving little by little (thanks to the players who lend us their saves for testing!). First, the world map exploration has been modified to mark a map as "fully explored" once you have seen a certain percentage of its area. This will clear all fog history and help lighten the save file.
We have also revised the fog code to make fewer memory footprints, which should help as well. On the memory leaks side, there were still a few that had little impact in small quantities, but after going through a hundred maps, they became problematic. And it was mainly the particles that were causing issues! Although there are still and always will be possible improvements, the game will stabilize over time. This only concerns a small number of players who push the game to its extreme corners! But I would like it to be possible to complete the entire game in one go, without a break. So we will continue tracking in this direction!

Upcoming Stream

It's been a long time since I launched a stream, I don't have a specific date in mind yet, but I think I'll launch one sometime in July! We'll talk about development, Q&A, Kickstarter, and I'll play a bit of Noreya, probably on hard mode, to get my butt kicked (or not), go for a no-death run on hard? Lets go!

Bug Fixes

The eternal bug fixing! New people report small issues here and there, even though the game is quite stable. We haven't been idle despite my vacation huhu, here is the patch log that concludes this post! Improvements/Changes:

• The Start button on the controller now removes the Pause menu
• Reduced the Giant Worm's health (again)
• Bats now bounce on trampolines to avoid getting stuck in them
• Added an option to skip the animation for karma and world change
• Added a contrast option in the accessibility menu
• Added a sliding sound on slopes (it was forgotten D: )
• Dash attack now requires an attack to be activated
• Salluste now projects shockwaves on the ground
• The knockback force was too strong on flying enemies
• A map will be fully revealed after a certain completion percentage to validate that you have seen everything and reduce the save file size
• More enemies are affected by the Golden Widows skill
• Modified the entrance/exit of the soul devourers map
• Added atk+ in the interface

Bugs:

• Items on the map are correctly displayed when you have the respective skill
• The value for the number of attack points was undefined and not 3 (thats what happens when you make fixes right before going on vacation -_- ).
• Strange bug when dying at the same time a door is opened by a Garzul
• No damage taken after defeating the true ending
• Problem with multiple interactions with the forge
• Many sound issues with the Soul Cleaver and the Golden Widow
• Golden Widow getting stuck in some cases / the camera not locking properly
• Fixed a specific FPS problem with Boss 6 in a certain case
• Fixed several bugs with the Giant Worm, notably the Halo not resetting properly
• Improved mouse/keyboard sync for navigating menus when switching between the two
• The final boss door would lock if you quit the game on a specific frame
• The Golden Guardian Boss music not stopping when you die during the fight
• Chakrams could hit bosses from very far away
• The camera not repositioning correctly if you pause at a precise moment
• Basic attack damage should no longer exceed 100 (for new saves)
• Particles still visible after destroying a statue

[ 2024-07-06 18:07:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, Quick patch before I leave for my vacations I was supposed to take already lol (I leave tomorrow so this time, it's the last patch before I'm back !!).

Steamdeck

Through the weekend I've been testing many things, my mate was able to produce a few builds and it worked, finally! While the Valve's team is reviewing this again, you can apply the compatibility option yourself to run it "as is" with the gamepad support. CF: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1760330/discussions/0/3943524562543076483/

Achievements

We were getting a few issues with some achievements, it's now solved. Just load your best save to unlock wise and attack (if you have enough to unlock it of course). And for the God of Greed, you must defeat again.

Darkness[/2] Some visual glitch was happening with the darkness, we made new optimization before the release but this caused new issues depending on your resolution. The glitch about the darkness is now fixed. For the others stuttering and artifacts, we are working on it but as the game is in pixel-art and we use the zoom, we cannot make magic by dividing pixels lol. Looking for a solution to improve this. [2]Balance

I've been watching many of you playing along the weekend, a few already made it through the true ending!! GG. But after looking a lot of "average players" (and not hardcore/speedrunners) I decided to drop the prices of skillpoints and increase the amount of gold you get by defeating enemies and collecting golden gems. Hopefully with those new values the game will be much more enjoyable from the start.

Early game balance

The game offers the technical possibility to add or remove monsters depending on your progression state. It is something that I wish I could have done everywhere before the release, but the game is massive and with more than 230 maps, it takes time. In this patch I changed the Forest balance by removing some early enemies, but adding much more when you came back. That's it for today, thanks everyone !

[ 2024-06-24 17:42:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello there, Here is a small update after the launch, it was required so I did it rather than sleeping XD

Rework of the Save system

After spending almost all the night and the day, I finished the new save. This update will migrate your old save to a new ones with files localized aside the executable file of the game (in a save folder). You can backup it if you want. So now the game got this save being updated between each map, so if a crash happens, at least the save is preserved. [2]Launch option for the Steamdeck and default configuration
While I am still having a hard time with the Linux (native) build, I checked some others option to help the game running through Proton. First, there is now a new settings at launch which makes the game much more faster to boot. Then, about the controller I spent time to create a community layout, you will be able to find it easily. It works like a charm and let you plays the full game, but does not display the good buttons (once you know them it's fine).

Other small fix and balance

I've seen a lot of new players playing the game which allowed me to adjust the game, because so far our beta-tester are so good, we've made the game a bit harder than it should have been on certain specific points. Specifically talking about the Giant Worm which has now a little less of HP than before (it still has less HP than others bosses of the cathedral). And I increased a bit the amount of gold you will receive. Aside that, very few minor fix on some levels, like spikes positions and so. Thanks you all, I don't stop fixing the game. You know it now ahah. I will be back very soon with a new update.

[ 2024-06-22 18:53:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

With a lot of joy, I am happy to announce that Noreya: The Gold Project is now released! It's time for you to join the adventure of this game, and I believe it is a wonderful one. We got a price change issue, so it is still the Early-Access prices, instead of 28$ + the 15% planned (in the end it is the same). As usual, let me know any bug or trouble you have through the Steam forums or directly on Discord (I am more active here because I receive the notifications). I will keep maintaining the game and doing updates along the console ports. It was a long journey, but I am happy to be here to see all the work the team and I achieved. I truly believe Noreya is a great game and stand along the other Metroidvanias I played since I was a kid. And I will happily watch your lives, videos and whatever you make about the game! Thank you all! Next week I will go on vacation a little bit. Time to be cool. See you soon. ~Inateno

[ 2024-06-21 15:42:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello! Today is a day filled with excitement and stress. With just 24 hours until release, we still have some fixes to make despite our hard work. Alongside that, the final additions are made, some new tweaks here and there, all in all, lots of exciting and stressful things. We have deployed version 0.9.99 on the testing branch, and we will make a few more versions by tomorrow, still on this testing branch until we reach version 0.9.99999 and finally, the ultimate 1.0.0! Let's take a look at whats changing in this final version that I hope will meet your expectations.

Final Kickstarter Key Distribution

This section is for our Kickstarter backers. As I have explained several times in almost every article. If you dont respond to the survey, I cant send you your keys. I send emails from my professional email @dreamirl.com, so please check your spam! As you read this message, the final key distribution has already taken place. If you didnt respond to the survey before, I apologize a thousand times, but you will have to wait. It is a long process to sort the Kickstarter data and send the emails, and I am going on vacation (finally) Monday evening (leaving me the weekend to ensure the games release goes smoothly). I will do another distribution when I return, in early July. Also, feel free to contact me directly via the Kickstarter messaging system! As for the physical rewards, I will work on them starting in July alongside completing the console port ^-^

Final Optimization and Asset Packing

This is a bit technical, so I dont blame you if you dont read it all :) If there was one thing I wanted to do to optimize the game, it was this, and its done! It required changing a lot of things and it wasnt guaranteed I would finish it before the games release. Some flaws are noticeable (but they are minor). Ill explain. Before, in the game, each object (or almost) was in a single image. For level decorations, we had several files, each containing multiple images organized by types of objects or layers. Basically, for Biome 1, there were 14 files (12 on the screen as I moved 2).
The principle of packing is to put as many images together as possible, removing transparency as much as possible, to have the fewest images at the same time. This greatly optimizes the speed of the graphical rendering. Today, Biome 1 fits into 3 files! Here is a capture of all the games decorations.
And hold on tight, almost all the games content now fits into a single image, with all the enemies, visual effects, player animations, switches, etc. All this represented over 100 different images! And now it all fits into a single image.
So on one hand, the game loads faster, level loading, FPS should increase if you didnt already have 60, and it also reduces the impact on the graphics RAM used. Finally, the last positive point of packing is that we now have a dynamic loading/unloading system. So when you are in Biome 1 for example, the other biomes are not loaded unless necessary. The downside will be a slight loading time in transition zones, but overall it makes the game much lighter and faster.

General Increase in Text Size (and Steam Deck)

If you have already played the game on PC, this change might surprise you. We decided to increase text size almost everywhere, to make the game easier to read for people who dont have perfect vision (like my girlfriend) and for the Steam Deck and the future Switch port! In short, it doesnt negatively impact anything, so we might as well do it! Regarding native Steam Deck compatibility, we found a way to have perfect control allowing you to play without any additional configuration. A screenshot of the buttons that do things
Well, it's not very telling ahah. As I write this, its not finished yet, but I hope it will be for the final release! We believe and we dont give up ^-^ (strength to David ).

Adding Sounds for All Bosses

Now every boss has its respective sounds effects! And yes, it greatly enhances the pleasure of combat and its epic feeling! There might be 2-3 sounds missing, and if we dont finish them before 1.0, they will come later. No need to dwell on the subject, you will discover them all in-game ^-^

Opening the Last Hidden Zone of Biome 1

Several had already noticed that a certain area of the first biome was not accessible. It is now open, enough to satisfy those wanting one last challenge at their level, essential to finish the game 100%. Happy exploring! Im off to rush the final tweaks and fixes, one last time, thank you all for your unwavering support!

PATCH LOG:

Adds/improvements - bigger font size everywhere - Sounds effects for all the bosses - the attack damage is now displayed on the screen when it changes - last hidden area of the game - final optimization and assets packing, resulting in a huge gain of FPS and loading times - assets pool loading/unloading system (which helps smaller configs) - can now skip text dialog with the mouse - add a category "unknown" for the other memorials in the logbook - add scroll bars in the bestiary and logbook to make it more easy to understand (not compatible with mouse tho) - more quality settings Bugs: - fix a few achievements (we still need to test all of them to make sure it's okay) - many bosses bugs fixed - Golden Widow camera fix - Spells Master first frame fixed - heart misplaced - many small fix on level-art and level-design - a lot of sounds fix, specifically for smaller configs - crawley can now aime at the ghost - frogs and affiliated monsters "wall walkers" should not go outside of the map anymore - fallen king fix fight and now deals 2 damages - initial language on screen - can now fight the final boss again (maybe not for the old save :'( ) - boss 7 "stuck" bug is now solved - if you get one more HP while being attacked, it makes the UI bug, fixed - and many other smaller fix

[ 2024-06-20 16:10:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings! First of all, I hope you are all doing well and not feeling too hot (were good here, its a very mild and pleasant June, and Im enjoying biking to work in the morning, a nice breath of fresh air before a busy day, haha). Yesterday, I released a new version of the game, version 0.9.66 (quickly patched to .67, a bit disappointed because 66 was still cooler). This patch contains a lot, including a huge list of bug fixes! But lets start with the content. One week away from the final release, Im still adjusting things in the games balance, and thats perfectly normal, as my attention has been on optimization. Let's start with a visual treat.

Art Rework of the Biome 4 The Cathedral

This was the last zone in the game that needed attention and love, and I think youll be able to see for yourself just how phenomenal the evolution of this area is. Its the frustrating part of game development; as you get to the end, you master the subject and do everything better. At least we had the time and courage to finish this before release! Hats off to my 2 colleagues who managed this part while I was wrestling with optimization Before
Now
It really pleases me to see this area in a new light; the parallax contrast is much more pronounced, not to mention the variety and opulence that clearly shows we are in the home of the god of Greed.

Memory Leak, The Final Battle

There may still be a few survivors from this infernal battle, but between us, I think Ive really done my best.
Especially since, in the next patch, the game will be packed in its final version, and thats going to be pure intensity. Anyway, feel free to give us feedback on the games behavior regarding your sessions and their duration! I hope the game will be much more enjoyable. Thanks in advance for your feedback, which helps me a lot ^-^

Sound Everywhere!

Another topic close to our hearts that will be completed before the games release is all the little sounds here and there. In this update, almost everything has sound. Specifically, were missing 2 bosses, skills, and maybe some monsters. With Sarys working tirelessly, we will ensure that the auditory experience matches the visual experience and gameplay. No need to tease you with a video, just launch the game and enjoy

Balancing

I decided to make some changes to the games balance; here are the main changes. Ill continue making slight adjustments until the final release, so dont be surprised if there are changes. Its still too early to plan your final speedrun strategy. In hard mode, I reduced the cost of buying skill points, which was excessive. The ratio is now 1.5 compared to normal mode (before it was 2). Some powers had no time limit or were too long, so I changed that to make it less overpowered. The Bosses gave an amount of gold depending on the number of skill points already acquired; this was unbalanced and not very nice for people who didnt buy any skill points at the beginning of the game. So overall, they give much more than before! I reviewed the health of most monsters and mid-bosses, especially the late-game monsters. By the final release, Id like to add layers of monsters in the early levels to increase difficulty across the world as you progress. There are monster combinations that havent been done yet, and Im still hungry for more, haha. We still have plenty of new combat content to add. Thats all for today. A new patch will be released very soon. As a reminder, if you participated in our Kickstarter, you need to respond to the questionnaire! Ill handle the responses either Sunday or early next week. Stay tuned for updates; Ill make a dedicated post for the rewards. Thank you all for your unwavering support, see you in the next patch

Patch Notes 0.9.66 - 13/06/2024

Improvements / rework: - Rework Art Biome 4 "Cathedral" - SFX integration: Poison Drops, Boss 1, Boss 2, Boss 3, Steles, Statues, Monsters, HP+, ATK+, Soul Eater, Boss 6, Boss 4 WIP, Ghost usage - All bosses now have an introduction cinematic - SFX water/bush/ghost platforms in every places - leaves generator in the Biome 3 "The Ruins of Lemia" - Skill Awe The Light now have a timer - Skill Astral Shield now have a timer - MASSIVE MEMORY LEAK FIX and optimizations - add more quality settings Bugs - b4_15 pot falling through platform - Entering the Soul Eater room by the bottom break the music - Boss 7 cannot respawn on death - When finishing the demo and relaunching the game, no music - Fix arrows to have the same width in the menus, avoiding missclicks - Fix Inputs in Pause Menu - Fallen King getting hit b5_08 - Fix Skilltree circle buyable update - Fix UI Popup Bar - GiantWorm does not respawn in b2_06 if we die at a specific position in the Torchlight - Some invisible buttons in the inputs settings screen - Cannot buy all the skills due to limited skillpoint - Trapmonster keep attacking when dead - A lot of monsters keep attacking when dead, sometimes it makes a bug or weird sounds - Boss 7 death, if we are close a wall, the sound of the projectiles keep going - End Message do not show the mouse cursor - Shockwave skill activate when it should not - A destroyed wall still generate collision - Spamming ok at the launch of a new game make the sound spam and keep the blackscreen - MANY MANY BOSS 3 FIXES - Statue b3_36 cannot tp on it - Bug about a switch in the forgoten fortress - Boss 1 hit particle with atk dist is not at the good position - Some mistake about destroying objects has been fixed - Dark Lady, at the start of the fight sometimes the player fly away and input are locked - Bug when selecting "show in the map" in the logbook - Map change from gold to light visual bug when tutorial with hemenis - balance about the gold earned against bosses and skill point ratio in hard mode (now 1.5 instead of 2) - Fix some bad offset on Boss 6 VFX Sword - Ground still here after Boss 3 and 4 are defeated - Stop music in Boss 3 and 4 if pogo on their head - Valsanre title on Boss 7 - fix the Frogs and spiders-like monster going outside of the map - Shield timer was update all the time - change the sound on "continue" in game - The tiny spiders cannot be killed after death in the same stage - SpiderWeb jumps "slowmotion" is fixed - GiantWorm still playing the audio loop after death - Berserker making a sound in an already-finished wave - Not able to jump after stun landing - some particles around Kali until fully healed - fixed a rare bug about a combo with white hand => red hand - praying range fixed - fixed slowmotion when hit and grabbed by hands at the same time - Fight Music still playing when it should not - wrong VFX placement for wall walkers entities - fix Boss 6 spawning monsters - fix killing a zombie with a knockback, then he is sliding on the ground - no music if starting the game directly in the Giant Worm room - fix the unlocking full skilltree preventing you to buy skills directly - fix a potential soft lock in B2 Dark - fix a lot of things in every languages, specifically the "action" key icon - global fix of english/french languages - fix floating block in b4_26 - fix missing dedicated poison layer in b3_14_1_G - fix layers in many maps of B3 - add ghost block in B3_14_L to avoid cheating the challenge - fix crawley now focus the ghost - fix crawley cobweb bug if grabbing the physical body - fix prevent interaction with a stele if jumping - fix possible dahs => collision death in B4_02 - fix weird collision generating an OOB in b3_14_4_G - fix lightbeams in biome 1

[ 2024-06-14 10:21:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today I am really excited to share with you the final release date of the game! Noreya will in fact be released as final version the 21 of June. It has been quite a long and exhausting journey to make this game, and I am really happy to see the final result we have been able to create along the years! [previewyoutube=OoJBNvEWKOw;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] We will upload a few minor version until the 21 to fix the last bugs and finish the optimization I wanted to do. Final localization will be added for the final version, and we will open the file to be translated by the community, because we cannot support the cost of translating professionally all languages. After that, I will take a small break of vacation, no computer (hopefully ahah) and then, starting to work on the console port. Thank you everyone for the support.

