A Valley Without Wind - a procedurally generated MetroidVania

Just released today on Steam and GamersGate. A procedurally generated Metroid Vania? Intriguing.

Not up on Steam yet. Now up on GamersGate.

edited 23rd Apr '12 9:20:48 AM by JAF1970

Today was also released something called Noitu Love 2 Devolution.

Kind of odd titles to get released today, is today some sort of special day?

It's "Avoid Being Overshadowed by Prototype 2 Day".

...released today? Huh...

Also should mention that it's the same person who made AI War Fleet Command...

A Valley Without Wind is guilty of blatant false advertising!

There is clearly wind in the title screen!

...I'm sorry, but what does "procedurally generated" mean in this context? Do the enemies get tougher depending on what you do, the layout change or what?

^I think it mean that game world is randomly generated, but I might be wrong.

As far as I know, it means that the environment and terrain are randomly generated and not pre-programmed, although I might be wrong about that.

edited 23rd Apr '12 11:38:06 AM by Swampertrox

...someone's using a Toyohime avatar?! I thought everyone hated her guts. "Moonbitch" and all that.

And yes, I also believe it means the terrain is randomized. If it's anything like the good Metroidvanias though, some places will necessarily be blocked off before you get certain items or hit certain switches. It'll be interesting to see how they handle that aspect. I'd be very disappointed if they just ignore it.

edited 23rd Apr '12 11:46:21 AM by Clarste

Which is pretty damn impressive, for a Metroidvania game, considering that they traditionally are very deliberately set up so that you progress in certain ways as you gain new abilities.

If they've managed to make a Metroidvania that works while using random environments? Well, I'm very impressed.

The world is procedurally generated, but so are other aspects. For example, it'll keep tract of the class you're gravitating toward and alter enemies, etc based on it.

I see, so it builds the challenge around what you're building towards. So if you, say, sink all your XP into building a character who can fly (I don't know at all how the class building goes here), later areas will naturally revolve around such powers, while you'd end up with a lot of ocean areas if you're building the world's best underwater combat specialist?

Or the other way around, to screw with you.

I'll see if I can't get a copy. Otherwise, anyone who's picking this up, let us know how it is.

If I get this game, I think that, since it's A Valley Without Wind, it's only natural that I should name my first character Aacisuan.

Sounds pretty interesting. Maybe I'll get it some time.

The "DRM: Other DRM" made me quite uneasy, but the ArcenGames site explained it. There is simply a license key to turn the trial into the full version. And that's it, pretty much.

It's actually also possible to buy it directly from them.

edited 23rd Apr '12 2:04:31 PM by Nyarly

This seems cool. I'll definitely pick this up if I can.

I Wanna Be The Guy reference in the difficulty selection screen...lol...

How so?

It's in one of the choices...somthing about the guy...

Cool! ...Too bad I'm dirt broke right now. This is right up my alley.

I really, really do not like that graphical style. It looks gaudy and fake. Also, while I like Metroidvanias, procedural generation is a double-edged sword - if implemented well, it extends replayability greatly, if not, you risk great highs and lows in the quality of the generated content. I'll have to try the demo.

Yeah, the game looks really interesting and fun, but the graphics are blech. Things don't mesh well with others, some of the animations look really uncanny...

I'll be waiting for the Steam version to go up, but I've had my eye on this before. I was actually going to preorder it, but it slipped off my radar until this thread reminded me of its existence.

Oh yeah, I've launched the work page, feel free to contribute...