It's been a little while since I first announced getting to work on the HoV Remake.
Now that the game has finally left its conceptual phases I think it's a good time to finally post some new updates!

In the previous update the game was shown in an OTS view, like the most recent Resident Evil Remakes. It played really well and looked nice, but I didn't feel that it really captured the spirit of the original game as well as I would have liked.
The original HoV was inspired by classic survival horror, but it was severely limited in its presentation of that due to being a side-scroller. So I decided that the game should finally be allowed to do what it was striving to do and actually play like the classics it was inspired by!

The gameplay has been adjusted to fit a fixed camera view, along with tank controls. By fixed camera, I mean true fixed camera. No panning or dynamic screens. I made this change knowing that it will likely turn a lot of players off, but the choice was made in the interest of trying to achieve what the original simply could not, due the engine it was made with. On the flip-side of that, I know there will also be a lot of retro fans who will love this change!
That aside, I also feel that we are becoming a bit oversaturated with OTS action/survival horror games now. I would rather my game not just "be another one" now that it's such a common approach to designing these types of games. It's kind of like back when everybody was making all those first person horror games, only now it's OTS.
Nothing wrong with it. I just know that's not where HoV belongs.

Now, to touch upon something I said in the previous update. I made it quite clear that HoV would remain "100% a stealth game." I believe that's what I said. Well, that's changed too.
Lily now has access to both, firearms and melee weapons. Sounds pretty wild, considering the source material, but I've made these additions in order to better serve the overall story that bridges House of Velez and Grave Prosperity. Lily has to learn to defend herself, it's simply a part of her growth as a character.

I've managed to combine the auto-aim feature of the classic RE games along with the "steady aim" crosshair shrink mechanic of the recent RE Remakes. This allows us to take aim at strategic points on an enemy's body, but has the added challenge of having to allow the crosshair to zero in before taking our shots, or else we risk missing the shot.
It starts out slow, but as Lily grows, she will become progressively more efficient with her weapons. As she grows, the enemy AI will as well. They will know to protect their vitals as they advance, and we will have to stagger them in order to open them up to critical damage. I feel like little things like this will keep combat more engaging (and stressful) than the classics.

The world has also been greatly expanded upon. All of the same locations are still in the game, but they have all been added onto. There is additional story content, alongside all of the already existing content from the original as well.

I'm currently working on the demo, which I'm hoping to have released before the end of the year. Progress is slow, but steady. Between now being married, with a kid, and still holding down a full-time job, I don't have the same kind of time I once had to just knock out tons of work in no time at all.
But it is still all happening, and I won't stop until it's done.

Here are some screens from the latest build of the House of Velez Remake!
(these images are not necessarily representative of the final build)

Have any of you ever wondered what it would be like to experience HoV in a full 3D environment?
Probably not.
But now that I got you thinking about it, wouldn't it be cool?
probably yes!

Well check this shit out:

Crazy, right?
So yes, I am currently working on the House of Velez Remake in UE4!
There's a good chance that some (or many) of you may already know this, but I wanted to go ahead and post the news here for those who do not follow any of my games' social media pages.

As we see above, it's still very much the same game, but it has a much more modern approach to the way it plays. We can also see that there have been some additions to the story so far. There will also be some changes to it in certain places as well. I believe having these changes will help to form a more convincing storyline, and also a more cohesive one for a sequel later on.
Another thing to note is the game is still drawing heavy inspiration from Resident Evil! We can see it in the new control scheme and even the inventory UI. I've always felt the RE brand set the bar for quality when it comes to gameplay, so I couldn't resist following their lead.

Of course we won't be shooting up any monsters in classic RE fashion here. HoV Remake is still going to be a 100% stealth game. Just now we will get to do it in glorious full 3D! We won't be stuck using Heart Rate Suppression as a primary mechanic either. I'm taking a much more aggressive approach to stealth that keeps us out there actively in the open with the monsters and being forced to use our environments as cover and distraction.

There is already a cover mechanic built into the game. There will be the classic "hey look over there!" where we toss something to cause a distraction. And of course there is now a health and stamina bar, along with a limited inventory and storage box! Which means resource management!
A part of those resources, besides health and stamina recovery items, and key items, will be single use defensive items! This doesn't mean we get to go full Buffy and maul our stalkers, but it does grant us a get out of jail free card. Monsters hit hard, and if we get grabbed it would be beneficial to be traveling with a sharp bit of wood, or perhaps something heavy and blunt so we can stab or clobber our way out of their grasp and live to see another day.

Puzzles will of course still be present and scattered throughout the game. And so will traps. So paying attention to the world around us might keep us from getting ground up in a set of gears, or impaled by floor spikes. You never know what I might come up with!

That is what's happening right now though! The original HoV was obviously a 2D side scroller, so the translation into 3D will have to mean expanding the environments. Most sections of the game were a screen or two, and that was it. That isn't gonna cut it this time. We got a lot of power to work with here in UE4, so I want to take full advantage of it and make the world much more interesting to travel through.

It's good to be back! Let's see where this goes!

For anyone interested, I've just set up shop with Redbubble to have graphic Shirts, Hoodies, and Cellphone cases made for House of Velez!

It's still new, so there's only the one shirt, but it will be growing with more designs!

https://www.redbubble.com/people/DarkRoomGames?asc=u

If you are trying to start up Part 2, and you are either

a) Unable to find the Part 2 launcher

Or

b) Unable to begin Part 2 once you have launched it

You need to check these things first:

a) If the launcher is unavailable, be sure you have downloaded and installed the Part 2 DLC. If Steam does not immediately recognize the DLC, restart Steam and it will refresh your library, making the game visible.
You will see this when you press play on the main game:
b) If you are unable to find your end-game save file from Part 1 when you press Continue on Part 2-

You have an end-game save file that was made before I put out a patch last year that caused a complication in that save file. I made a post about it back when I made the patch, but it has been a while and I can't expect everyone to be aware of it.

You have two options:
You can either replay Part 1 from the beginning all the way through to the end again.
Or
You can load an already existing save file from Part 1 and get to the end that way.

The point is- you will need an up to date end-game save file in order to access Part 2.

House of Velez is now available on the Steam store!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1061740/House_of_Velez__Part_2/

House of Velez Part 2 is officially on it's way!
It is set to release on April 8th!

Here is the link to the store page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1061740/House_of_Velez__Part_2/?fbclid=IwAR14AGXml1XnyFfDBDU7nedzaXQwOdMIXKrQHAUoUv1E9QUODhMdWNCPfRQ

The game will unlock in 4 days!

It's been a long road, but House of Velez Part 2 is finally complete! The game is planned to be released within the month. It will be set as a DLC for Part 1, at $3.99 just like Part 1.

On a very important note:
You must have your end game save data from Part 1 in order to begin Part 2. The game will pick up where Part 1 left off, and it will carry over your progress. So be sure to have that save file ready so you can jump right into Part 2 when it comes out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJcmPr-E28

The end of development is finally in sight for House of Velez Part 2! It's looking like just a few more months and this game should be ready for Steam!

Until then, have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

It's been a few months since the last update, so I wanted to drop a little something here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tndIITo7LgY

This is a clip from the section of the game I am currently working on. Things have been going very well and progress has been steady. At the rate the projects is moving, it will definitely be completed well before this time next year!