[ 2024-06-12 10:30:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Its been almost a month since we released patch 0.9, and we havent been idle since. Before we dive into the content, a quick message for our backers. We haven't forgotten anyone. The physical rewards take time (we're prioritizing finishing the game first), and I promised to write an article on the subject, it will be done. I'm just very tired and cant work late at night anymore, but I will write a post dedicated to the backers :) I also need to send the keys to the people who responded recently (~the last 2 months). Again, I apologize, but I have a ton of things to manage simultaneously. It will be done, don't worry. Now, lets move on to this new patch! As I explained before, content-wise, the game is complete. However, there are still plenty of small things to do here and there, and were tackling them head-on.

Release date.

I was hoping to announce the day of the final release today. But as we have (maybe) some exciting news to share, for now I cant confirm any release date. Maybe June, maybe a bit later. As we say in French, waiting more will make the cheese even better. Give us a little bit of time to confirm everything and make the announcement you are all waiting for. In the meantime, we are just making the game even better.

The artistic overhaul of Biome 3 The Ruins of Lemia is complete!

Enjoy the new look of this zone, the largest in the game, starting from patch 0.9.4.
The Biome 4 is the next one on the list (and its in progress).

Optimization, Memory Usage Improvement / Memory Leak Fix

During the month of May, I almost exclusively worked on optimizing the game and reducing memory leak issues.
In this new version, you should experience a much more stable and less resource-intensive game. There are still a few culprits here and there, and we will chasing them down for the next update. Also, the game will be way more optimized in the future. I have a big card in my pocket, which will take time and will arrive in a future patch! I hope to double the games performance!

New Sounds in the World of Noreya

Over time, youve come to know us, and you know we pay attention to detail in every corner. Starting with this patch, you will have the pleasure to hear a new variety of footstep sounds; in fact, some passages will have water or leaf sound effects. [previewyoutube=SSNtjRIqyvI;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] Its a small detail, but I think it adds a significant charm. Additionally, some monsters, objects, and Boss 3 now have sounds! Now, lets move on to the bug list! Improvements / rework:

• Rework art Biome 3
• General optimization
• Memory leak fix (>90%)
• New VFX on some Boss 6 attacks
• not respawning at a destroyed statue
• You can now teleport between true ending statue
• You can now choose the world of Gold or Light in the true ending
• You dont need to spam the arrow key to scroll in the menus now
• Berserker monster will react to distant attacks
• Fallen King will start running even facing your Ghost
• Fallen King has been reworked
• Fallen King, Spell Master, Sword Master bosses now have a cinematic cut-scene.
• Doors are now 20px wide, so it should fix the possibility to be stuck against a door
• the map b2_14 is now visually complete

Bugs:

• Soul Slicer / Ghost Soldier not throwing the projectile on the good position when facing left
• Life bar was showing grey hearts in some conditions (taking damage / removing skills)
• Distant Attack stopped by destroyed blocks
• Distant Attack stopped in the ground when landing and shooting at the same time (frame perfect)
• Distant Attack Impact was not displayed at the good position
• Icy physics going down a slope
• Soft lock possible in b2_19_2
• Selecting entries in the menu with the mouse is not consistent (width of the hitbox)
• Backer tomb trigger an error and slow down the game
• We can still see items in the map without the skill
• In the skilltree menu the golden left bar is not disable by default
• Dialog work in progres on statue is fixed
• Dark lady ghost has no hitbox when attacking
• Dark Frogs success does not work
• We can suicide with the skill rage
• b2_17 player is killed by the door at the end of the challenge
• Crawley bug at spawn in some maps (side initialization)
• We can see the second line of heart during cinematic events
• Credits crash
• Boss 4 Sword Master - various bugs fix
• Boss 3 Spells Master - various bugs fix
• Boss 1 special attack breaks the Pogo
• if dying while doing the Boss 1 special attack, you cant jump anymore
• Fallen King can be stuck in many places if there is a frame-perfect slow-motion/hit
• Many Boss 7 bugs fix
• Fixed Crawley infinite spin (gg Sialte for that one)
• Fixed a bug with the life of the boss in easy/normal/hard

[ 2024-05-30 16:33:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Today, we are pleased to announce the release of patch 0.9. This patch is probably one of the largest in terms of content that we have been able to make along with patch 0.8, so grab some popcorn, we're going to explain everything to you in detail.

Backers' Tombs

First novelty in this Patch, we have added the backers' tombs. There were 3 types of tombs, so we integrated 3 different messages. See the ticket about the tombs: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1760330/announcements/detail/3712699226994582946?snr=2___
We also added a very large commemorative stele to thank all the people who contributed to the Kickstarter!

The Bestiary

In this update, we added a Bestiary that updates as you progress through your battles! A bit of additional LORE through your victories ^-^

Steam Achievements

This has been requested quite a bit, and it's finally available! Please note, you'll need to start a new game from the beginning. We still have some bugs and inconsistencies with the Achievements, so don't be surprised if changes occur in that area.

Biome 6 The Forgotten Fortress

The Forgotten Fortress is the last area of the game that was missing. Initially, we wanted to make it accessible in patch 0.8 but the graphical overhaul of the biomes took us much longer. This area, completely optional to finish the game, is also the most difficult. The secret of the ancient king is partly hidden here, it's up to you to decipher the messages we have left throughout the game world to understand the extent of your quest!

The True Ending

Version 0.9 also adds the "true ending". We won't say much about it to avoid spoilers, just know that this true ending will require a lot of additional gameplay time and research. If you're lost, take the time to read the content of the steles. And if it becomes too difficult for you, don't hesitate to accumulate a lot of gold to be able to buy all the skill points. Good luck!

Artistic Rework Biome 3 and 4 "in progress"

In line with the graphical overhauls and the remaining work, we have begun the graphical overhaul of Biome 3 "The Ruins of Lemia". This overhaul will be completed by the final release of the game, but no content will change. Likewise, we still need to do the final overhaul of Biome 4 "The Cathedral".

Monster Balancing

Noreya is a quite particular metroidvania since it has a bit of this "RPG" aspect that allows you to farm monsters to acquire new skill points and become stronger, all while searching throughout the world for what increases your attack damage. Some combos are very powerful. Rather than nerfing all these nice options, we decided to increase the difficulty of big monsters / end-game monsters, mainly by increasing their HP. So it will be wiser to avoid certain monsters at the beginning, even if the confrontation is possible.

What's left to do

Starting from 0.9, we consider the game as "complete". This means that future updates will focus on balancing, technical optimization, and visual improvements. There are still two places in the game that may suggest that something is missing, an area in Biome 1 and a door behind the statue of Aleph. We had planned to do additional content, but with the problems encountered, this must be canceled. Perhaps in a later update after the game is released?

Kickstarter Physical Rewards Status

We receive a lot of requests for Kickstarter rewards! We will develop this topic in a dedicated ticket! (it will be simpler). But we can already show you a preview of the Tarot card games that will soon go into production!
The rest of the rewards will arrive gradually, and the physical versions (console) as well as the audio CDs/vinyls, will take the longest to arrive! On behalf of the entire team, I personally apologize for this, but we are facing production delays that can only be launched when the game is fully finished.

When is the final release?

Big news! We can finally announce that the game will be released in its final version in June! Just one more month to wait ^-^ We will make a special announcement soon to reveal the exact day.

Patch-Notes:

Adds/improvements:

• True ending Quest
• One more boss to fight
• Biome 6 The Forgotten Fortress
• Biome 3 Art Rework (still WIP)
• Bestiary
• Steam Achievements
• Backers tombs
• Change the Heal drop visual to make a difference with the HP+
• Add the difficulty mode and progression on the save slot
• Visual difference between the Dark Frog and the Dark Toad
• Add a progression circle when purchasing a Skill Point

Bug fix:

• Black blink between cinematics
• Ghost Zombie no SFX on attack
• b4_18 remove useless door
• No music on cinematics
• LogBook translation issues
• LORE/Writing fixes
• Missing steles in the LogBook
• Ghost switch bug on the minimap
• Entity play a SFX before the screen is visible (during the loading)
• Boss 3 possible to go out of the map
• JumpingSkull freeze if knockback on a specific frame
• World map fixes
• Boss 6 many fixes
• Resolve save/faith issues when praying on a statue and leaving the game
• Many Skilltree fixes
• Detect items on the map should now works properly
• Camera stuck on Boss 2
• Various Level Design/Arts fixs
• many elevator lead to death/OOB
• Camera stuck against Golden Widow
• Fix Dash Gold
• Improve Skill Boss 1
• Limit faith gauge length

[ 2024-05-07 17:59:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

This is a news that relieves the team and will please many of you, we know. Today's ticket provides an update on this matter (hoping that this will be the last ticket on this subject), as we want our community to know what's going on. Perhaps our story will serve as a lesson to others, I hope so. The life of an independent developer is already tough enough, we didn't need this on top of it. After several months of having our morale completely shattered, we are moving forward and are on track to finish this game, which will be memorable!

At first, a Takedown

In December 2023, we received a complaint from a supposed "rights holder" who had registered the trademark "Noreya" in a field of activity unrelated to video games. Despite this blatant deviation and our prior rights in the United States, the Steam team considered it a trademark infringement and forced us to change the name. Failing to find an agreement within the given timeframe, the game was removed from the platform.

Name Change to "Noseka"

After several weeks of negotiations, it was accepted that the term "Noseka" was acceptable, and we therefore changed the name of the game. Immediately, we initiated legal proceedings for copyright infringement and filed the name "Noreya: The Gold Project" specifically for video games and other cultural and artistic domains. It is obvious that there is no connection between our game and the activity of our attacker, but the registration alone is not sufficient; one must arm oneself with patience and wait several months (or even years) for such a case to be resolved in court.

Return to the Name "Noreya"

This took several months, despite our rightful claim and intellectual property. We had to reach an agreement with the attacker to be able to reuse the name of the game as quickly as possible. Even if it may seem unfair to you, that's the way it is, and we are not big/known enough to defend ourselves better than that. It will take a few more weeks for our trademark application to be finalized. The only valid proof of our initial right. Regarding the impact on the game, the attacker demanded that the "German" language be removed from the game on the platforms. A request that may seem unfair and unnecessary to you. I totally agree because the impact on him is completely invisible; it's just a matter of principle to bother us, and in the end, the victims are the community. The "German" option will therefore be unchecked on Steam, and the game will no longer appear in German stores. We apologize to our German community. We will look for a way to open the game to language modding so that the German community can translate the game and add it via a mod, but not us. This whole affair took a lot of time because we had to register the trademark under "video game" classification, then wait for it to be validated and registered. Despite this trademark registration, Valve still required confirmation from our attacker. This case will have had a significant impact on the game's image and reputation, and we hope it's now in a box that will stay in the past. Unfortunately, this kind of case can happen to any other independent game company since very few register their names internationally due to lack of resources and knowledge. We obviously hope that no one else will suffer a similar case, and our inbox remains open if you (or someone you know) ever have to undergo the same action. The takedown is the worst thing that can happen to a game, and Valve's lawyers will not negotiate anything with you regardless of your legitimacy; they will go for the simplest solution according to a standardized procedure that apparently does not follow trademark law but ensures no risk is taken by the company (which remains understandable, albeit unfair).

Could this happen to another game?

I dare say yes. Any game that has not a registered trademark would be forced to change its name or disappear. Perhaps this is different for a company in the United States; in that case, perhaps Valve would recognize prior rights. But who can prove this until a similar situation happens? In our case, we had American customers long before the opposing trademark existed, but that does not seem sufficient to assert our prior rights. What is certain is: a lot of games that I personally love, have absolutely zero protection and could be the victim of trolling and unfair attacks, just like us. In my opinion, the lesson to be learned from this case is as follows:

• Either you spend money protecting a name that may never bring you anything
• Or you accept that your prior rights and intellectual property are violated in favor of someone who seeks to harm you on principle / money

"Noreya" is a name that was difficult to find and validate for our game, months of scriptwriting work and logo research. Perhaps it was a bit "overkill" for an indie game after all. One thing's for sure, the Catalan origins of the name "Noreya" could not have led us to suspect that someone in a Germanic country would decide to make it their flagship and attack us with a legal plan. So even the smallest probability can happen, hopefully the wheel will turn in our favor now. Update 0.9 is coming soon! And more good news is on the way ^-^. Once again, thank you all for your support.

[ 2024-04-16 15:02:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! The 0.8 version was released almost a month ago, and as we finalize the last adjustments and content, we're also paying close attention to bug fixes! There aren't many additions in this patch, and that's normal. However, here's a little progress update to pique your interest:

• Artistic rework of Biome 3 "Ruins of Lemia" is currently in progress and advancing well.
• Biome 6 "The Forgotten Fortress" is now gameplay-complete, and we're starting the painting process (known as "Level Art").
• The "True Ending" is also progressing well (top secret, no spoilers).
• Achievements are almost all ready (some have already spotted our test achievements).
• A new menu screen will make its debut in version 0.9 .
• We'll soon have news about the final release date, so stay tuned for more updates!

That's all for today! A little more patience for more fresh news.

Patchnotes:

Additions/Improvements:

• World Map: now display the items you took in gray
• World Map: now display the memorials/steles
• Icons to know which God you are praying for
• To save on the last statue now you just have to stay in front rather than switching pray (can skip with jump / dash, you must be fast)

Bugs Fix

• Fix Improve readability of texts in low resolution
• Many bug fix with the BOSS 5 - Giant Worm
• Fix some maps do not appear on the world map
• Fix cannot teleport to b3_36_statue with fast travel
• Art rework Biome 2 catacombs and dark catacombs is now 100% complete
• Fix Boss 6 - Salluste, many many bug fixed
• Fix hitbox on the body is not disabled fast enough when switching back to the body
• Fix can fight Boss 6 without defeating Boss 5
• Fix on the map the icon boss defeated is not updated when it should be
• Fix The Soul Slicer do not detect the Ghost player before taking a damage
• Fix Will o the wisp was invincible
• Fix Ghost Player projectiles self destroy in the air when facing Boss 4
• Fix double death when crushed + grab by hands
• Fix poison drop now have a max speed
• Fix we can be invincible against boss 6
• Fix Boss 5 tiles visual art (red instead of blue)
• Fix Butterfly blind attack off position
• Fix Biome/Boss names can appear when continuing the game
• Fix b5_07 death in elevator
• Fix b5_08 death in elevator
• Fix Boss 4 invincible
• Fix taking a hit after a heart piece misplace the new partial heart
• Fix Zombie groan during stage transition
• Fix death count and time can decrease when returning to the screen
• Fix Boss 1 wave cannot touch you in the corner

[ 2024-04-11 13:28:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone. Only one week has passed and we already have a good patch to deploy, fixing various bugs ! Nothing major to say today, so let's get straight to the point.

Patch log 0.8.1

• Fix Paramite going through the ceils and walls
• Fix Enemies spawned by the Boss 6 "Salluste" does not despawn
• Fix Slow-motion with the skeleton/ghost hands in various situations
• Fix Boss 2 "Golden Widow" stay stuck on the floor above us
• Fix Boss 6 "Salluste" jumping out of the area
• Fix Boss 1 "Golden Guardian" music starting after diying in the room when he is already dead
• Fix using keys in the paus menu prevent to cast the spell after closing the menu
• Fix Worms end chase trigger to early in b2_04
• Fix we can still move/jump/attack while cinematic is active againt Boss 6 "Salluste"
• Fix Lights map are offseted compared to standard/gold maps
• Fix Kali's sprite is off by 1 pixel when Jumping
• Fix Giant Worm is now visible in the darkness
• Fix cinematic when Giant Worm Boss goes in the middle of the room to change the phase
• Fix Boss 6 "Salluste" Switch is activated by default when facing him again
• Fix We can start the fight against the Giant Worm and run away with a frame-perfect jump
• Fix Player Chakram still active after death
• Fix Dash Attack Gold doesn't active when dashing from a slope

Thank you everyone to keep reporting bugs ! We are now entering the final stage of the development of the game. Only one area and the true ending is missing, we also have a few more surprises for you! More very soon.

[ 2024-03-21 09:27:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Today I am pleased to present you the patch 0.8 ! Also not to forget, but the game is 20% fo right now, so if you want to promote it to your friend to help us (and push the reviews !) it's the good timing! I trust you are prepared for this phenomenal patch. Indeed, version 0.8 is significant as it allows you to complete the game.
Let's delve into the details of this patch before addressing the bug fixes.

Critical Fix on Controller Management

This issue has persisted for quite some time, and after conducting several tests on the "Steam Inputs" configuration, we discovered that simply disabling it was the solution! Therefore, starting from this version, Xbox/PlayStation controllers and others should work (or at least work better/at the first attempt). If you still encounter issues, please let us know via the Hub discussions! (A negative review due to a gamepad problem is a bit harsh, don't you think?)

Significant Fix on Memory Leak!

Many of you have been experiencing the effects of a memory leak in the game, affecting long gaming sessions. Although there may still be hidden issues, we have identified and resolved some major memory leaks! Consequently, the game should be much more stable over extended periods. However, with the completion of the game and the addition of images and cinematics, memory consumption has increased. We will continue to address this aspect in the upcoming updates.

