- Vanishing Realms: The Sundered Rift Update - 8 April 2020
This update fixes a number of minor bugs in the newer chapters, and addresses player feedback on end-game difficulty. Some players felt the end-game was disproportionately challenging, given the amount of mana that folks were typically collecting and expending in preceding areas. Additional collectible mana may now be found in locations much closer to the end-game. To extend the original sale event, The Sundered Rift expansion is available at a 35% discount.
- Vanishing Realms Bundle - 14 October 2019
Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel and the new sequel Vanishing Realms: The Sundered Rift are now available through a "Complete The Set" bundle. If you purchase both adventures through the bundle offering, the discount will apply to both games. If you already own the base game, the discount will still apply to the new sequel when purchased through the bundle.
- Update, August 31st 2019 - 31 August 2019
Today's "hotfix" update fixes an issue for some Index controller users, and fixes an issue with some save games in the Expansion. 1) Expansion: previously, if you quit the game just after completing a path, but before entering a subsequent gate, you could end up without a relic upon restart. This is now fixed - when restarting the game your inventory will always contain the previously acquired relic. 2) Base Game & Expansion: Some Index controller users had issues with accidentally dropping items, especially torches and mining picks. It is no longer possible to drop these items, although torches may still be thrown. The maximum number of torches or mining picks held in inventory is now capped at two. (NOTE: the accidental dropping is heavily dependent on the index controller binding settings. Users may customize the binding they have associated with Vanishing Realms to be more/less sens…
- UPDATE, August 26th 2019 - 26 August 2019
Today's update improves a few playability issues and fixes bugs in both the Base Game and the Expansion. Base Game & Expansion Previously it was quite easy to accidentally discharge/fire a magic wand or magic item when trying to return it to the inventory belt. This is now fixed. The Inventory belt used to snap-rotate itself in 45 degree increments in an attempt to stay in alignment with the player's head position. Unfortunately, this looked somewhat clunky and could cause a 'chasing your own tail' effect when trying to add or grab from the far right or left inventory backpack. The inventory no longer snap rotates, but will instead only realign itself if the player walks by more than a half meter or so. In some situations, the Inventory belt could obscure the player's downward view and make it difficult to shoot or throw weapons at an extreme downward angle. The change to the belt descr…
- New Expansion Just Released - 23 August 2019
Very happy to announce the completion of the new Expansion to the base game. You can check out the Expansion description by following the DLC link on the main Vanishing Realms store page. If you'd like to get the new Expansion, you'll first need to update the base game. To play, you'll need to reach the end of the base game - existing save games should all work fine. With the completion of the shared technology between the base game and the Expansion, the base game has also finally left Early Access. Most of the goals from the original 2016 Early Access launch announcement and the later Launch Roadmap Sep 2016 Launch Roadmap had been reached within the first 18 months or so, although the game remained in Early Access for twice that period. In response to thoughtful community feedback and feature requests, the following lists some of the additions made to the base game while in Early Acc…
- Update June 2019 - 28 June 2019
This update adds Valve Index Controller support to the base game. If you are an Index Controller owner, when playing Vanishing Realms please be sure to use the "Indimo Labs: Official Index Controller Binding". (Update from Valve: this is now the default binding for the game, so you should be good to go.) Climbing, Throwing, Teleporting, Glide Movement, Snap Turns, Dropping now use hardware features of the Index Controllers. For instance for most configurations of climbable ropes and chains, you can 'grab' the rope or chain by closing your hand around it. Open your hand to drop items or the rope you're climbing. To Glide (if you've enabled the feature), you may push forward on the left joystick rather than swiping on the Track Pad. Glide movement speed is proportional to how far you push the joystick. To Teleport, you can push forward on the right joystick, and to Snap Turn in place, you…
- Vanishing Realms January 2018 Update - 10 January 2018
