"You won't believe what the creators of V Rising are revealing in this 1.0 Q&A session! The future of the hit vampire survival game will shock you!"

  Nearly two years ago, Swedish indie developer Stunlock Studios (best known for the action MOBA Battlerite) released a vampire survival game called V Rising on Steam Early Access. The game quickly rose to the top of the Steam charts, selling over a million units in just a week since launch.

Image : Google.com/images.app.goo.gl/ZRnhuZZyw1fCK94R7

Just a few months later, V Rising has registered more than two and a half million players. As time went on, some users moved on to newer releases, but Stunlock Studios slowly but surely continued to add to the game, with the first major content update ( Secret of Gloomrot ) occurring roughly on the game's anniversary.

Now, V Rising is almost ready to leave early access, adding major features like a new endgame region, Dracula and his army, a crossover with Castlevania, proper gamepad support, and more. With two days left until version 1.0 comes out on live servers, here's our interview with Stunlock Studios reflecting on these two years of early access, what's in store for version 1.0, and what might come after. Also, come back tomorrow to read our full review of V Rising.

Now that V Rising's early access phase is coming to an end, what major surprises have you encountered over the past two years, both positive and negative?

Oh, great question. The entire process of developing a first-time open world survival game had many surprises that spanned the spectrum of experiences, from incredibly difficult challenges to finding puzzle pieces that perfectly fit the picture. I think if I tried to be more specific, this would be an entire interview, so I'll just say that there have been many unexpected gains and struggles and many good and hard lessons learned that we will carry with us forever. a studio.

Will the game's early success lengthen or shorten the duration of V Rising's early access?

It's hard to say, but the huge success in Early Access gave us a lot of confidence in the game and the leeway we needed to decide to release V Rising right when it was ready. Not all studios get that opportunity, and we're very grateful to be in this position.

Overall, has the game met your expectations so far in terms of sales?

Above our expectations! Let's just say you should never underestimate the vampire community.

How did the Castlevania collaboration come about? Can you share details about this process?

We established contact with KONAMI, and after a while, everything went smoothly! It took us a while to find the sweet spot in how best to work together, but we're big fans of the Castlevania series so we were relentless in making it happen. Thankfully, KONAMI was receptive, and here we are!

Regarding the details of the process, from our side, I can only say that working with KONAMI has been extraordinary. They showed a real attention to detail and love for their characters and IP that we wanted to match. A lot of time was spent making sure the details communicated all the themes and little nuances that longtime fans would be looking for.

Will 1.0 add more character customization options?

Oh yes, more than ever, and to a huge degree. We've added additional slot levels to your worn gear, so you can choose one piece of gear based on its stats and another based on its appearance. There are also around 31 color palettes for each armor you can choose from, and you can edit them at any time. Don't forget the Legacy of Castlevania Premium Pack, which has some pretty sweet new looks. You can't see me now, but I wink at you.

Will there be a weapon balance pass in version 1.0?

There are several adjustments, especially to the crossbow, to make it more different from the new longbow weapons. There are some adjustments to various weapons, as well as new tier legendary weapons that have unique and modified weapon skills. All that aside from the other new weapon, the whip, you'll definitely notice some serious differences.

Can you discuss the graphical improvements in this version (e.g. light engine)? 

The lighting system has received a facelift that completely changes the look of the game. It's easier to understand smaller details, and the world in general is more immersive. The whole thing is also much lighter on your machine's performance, allowing for longer rendering distances. Many places that used to be just thick fog can now be seen at any time. We also changed the tone a bit, making it a little less cozy, a little more flashy, and gothic to better suit the horror vibe we like.

What are your goals after the launch of V Rising? How long do you plan to support the game, and will there be paid DLC?

Well, after version 1.0, we're turning our attention to the PlayStation 5 release. This is our first console release, so we're pretty focused on that at the moment. Plus, we still have some planning to do before we can share anything definitive.

Is there still a goal to make one player feel like the "Dracula of the server", as mentioned in the initial blog post, and if so, how will the new endgame feed into that idea?

The “shards” that players compete for are now jewelry slot items. Instead of keeping them in your castle to survive with buffs that anyone in your clan can take, they are limited to one player who has strong enough stats and a powerful ultimate spell. I would say that if you carry the pendant that falls from Dracula yourself, you will definitely feel like Dracula on the server.

Will the server be updated to do more at some point?

We always want to expand the server system, but I can't give specifics on whether or how. We really have a lot of ideas for it, so there's a lot of potential to expand that feature even further.

Apart from clans, are there any plans to create temporary groups/parties even if only in PvE? Additionally, any plans to create an in-game friends list?

There are no plans for that at the moment!

What do you think about official modding support? Will this be available someday and if so, will you add Steam Workshop support?

We offer hard modding support in any official capacity. There are a lot of talented modders trying to bring their imaginations to life with our game, and that's really cool! However, unfortunately we cannot comment on plans to add official modding support in the future.

Speaking of mods, there was a popular one a while back that added an over-the-shoulder camera to the V Rising. Have you considered adding this perspective in an official capacity?

We've seen it! It's cool that a lot of players enjoy it, but there's some level of quality control that we don't get past. This game wasn't meant to be seen from that point of view, and the combat isn't up to our standards from that point of view either. If we do that, the project will have to be completely new. Is that something the players want?

Why did you choose PlayStation 5 as the console of choice for V Rising?

It feels like a great fit for V Rising, and Sony has been a spectacular partner for us! Overall, we are very happy with this decision.

Will you be taking advantage of the DualSense controller's haptic feedback features and adaptive triggers? If so, will it be available on PC as well as PS5?

We had a lot of fun implementing some of these, y'know! For example, the controller provides a little resistance to the trigger as you feed to really give the feeling of biting into someone's neck. There are also about 255 (last time I checked) unique rumble triggers. If you're using a DualSense controller, they'll all be available on PC too!

Some players have requested crossplay. What are the chances of that happening?

It seems highly unlikely at this point.

What are the chances of seeing V Rising on an Xbox or Nintendo console in the future?

Don't even tell me the odds. Or ask me to tell you the possibilities. Our top priority right now is ensuring the success of our upcoming launch on PC and PS5. We must dedicate our full attention to optimizing this release to its highest potential before considering any future efforts.

Anything else you'd like to add for your fans?

All we can say is thank you for all the amazing moments so far, and we look forward to all the amazing adventures to come! It's always a lot of fun watching players play our games, we look forward to the reaction, and when you're happy, it makes us happy.

See you in Vardoran, Vampire! It's all real now!

Location:

Share :