Completion of the Skill Tree

A few spells were still missing from the skill tree. In this update, the skill tree is now complete. Unleash your creative combos. Please note that starting from this update, some skills cost more than 1 point!
One very useful skill is the ability to view items on the world map! This will help you navigate and determine which area you need to explore next.

New Difficulty Mode Selection Screen

This is part of the work we wanted to complete before considering this screen finished. The difficulty mode screen is now much more visually appealing than before. Additionally, its impact is explained. We wish good luck to the ones who want to finish the game in hard (please note that in the 0.8, for bosses, only the life is impacted for now).

A New Boss Appears

So far, there have been 4 guardians to defeat before facing the God of Greed. In a previous update, I mentioned this 5th new boss, and the scenario was updated accordingly. You will be able to confront it in Biome 4, "The Cathedral". No spoilers about its identity! We hope this new battle will bring a unique touch of originality.

Salluste, God of Greed - the End of the Game

It is now possible to confront the God of Greed. However, starting this battle will lead you directly to the end of the game. Once defeated, you will have the freedom to resume exploring the world as you wish, so proceed with confidence; your save will not be compromised!
This battle still requires some adjustments, particularly regarding its difficulty. We hope you will enjoy the blend of combat and story. Feel free to share your thoughts on this!

Graphic Rework of the Catacombs (part 3)

We continue our graphic overhaul of the Catacombs, with almost all the maps in the area being redesigned.

Next Steps

The upcoming content will be lighter, as from this update, 90% of the world and content is in place. Therefore, we will focus on bug fixes, balancing, and overall gameplay experience, while continuing the graphic overhaul of biomes and the final zone (Biome 6). A quick note on this: I had announced that it would likely be available in this patch; however, we ended up spending time elsewhere, so Biome 6 will arrive in a future patch. Although you can now complete the game, we still have some exciting surprises in store for you!

Patchnotes:

Additions:

• Final Boss 6: Salluste - God of Greed
• Boss 5: secret name !
• End of the game cutscenes and credits
• More Level Art rework in Biome 2
• Complete skill tree
• Items location in the world map (with the skill)
• New sounds type depending of the floor (not finished)
• New difficulty mode screen with details of the impact
• New statue location in the Biome 3
• New scenario on a few steles (still not complete)

Bugs Fix

• Fix Zombies falling
• Fix Memory Leak
• Many Level Design issues Fixed
• Fix: update the world map
• Fix many missing translations

[ 2024-03-15 20:21:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

I made this patch over the week-end to fix some softlock issue and "not so cool" bugs (like floating spikes). I was able to made the windows build only, Linux will come Monday. More Catacombs map art rework is available in this patch !

• fix floating spikes in Catacombs resulting in a Spawn/Loop death (sorry for that, caused by the art rework)
• fix Crawley keep walking at the same place after dead (only animation)
• fix Dark Frogs moonwalking
• fix Dark Frogs not attacking properly
• fix Golden Widow: lock your jump after death
• fix Golden Widow: softlock if you kill it to quickly
• fix Golden Widow: sparks remaining after death
• fix Spells Master: don't move (stuck ?)
• fix Swordmaster: acid bath error
• fix Swordmaster: sword going invisible
• fix Death in elevator
• fix Cropped text in B4_16_L
• fix Ghost lever can be activated through the wall
• fix regular music combat play in a boss fight on various situations
• fix level art mistakes (B2 in B3) bush and rocks, all B3 should be cleared now
• fix b2_06 damage to the worm is not saved
• fix b5_13 floating square

Thank you everyone for the reports and reviews ^-^

[ 2024-03-09 23:05:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Some hotfix inb this minor Patch. - Hard Mode: You can't respawn on the current map - Easy Mode: Life was not well regenerated sometime - Boss 1 waves and Ghost Soldiers attack stay stuck in the walls - Player is attacking while praying for a God - Ghost and wrong grab / wrong rotation - Wrong bind with the input / inputs not binded to the menu - Changed the "tabs inputs" in order to prevent inputs overlap, it is now binded on "Skill of Gold" and "Skill of Light" (X/C) - Double skill points purchase - Crawley has been nerfed more - Reset inputs doesn't work everywhere - Gold Gem do not respawn if dying on the map - Wrong default lang in the settings menu - BOSS 3 Balance - Light Skill tree shape is to big Thanks to the community for helping us chaasing those bugs !

[ 2024-03-04 17:23:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

We are proudly participating in the Metroidvania fusion event, which features a lot of Metroidvania games. It is a good event to discover new game of your favorite genre. This event is a good time to offer a discount on the game so don't miss it! A Metroidvania game in Early-Access is not common and the release of the 1.0 is coming very soon. The next patch 0.8 will feature the final boss and the complete world map. The last patchs will be dedicated to polish and balancing the game. You are more than welcome to participate giving feed back on Steam Hub or our Discord channel : https://discord.com/invite/6ZFJJR4bzC If you want to be part of an incredible journey and push the game with us, you are more than welcome. But be aware, the Gods are not as gentle as we are.

[ 2024-03-04 17:18:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Here's a new interim patch before the colossal 0.8 patch. Version 0.7.5 brings some improvements and bug fixes as we finish up the 0.8 patch.

Graphical Redesign of the Catacombs (Part 1)

In the last patch, we reworked the first zone of the game, and we plan to rework the entire game before its final release. Biome 2 "Catacombs" is undergoing a redesign, and in this patch, you can already enjoy the first zone of the biome. A picture speaks better, so here's a little preview :) [previewyoutube=P9yIySfV9Fs;full][/previewyoutube]

Combat Detection System to Change Music

This is something we've wanted to do for a long time. Here's a first version that we'll refine with upcoming versions. Now, when you play, the game automatically detects the monsters around you and decides to activate the combat music. A small note, however, not all biomes have the "combat" music version yet, so don't be surprised. We still have work on the audio part of the game, but it will come with the last few patches.

Improved Map Reading (Part 1)

Now, the world map better displays boss icons, boss defeated and statues.
We are still improving this crucial aspect of the game, and it will also come in the next patches. Feel free to let us know what you don't like about the current world map so that we can further enhance it! That's all for today, a quick and efficient patch! I'm going back to my work (finishing up Biome 6 for the curious ones ;) ). Get ready! The final battle is approaching.

Patchnotes:

Additions:

• Add Music Combat detection
• Biome 2 Art Rework (Part 1, will be fully complete in the patch 0.8)
• New Boss icon on the Map (and a defeated icon)
• Heal is now a little bit faster
• Improve Map Statues outline
• Pause Menu tabs can now loop
• Crawley has been nerfed

Bugs Fix

• Fix color neutral in Skill tree
• Fix many broken No Respawn Zones
• Fix Lava Bug for Boss 3 and 4
• Fix Event reading when dying into the trigger box (Boss 1 bug)
• Fix B3_05 exit to B3 East leading to a soft lock
• Fix HP+ PowerUp hitbox size
• Fix B3 Doors timers
• Fix Monsters stuck between doors B2_19_2
• Fix Cinematic Sound Level
• Fix Flames not looping / flying
• Fix Boss 3 et 4 being stuck if picking the Orb to quickly
• Fix Skill tree light area
• Fix Boss 3 et 4 being stuck if picking the Orb to quickly
• Fix Skill tree light area

[ 2024-03-01 18:08:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Version 0.7 is now available and brings a lot of changes, improvements, additions, and bug fixes! With the Christmas takedown, we lost a lot of time and couldn't progress as much as we wanted on the game, but rest assured, 0.8 is close and will be memorable. Also, I personally want to apologize to our Kickstarter contributors who have been waiting for their keys since mid-December. This "legal" matter of Noreya/Noseka has had a significant negative impact on my morale, and financial difficulties for the studio have been added to that. It's challenging to be creative and original, and being attacked in this way when we have done no harm to anyone is mentally tough. It's unfair, but that's how it is, and we continue to move forward. With this patch, you should all have received your keys (up to February 12). No one will be left out, so feel free to contact us if you think you have been overlooked. Let's move on to the content of this 0.7

Graphical Redesign of the Valsanre Forest and the World Tree.

This was a task that was close to my heart for a long time, and it's now done. We have completely reworked the forest areas. A picture is worth a thousand words.
According to our tests, the performance impact is minor. But if you notice that the game is not running as well as before, please let us know. We continue to work on the overall optimization of the game. In the next patches, we will do the same work in the other areas of the game.

Update of Linux/Windows Versions and Demo Versions

For this new update, we have rebuilt all the builds for Windows and Linux. As we are not Linux users, we have not been very active in maintaining this version, and we apologize for that. This new version should (I hope) change your life! About the Mac build, we are still trying to find the source of the issue. The initial builds worked, but since a Mac update, we haven't been able to make it work.

New Logbook Screen

In the game, all the narration is told through Steles. Until now, it was impossible to know which ones were read or not. Only a "number of steles" indicator was present. From now on, it is possible to browse the entire history of the steles.
I also specify that they are all organized in the chronological order of writing. So, if you want to uncover all the mysteries of the game's universe and the history of the Gods, you will have to find them all! Some players who have greatly contributed to bug finding are now part of the story, and some steles are dedicated to them!

Completion of the Ruins of Lemia

A few areas were missing in this biome to consider it finished, and that's done. However, this area is not yet finished artistically and is reserved for experienced/end-game players. We won't talk about it more because it's an area that contains significant spoilers. But it's important to mention it so that players looking for new things know what we're talking about :)

What's Planned for Patch 0.8

The next patch will be colossal as it will be the advent of the 5th and final major boss, as well as the final boss: the God of Avarice.
Many revelations are expected, so be prepared. The battles that await you are beyond what you can imagine. We still have work to do before we can tag the game as 1.0, including the "true ending" that will be present between versions 0.9 and 1.0. However, from version 0.8, you can consider the game to be finishable.

Final Words

We do not yet have visibility to announce 1.0. However, we are confident in our progress and the work done. Also, the console port is progressing well. We have made good progress for the Switch version, but there is still a lot of work, and we cannot announce anything concrete on that front. A short preview of the rework we are doing in the Biome 2, it's a long work but I'm excited to finish it!

Patchnotes:

Additions:

• Improvements of native build
• Dedicated Steles screen (history of each steles)
• Art Rework of the Forests Biomes
• Completion of the Biome 3 (visual not complete yet, but fully playable)
• The transition map from the Biome 5 to 6 is now accessible. Biome 6 will come next (map is b5_15)
• Distant attack is now weaker and degressive
• Dialog Box font size change if you are on SteamDeck
• Music for the Boss Gold Guardian
• Music for the MiniBoss Dark lady

Bugs fix

• Boss 1 was stuck
• Walker out of map, Monsters walking on walls
• Reduced vision on respawn after Moth attack and death
• Nazgul not pausing during the door cutscene
• Ghost Soldier glitches between edge and ghost block
• Dash Through skill passes through spikes, poison and arms
• Sliding down a wall and dash, Boss 4 skill's dagger is thrown in the wrong direction
• Poison drops not landing on the wooden platform after sliding
• When changing map, Kali should continue running towards the exit, and the inputs are blocked
• Seeing the health bar during the boss cutscene
• Some exit trigger zones
• Gold nuggets overlap counter after a screen transition
• Fog and Map Obscurity problems
• Start/Escape not working anymore after death in a boss room
• Mouse cursor visible during cutscenes
• The fourth boss disappears after teleporting (its hitbox is still there) and only reappears after performing an attack
• Teleporting to inactive statue
• Game is broken when purchasing the 'last skill point' on the list
• The Dark Lady's fight doesn't summon her ghost
• The 'attack distance' buttons keep reactivating all the time
• Pot in the spikes, below a bridge platform, falling through it when entering the stage
• Death by collision inside elevator and slope after respawning
• Camera too low when entering the boss 3 room
• Boss 3 no damage taken with his sword
• b4_03 wrong warp
• Selection box that you can mouse hover while the intro
• Guardian Angel skill infinite after healing
• White hands wrong grabbing side
• White hands disable inputs double hit
• After purchasing the skill point for 3k, got an Undefined value and can't spend nuggets anymore
• Spawning above spikes in many places
• Misplaced hitbox after level reset [ Crawley ]
• Dash Through skills alpha level is now reset when wall jumping during dash
• b3_29 wrong door state
• b3_36_statue was impossible to teleport to
• Many warps fix in B3 East
• Many fix with the Hero Land animation
• Icy physics sometimes
• Fix Steam cloud save conflicts
• Some fixes in the Skill tree colors
• Fix many floating pixels

[ 2024-02-16 16:43:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

First of all, Happy new Year to everyone! In the name of the team I have to apologize. The game has been taken down by Valve because someone complained for a trademark infrigement. Quick explanation, so you know what happened. Then, content of the update and what is coming next !

The game is back on Steam, what happened? Is the name Noseka now?

Mid 2023 someone registered the name "Noreya" in Europe. It's not to make a game, not at all, but that person decided to attack us for copyright infrigement. We got a very little time to understand what was happening, in a buzy period when everyone is in vacation with their family. I tried to understand/solve the issue talking with Valve's team but the time for my lawyer to get in, the game was down. So, is the game name Noseka? Only on Steam for now. We are claiming our copyright and intellectual property rights and defending our creation against this illegitime trademark attack. But all this paperwork thing will take time and in the meantime, we will move to Noseka on Steam. Until when? I don't know, I cannot say, it is out of my scope and it is the first time someone is attacking "me" for a name that was not even in the "video game industry" or art. But it is what it is and right now, I want to focus on the game with the team rather than fighting. PS: also I do apologize for the Winter Sales, we are locked now and cannot start a new "sale" before 30 days. I asked the support if something can be done about that. So... Let's do what indies do well: exciting games!

Change of the Walkthrough

We have been working on this modification for several weeks because we were not sufficiently satisfied with the early game (the first 2-3 hours), which tended to lose players to much. Indeed, Metroidvanias tend to give you powers regularly, in each biome. And usually, "exploring other areas" is punished or impossible. However, in Noseka, we wanted to create a beginning that is both linear and permissive. Many of you thought you were not following the good path, so we made this modification hoping it improves the experience for new players!

Boss 4 - The Guardian of the Golden Swords

It is not the first time in this game development story. But this is not a definitive name. This fourth major boss got a large golden sword. Its gameplay will surprise you! Another opponent that is completely different from the others. Of course this is a first version, and we will make adjustments based on your initial impressions!

New Skills!

In this version, we have added some spells! We have been working on improving the skill tree for a while. In this patch, in addition to several fixes, we have added new skills that will please you, including "fast-travel," which allows you to teleport from one statue to another, finally!
There are still some "hidden" skills that will arrive in January/February.

Aleph's Tomb

It is a new off-map area that is now available! For now, it is very small, but in the future, we will add some content inside. Perhaps more in the future ;) You will find this ambiance/music in biome 6 "The Forgotten Fortress," which will be available in an upcoming patch!

What's next?

The next patch "0.7" will feature more areas to explore and maybe one new boss if it is ready. Some exciting features and an overall improvement. We will post a dev blog very soon to talk more about the "behind the scenes" waiting for this new patch. This blog post was supposed to concludes 2023, but it will mark the beginning of 2024 instead! Thanks for all the supportive messages we received during this dark times. We will do our best to make 2024 an exciting year and we will push the game as much as we can.

[ 2024-01-10 21:47:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! It's been a few weeks since we released patch 0.4.5, which was an intermediate patch between patch 0.4 and patch 0.5. We took a bit more time than expected because you provided us with a lot of feedback, and we wanted to focus on those points before moving on to the content. Things are now generally stable, and we can, once again, add content to the game. This new patch adds quite a few things, so let's dive in.

The Fallen King in Biome 5 "The Tree of Origins"

This is a new mini-boss joining the fray, offering a completely unique battle; we won't reveal more! He lurks in biome 5. Here's a small image to give you a hint.
The Fallen King is the last mini-boss planned in our initial game development, and he will provide you with the final fundamental skill required to complete the game. Let's just say that from here on, we'll only be adding bosses! Access to Biome 5 is now open, and you'll have quite a few new maps to explore. Connections to Biome 6 are currently all closed and will be included in a future update.

Completion of Biome 4 "The Cathedral"

In this update, we've opened more access points in Biome 4 "The Cathedral," giving you new maps to explore and new paths to unlock. Be warned, not everything is finished yet, and some paths will be opened in subsequent updates. Also, it's a very young area, so we're still testing the balance a lot; feel free to give us your feedback!

Names of Bosses, Biomes, and Cinematics

We've added these small elements that were sorely lacking in the game. You will now see the boss's name displayed during its introduction, as well as the biome's name during a zone change. Also, when a cinematic sequence is triggered, you'll have two black banners at the top and bottom of the screen.

Optimization and Console Porting

Many of you are asking "how is it going" regarding consoles, and we'll gradually start giving you updates. We've started a major performance optimization task with Quentin. It's a bit technical, but in summary, we're trying to multithread many components of the game. For now, there are still issues, so it won't be available right away! However, once finished, it should greatly optimize the game's performance, making it much smoother for many people and, more importantly, making it easier for us to port it to the Switch. As we've mentioned before, console versions must wait for certification from manufacturers, which takes at least 3 months (excluding contractual aspects), and we have to send them the 1.0 version of the game. We'll keep you informed as we progress with consoles and other platforms. Now, here's the complete PATCH NOTE. Thanks again to everyone for your contributions and bug reports!