Hey all, here's a little update to celebrate the start of the new year! Steam Achievements are now supported. Notes: Since Vanishing Realms supports multiple player profiles on a single Steam account, achievement progress is uploaded to Steam based on the LAST player to play on an account, as well as on the last checkpoint that player passed in-game. Overall, these are the same achievements you could previously earn in-game, but now the entire world can witness your VR awesomeness! Faster Glide speed. Top speed while sprinting is now a little faster. No joystick click required for Oculus Touch. Some players felt that holding down the trackpad/joystick while sprinting was difficult for longer durations. Now if you select the faster movement option from the pause menu, increased glide top speed remains in effect full time. You can still control overall glide speed by the position of the t…
- Vanishing Realms January 2018 Update - 10 January 2018
Hey all, here's a little update to celebrate the start of the new year! Steam Achievements are now supported. Notes: Since Vanishing Realms supports multiple player profiles on a single Steam account, achievement progress is uploaded to Steam based on the LAST player to play on an account, as well as on the last checkpoint that player passed in-game. Overall, these are the same achievements you could previously earn in-game, but now the entire world can witness your VR awesomeness! Faster Glide speed. Top speed while sprinting is now a little faster. No joystick click required for Oculus Touch. Some players felt that holding down the trackpad/joystick while sprinting was difficult for longer durations. Now if you select the faster movement option from the pause menu, increased glide top speed remains in effect full time. You can still control overall glide speed by the position of the t…
- Vanishing Realms 2017 Update - 21 September 2017
SUMMARY: This update expands the core game by adding new Locomotion options, Climbing support, Oculus support, Inventory system fixes and Gameplay fixes. In addition to updating the existing chapters to support the new locomotion modes, a significant internal upgrade was made to the game engine. This tech work, although largely transparent to players, will allow the world of Vanishing Realms to expand in the future, enabling the possibility of a more open-world game design. I hope there’s some fun stuff in this update for all players, however it’s worth noting this is not a release of new chapters. That work is ongoing, but not yet complete - and as mentioned in the last update, new chapters will be part of separate DLC. NEW GAME FEATURES: Vanishing Realms now supports additional Locomotion options, available from the Pause Menu. GLIDE: By popular demand, this option allows players to u…
- Vanishing Realms 2017 Update - 21 September 2017
SUMMARY: This update expands the core game by adding new Locomotion options, Climbing support, Oculus support, Inventory system fixes and Gameplay fixes. In addition to updating the existing chapters to support the new locomotion modes, a significant internal upgrade was made to the game engine. This tech work, although largely transparent to players, will allow the world of Vanishing Realms to expand in the future, enabling the possibility of a more open-world game design. I hope there’s some fun stuff in this update for all players, however it’s worth noting this is not a release of new chapters. That work is ongoing, but not yet complete - and as mentioned in the last update, new chapters will be part of separate DLC. NEW GAME FEATURES: Vanishing Realms now supports additional Locomotion options, available from the Pause Menu. GLIDE: By popular demand, this option allows players to u…
- Launch Roadmap - 15 September 2016
Edit 3/8/2017: Development on Vanishing Realms continues, with new content and support for new hardware in the works. To keep the following post relevant, I've removed the original reference to a fixed, near term shipping schedule, however. As it required over 2500 hours of dev time to create ch1 & ch2, I've concluded it's quite beyond me to accurately estimate a delivery date for new chapters! When posts about playtesting start to appear in the community hub, we'll be getting close though. Following is the ongoing work plan: ___________ The next large update will launch the first two chapters of Vanishing Realms out of Early Access. This major update will mark the completion of all the technical work I had envisioned for the base game, as well as all the content I'd hoped to deliver in the first 2 chapters. Integrating community feedback and adding the Warrior's Challenge, the 2 handed…
- Launch Roadmap - 15 September 2016
