Hello everyone! Back in June, we announced that we would be making some major changes to Sons of Valhalla to solve some of the feedback we’ve been getting, especially in terms of “big picture” items like game structure. We wanted to give a small glimpse of the things are changing and how we envision the game evolving going forward. [h2]Campaign Structure[/h2] A major point of criticism has always been how levels feel a bit too long and lack variety. To combat this, we’ve made a radical decision to break the levels up and make them smaller, as well as introduce a new overview map that will display all of the control points available. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//38733779/933d77042267aca9ec8fdf25d1fe1c3c4151a25c.jpg[/img] Raiding a point should take no longer than 20 minutes now, after which you return to the overview map and pick your next target. You need to make sure you have sufficient troops, though – the battles will now be more intense, and sometimes you can lose all your units and be forced to retreat. If you start the raid on one of the points and are successful in the battle, you can loot hacksilver and gold to buy more units and upgrades. If your units are defeated, you can try to reach the rescue ship and carry out another attack with fresh units. There is also a time element to this - a storm is coming, and it will steadily push you south. When it arrives at your location, any points on the same vertical axis will be locked off, forcing you to go south instead. This type of level management is not new, but it has proven itself. This also gives us the opportunity to design levels much more freely, without having to pay attention to the old, narrow level management. [h2]The Story[/h2] A quick note on the story - despite the new campaign structure, the story will remain largely as-is, although we may remove one or two cutscenes. There are boss levels on the map that have been placed in a strategic way so the player has to master this level if he wants to continue. The player then fights the boss and - if you win - you will be able to continue your journey. [h2]Death & Rebirth[/h2] Death will continue to be your constant companion in Sons of Valhalla – not every raid will be successful, and this time, death is permanent. The old rune system is being abolished, but the rune stones themselves will remain. Odin will still give you the opportunity to exchange rune stones you find for advantages for the next trip. So you can fail, but you make more progress with each attempt to save Raya. The system will now compensate the player for dying and will not punish the player anymore, like in the old system. [h2]Unit Management[/h2] Before you start a raid, you have to decide which units you want to take with you. To do this, you have to buy units before each raid. It is an advantage to take a closer look at the next target. An indication of the fortification's strength can be seen at every point on the world map. If you have a triple shield, you should definitely pack siege weapons if you have them. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//38733779/57a5a844f0a5164383bd61388d2ed9833ba89d9d.jpg[/img] You can give units and yourself a special ability. However, these abilities have a different effect than the old rune system. If you assign an ability to the unit, all other units of this type have the same ability. This means that abilities will have more impact on the game than the old rune system did. [h2]Going to the Shoppe[/h2] But how do you get skills now that there are no more runes? Fear not, because Capitalism(™) has come to Viking-age England! Skills, provisions, arrows, and mercenary units can all be purchased via the new “shops.” There are 4 different types of shops, and the shops are randomly distributed on the map after the game starts: [b]General[/b] This shop sells provisions and consumables such as projectiles (arrows) [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//38733779/d4b900e4ef94f6627168c300e2288cd41b6b25d6.gif[/img] [b]Armory[/b] Items that have skills are sold here. One of the most important shops by far. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//38733779/1d1f4cb306728170afa4fb0d65f8c5279f3e05c0.gif[/img] [b]Mercenary agent[/b] This gentleman specializes in arranging mercenaries. A contract signed here allows you to hire this unit in the future. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//38733779/4f94ab51f57142ae90a417169e0bfe9a8f9a3d23.gif[/img] [b]Shipyard[/b] A larger ship to accommodate more crew? No problem; your ship is in good hands here. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//38733779/cd44ec72c6b657020231888758fb1e4291a2a200.gif[/img] I hope you enjoyed this glimpse as to what the upcoming update will look like. - Pixel Chest Games