PATCH NOTE:

Additions:

• MINI-BOSS THE FALLEN KING
• Biome Tree of Origins Access
• New maps in Cathedral Biome
• New maps in The Catacombs and new challenges
• Boss name displayed during introduction
• Black bars during cinematics
• Biome name displayed during a transition
• Biome name displayed on the map
• New skills available in the skill tree!
• More variety of monsters in existing maps
• New music in B2 DARK

Bugs/Improvements:

• Change of behavior on the soul devourer
• Several fixes with ghost/hand skeletons
• Several bugs with the "shockwave" spell, especially when dying on spikes
• Exiting the game during the respawn menu causes looping errors
• Double spike hit completely respawns the player
• Skill tree: Button of a skill that doesn't reset when leaving the menu
• Skill tree: The text "you must be next to a statue" was not displayed
• Bug when moving while talking to a stele
• New game via the "continue" menu = bug
• FIX many map transitions resulting in soft locks
• Overlay of hearts and money
• FIX many Out Of Bounds (OOB)
• FIX texts cut off a bit
• The displayed language is not correct
• Many FIXES against BOSS 2

The next patch 0.6 is almost ready and will include an imposing new BOSS with a brand-new gameplay. Until then, give us your feedback and suggestions, as usual ^-^ We can't wait to see you discover these new areas! See you soon. Team Noreya.

[ 2023-12-06 17:40:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well and enjoying playing and discovering the world of Noreya. We've received a lot of feedback, help in finding bugs, ideas, and suggestions. Thank you all for your participation <3 Yesterday, on Friday, November 17th, we released patch "0.4.5," marking the transition between patches 0.4 and 0.5. We've added quite a few things in this patch, including content that was supposed to be in 0.6/0.7! In a way, 0.5 takes longer to arrive, but subsequent updates will be faster. Here are the highlights of this update.

STEAM CLOUD

You asked for it, and we planned to integrate it. Your save will now follow you on all your devices! We've also completely reworked our implementation of the Steam SDK and updated the game engine, which caused many bugs last time. So, we spent 2 days testing it on many different machines. You shouldn't have any more controllers or other issues now. This kernel update was crucial as it brings many performance improvements, especially for Steamdeck, Linux, and Mac. Regarding Mac: we are still stuck, and we are looking for a solution. The old version worked very well, but the new versions won't... We haven't forgotten about you. Thank you for your patience.

Biome 5: The World Tree, in progress

Update 0.5, named "The Fallen King," will give you access to a new area, Biome 5: The World Tree! To prepare for this update, we've added decorations to a map in Biome 1, "Valsanre Forest." This "endgame" area will increase the difficulty, especially in terms of platforming. It won't be entirely revealed in the next patch because this zone includes a second sub-area: The Forgotten Fortress, which will be the subject of a future update.

New Monster Variations

It's a classic in metroidvania games. However, when we worked on the game, we only imagined "unique" monsters because we thought it would be more interesting. As development progresses, we realize how vital these variations are because they allow for easier monsters at the beginning and stronger ones later on. I'll write a future article explaining specifically how our monster management works as you progress through the game (somewhat like Zelda BotW and TotK). So, don't be surprised to see new variations arriving with each update! That's, I think, the three most significant additions in this update. Here is the complete list.

PATCH NOTE:

Additions:

• STEAM CLOUD
• New version of the "kernel" Electron and change of the Steamwork SDK, which should bring better performance (all platforms combined) without blocking controllers.
• Biome 5 junction in Biome 1 (World Tree) to be opened in the next patch.
• Headless Zombie
• Crazy Zombie
• VFX Explosion against BOSS 3 (unnamed yet)
• New areas to explore in Biome 4 "Cathedral."
• Respawn outside the BOSS room in case of defeat, allowing you to leave if you don't want to face it again (applies to all bosses).
• Improved "multi-line" health gauge in-game UI and menus.
• Improved jump to make it more responsive (Shisheyu's feedback).
• Opening new paths in Biome 3 that were kept closed until now (but still accessible for players who "search").

Bug Fixes:

• Language retrieved via Steam data.
• Missing scripting Camera bug.
• Zombies no longer move after attacking.
• BOSS Golden Widow: If you jump at the same time she breaks the ground, it can create several problems/bugs.
• BOSS Golden Widow: Behavior issue when she is invisible if you back into the wall.
• BOSS Golden Widow: Canceling a jump if you jump before she breaks the ground.
• BOSS Golden Widow: Spider webs do not disappear after a restart.
• BOSS Golden Widow: Ghost gets stuck on the previous floor.
• SkillTree PV Bonus not taken into account when choosing "continue a game."
• Losing control of Kali when returning to the starting map.
• Regaining control of Kali in the middle of dialogues/tutorials.
• Inconsistent health bar when changing maps.
• Poison drops do not have a regular behavior on slopes.
• BOSS 3 (unnamed yet): remains motionless at the beginning of the fight.
• Exiting the game during a map transition does not cut the music.
• Map corruption in a new game after manually deleting game data.
• Small spiders count as "killed enemies."
• Night Vision makes the entire room visible before the intro.
• BOSS Gold Iath: Wave stuck in the door, generating infinite sound.
• Improved BOSS loot placement.
• Ghost Assassin cannot touch the player.
• B3_15_L specific crash with Ghost Assassin.
• Shockwave gets stuck.
• Strange jump behavior when reading a stele.
• B1_07 collision boxes visible.
• B1_07 exit trigger not big enough.
• B3_09_02_G: rework.
• B2_01 and B2_05_1 several monsters appearing in the void.
• B1_09 and B3_14_2_L blocking an accidental exit by "the ceiling."
• B3_08_L switch not working.
• B3_14_5_L missing "temporary" door, leading to a "No Spawn in map xxx" error.
• Dying against Crawley sometimes unintentionally exits the map.
• "Lootable" objects that go behind.
• B2_17_1 map improvement to avoid cheating that could lead to subsequent errors/softlocks.
• B2_23 added ceiling webs.
• FIX some spikes that were not on the right layer.
• FIX Spawn B2_23_2.
• Added wooden walkways to prevent players from falling when arriving in B2_23_1.
• Fix torches that "fly" in some maps after killing BOSS Golden Widow.
• B3_14_L map improvement.
• B2_10 and B2_10_2 correction of exits.
• B3_13 added an exit on the ceiling.
• B2_24 monsters generating a Spawnkill.
• B4_13 misplaced light/curtains.
• B4_12 fix elevator => OOB.
• Bug with the counting of gold nuggets in the UI.
• The position of BOSS that remains on the map even defeated.
• 1 HP disappears when reloading the game.
• Corrected the position of statues on the map

Thats it! Lets get back to work. Have a good week-end.

[ 2023-11-18 13:31:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone. We are now in Early Access, yay! However, we continue to be proactive, listen to your feedback, and take note of the bugs very carefully! We didn't post anything for the official 0.4 release because we were focused on the release, and it's important not to get distracted. So here's a BIG patch note because we decided not to release 0.5 right away in order to focus more on the quality of 0.4 (and all the bugs). However, we added and prepared content that was supposed to be in 0.6! We're also making many changes to the game's balance. There are now areas that are easier than before and others that will be much harder. Please give us your feedback; it helps us move in the right direction. Before we get to the notes, here is some dev blog story.

The Boss of the Biome 4 in the East Belfry still have no name

You may ask how that is possible. And, if you go back to the article How do we create monsters in Gold Project cf: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1760330/announcements/detail/3712699226994690497?snr=2_9_100000_ You know that making a monster (or a boss) is not a linear, predicted work. Indeed for most of our monsters and bosses in the game we have an approximate idea of what we want to do, then we do some prototypes and test it. But a lot of those monsters and Boss still have no name. Do you have an idea of a name for this good boi? Share it with us here in the comments! Here is some information about him.

• He is a spellcaster
• His twin brother is a fighter
• He live in the East Belfry
• He live in the Cathedral (Biome 4)
• He can turn into a Ghost

Patch Note

Additions/changes:

• Difficulty modes at the start of a new game
• Keyboard configuration
• Introduction cinematic
• Added a save slot system (3 slots) with summaries
• The starting screen that informs about the "save logo"
• Added shortcuts F11/Alt+Enter (full screen/windowed mode)
• Save logo
• Cathedral boss, East Wing. It doesn't have a name yet.
• Many new maps and areas (no spoilers here :) )
• Added a new previously inaccessible monster, the "Paramites"
• A lot of narrative additions
• Improved Linux support
• Biome 4 music (work in progress)
• Boss "Golden Giant" combat music
• Added an introduction to the "Golden Giant" boss fight
• Boss "Golden Widow" combat music
• Added an introduction to the "Golden Widow" boss fight
• Mini-Boss "Crawley" combat music
• Mini-Boss "Soul Devourer" combat music
• Biome 3 music (work in progress)
• Biome 2 music and combat variations, gold, and light
• Added Chinese
• Added Japanese
• Added Russian
• Added Ukrainian
• Font adapts to the language
• Improved dialog box (aesthetic)
• You can only modify your skills in front of a statue
• Improved input buffers
• New skill icons
• New icons on the world map
• Added hidden areas
• Added gold nuggets
• Changed button assignments to "make more sense"
• Changed poison to green for better readability
• Replaced the visual drop from bosses
• Global game rebalancing (still ongoing)
• Added a "headless zombie" version, weaker than the Zombie

Bug Fixes:

• Golden spiders were counted as killed monsters
• World Map issues when deleting game files and starting a new game
• Hearts no longer overlap
• Ghost superimposition
• Invisible dark frog
• Missing waterfall on a map
• Difficulty mode and save logo not displayed on a new installation
• World map markers remained even after defeating the boss
• Kali floating as a ghost on a trampoline while being hit
• Ghost falls off platforms when pressing a key
• Global experience removed from the menu
• Several issues when quitting the game after speaking to Auria's statue
• Non-functional hidden area
• Sometimes impossible to read a stele with a controller
• Gold statue unlocked indirectly
• Ghost Zombie phases through platforms
• Incorrect Dreamirl logo size in "low" graphics settings
• Configuration missing for a wave in b2_19
• Body teleports when the ghost is active, causing a crash
• Error when changing language during gameplay
• Issues with certain skill stats when changing maps
• Fixed several monster-related bugs
• Praying to a statue by pressing S when exiting the menu
• Gold exchange is performed like healing, by holding down a key
• Inconsistent health bar in some scenarios (when quitting the game)
• Purchase of boss skills not saved
• Endless deaths from "hands"
• The "map" skill icon is gray the first time you open the skill tree
• Fixes to many skills
• Error when fighting Crawley if the game was quit after the fight and then restarted
• Error while navigating up/down in the save slot menu
• Error when the Giant Worm hits the lever in b2_14
• Dash bug with the ghost
• Map and "junction" configuration bugs (multiple reports)
• World map bug shifted by 1px
• World map displaying a location that was never visited

Patch 0.5 is coming next

We'd like to thank everyone for your participation, and we will continue our efforts! The next patch "0.5" will be released soon and will provide access to a new area, along with a new "mini boss": The Fallen King. Will you be able to complete the currently available content before the release of version 0.5? See you very soon! ~~

[ 2023-11-09 09:58:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Minor locales fix And a major bug fix on the map b3_42 (before the boss).

[ 2023-11-07 23:49:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

[previewyoutube=7hkY95q91PA;full][/previewyoutube] Hello everyone! Today, Noreya: The Gold Project lands on Steam Early-Access. Which means you can purchase the game, with a special launch discount of 15%!

But you may ask, why make an Early-Access metroidvania game? good question, here is the answer.

Its all about the community! At Dreamirl we believe in the power of the community, too many games are released and players simply are not happy with the game they play, we want every player to love playing the game as much as we love making it. Our first Steam game Exoblast was in Early-Access until our community and us were happy with it. Throughout our journey we made a lot of changes and improvements, thanks to the feedback from our community. Today with Noreya however, we are aiming way higher. This Metroidvania is not like the others. Noreya features new unique mechanics unseen before in this genre. With Noreya we tried to innovate for the better, we aimed to develop a game that was more fun, more fluid and more instinctive. This is shown in our unique Karma mechanic system which required the most work, testing and balancing. In Noreya you can:

• Experience a complete nonlinear experience, for those of you who do not know what that is. Each and every player plays the game in their own unique path or style, how you finish the game is up to you!
• Pray and explore 2 world-maps overlapping each other with shared places.
• Fight the bosses in the order you want!
• Enjoy a fluid and intense platformer.
• Our unique Ghost system will bend your mind with intense puzzle-platforming.
• Take part in thrilling and engaging game play while facing creepy monsters that chase you throughout caves and labyrinths of Noreyas landscape.

Each time you change your allegiance in the game, you open new paths that are waiting to be explored, but watch out! As you make these decisions, old paths you may have traveled before will close. Not only that, Noreya's skill tree provides many unique optional skills and upgrades that will help you throughout your journey, while allowing you to create your own unique gameplay and playstyle!

So why early access?

Well, we wanted to make something unique that stands the test of time, and as such we needed more time and your feedback to accomplish this. As a French company we love our wine and early-access allows us to affine the game just like you would a nice bottle of wine. You our community are tasting all the variations of Noreya until you and us decide its perfect.

How many hours of gameplay is currently available in early access?

Approximately 8-10 hours depending on your exploration and skill.

What else can I read to know more about you and the game?

Community to us is important so you will find us on the steam forums. You can also join us on discord: https://discord.gg/z4vDtZCx or our newly formed subreddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/noreya/ should you have any feedback please feel free to contact us there or on all our social medias with the tag @dreamirlgames.

How quick are we fixing bugs?

We are updating on a roughly 2 week schedule with big bugs being fixed in a day. We are always watching discord and social media and aim to answer fast when someone finds something wrong. On top of this we also have a bug-reporting system powered by our players both on discord and the Steam forums with our team keeping an eye out for these reports as they come in. Please note bugs can happen. However, some things can take time to fix and fix properly so we ask you the community for patience when this happens. We will aim to keep communicating with you as much as possible when this happens.

I have a Steamdeck, Linux, Mac, can I play the game?

Steamdeck: Yes you can. However, Right now to play on a steam deck you will have to make some configurational changes to play on the Steamdeck as Steam is not currently letting us push the latest build to default.. Mac: we have an issue with our Apple Developer Account and we are waiting for their support to be able to fix the build and upload it again. Linux: Noreya currently only runs on Ubuntu. However, there are a lot of versions and we will try to our best to make the game run on each OS in the future.. If you find an issue please fill in a report with your OS and specs and we will look into it.

Thats it!

We hope you will join us in Early-Access. Noreya features many new mechanics not seen in metroidvania games before. This has involved a lot of risks. However, only you the players can tell us if this is a success! We truly hope you love playing this game as much as we loved making it!

[ 2023-11-07 19:01:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! This is a quick post to shoot the Patch of the previous updates we've made, fixing a lot of issues in the game while adding some features and content. We have made several update, so this is one post with all the content. We will do a new post for the 0.4 with more details of each novelties. PS: only Windows build for now, others platform are coming, we are fixing linux/mac also as we are running issues depending on the OS/Version.

PATCH NOTE 0.3.5 light (2023/10/18)

New features and improvements

• Unlocked access to a new area! You can now visit the East Belfry, where a new Guardian is awaiting to be defeated (beta only)
• Reworked tutorials order for a better pacing
• Added boss related skills in the skill tree: each of them can be unlocked after defeating a boss
• Improved zombies AI
• Bosses 1 and 2 now have intro cutscenes
• Improved some visuals
• Improved menus
• Improved level art and level design on many maps
• The game has been slightly optimized

Bug fixes

• Fixed an error occuring when using Steam chat while playing
• Exiting and continuing the game now correctly plays biome music
• Many skill tree related bugs have been fixed
• Most skills now work as intended
• Player menu now correctly display damage and heart pieces
• Maps should no longer be misplaced in map menu
• Player's animations are no longer stuck when going in ghost form
• Taking damage and dispawning ghost at the same time no longer inflicts knockback on the player's body
• Rotated levers no longer have a misplaced hitbox
• Collisions on the same tile than a trap (spikes or poison) no longer disappear
• Walking from a bridge to a slope no longer makes the player fall through the bridge
• All memorials now correctly freeze enemies and no longer display "undefined" texts
• Zombies in the intro cutscene no longer flicker
• The giant worm chases have been improved
• Fixed errors occuring with the giant worm, Crawley and in boss rooms
• Boss 1 no longer spawns its waves in the ground
• Most boss 2 related bugs have been fixed
• Fixed many level design and level art issues

PATCH NOTE 0.3.6 (2023/10/20)

Along with a few fixes, this new patch introduces a new mechanic: the golden nuggets. We hope you enjoy it!

• Experience points have been replaced by golden nuggets
• You can use golden nuggets to heal by pressing S on the keyboard or Y on the controller
• Golden nuggets can be exchanged for skill points in front of statues
• The transition animation between worlds of gold and light is faster and cleaner
• The tutorial dialogs with Auria and Hmnis have been modified to make more sense
• Fix: the skilltree tutorial now automatically focuses on the map skill
• Fix: worlds of gold and light are now correctly shown with first Auria and Hmnis statues
• Fix: the map no longer zooms in for one frame the first time the it is revealed
• Fix: wrong respawn in b2_17_1
• Fix: pots falling through a bridge in b2_21
• Fix: wrong warp from b4_04 to b4_05

PATCH NOTE 0.3.8 (2023/10/25)

We added hidding zones now and fixed a lot of bugs. The next patch 0.3.9 will continue bug fixing.