Edit 3/8/2017: Development on Vanishing Realms continues, with new content and support for new hardware in the works. To keep the following post relevant, I've removed the original reference to a fixed, near term shipping schedule, however. As it required over 2500 hours of dev time to create ch1 & ch2, I've concluded it's quite beyond me to accurately estimate a delivery date for new chapters! When posts about playtesting start to appear in the community hub, we'll be getting close though. Following is the ongoing work plan: ___________ The next large update will launch the first two chapters of Vanishing Realms out of Early Access. This major update will mark the completion of all the technical work I had envisioned for the base game, as well as all the content I'd hoped to deliver in the first 2 chapters. Integrating community feedback and adding the Warrior's Challenge, the 2 handed…
- SECOND UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE - 3 September 2016
The second major update to Vanishing Realms is finally available! Highlights: Hard mode with new AI that can parry, dodge, pursue, strike at vulnerabilities and execute combination moves. The mid-game has been expanded to include a number of large new indoor and outdoor playable areas. Two-handed bow aiming is now supported, and there is a new two-handed melee weapon which requires some skill to master. From the opening screen, it is now possible to select and replay any previously reached checkpoint. Checkpoints may be replayed on either 'classic' or 'hard' mode. Many previously inert items may now be grabbed, burned, thrown, broken, and these behaviors are integrated with puzzle design and gameplay. Skeleton swordsmen are divided into three distinct difficulty types with new custom model changes for each type. Monsters have approx 40 new melee animations. Teleporting uses a new spline…
- SECOND UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE - 3 September 2016
The second major update to Vanishing Realms is finally available! Highlights: Hard mode with new AI that can parry, dodge, pursue, strike at vulnerabilities and execute combination moves. The mid-game has been expanded to include a number of large new indoor and outdoor playable areas. Two-handed bow aiming is now supported, and there is a new two-handed melee weapon which requires some skill to master. From the opening screen, it is now possible to select and replay any previously reached checkpoint. Checkpoints may be replayed on either 'classic' or 'hard' mode. Many previously inert items may now be grabbed, burned, thrown, broken, and these behaviors are integrated with puzzle design and gameplay. Skeleton swordsmen are divided into three distinct difficulty types with new custom model changes for each type. Monsters have approx 40 new melee animations. Teleporting uses a new spline…
- The RPG Scrollbars: Virtual Reality, RPGs, And Me - 9 May 2016
Like most people who can’t resist casually mentioning they have an HTC Vive, I recently acquired a HTC Vive. Finally, I have the ability to personally step into worlds of wonder and creativity more realistic and inspiring than anything mankind has ever created before. Instead, I’ve… uh… been playing mini-golf. Like, a lot of mini-golf . The one VR experience I could literally have better and at higher resolution by getting up going into my own town, only that wouldn’t be cool, because I wouldn’t regularly float over cliffs as I cack-handedly putt-putt away like I’m trying to join a parade. I have no idea if virtual reality is the next big thing or just a passing fad. Even as potential fads go though, I can’t wait to see what it has in store for RPGs. As long as it’s not giant spiders in my face, obviously, I’ve been looking for…
- FIRST UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE - 29 April 2016
I'm very happy to announce that the first update to Vanishing Realms is now available! In this update, my first priority was to address player feedback on usability, then sneak a few new features in. Highlights: a new expandable visual inventory system, 'family friendly' support for multiple save games, new melee weapon dynamics, monster movement changes, haptic feedback support, in-game checkpoint visualizations, improvements to auto pause, new system to maintain comfortable wall distances when teleporting, misc bug fixes. This update doesn't address all of the issues folks have discovered, and I've posted more detail on the Community Hub, top of the Player's subform. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated!
- FIRST UPDATE NOW AVAILABLE - 29 April 2016
I'm very happy to announce that the first update to Vanishing Realms is now available! In this update, my first priority was to address player feedback on usability, then sneak a few new features in. Highlights: a new expandable visual inventory system, 'family friendly' support for multiple save games, new melee weapon dynamics, monster movement changes, haptic feedback support, in-game checkpoint visualizations, improvements to auto pause, new system to maintain comfortable wall distances when teleporting, misc bug fixes. This update doesn't address all of the issues folks have discovered, and I've posted more detail on the Community Hub, top of the Player's subform. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated!
