New Visuals Video!

 Development, Video  No Responses »
May 062016
 

Hey folks!

Here’s a new video to show the current visuals of the game, which we started working on when going full-time on August 2015.

The biggest change in graphics we did since prototype was switching to PBR (physical-based rendering). We are using PBR Alloy shaders for Unity done by RUST Ltd. The shader pack works very well together with the pair of texturing tools — Substance Designer and Substance Painter from Allegorithmic. These allow us a fast and robust way to create textured assets that share the same basic materials from our own library.

3ds Max, Maya and Zbrush are the usual suspects we use to create models. Since full-time development started, we have also raised the polycount on our assets. This way we can achieve a higher visual fidelity and also give the game a more “eye-candy” feeling. For which we received awesome journalist and public feedback at gaming events we recently attended. (We’ll post about the events later this century. 😉 )

Hope you like the video, and feel free to voice your opinion on our media channels.

Full Steam Ahead!

 Making of  No Responses »
Aug 032015
 

Hey guys! Lots of good news about our steampunk dungeon crawler Vaporum (video)!

First of all, we apologize for such a long pause since the last post. The reason is simple: we’ve been hard at work looking for funds for the full production. We’ve found a solution, and we’re very happy with how it worked out. It took some time, but it’s well worth it!

So what is Vaporum

Vaporum is a modern single-character grid-based dungeon crawler in a dark steampunk setting, inspired by genre classics such as Dungeon Master. You move and fight in real time, so apart from your skill & item builds, you will still benefit from your own mechanical skills in solving puzzles and slaying enemies.

Instead of your character, you improve your suit. As you progress, you activate various new circuits and install gadgets into the suit. Gadgets grant unique active skills, while circuits improve suit’s performance in a given category.

The game is driven by a sinister story filled with mysteries and secrets to find.

New office

Right now, we are adding pipes and steam terminals to our brand new office. No remote sessions, no Skype calls, no chat any more — all core team members are nicely together now.

Vaporum development picture

Messy beginnings

New core

Since July, we’ve resumed full-time work on Vaporum, rewriting everything from scratch, with better fleshed out design and framework, and using invaluable feedback from demo focus-tests.

BTW, we’re also using PBR materials now. Check the Welder Drone below to see what’s up.

Vaporum enemy picture

Welder Drone with shiny new PBR armor

What to expect

From here on out, we’re gonna post development updates every week or so. You can expect gifs, gameplay shots, technical posts, and all sorts of hilarity.

So stay tuned for more steampunkery, and feel free to comment on our subreddit page!

Welcome!

 Development  1 Response »
Feb 262014
 

Hello and welcome to the Vaporum blog!

This blog is all about the development of a new indie dungeon crawler game. We will be bringing you more details about the game and the development itself in the days and weeks to come.

Recent success of Legend of Grimrock has proven that the gameplay of classics such as Dungeon Master, to which we keep deep sentiment, is still in high demand.

While true to the genre’s roots in basic gameplay, Vaporum is a modern, real-time dungeon crawler situated in an original steampunk setting (think Jules Verne, H. P. Lovecraft and the like), a world dominated by steam-powered machinery. We want to bring you a deep game experience that is smooth in terms of controls and rough in terms of challenge and thrilling storyline.

And while you wait for more info, below is a screenshot from the game to give you a glimpse of what Vaporum has in store for you. Stay tuned, bold fellows!

Vaporum screenshot depicting a room bordered by pipes and a large circular metal door in front.

Dare to enter?