• settings "graphics" now work and change the quality of the game (need a reboot)
• a tutorial about healing has been added (first hit)
• wrong music biome sometimes
• updated world map
• added hidden zones
• FIX some wrong teleport/spawn
• FIX jumping monsters going through OOB
• more translation
• FIX unwanted gold nuggets exchange when leaving the menu
• improve the text to not "teleport" by the end of the line
• FIX Ghost Fusion
• Kali tileset fixed
• FIX cannot unlock skills in skilltree
• LA bug fix / missing tiles
• FIX: gamepad/keyboard navigation do not work in some situation (need mouse)
• FIX: Localization UI
• FIX: change TextDialog about settings Graphics
• FIX: stuck sometimes after exchanging gold nuggets
• FIX: farming dedication by leaving the game
• FIX: heal while sliding
• FIX: can exchange nuggets on an empty statue slot

We want to thank everyone who help us making the game better and keep reporting the bugs!

[ 2023-10-25 19:32:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

DEV BLOG 12 - PATCH 0.3 and Presentation of our roadmap!

Hello everyone! Today, we are going to talk to you about our "patch" program. This way, you will know exactly what we have planned and the order.
Also, before we go any further, I must announce the following:

-- The release date has been postponed to November 7th, and it will be an early access release! --

Before you cry, let me explain a bit about this. You will quickly understand that we are not delaying it for fun or just to disappoint you, but to bring you even more enjoyment! Firstly, we completely revamped biome 1 recently following playtests. This was unexpected work, and it took us quite some time. Next, we created the biome 5, which was initially planned as part of a free DLC. However, we thought it would be much better if you had it from the beginning since it's a very important area. Overall, we have reworked many things: monsters, bosses, balancing, level aesthetics, and more. We experienced delays due to unforeseen departures of partners working on the aesthetic aspects (cutscenes, monsters). As a result, it took us more time to find solutions. In short, as you may have gathered, we are not postponing it for fun but because we want the game to meet your expectations and be able to release the game with the best content from version 1.0. We want the game to be beautiful, grandiose, and not rushed out with lots of bugs.

Version 0.3 Content

With this "substantial" devblog comes the release of version 0.3. We've added a large gameplay area, the Abysses of the Citadel! This is a gameplay area partially shrouded in darkness. A few new monsters, a new skill, a new mini-boss, and of course, the guardian of the place: The Golden Widow. In total, this will add 1 to 2 hours of gameplay, depending on your level (potentially more). Enough blabla, here's a little preview.
Some of our "beta testers" have already found and explored these areas. So we fixed some bugs, but we are aware that more are hiding in the darkness.

New platforms !

This new patch also features the support of new platforms: Mac, Linux, and Steamdeck (not the same build as Linux). We might still have issues with Linux and Mac builds as there are many OS versions out there, so please send us a ticket/message if you have any issue.

About the Steamdeck:

As Steam have to make a manual review before setting the good build as default, right now you have to go into the settings cf: Go to the game page and go to Settings > Properties > Compatibility. In this menu you should have a check box which is "Force the use of compatibility tools". You need to check it, and then under the list which will appear, you'll need to choose the option "Steam Linux Runtime" (should be GE-Proton7-50). Then the game should redownload and everything should be great !

Beta Roadmap

Our beta program will rely on a series of major patches. Before we go any further, I want to clarify that ALL OUR BACKERS (who chosed the platform Steam) will have access to the beta version starting from Patch 0.5 (end of October/early November). Let me present you our "roadmap":
0.3 (The Abyss of the citadel) // DONE 0.4 (The East Belfry) 0.5 (The Fallen King) 0.6 (The Belfry's Twin) 0.7 "Karma zones" 0.8 "The Avarice" 0.9 Additional content / areas / LORE 1.0 The True Ending = THE COMPLETE GAME Its a total of 7 big patches, and let me tell you that most of those patches are nearly done.

Why does it take so much time?

We understand your concerns and frustration. Despite our efforts, some things take a lot of time:

• Level art (creating beautiful levels).
• World karma, which requires us to create two worlds and do a lot of back-and-forth to make sure it works (and as you've seen, there are quite a few bugs because of "these things").
• cutscenes / scenario (mostly because we had to find a solution, and now its ok)
• we want to improve more a lot of things and add content

Today, the two karma worlds are very similar, simply because we haven't "level-arted" the Light versions yet. So, most Light maps today are copies of the Gold versions. Also, "karma" is supposed to change existing routes and backtracking, a key element of the "metroidvania" genre. Finally, as we announced in the previous post, it is technically possible to face 7 of the game's bosses. However, in the beta, only 3 were accessible (now 5). In essence, each patch will give you access to 1 or even 2 new bosses.

Metroidvania games go rarely in Early-Access.

We want to take this opportunity to deliver the game "piece by piece" so we can polish and improve each area as much as possible without being overwhelmed by feedback and day one patch, we do not want to rush or enter a crunch which is terrible for the team. With this schedule, we believe we can make adjustments to each area as the patches roll out. Also, we will do our best to ensure that your save data is preserved across versions!

Steam Next Fest.

Next monday is the beginning of the Steam Next Fest, Noreya will join the events with the free demo. Please make sure you wishlist the game on Steam if you can, this is helpful to push the game as Valve is looking at the number of wishlist to promote or not a game. Thanks for reading, more news very soon.

[ 2023-10-06 19:21:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Have you played the Noreya Demo yet? Well its Steam next fest and we are here to play it with you and field your questions and feedback live on stream!

[ 2023-10-05 23:41:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Since the release of the demo and the beta, we have released several patches that have allowed us to fix and improve the game on many aspects, thanks to you! Many of you have tried the game and everything that was possible to do. Some of you have even found passages we thought were impossible. Congratulations to all of you because we are so used to the game that we always do the same thing and are not able to discover some bugs due to unusual manipulations. Today, we are releasing a new patch 0.2.3 that brings new fixes as well as new languages to the game.
The next major patch is 0.3.0 and will bring a large new area of the game as well as 2 new bosses! This update will be released next week. We will also announce the planned program for future updates and the game's release date (which will be modified). Here is a summary of what is included in this patch, as well as a summary of previous patches: PATCH NOTE 0.2.3 (2023/09/30)

• New Features:
• New Languages: German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Norwegian
• You can now attack the "harmless little spiders"
• The statues of the gods have been changed
• Save data is preserved/migrated with version upgrades (unless there is no choice)
• New introduction/animation when starting a new game
• Add gamepad sensibility settings (deadzone)

BUG FIX

• Skill tree: the "Blood Shield" skill now works correctly and protects against poison drops
• Skill tree: the skill selection animation now works correctly
• Skill tree: skills are saved and loaded correctly
• Graphical bug with floating pixels on phantom walls fixed
• Slight text modifications
• Missing English translations
• Reloading the game no longer restores all health
• It is no longer possible to exit the starting map with WallJump
• Pots now respawn
• The world map no longer displays "holes" (layers not taken into account)
• Cases of music overlapping have been resolved
• In-game timer now displays correct data
• No more farming of power-ups possible
• Other minor fixs over maps, spawn points, world map...

PATCH NOTE 0.2.2 (2023/09/26) :

• Fix : b3_31_2, no more softlock because of the lever being not reset
• Fix : b3_33, no more FPS Drop against the Dark Lady
• Fix : no more music overlap when opening the settings menu
• Fix : no more invisible enemies
• Fix : the game should not crash if you quit the game right before dying
• Fix : b2_03 the giant worm do not chase you anymore
• Fix : the giant worm do not deals damage when you are in a safe spot
• Fix : the giant worm respawn correctly
• Fix : skilltree save/load is fixed (should be)
• Fix : skilltree now give you back your skill points
• Fix : skilltree do not try to unlock skills itself, without asking for permission
• Fix : it is not possible to buy locked skills anymore
• Fix : skilltree karma is now working as intended
• Fix: skill tree and karma logic
• Slightly improved skill tree UI
• Fix: the in-game timer is now saved if you close and restart the game
• Better map menu navigation (switched zoom buttons, and can now use the D-pad)
• We can now quit menus with the B button
• dark frogs (and all wall walkers ?) are struggling on the edge of a bounce/platform
• Other minor fixes

PATCH NOTE 0.2.13 (2023/09/23)

• You now have the "version number" on the screen (bottom right) which will help us to know the version you have without searching the build number
• fixed: the Hmnis statue now heal you
• fixed: it is not possible to abuse and farm allegiance points on the first Hmnis statue thanks to a bug
• fixed: some arts floating a few pixels above the ground in b3_10_2
• improve the hitbox on b2_06 and b2_04 to avoid/reduce floor glitch (until we improve the physics engine)
• add waterfall animation on b2_05 because it sounded like a bug
• move some spiderweb because the hitbox made the jump painful and not fun at all
• fix b1_14 camera area was to big
• fix: you can now read a memorial/stele as much as you want
• total xp display a big float value overlapping with the text

PATCH NOTE 0.2.12 (2023/09/22)

• blocks broken by the worm are now saved correctly
• musics overlap is fixed
• the spiderweb sound looping in the top of the map after the miniboss fight is fixed
• the error when reading the memorial after the wall jump obtention is fixed
• cannot pogo on flames anymore
• flying after respawn should be fixed
• third encounter with the giant worm in b2_06 has been removed, So bugs are fixed
• opening the menu over the "death screen" is not possible anymore
• gold champion attack has been fixed
• minor tiles fix
• minor level design and balance improvements
• other minor fix

[ 2023-09-30 13:02:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone. Once again, this article is directly written by Inateno, for the sake of simplicity in writing. In this new update, we will discuss the demo and closed beta. First and foremost, if you are eligible to participate in the beta because you supported us on Kickstarter, please check your Kickstarter private messages to complete the process and receive your "beta" Steam key. In any case, the demo will be publicly accessible to everyone starting at 6 PM, French time.

Demo Content

The demo lasts from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on your level of play. It allows you to battle 1 mini-boss and explore several areas of the game along with various mechanics. We would like to showcase more in this demo, but it's always challenging to calibrate a demo to the right length. We won't hesitate to update the demo, whether it's to fix bugs or add content if we deem it necessary.

Beta Content

Initially, the beta will have the same content as what was accessible during the playtests. Everything has been fixed and improved, but despite that, we know there are still imperfections. This initial phase will help us address many issues while preparing the upcoming game zones that still have many bugs. After everything runs smoothly in this initial version, we will progressively open up new areas, extending the duration and content of the beta. Theoretically, it is possible to face 7 bosses at the moment, but some maps that lead to them are not operational. Therefore, we need to place temporary barriers to prevent you from falling into the endless void. We are doing our best to provide you access to as much content as possible. In summary, for now, it is possible to confront 2 mini-bosses and 1 boss, with a gameplay duration of 1 to 3 hours. Unfinished Areas: Please note that, for the time being, the beta's content is quite complete and finished. However, in the upcoming updates, you may arrive in levels that are empty or sparsely decorated. This is not a bug. On the other hand, if you spot a floating tree, a misplaced pixel, or something "out of place," please do not hesitate to report it! Creating a game of this magnitude with our artistic direction is quite a challenge, and it's common for us to make very small mistakes.

How Long Will the Beta Last (Final Release Date)

As of today, the game's release is expected in late October. However, time is moving forward, and we realize everything that's missing in the game to make it as great as we want it to be. Therefore, we will be updating the game's release date on Steam in a few weeks. We don't know exactly what the final date will be yet, and there's also the matter of console porting. We want to do our best to deliver the game to everyone simultaneously (or at least with the least possible wait time). So, the beta will last for at least one month and will extend as long as necessary because we want to balance, refine, and improve the game with your feedback. If the beta's duration becomes too long, we will open access to all our backers and potentially everyone. Early access is therefore being considered. Please feel free to give us your feedback; it is essential to us.

How to Effectively Participate in the Beta (and Demo)

As you know, the term "beta" is a bit of a catch-all these days. Our team wants to use the beta as a real means of communication with you. If we need to postpone the game because we realize, thanks to your feedback, that certain things are not working at all, we will do it. To participate effectively, you need to know how to analyze a bug or an unusual situation. So, I will try to give you some tips on how to report bugs/suggestions effectively! Firstly, a "bug list" will be made available on Discord and on the Steam forum. You should consult it before reporting a bug; this will help us save time (and thus release the game faster). When you identify a bug, you must be able to reproduce it and describe "how" you manage to reproduce it; this is the most challenging step. In your beta version, you will have access to certain developer tools to help you report problems. To do this, go to the Options menu and activate the developer mode. The O key (not zero but the letter) will allow you to display the technical name of the map you are on, along with other data.
The P key will enable the "hitbox" mode if you encounter problems with collisions.
You can combine P and O. Once the bug is identified, you will need to report to us the name of the map where the bug occurred. The "hitbox" mode should only be used when you think there is a problem; this mode is heavy and not optimized. Moreover, it's a bit like cheating, which, in our opinion, spoils the gaming experience.

What Is the Schedule for the Beta

We don't have a precise schedule; we work on the game every day and release updates as often as possible. We estimate being able to provide a regular update every week and a major update every month. I've filled out the Kickstarter survey; when will I receive my rewards? We sent you the survey recently because we needed your contact information to send you the Steam key. Not everyone has responded yet, but you should receive the email with your key today (for beta participants). Regarding "physical" rewards, there will be a delay. You should know that a physical edition for a console requires a minimum of 6 months of lead time, once the game is completed and approved by the manufacturers. We can't do anything to speed this up, so you'll have to wait until 2024 for physical editions. Digital editions on consoles, on the other hand, require 2 to 3 months once the game is completed, so you will also have to wait until 2024. As for other types of rewards, we are already working on them (while also finishing the game; rewards are not our top priority). We are considering the possibility of making two separate shipments to deliver the rewards as soon as possible (but this is not guaranteed). Additionally, if you have the opportunity to meet us at a physical event, we will give you the rewards that are already available at that time. We will announce our events as they come up. Here is list from the Kickstarter forms:

• 2023 - France - Toulouse Game Show, at Toulouse - November 25-26th 2023
• 2024 - USA - CA - GDC, at San Francisco - March 18-22 2024
• 2024 - France - TGS Montpellier, at Montpellier - April 6-7th 2024
• 2024 - France - TGS Springbreak, at Toulouse - June 1-2nd 2024
• 2024 - Germany - Gamescom - August 21-25 2024

Live Stream / Content Creators?

If you start a live stream or create a video or post something about the game, please let us know, and we will be happy to share it! It's time to open the doors of Noreya, and we rely on all of you to talk about it, invite your friends to try the demo, and give us feedback. We want to finish this game with you, and together, we will undoubtedly create an incredible game. On behalf of the entire team, I would like to thank you once again for your trust and patience.

[ 2023-09-21 11:44:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, Once again, this article is directly written by Inateno, for the sake of simplicity in writing. Today, we have a condensed blog post in which we discuss quite a few things. First and foremost, I invite you to add the game to your Steam wishlist, even if you don't plan on getting it from that platform. Wishlisting helps the game gain visibility, which is crucial for the project's future. Share the game with your friends, family, on the internet and on social media it's really important. Thank you! Here's a quick summary of what we will discuss in this dev blog.:

• New name
• Boing boing Monster
• Playtest date
• Beta date
• Demo date
• Release date

Noreya: The Gold Project - The New Name

In case you missed our last announcement, the new final release name of the game is: "Noreya: The Gold Project."
We decided to keep "Gold Project" as it was the initial name, and from a marketing and brand awareness perspective, it would have been complicated to remove it. Additionally, the "Gold Project" remains the central theme of the narrative of this installment: everything revolves around the so-called "God of Gold" and his malevolent project. The world of Noreya is vast, comprising several deities, and you can discover all of this by exploring every nook and cranny of the game. And in case you haven't seen the trailer, here it is (with music ): [previewyoutube=2Zxez9gAixk;full][/previewyoutube]

A New Monster "Boing Boing" Has Been Added!

Remember article #4? Well, a few days ago, while we were working on biome 4 with Morgane (our new level designer on the team), we thought we needed a "not too strong but resistant" monster for biome 4. As you progress through the adventure, you become more powerful, and the monsters from the beginning become easy to defeat. Instead of doing what's called a "reskin," we came up with a new monster that builds upon the foundation of an existing one. And a few hours later, here it is. It doesn't have a name yet, so it's "boing boing" for now :D

Next Playtest: August 28, 2023

Mark your calendars, get ready to block a slot, playtest #2 is coming on August 28! We'll use the same system, the same format. It's the simplest and most effective for us. First, check your Kickstarter messages, join the Discord, and respond to us. Then, through the "beta" channel, you can choose a slot. At the time of your session, you'll be invited to join in audio with screen sharing so we can take notes on your session! The last time went really well, and we learned a lot. We're counting on you once again! Refer to the previous article "#08 - Summary of the First Playtest Session and Name Reveal!"

Beta Date

Because we don't do things halfway, it's time to announce the planned dates (for now), starting with the beta. It will be accessible to all those who contributed on Kickstarter at "The Beast" level, as well as those who purchased access from our store. Also, a few streamers, YouTubers, and press guests. What will be available in the beta? The question should really be "what won't be available in the beta." Game development is full of unforeseen circumstances and obstacles, and despite all our efforts, the list will likely change for better or worse.

• Multiple endings won't be present (hence, no "true ending")
• Biome 5 / optional biome
• Certain maps may not be finished
• Bugs will naturally be present in the game, although we're doing our best to fix as many as possible
• The game will only be available on Steam; there may be issues with Mac/Linux versions initially since the development team only works with Windows. We'll allocate time to these OS versions as soon as we can
• Controller support may be partial
• Achievements, maps, etc. probably won't be integrated

What's the benefit of participating in the beta if I want to experience the full game all at once? As with many games of this genre, participating in the beta might spoil the joy of discovery, especially if you encounter a major bug. However, our team is highly responsive, and if you're on Discord to report the bug live, we'll do everything we can to fix it or find an alternative. Additionally, we'll continue to improve the game, add content, new maps, puzzles, and maybe even new monsters. There will still be novelties between the beta and the final version. We completely understand if you don't want to take part in the beta in order to fully enjoy the final experience. There's no harm, and we thank you for your patience and support. If you wish, you can give your beta access to someone you know.

Demo Date

Noreya will participate in the upcoming "Steam Next Fest" and from that date, you'll be able to play the demo, which will offer 15 to 30 minutes of gameplay depending on your skill level. The demo will later be available on other platforms (such as itch.io), but we're reserving exclusivity on Steam to boost the game's visibility on that platform.

Release Date

Although this is just an approximation, the game is expected to be released by the end of October on PC. The winter period is challenging from a marketing standpoint for "indie games," and based on our work, the game should be ready by that date. If that's not the case, we'll make sure to provide regularly updated beta access to our backers. We're attentive to what's best for the game and won't rush anything. Please note that this date is approximate for the PC version. As for consoles, don't expect anything before March/April 2024. That's the minimum time we need to get the game validated on consoles. It might even take a bit longer...

Bonus Notes

We're already working on the Kickstarter rewards. We'll soon send you a form to fill out. Here are a few dates when you can come meet us:

• September 30 & October 1, 2023 - Pau Anime Game Show (Pau - France)
• November 25 & 26, 2023 - Toulouse Game Show (Toulouse - France)

And unlike our usual practice, we're ending today with a musical touch! It's a big WIP, but I personally already like it a lot. See you soon. Short on YouTube (Steam do not yet support the integration of shorts videos)

[ 2023-08-14 15:22:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Once again, this article is directly written by Inateno, for the sake of simplicity. At the beginning of June, we launched a major call to our beta testers to help us with a first playtest session. And the first word that comes to mind is "wow," followed by "Thank you!" Indeed, "wow" because I was impressed by your participation and willingness to help us. And truly, thank you because this session has taught us a lot! It helped us find many bugs, of course, but above all, it helped us understand the strengths and weaknesses of the game. To be honest with you, we were afraid to launch these playtests! We didn't know how you would receive the game, whether you would like it or not. And overall, among the 49 responses we received on the form, you all loved the experience and what the game offered. Of course, nothing is perfect, and thanks to your feedback and our analysis system, we managed to identify the little hiccups that bother us. This article is dedicated to the playtest debrief. We will explain "how it works" and show you some graphs! PS:

• If you don't want to spoil anything from the game, I invite you not to read this article as we will go into details, content in the biomes, and map names.
• If you couldn't participate in this first playtest session but would like to participate in the second, don't worry, you can read this article without fear.

As a reminder, the purpose of a playtest is not just to find bugs (although it comes with it, it is not the central objective). In our case, the playtest had several objectives:

• To know what you think of the game as it is (graphics/gameplay).
• To check if you were getting lost too much in the world or not.
• To have an overview of the balancing and difficulty.
• To see what things are not necessarily understood or not obvious, in order to correct/improve all of that.

Summary of responses to the playtest session form.

At the end of the playtest, we sent a form to gather answers to certain questions. It was, of course, anonymous and not mandatory. Here is a summary of what the players thought, based on a selection of questions.

• 94% considered the game "neither too difficult nor too easy, 4% found it "too difficult" and 2% found it "too easy."
• 67% didn't feel lost but weren't sure where to go, 20% knew exactly where they were and where to go, 12% felt "a little lost," and 0% felt completely lost!
• 96% of people think they had "the required amount of lives", 2% found it too many, and 2% found it insufficient.
• Players mostly loved the platforming sequences.
• Regarding the first mini-boss, the overall feedback is good. As expected, players had "difficulty reading the patterns" and "felt destabilized," which are relevant insights, and a few people found it too difficult.
• On a scale of 0 to 5, we have 63% with a rating of 4, 30% with a rating of 5, and 6% with a rating of 3.
• As for whether they would like to participate in another playtest, it's a resounding yes at 92%, while the rest prefer to wait for the beta.

Among the best memories of the playtest session, two standout points are:

• The giant worm
• The demon that chases us and can't be killed but activates things for us.
• Some players particularly enjoyed the trampoline mechanic.
• Lastly, other players specifically liked the level design/platforming and the game's fluidity and movement.

Among the "worst memories":

• The villainous creature that takes the medal is, of course, the terrible sausage on legs, or "Dark Frogs" as nicknamed by one of the players (our technical name is "SpiderSwarm")
• Next, the trap monster (that burrows into the ground) was quite frustrating because players didn't know how to approach it. However, we have made improvements to it and hope it will be better now!

There's no need to go into detail about most of these responses, but some points need to be addressed in more detail. Let's start with the first mini-boss of the game. Its technical name is "Elite Spider," and it grants you the "WallJump" ability! It's not too difficult; in fact, it has relatively low health.
The monsters in the "spider" family have an unusual behavior in video games, and almost all players who participated in the playtest were disturbed by these creatures' patterns. We are divided on the changes to be made to these creatures because they are original and break the conventions of AIs we know in metroidvanias. However, they gave you quite a challenge. For now, we have decided to reduce their numbers on certain problematic maps. The "dark frog" wins the award for the annoying mob, as it is a common monster found throughout biome 2. However, this creature is very fragile, and 1 to 2 sword strikes are enough to defeat it (depending on your attack boost).
But it's the same issue I explained earlier; we wanted unusual monsters that make you think before charging in.

Analysis of the session data

Let's move on to a more in-depth analysis. It's necessary to explain our tool a bit before proceeding, as not everyone may be familiar with how our playtest was conducted. [olist]

We created a fairly simple tool that generates a unique one-time code.

Through a form on a "pre-launch" page, participants had to enter the code, and then the game would load.

Once the game was launched, it was connected to a data server, and the game would send information about what each player was doing. [/olist] We didn't collect a ton of information because it wasn't necessarily immediately useful, but we had the following data:

• Player changes map (destination map with "time," allowing us to measure time spent per map)
• Player takes damage (with the ID of the entity that inflicted the damage)
• Player dies (also with the ID)
• Based on this data, we were able to generate the following graphs:

PS: The names you see on the X-axis are "technical" and temporary names. We didn't necessarily have names for the creatures when we were working on the game, and several of them need to be renamed!

Time spent by map

In red, we have the maximum; in green, the minimum; in orange, the average; and in purple, the median. As we can see from this first graph, a significant amount of time was spent on maps b2_01 and b2_02. This is normal since these maps are quite large and introduce new mechanics and monsters. The number of deaths/time spent was particularly high on these maps, considering they are relatively early in the game. Therefore, we have decided to make modifications to these maps to make them less punishing and facilitate learning. To measure the impact of our modifications, we calculated the number of deaths per map per day. This provides a more meaningful perspective.

Deaths by map, day 1

The first day of playtesting was busy in terms of session numbers, as if you all wanted to be the "first" ones, haha.
In any case, we can observe a sharp spike in deaths on maps b2_01 and b2_02, followed by a second spike on maps b2_06 and b2_07. The second spike is not as problematic; b2_06 is a rather technical map where players are being chased, and b2_07 is the map with the first mini-boss. Therefore, we didn't make major modifications to these maps, just some fixes. However, as mentioned earlier, we made modifications to b2_01 and b2_02.

Deaths by map, day 2

On Day 2, we can observe a slight decrease in deaths on b2_01, but it's not sufficient for b2_02.
There was a sequence of monsters/spikes that was quite challenging, and it was easy to fall into an "infernal spiral" and lose all of your health very quickly. Therefore, we continued to make modifications to that specific map.

Deaths by map, day 3

On this graph, we can observe a positive trend with a significant decrease in the average and median number of deaths on the problematic maps.
We continued to make some adjustments here and there, as you can see from the overall graph progression. Day 3 had the lowest number of playtests, so we had fewer data points, and the analysis continues on Days 4 and 5 to confirm that the modifications are effective.

Deaths by map, day 4

The downward trend is confirmed on Day 4.

Deaths by map, day 5

Once again, the trend is confirmed on the 5th day, so we have validated the modifications made to those maps. Naturally, if we look at the "maximum" number, we might be inclined to be influenced, which is why it is important to look at the average and median curves as well! We also analyze the "min" and "max" curves because in some cases, they can be revealing.

Why is it so important / Which curve is considered "good"?

You might be wondering why we are putting so much effort into reducing the number of deaths on these particular maps. As you know, I like to explain what happens behind the scenes in video game development. Having a high number of deaths on a map can potentially lead to player frustration and even rage quitting, especially when the map is at the beginning of the game and the player hasn't fully engaged with it yet. It's easy to think, "This game sucks," and quit. However, as players become more immersed in the game, invested in the story or other elements, their tolerance for persistence increases. Similarly, when the stakes seem higher, death becomes more acceptable. I can summarize this with the following statement: "Dying to an ant is frustrating, but dying to the first boss is expected." And that's what this curve represents. Our mistake as game designers was trying to introduce too many new elements at the beginning of Biome 2. As players, you weren't familiar with these monsters, and having too many of them at once, with tight placements and new behaviors, led to a higher-than-desired number of deaths. Working on these maps was challenging because they were well-designed from the start, but not impossible to improve. Additionally, I believe it will be necessary to add one or two maps that precede these challenging ones, allowing more time for fun and gradual discovery. Some players enjoy the hardcore aspect, but personally, I prefer a softer introduction, especially since a few maps later, the difficulty spike returns. However, the game is worth it, and the challenge is impressive enough not to frustrate players with repetitive deaths.

Total damage per enemy

This graph isn't particularly meaningful because the total number of deaths or damage changes depending on the frequency at which an object/monster appears. However, I find the numbers and graphs amusing, so we're sharing these graphs with you.

Total deaths per enemy

What are the dates for the upcoming sessions/beta?

We know that we want to have more sessions, but we're not sure about the exact dates yet! I think we'll have another session at the end of July, and maybe one last session in August! The closed beta is expected to arrive in September/October! (we'll do our best ). Until then, we'll be working hard to continue the game production, and we'll keep you updated on the dates.

The final name reveal is scheduled for Wednesday, July 12th at 8 PM (French time) in a live stream on our Twitch channel!

We've been waiting for this moment for a while. Join us on our Twitch channel on July 12th. We'll discuss the game, have a little Q&A session, and finally unveil the new game trailer along with the name reveal! We hope to see you there Our Twitch channel is located at: https://www.twitch.tv/dreamirl And if you haven't already, we invite you to join the official Discord server, a place for discussion and chat about the game. PS: please check your private message on Kickstarter / your email, as we sent a message to each beta backer.

[ 2023-06-26 20:57:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 04/21/2023 Hello everyone! Once again, this article is directly written by Inateno for simplicity in writing. A closer look at biome 2: an underground and labyrinthine biome in which you will face creatures capable of moving on walls and ceilings. Creatures that will chase you and jump on you! Today, I propose to delve a little into the content offered by this biome, but I still keep a lot of surprises for you. Biome 2 therefore requires a type of enemy that can walk on walls, ceilings, and jump on us. And as you may already suspect, we naturally thought of spiders. Except that many of you are arachnophobic. After realizing this, we changed our plans. Last time, I talked about my inspirations for creating Gold Project. Today, I will explain how and why we decided to remove the visual designs of spiders in the game, and what we replaced them with! PS: throughout this article, I will show spider designs in pixel-art, no real spider images. I hope arachnophobes won't be too scared seeing these images, I apologize in advance if it bothered you. Choosing spiders to meet the need for "monsters that walk on walls and ceilings" was obvious to us, so without thinking much, we started making this kind of design.
For non-arachnophobic individuals, it may seem cool. After some in-game tests, it was quite successful. Being chased by numerous spiders without any environment or music was already oppressive. That's exactly what we wanted... but. But here's the thing, we didn't consider arachnophobia and how many players it affects. After showing our progress to a friend who also works in the gaming industry, he mentioned arachnophobia and the fact that it affects nearly 30% of players! We realized that we would have a problem, and surprisingly, we don't have anyone on the team who is arachnophobic... so we just didn't think about it.

Changing the spider design to something else...

From a Game Design point of view, changing the spiders to "something else" is not a problem as long as the gameplay is respected, so we started discussing it. In a previous article "DEV BLOG #4 - How we create monsters in Gold" I told you that sometimes monsters are created based on a joke. Well, that's exactly what happened with these monsters! After all, in the game's story, the monsters of shadows and gold are humans corrupted by gold to the point where they transform into deformed creatures. So we came up with the idea of making monsters composed of arms and legs, like creepy assemblages. And the drawing result was pretty cool in my opinion!
A first test sheet "spiders for arachnophobes"

A drawing is not pixel art

Drawing on paper and making pixel-art are two different things. If we create concepts as drawings, they may not necessarily work when converted into pixel art.
There are issues with readability, detail, and resolution. And in our specific case with Gold, there is a crucial factor: the monsters are all black with very little red/gold detail. Having a solid-colored body can blur the readability on potato-like shapes. To explain it simply, having a leg that passes in front of the body will be completely invisible with only one color. Here's a diagram to illustrate the explanation.
PS: This is a high-quality diagram made on PAINT.net. There's a reason why I'm not the one doing the pixel art in the game! I think you've got the idea. However, we'll still show you the pixelated version we ended up with.
Finally, we ended up with something completely different, which is not a spider. Here is a new concept sheet to try to find readable monsters. Of course, not all of them are in the game. On this sheet, only 2 monsters have been selected.

The Boss of Biome 2, an exception to the rule

I want to clarify that we still kept a design inspired by a spider for biome 2. Named "the golden widow," we tried to avoid the small triggers that cause arachnophobia as much as possible. After showing this design to several people who agreed to participate in our survey, it turns out that this boss, half-woman, half-spider, is "acceptable."
If this design has bothered you too much, I apologize, don't hesitate to come and discuss it with me either on Discord or on Twitter, we will do our best to adjust the design of this boss if we can get new data. In your opinion, what will be the attacks of this boss?

General game progression, playtesting, and Beta access

Many of you are asking us where we are, when will the Kickstarter rewards be delivered, what is the release date of the game, and when will the beta start. For now, I can tell you that we are on schedule. The arachnophobia topic caused a bit of a delay in December, but we caught up, and overall, things are on track. We want to do the playtest quickly, but I can't promise anything in terms of dates, so you'll have to be patient. The same goes for the beta. We are quite demanding on the version we will give you. A little more patience, but it's worth it! That said, I can detail a bit the difference between beta and playtest:

• playtest = a version with a lot of missing visuals, few sounds and music, placeholders / blockouts, empty or missing maps, an incomplete game.
• beta = a game almost finished, some content is missing but the majority of the sounds and visuals are integrated into the game and the game is playable in most parts.

Regarding the development, we only have left:

• the final mega boss
• the skill tree
• finalize the world map
• and bugs, as you can imagine!

In other words, by the end of May, the technical development of the game will be almost finished! Also, we have had some questions regarding console versions. Know that someone on the team is actively working on porting our engine to the Switch, which will also be useful for the PS4 and PS5 ports. The Xbox port should be the easiest. Again, I cannot guarantee anything at this stage, but we are doing our best to reduce the release time between different platforms! Thank you for taking the time to read this article, I hope it was interesting. I will write a new article for you very soon! In the meantime, don't forget to come to the Discord.

[ 2023-06-17 11:00:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 03/10/2023 Many of you have asked us about it, and the "late Kickstarter" store is now available! To keep exclusivity for Kickstarter participants, we have significantly changed the prices of certain packs and have not added all of them. It is still possible to join the "beta" or to have a tombstone with your name in the game. Remember, pre-ordering the game provides us with considerable support to finish the game (thus allowing us to spend more time on the game and less time on client orders). All information and articles have been compiled in one place: Gold Project

FAQ

Will the price of the game increase? Yes, the final price is expected to be 20 on PC and a little more on consoles (not yet defined). Crowdfunding and pre-orders help us a lot, so we want to keep a preferential price for buying the game!
Pre-order the game, Digital edition How will I receive the game once it is released? We will contact you to find out which platform you want to receive the game on. If I purchase beta access, can I play on a console? The beta is only available on PC! If you want the game on a console, no problem. You can participate in the beta on PC and then receive the game on the console of your choice!
Pre-order the game + beta access Why is the physical pack so expensive? A game usually costs around 40 to 70. You are not buying a game off the shelf at fnac. The purpose of this campaign is to support us financially! The price is higher because producing a small number of physical editions is expensive. Furthermore, it is an exclusive collector's edition. If the game is released in a physical edition later (which we hope), it will not be the same box! Also, in the pack, you will receive a "Tarot" card game. You will also have access to the beta on PC.
Pre-order the game - physical collector edition If I buy "The Collector" pack, when will I receive the products, and how can I indicate my T-shirt size and name on the tombstone? We will contact you to ask for your size, name, and confirm the address.
Pre-order the game - The Collector package with your name on a grave and a lot of things!

Until when can we pre-order the game?

The game is scheduled to be released at the end of this year. We do not plan to release it in early access. The store will close a few months before the game's release, so you should be able to pre-order the game via our store until early summer! After that, it will no longer be possible to obtain limited editions or preferential rates, and you will have to buy the game directly from the relevant platform!

I have another question, where can I ask it?

Anywhere! Whether it's here in the comments, on Discord, or on social media, we strive to be attentive to all messages.

BONUS: Two new monsters!

As you know by now, we are cautious about revealing visual things about the game. Not because there is nothing to show or that we don't want to, but because we want everything to be "perfect". Nevertheless, we are making good progress, and over time we have things to show you. Let's start by telling you about a new monster. In a previous article, we told you about how we create monsters. Today, a new monster has been added to the overall list. Initially, we had an idea that was difficult to realize (and we lost a lot of time on it). Finally, we concluded that it would be something completely different. So, a new monster. And if we talk to you about this one rather than another, it's because it has a very specific behavior.

Halfway between a boss, a monster, and something invincible.

This monster exists only once in the game, like a boss. It will be present in several places in the game, exerting pressure on you, and will follow you throughout your progress. It will be possible to confront and kill it, which is totally optional but possible (and it will be rather difficult and different from all the other monsters in the game). It's hard to say more without spoiling it for you! So we will keep its appearance secret until the game is released. And to conclude this article, here's the appearance of a monster we've never talked about before! An animation sheet of the "Raging Berserker" monster, which is a "Hard" level monster.
One attack of the Berserker - Animation is not final We won't say more to let you imagine the gameplay of such a creature! We hope you like this visual and that it makes you want to face this monster! We'll be back soon with an article titled "We planned spiders but decided to remove them, here's why." See you soon!

[ 2023-06-15 11:00:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 03/02/2023 Hello everyone! Today, Inateno is writing directly to you! I hope you're doing well and found the previous articles interesting to read. In this new article, I want to address a rather personal and subjective topic: what are the inspirations for Gold Project? This is a question that comes up often, so I thought it would be interesting to discuss. But before we dive into that, let's talk about the development progression!

Game Design and Level Design:

Since the last update, we've made progress on new bosses and continued our work on biomes 3 and 4. We have 2 bosses left to design and some areas of the game that are not yet fully defined. While the level design work won't be finished until the last minute, we can still consider it well advanced! In fact, almost all of Biome 2 is completed, Biome 3 is 70% done, and Biome 4 is 30% done (these are estimates, but as it's mainly my work, I don't think I'm too far off). I estimate that we'll finish all of this work by April or May, but of course, there will be plenty of improvements to make after playtesting.

Programming:

On the technical side, things are going well. We had some small delays in February due to other work not related to Gold, but since our refactoring, we're going faster! Bosses 1, 2, and 3 are finished, and we're happy with them (although they'll likely need some tweaking after playtesting). We still have 3 bosses to make (making a total of 6 bosses planned so far). We've developed the mini-map, although it's not finished. We still have the skill tree to do, but the game mechanics and monsters AI are all finished or nearly finished. By April, we think the game will be technically finished, and we can start preparing for publication on platforms and porting to consoles! And if all goes well, we can start a new project? We'll see!

Visual Art:

We had some scheduling complications, especially with monsters. But since early February, we've had a bit of help from Christopher Legecky, who worked on the great "Stoneshard" and is helping our team sharpen its skills! The monsters are therefore progressing at a slower pace than programming, but it won't delay the game's release (still planned for the end of 2023!). We have about 10 monsters and 2 mini-bosses to do, and they're currently in progress. The hardest part was deciding on their look (as discussed in the previous article) and how we were going to represent certain types of monsters. Also, we had planned to include spiders, but we realized that arachnophobia was more prevalent than we had imagined! So we decided to remove aggressive spider designs and rework our designs while keeping something coherent with the gameplay. No teasing for now! We hope arachnophobes will appreciate this decision and the new designs! Bosses take time, and none are fully finished yet, but the 3 bosses that are already implemented have their visuals. We're excited to see them come to life in the game's setting! On the environmental side, Biome 1 has been finished since the January announcement, Biome 2 is almost finished, and Biome 3 is well advanced! The longest part will be dressing up the levels.

On the Audio and Music side:

Not much to say on this front, mostly research and testing. It's hard to make concrete progress until the game's rhythm is finalized! Well, we've been repeating the same thing for a while now, so to make it up to you, here's an exclusive sneak peek of one of the famous tests, created by Sarys. I want to make it clear that this is an ultra-wip test, absolutely nothing is final or even planned for this track, it may not even make it into the game! With this little update, I hope you have a good idea of "where we're at". Now, let's talk about inspirations.

My inspirations for Gold Project

I specify that what follows concerns only me "Inateno". As Lead Game Designer, Level Designer, and Producer on the game, my inspirations inevitably have an impact on my part of the work, and it is very subjective. I can't talk in the name of the other members of the team about this. Visual artists have their own inspirations, as do Sarys and MisterMV for music. Finally, people who do programming, such as Quentin or Maxime, also have their own inspirations when they will create a Boss, an attack, or a pattern. Each person who works on the project brings their personal touch, influenced by their own inspirations. My work directly impacts the player's feeling in terms of their progression and discovery in the game world, and maybe when you play the game, you will see them.
https://www.reddit.com/r/castlevania/comments/av6259/made_a_metroidvania_map/ If you want to discuss this kind of subject with me via Discord, it is possible. Do not hesitate to tell me what you like and what you don't like, maybe it will give me some ideas. My love for metroidvanias genre began quite early in my life as a gamer. I had the Game Boy Color as my first console (before that, it was mostly at my parents friends houses that I could play on consoles, like the NES or the Saturn). A little personal note, I'm just in my thirties. So if you're a few years older than me, it might make you smile, and if you're ten years younger, maybe you won't understand all the references. A good opportunity to learn about old or recent games (because you'll see, there's everything). As far as I can remember, I think it was Castlevania on Game Boy Color that was my first contact, and frankly not the best since I didn't keep the game and I don't have more memories than that (I couldn't even name the exact opus, don't blame me). On the other hand, Metroid Fusionon Game Boy Advance was a revelation of the genre for me, and I just loved the game.
Since that game, I have played many games of the genre without even realizing it. There are obviously about all the Metroids that have passed through my hands, some Castlevanias (I'm a fan of that franchise). Here is a list, ordered by release date, of some games that I remember that are "recognized" as metroidvania games (I deliberately exclude Metroids and Castlevania):

• Tails Adventure (sur Game Gear)
• Tombi! (sur Playstation) que je navais pas spcialement aim au passage
• VVVVVV (2010)
• Capsized (2011)
• Cave Story+ (2011)
• Hell Yeah! (2012)
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (2012)
• Gateways (2012)
• Toki Tori 2+ (2013)
• Antichamber (2013)
• Fez (2013)
• Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013
• Guacamelee! (2013)
• La Mulana (2013)
• Finding Teddy (2013)
• Steamworld Dig (2013, pas vraiment reconnu comme un metroidvania)
• Unepic (2014)
• Axiom Verge (2015)
• Chronicles of Teddy (2015) maybe I am not objective about this one as it is a friend who made it, same for Finding Teddy
• Wuppo (2016)
• Hollow Knight (2017)
• Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition (2018)

There are quite a few other titles that I would remember if I saw the name or an image, but that's already a good list. Some titles are not on it, such as Ori, for example, because they are not games I have played directly (someone else owns it, and either I play it "quickly" or I watch the person play. I do not consider having played these games as it is superficial and impersonal). However, the list does not stop there. There are many games that use all the codes of Metroidvania without being recognized as such. Zelda is a good example, and I could also mention Donkey Kong 64, Mario 64, or even Banjo-Kazooie, which, in my opinion, are very close to the genre.
Screenshot of the game Banjo-Kazooie on Nintendo 64 But then how do we define a Metroidvania? According to Wikipedia, it is a subgenre of action-adventure games with a focus on non-linear exploration and/or exploration based on the acquisition of new powers. Moreover, there are terms such as Zeldatroid and Zeldavania, which are not used or even accepted by communities. Anyway, this is where my influence will be felt since a game that recently marked me is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. And even though the game is beautiful, good, etc... it's not something so vague that struck me. It's its open-world exploration model.
The possibility of facing any boss in any order, and the fact that the character's skills are all acquired from the start, are the two things to remember in this game in my opinion. In Gold Project (which is not the final name, as a reminder), I wanted to have a bit of this overall feeling of freedom, without breaking the "classic" Metroidvania codes too much. So it's possible to face any boss in any order, provided you have the required skills. That means that in Gold Project, you have a slight required skill system (not like in Hollow Knight or Metroid Dreads, I'll come back to that), but when you get a new required skill, there is no obligation to go and face a boss. You can very well retrieve all the skills in the game, and then face the bosses in disorder. One clarification, I intentionally wrote "required skill" because in Gold Project, you will have optional skills (those that do not allow you to finish the game) and required skills to finish the game. When I finished Metroid Dreads (which I did in one go), I was both satisfied and a bit bored. I found the game very well done no matter how you look at it, but at the same time a bit bland and repetitive. The number of skills or skill upgrades we obtain is, in my opinion, too high (I'll spoil it slightly, but from memory we improve the weapon power 4 times, which allows us to open 4 types of "doors").
The traditional room that allows you to get a new power in the Metroid series And that makes progression easy in this game since when you get a new skill, you just have to look at the map to see where you can use it. The "exploration" side is, in my opinion, absent in this game. And if we take a game that is completely opposed from an exploration point of view, namely Hollow Knight, in my opinion, it's too much. We obtain a lot of skills without any idea of "where to go" at times, we find ourselves having to explore the entire game world to discover a new passage.
Screenshot of the incomplete map in Hollow Knight As someone who loves games of this genre, I have to admit that I don't think I will finish Hollow Knight; it's far too long, far too labyrinthine, and finishing a game by looking it up online doesn't satisfy me too much, especially for this kind of game. It's difficult as a creator to choose between "do we want to hold the player's hand" and "do we want to lose them in a world to the point of giving up." In my opinion, we need a somewhat guided hook, a hint of freedom but not too much, and later on, open all the floodgates of freedom (we can go wherever we want). Although there are many games that have inspired me on my list, it would be too long to list them all. But here's a little recap of it all.

• I don't like games that are too much like Beat'em all with little variety and little platforming, like Dust an Elysian Tail, for example.
• I don't like it when there are too many gradual skills that give access here and there, in a repetitive way, like Metroid Dread, for example.
• I don't like it when the game world is way too big and unguided to the point of running around for 30 minutes for no reason, like in Hollow Knight, for example.
• I don't like it when "you must go here" is displayed too obviously on a map.
• I don't like maps that are not very useful and don't allow us to optimize our routes.

However:

• I like a streamlined combat system, with a diversity of enemies and AI, like in Hollow Knight.
• I like a game in which we have the freedom of choice and order, and our skill makes the difference, like in Zelda BotW.
• I like a game in which we're not guided by the hand like a child, but the world's construction was designed so that we don't get lost, like in Metroid Dread.
• I like a game in which platforming is present, sometimes challenging, often satisfying, but not hardcore, like in Hollow Knight and Metroid Dread.
• I like skill and character improvement systems (life, for example), but I don't like it when it's abusive and can make a difference, or even required to finish the game.
• I like a detailed map that allows me to really "see the game world" and lets me try to guess what might be in a certain place, without being an active GPS that takes me by the hand.
• I like to have a story present and linked to progression, but I have no preference between "a lot of story" and "little story," I like both.

I know that we are all different, and sometimes we want to "dose the challenge ourselves." That's why for the specific part of skills, we will have an optional skill system in Gold Project that will allow you to obtain new powers to face your opponents. The game is finishable with only basic skills and streamlined gameplay, the rest being optional, according to each person's taste.
Screenshot of the game Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet On the world exploration side, for now, it falls into "what I like," but we may offer options to add/remove details; nothing is final in what I explain here. Finally, on the combat side, we currently have a very simple combat system that will be enriched by the optional skills. We must not forget that the world of Gold Project is complex since we must add to all of this "Karma," which will change the access between maps; we have difficulty understanding it during conception, and that's why we will pay very special attention to the world map. I recommend reading DEV BLOG #2 if you want to know more about how Karma works: I could write several more pages about what I like and don't like, as well as "my vision" for designing a metroidvania. I hope this article helps you understand my vision for the game a little better, and I look forward to exchanging ideas with you if you have any further questions! And before I go, I'd like to give you the list of conventions we've planned to attend in 2023. I hope to see you there and have a chance to chat! March 25-26 at Occitanie Game Show Montpellier (at the Montpellier exhibition center) May 13-14 at TGS Springbreak (Diagora Labge, near Toulouse) October 1-2 at Pau Anime Game Show (at the Pau exhibition center) November 26-27 at TGS Toulouse (at Meet in Blagnac, near Toulouse)

[ 2023-06-13 10:40:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 01/08/2023 Good news fella ! Today we are showing you some images Of course, everything is not final and can change over the coming months. We thought it would be cool to explain the process of creating monsters in the game.

What is the beginning ?

Its a famous question players ask us many times how do you start the work ?. And the answer can sound frustrating as there is not one answer. Sometimes the process will start with a quick drawing giving us ideas, it can also be based on a joke while chatting with the team. Or it can be when we try things in the code and something not planned happens (here comes the famous its not a bug, its a feature). As there is no specific order or rules, we will try to explain those different steps. Remember we do not use all of those steps in an exclusive way. Before digging in, we must know what we need to make a monster.

How to make monsters by filling the games needs

A bit of Game Design is required. When talking about needs of the game it will be: We need a monster who can

• fly
• have ranged attack
• walk on the ceiling
• blind the player
• jump in a specific way
• etc

So we identify what we already have and what we havent. Then we try to estimate the difficulty of what we have today to create a scaled system. To make Gold, we created the following legend. It lets us adjust each monster and try to get a graduating balance and difficulty over the play time.
Other types of needs we are looking for could be described as follows: How to make a monster that

• do not let the player jump over it
• force the player to do a specific action
• induce the player to go to a specific place

In summary, Gold Projects design is a mix of ideas/concepts art/code/needs which will define the monster. Today, we have 19 Monsters planned for the game. Sometimes, during conversations, we have new ideas we love so much that we decide to add a new monster. Sometimes it is because of an accident (we tried a few prototypes, and some concepts are really cool). But we first try to make this fit the calendar. Of course, our way to do is probably close to other teams. There are dozens of ways to design a game but the components required to make a game are the same. Its normal to have similarities and maybe our explanations along this article sounds familiar to you.

Method 1: start by the Character-Design

It is one of the easiest methods to explain as it is visual. An artist makes some quick sketches we call concepts, then we talk about it. While looking at this concept we may think This one is great and gives me ideas. It can also be right from the conception point that the artist got early ideas in mind. What is the process of this method ? The art team working on monsters will make concepts and then show off their work to the rest of the team. It can be very specific ideas like this is an assassin. Or it can be pretty vague and we start brainstorming about it. Of course we will focus on the objectives coming from the Game & Level Design to get very different behaviors and monsters. From easy to very hard, with bosses etc Once the selection is done, the iterative process starts. We take one monster, create a monster specs sheet (see method 2), then prototype it (see method 3). And finally validate it (see Iterations). Some people would prefer to imagine every aspect of the monster before even making a prototype and testing it. We completely avoid this approach as it is very risky to spend a lot of time making animations, without guarantees of the monsters being cool in the end. If we do so, we should tweak the monsters depending on the animation and not the opposite, the gamefeel would be locked.
While making the preproduction of the game, we did some animations before monsters in order to imagine what the final render would be. But we do not do that on production.

Method 2: start by the Game Design

Starting by the Game Design is radically different. This principle is to first think about different levels of monsters and the functions expected from each of them. Then we create a monster sheet specs, containing the intention of the Game Designer and what we try to achieve with this monster. Potentially with an idea of what it could look like. Here is what a monster sheet specs contain :
To make it simple, this general process can be shortened as follows: we first write ideas that we test in our mind and then make a prototype of it. Once the writing is done, some people will consider their design job to be done and move on. But we prefer to start prototyping with the help of the document, and give the freedom of creativity to the programmer in charge of this monster. Then we have to tweak the monster and change it until it meets our expectations. This cycle is completed by the art design, which means visuals and animations based on the prototype. We already know all the timings and all the attacks. Sometimes the concept art of the monster is done before the code which helps us imagine what it is and what kind of behaviors and moves it should use.

Method 3: start by the Prototype

This method is probably the most popular across the game developers as it does not require any kind of work before doing it, like writing or drawing. The principle of the approach is to code freely and widely anything that inspires us. Each programmer will have a different way to make this happen, depending on the skill and the will. Side note, the more we do monsters in the game and the more we can start from/get inspired from/compose with an existing one. And this allows us to go faster and faster along the developpement. Specifically in the Gold Project, we created a component system very helpful for the AIs. We can pick any component that already exists if it is close to what we want to achieve. For example, we have some monsters capable of walking on walls or ceils and they use the WallWalker component. Any new monster needing that feature will just have to use the same component. The big advantage of this method is that we can directly test out the monster along its making. When it is validated, then the art team can work on visual and animations as they can experience it and play its final behavior, with timings and everything. This avoids surprises and useless work for the art team.
Here we use a big zombie from the pre-prod to make a prototype of a Boss The big downside of this technique is that we have to work with placeholders. It can be squares of colors or another monster that already exists even if it is not the same size or behavior (just to use something better than a square). In our case we often use the basic Zombie as a placeholder but not only. We can also use a concept-art image static (with no animations). It is really hard to imagine the final monster when we are working with placeholders. Sometimes we can think our work is not that good just because its visually empty. A very small visual fx can change all of it. Also when playtesting it is hard to make a difference between monsters if they all look the same. We must be able to identify the fun of that monster with a very simple placeholder, and then trust the art team to make it visually astounding.

Method 4: start with a Joke

This method is not a game changer compared to the others but it is real! Sometimes while talking and drawing, or making prototypes, we can have what we call stupid ideas or funny ideas. It can be a way to exploit a bug to create a monster, or just a joke that sounds fun to do. Its hard to give you a visual explanation of it, but at least you know this exists! Will you be able to guess which monsters have been created, based on a joke or a bug ?

Iterations

No matter which method you chose to use, each of them leads to the same thing: iterations. If we had to resume this with a sentence it would be something like art > design > code > tweaking > art > design > code > tweaking
When is it enough? Here is the big question no-one can answer, junior nor veteran. We are never 100% happy with our creative work and sometimes we can go back months after to change a little thing, when everything seems to be done. Game developers have a saying I hear a lot: A game is never done, only abandoned (which originally came from Leonardo da Vinci talking about Art). While making the Gold Project, we try to make the maximum of iterations we can, according to our previsional planning. Once we like a monster we move on to the next one. And then, later, we do another iteration over all monsters to check one more time if there is something we want to change, or if we have a new idea. Most of the time it will result in a visual evolution more than a functional evolution. Why visual only? Because once a monster is technically done, except for bugs, we rarely have to change it after all the tests and playtests we did. Tweaking can take a lot of time, but once we find the good one, we rarely change it later. During the production of new monsters, our visual skills improve. This make us notice some issues on the precedently created monsters. Small precision, sometimes an evolution is not necessarily more beautiful if we only see the monster alone. We have to take all the game in consideration, the gameplay and how it is readable in the game, levels, but also its size and animations.

Preview of the Biome 1

We hope this article was interesting to read! Before we go back to work, we wish you a Happy New Year ! As promised, let us conclude this article by revealing a preview of the biome 1: The Forest. One more time, thank you all for your support and patience. More is coming very soon ! [previewyoutube=qbaJlUVpjYQ;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]

[ 2023-06-11 10:40:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 12/11/2022 Hello everyone! Its already December, the end of the year is coming and today in this new blog post we wanted to do a global summary about what we have done so far, what is left and what is coming in 2023! As a reminder, we had 4 biomes planned, a fifth has been unlocked with the KS stretchgoals. 19 monsters are planned, 3 mini-bosses and 6 bosses. When we are talking about progression there are many things to consider and Ill try to list all of them:

• Conception (Game Design)
• Technical stuff (mostly Programing)
• The artistic realization
• Integration (including assets in the project, tweaking, etc)
• validation (when everyone is happy of what we have)

About the Game Design almost everything is done.

Some minor things are still left to do, some stuff is uncertain and we are making tests to validate it as soon as we can. Two Bosses still need to be completed by Game Design, these will be worked on once we finalize the other bosses currently in production. The Game Design will change over time should we face any adversity. However, we are currently on track with some of the principal parts of the game already complete.

The technical work

Let's get down to the technical side of things, those of you who love to know the current state of the game. For sake of simplicity we will avoid talking about complex things (like bugs, low-level code, components, shaders). So here is already done:

• All the monsters in the game (AI code and behaviors).
• 2 Bosses, AI and behaviors (as mentioned above).
• Game mechanics for the biome 1, 2 and 3.
• The interactive world map.
• New karma system.
• The progression of the character (experience, unlock skills).
• The main skills of the character.
• Some optional skills.

The artistic work

Before we start rendering we need to wait for the design and code to be finished so we can work on how we want the monsters and leveling to look and interact inside the game. Then once rendering is completely finished, we can move on to think about music and sound design. Now lets talk a bit about the audio and sound of the game. Right now we are considering the status of sound to be at 0%. Sarys and MisterMV have completed a lot of tests and have a lot of things in mind however, until the biome is 100% complete its hard to validate the music. This is because we want to be sure the biome matches the mood and rhythm perfectly. We know this may sound terrifying but do not worry, once the game is nearly done, this work will be fast to finish as the tests and research we have already done will be a big part of the job. Regarding the visual side of the game, we have around half of the monsters done (at least the first version, sometimes we change rendering months after the first version because we want to improve it). The main character is done, its attacks. The biome 1 and 2 are close to being finished. The arts of the biome 3 has only barely been started. Once we finish the visual of a biome, we then move on to level-art (cf previous blog post) and most of the time, this work requires us to go back in the assets production and create new things for this biome. This is why it is time consuming.

Integration

Everything that has been finished on the art side is directly integrated and tested to fix it if required. So we have half of the monsters integrated and playable in the first version (there are some monsters or animations we are not happy with, we will change it later). Hard to imagine how all of this looks right? We could have shown you the world-map but it is a big spoil we do not want to make. But! We have a simplified version of this world-map. (keep reading until the end).

Beta version: when ?

This is probably the most asked question and its still hard to talk about a precise date. Instead, as we were progressing quickly these last weeks, we got an idea. A game needs playtesting along the production, way before a beta version. So why not playtest the game with our community, instead of random people who do not care about the game?
And so, people who backed us with a tier higher than The Beast will be selected as playtesters! We will randomly pick some backers for each session we need to make, and will do our best to offer at least one chance to each of you. With your help, we will find what is bad, and what needs to be reworked to improve the game, playtest after playtest. Of course if you do not want to participate, because you want to avoid being spoiled or you dont want to play the game without arts, a ton of possible bugs and incomplete, you can refuse, its fine. In the same way, if you accept to enter the playtest sessions, you accept being spoiled and play a game with bugs, missing arts/description and stuff (mostly blockout without story or stuff like that, see previous blog post). What is the goal of doing this? Saving time! Level-Art is time consuming and imagine if we do the level-art over 20 levels, and we discover its not easily playable, we would have to change the level design of those 20 maps. So we would have to redo the level-art again resulting in the final release date maybe being pushed back. This is why playtesting is the best way to find out what is wrong as soon as possible. The official Beta access (on Steam for example) will be available once we have enough final content in the game. At this time we do not know when.

Rewards upgrade for The Collector and The Renowned backers

As we are now moving on in the production of the game, we thought it would be cool to add some special backer content into the game. So we are offering the following upgrade:

• backers with The Collector tier, you can now claim a grave in the game with your name on it.

• backers with The Renowned tier, you will now get the chance to design with us a personalized statue with your name on it, that will be added to the game at release (we will reach out to you to organize a call with us to tell us what youd like as a statuette)

We hope you will like this upgrade and we will keep thinking about new ways to thank our community.

Last word before the end of this post

We thought that some of you would like to know more about the world of the game, so we made a simplified world map almost no spoil. It will give you some ideas about what we want the world to look like, without spoiling too much. If you want to see it, click on this link ! (we did not include the image in case some of you prefer to wait). And thats it for today! Next time, we will talk about our Monster creation process and we will show you some in game stuff !

[ 2023-06-09 09:47:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 10/28/2022 Hello everyone, this is the second dev blog post about the Gold Project. Today it is Inateno whos gonna talk about Game Design. In order to make the writing and the reading easier, this dev blog is made using the first person. Before jumping in, it is maybe useful to explain what is Game Design because it is something people heard a lot, but the meaning is probably unclear for you. Most of the time, some people confuse design with something that is visual or is somehow related to visual arts. To make it short, the Game Design is the making of the rules and mechanics which allow the game to exist and run, in order to let you live an experience (what you feel by playing). When we say rules it is for example when the HP reaches 0 the player is dead. When we say mechanics it is for example activate a switch. Seems pretty simple right? Today the focus is made on the mechanic of Karma and everything involved. Some other aspects of the Game Design will be concerned, but we do our best to keep you away from the spoil, so this article is pretty safe. The idea behind this dev blog is to explain how we represent Karma in order to create rules. The word Karma is most of the time understood as good and evil (and you probably think about the game Fable right now). Some others use this word to describe the fact you receive good after being good, and bad after being bad.
Fable 3 screenshot and the Karma system. Fable 3 screenshot and the Karma system. We tend to think that Karma is the binary opposition of two states, like on and off. And if, for most of the people, Karma is good or evil without anything in between, when you deep the definitions around the Karma and the origin coming from the Buddhism, we find this: In the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to actions driven by intention, a deed done deliberately through body, speech or mind, which leads to future consequences. Make it short, Karma is a series of actions which will change destiny. We decided to use the gauge of Karma with two ends, because it is the most simple form to understand it and draw it. You can be Luminated or Golded with a graduation.
Screenshot of the prototype during the preproduction with the old Karma system. Screenshot of the prototype during the preproduction with the old Karma system. It could have been more complicated, and it is pretty hard to make something that works without perturbing all the ecosystem of the game, including people (you !) must understand it, and many designers forget this and create overwhelming mechanics. I have to say it again, none of the Light or Gold is good or evil, you can think that if its make you feel more comfortable or is easier to understand (and there is no problem with it), but you will be able to understand the true deepness of what we wanted to create by searching everywhere in the game! At the beginning of the preproduction (before the prototype) we wanted to change the impact on the Karma each time you kill and absorb an enemy. This was laborious and boring. Too much repetitive. Also the fact that you can change the balance of the Karma in any place was a huge problem and it was possible to lock the player in the game (while becoming Gold in a place you shouldnt be Gold for example). It was required to think about this entire mechanic to find something more interesting that works with every part of the game. As explained in the first dev blog, now you will have to find statues and decide to enlight/golden it, this will give a ratio and define your allegiance. Those statues will also be used as checkpoints. Sadly, I cant reveal everything hidden behind the statues without spoiling you and ruining the plot of the game, but some details can be explained.

The impact of Karma in the world, and the progression of the Player.

I explained this quickly in the last dev blog: > Now, the change in the level design will occur not by blocks but will be completely different levels with different paths. > It is more work for us since we will have to make the same map many times, but we will have more control over the rendering and avoid cringe/buggy situations. And as I said, it will require more work but we will have better control over the rendering and the pathing through the game. I cannot show you a final rendering today, but I can show you some blockout levels to explain how it works. PS: the following screenshots are what we call blockout or "blocking", it means this is how we design levels from a technical point of view. It is not supposed to reflect the final rendering. If you are curious about this, I suggest you should check on Twitter with the hashtag "blocktober", you can see many many games and I always like to watch how the others are doing! https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blocktober?src=hashtag_click
Blockout screenshot in Uncharted. Blockout screenshot in Uncharted. I must let you know this: the levels Im gonna show you are not final. As designers we do dozens of test levels and we do many versions with different patterns, difficulty, monsters, and whatever can change before we keep only the best. Then, once we decide which version we keep for the final game, we start again working on this level in order to adjust it to make the Level Art (what makes the game beautiful). This can seem frustrating as we throw away a lot of work, but this is how we must proceed to have a result we like, and sometimes I wish I have more time to do more iterations, but we are ruled by time and money. Final words, this iterative process lets us make very hard levels and pretty simple levels. We have some difficulty grades, types, and we can freely try anything without considering the biome we are working on. This work is made before we think about the biome it will go in, and is a good process to make it easier for integration in the world, and adjust the difficulty. Here is a level of Light. The red line is the path of the player.
A level under the influence of Light. And the same thing but with Gold.
A level under the influence of Gold. Of course this example is an easy one. There is only one level that can change without changing the pathing. But we can have different situations, and even if the end of the path remains the same, all the pathing, enemies and difficulty will be different. One precision in case it is not clear, you cannot go in a Light Level while being Golden. Here is a new example, a bit more complex, with many levels. First, the Gold version.
A set of Gold Levels. And the Light version.
A set of Light Levels.

How to find your way as a player

In a metroidvania, the ability to find your way / use a map is crucial. What will happen about those Karma areas is that when you find a Light level, it will show up on the mini-map. But once you are Golden, each level of Light will disappear and show unknown fog again, until you discover those Gold levels. The discovery of levels is saved so when you go back to Light, all the knowledge you had is preserved and restored into the mini-map. We are thinking about a feature that could display both versions of the world at the same time, like a layer system, but we want to avoid adding complexity over things that are already complex by design. The path, doors, and access will be visible on the mini-map. That way you will be able to analyze and understand what are the possible paths and guess which place you didnt find.

How are you sure that we can't get stuck with this mechanic?

We changed all the systems to use statues. Those statues will be placed at strategic places, outside of Karma zones. So we have control over the quantity and the placement. What we have to do is: be sure that every place of statues can be accessed at any time, whatever is your allegiance. Change the side of the Karma As previously explained, it is the ratio of all the active statues that will define your allegiance (and the level). To change/reinforce it, you have to backtrack the game to change the statues already active, or keep going through the game to find new ones. You will have many opportunities to go back to a known place because weve made the progression that way (a bit like in Metroid Dreads). That way the pure backtrack is not required. What you will do depends on you and what you want to do, when.

The level of allegiance

The level of allegiance increases with the Karma gauge. The more you are dedicated to a god, the more your allegiance level increases! This will let you unlock new skills but also some new paths. It will be interesting for you to try it, if you want to discover everything in the game! Right now, I cant talk much about this without spoiling you too much and trust me, this would ruin the best part of the game. I will talk more about the allegiance levels in a future dev blog which will talk about skills. The Karma is the main mechanic that will let you change the paths in the world of Gold Project, Pay attention to the details, be curious and maybe we will find what we are hiding! Also, and last thing for today: the Karma will have an impact on the end of the game. I hope this new dev blog was cool to read and interesting. Until the next one, see you on the Discord !

[ 2023-06-09 09:29:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! We haven't been very active on Steam, and we apologize for that. In order to have a continuous thread of DEV BLOG updates, we have decided to repost the articles originally posted on Kickstarter. The other articles will follow shortly, and we hope you will enjoy reading them! -- this article was originally posted: 09/02/2022 So here is the first post-campaign update of Project Gold! First we apologize for the months of silence. We know you are a lot awaiting news of the game and we decided to not talk before we have enough to tell. Making a game is not something to be rushed. It is a marathon and we decided to take the time we need to set up every required process in the team and for the production. Today, we cannot show you anything yet because we want to show you the final rendering of the game. But time flies and we did not inform you of what was going on. This post is only written stuff, and we will try to make others devblogs to tell the progress, what we are doing and where we are going. And when we have the chance, we will show you very nice things! Be aware, if you want to keep aside any kind of spoiler (even small) and discover the whole game once finished, you probably should stop reading from here, the goal of a devblog is to show and explain a part of our work. Of course, we wont spoil the whole game and even if you decide to read this post, you will have plenty of things and secrets to discover! Our goal is to reward curious players, be attentive to everything and maybe you will be able to find the mysteries we are hiding in the game.

What is the production status?

Since the release of the playable prototype and the video made by MisterMV, we received a lot of feedback, both positive and negative. Before working on the content of the game, we decided to:

• rework some game mechanics that were not that fun
• complete the documentation of the world and everything attached to it (what do we do, when, where, this is Game Design)
• rework the art rendering (we are excited to show it)
• rework most of our game engine, essentially the physics, in order to create new game mechanics (physic is always fun)

Lets talk about what was in the prototype.

Karma

The Karma is changing. Instead of purifying/massacring the souls of enemies, now you will have to find statues and decide to pray/corrupt it, this will give a ratio and define your allegiance. This makes it easier to change your mind, go back and change the state of the statues. This will also bring new subtleties you may discover while playing the game!

Farming monsters

Killing monsters will now give you exp points which will let you unlock optional skills. In the prototype, optional skills were acquired by absorbing souls. We decided to change this for something simpler that everyone already knows. A classic exp points system with a skill tree divided between the God of Gold and the Goddess of Light. That way you will be able to decide which optional skill you want. You will be able to finish the game without these optional skills, it is a way to add some variations to the game and also a way to help the players who struggle to progress.

The level design changing along the Karma

This is one of the core features of the game, we had to find how to make it better. In the prototype, we were using golden/enlightened blocks, but the final rendering was not as good as what we thought. Now, the change in the level design will occur not by blocks but will be completely different levels with different paths. It is more work for us since we will have to make the same map many times, but we will have more control over the rendering and avoid cringe/buggy situations. We decided to change those mechanics because the previous ones were not fun enough, boring after a few minutes, not as beautiful as expected or could be the reason for soft lock issues (when you are locked in a level and it was not the goal of the designers).

And then?

We are working on a new rendering for the game. But we do not want to show anything until it is 100% ready! So lets talk a little bit about dev stuff (I mean, technical stuff). Gold Project is made with a homemade engine powered by Javascript/WebGL. To make the prototype we did not have a lot of time so we had to do for the best. Last month we reworked a lot of things from a technical point of view, starting with the design of a components system (if you know Unity its a little bit the same). This allows us to reuse components and make new ones to design gameplay and AIs. We also added a rig engine (virtual skeletons to say it quickly) which brings the possibility to create procedural animations or other things reacting to physics! Finally, it is not the most interesting part. We completely re coded all the existings AIs from the prototype to optimize them and create components for each part in order to reuse them. Above that, making the code more restrictive and robust. With all those little things we can go faster to make new AIs. This work took some time (~2 months) but we have a stronger environment to code and will spend less time debugging it. It is an investment for the coming months. Last point about technical things, we made a lot of changes on the player character, changing the feeling and controls. The goal is to have the best, smooth and fun experience possible.

Conclusion

This concludes our first devblog. Last months we worked mostly on things hard to understand as a player, Game Design, refactoring technical things low level, research on arts, rendering, and music. Hard to see the progress about the making of the game. Here is now one thing that should comfort you: We finished those obscure tasks and are now working seriously on the content of the game! As of today we already made 4 new AIs in the game. Planned for the Biome 2 each one is very different and will surprise you! It is a kind of creature we did not show in the prototype. Do you have any idea of what it could be? We are impatient to show you more and bring some images along with the writing. Maybe in the next post? Since then we keep moving forward! Thanks. ~ the dev team PS: reminder, you can join our Discord Server and claim your backer role!

[ 2023-06-01 08:48:37 CET ] [ Original post ]