Hello
Inquake Softworks happy to invite everyone to take part in closed alpha test of the MMO-action game in “Dark Fantasy” setting.  

Short about game: http://warholdthegame.com/en/news/30-posadochnaya
Here is a short instruction and link for new game client: https://goo.gl/Oxf0vf
Testing will take place during the 15.00 (CEST) 6.00 (GMT/UTC - 7:00) till 21.00 (CEST) 12.00 (GMT/UTC - 7:00) 7 October 2016.

During this alpha test next features will be avialible:
- Different characters (Marauder, Sniper, Fanatic).
- Team Deathmatch mode;
- "Dungeon" and "Winterclif" maps;

We would like to receive from you the most detailed feedback about:
- Character's movement speed;
- Blood, blood animation;
- Battle physics;
- Skills (using, effects, ect..);
- Maps "Dungeon" and "Winterclif" (light, decoration, ect..);
 
You can ask us any questions in our chat: https://discord.gg/WgsFevp

Your suggestions and feedback about gameplay leave in this topic, please: http://warholdthegame.com/forum/8/

About new bugs you can report in this topic: http://warholdthegame.com/forum/topic/60/

Please note that the recording  videos and screenshots from the alpha is strictly forbidden.

The date and time of the next Alpha test we will inform separately.

Attention! A new version of the client! Please download it via the link:  https://goo.gl/fB8ikx

Hello, friends!
Today we will tell you how exists and develops Warhold. Because the work on the project takes effort of many specialists, we are going to cautiously choose them and snatch one by one for interrogation.

And today, we are very lucky, because lead programmer, and certainly the busiest man in the team - Dmitry agreed to give us a few minutes.

-Please, tell us, what are your group's main objectives? What problems are they solving?

-Hello! At this point we are solving a whole range of tasks, it is a bugs fixing, and work on the new ingame features implementation. Now we are focusing on the finalization of the classes "Reaper" and "Battle priest", and of course on city building mode. I am sure that soon the focus group of alpha testers will be able to test new features and modes.

Another major task is reworking animations. We aim to breathe life into the characters, so that everyone can feel the unity with his game alter ego.

Thank you for your answers and good luck!

Hi everyone! We continue to publish the dev diaries. Our worldwide voting is finished and the winner is... Level designer!

-Hello, Deniz! Please, tell us, what are your main objectives? What problems are you solving?

-Good day!  I am glad that my work has caused so much interest. I'll start with the main tasks, of course, it is a solving problems with the maps. They are very different -collision, optimization of light, optimization maps by making LOD(Level of Details) and instancing. I know that sounds pretty complicated and confusing, but without this, maps do not sparkle vivid colors, and the game will slow down significantly, even on the most powerful computers.

- Thank you for your answer, but I think our readers would like more details.

- Okay, let's look at the process in the Dungeon maps example. We started with the blank level. Our goal was to assemble a map for the game 8x8 players with two levels (upper - outdor and lower - dungeon). This is how map looks after assembly. https://vk.cc/5JxdV2

- Then I prepared the first version of the map, and make screenshots to concept artist for drawing lighting. The idea was to create a dry, dying location of stones and lava. Here's a map how to see it concept artist. https://vk.cc/5JxeiK And there was again a fine tuning of lighting.https://vk.cc/5JxeIt

And yet, it seems to us that the map is not ideal. After much debate, we concluded that the atmosphere too much oppressive. It should be more lively and have calm lighting, and of course some fine-tuning. Once again, I changed the lighting, adding plants (https://vk.cc/5JxeSD), and lava replaced with water .https://vk.cc/5Jxfsi

- Divine work? https://vk.cc/5JxfXU

- [Laughs] In some sense, we are all here Creators. But it is necessary to understand that the work on the map will not stop. I will again and again make some tunes to finalize the map. Players need the perfect map, so to me is very important to our alpha testers opinion.

- Thank you for the interesting and informative conversation!

Friends, whom you wanna see next??

1. FX specialist.
2. Game designer.
3. Project manager

Hello! We glad that you pay close attention to the project! And today, we are going to talk with the Warhold's Lead Game Designer - Anton.

- Anton, of course, you are one of the key person in the project. In many ways the final gameplay depends on you. It will be extremely interesting for our followers to hear about your tasks and plans..

- Greetings! Balancing the combat mode is a multi-stage task at the moment, it includes characters abilities debugging and weapons\armor configuration settings for each of them. We are doing our best to make battle interesting, entertaining and exciting for all players.
The second and not less important and urgent task is to test and debug game maps with our alpha testers. It is really difficult, and necessary process, so I am very grateful to the testers, who send their feedback.


- Okay. But our readers wondering what awaits them in the future alpha builds?

- After finishing work on the alpha version of the combat system, we are going to start our work on the Town.This is an important and versatile task. We need to balance many parameters of the town, starting from resources extraction and the production of items for the fighters, and finishing work on the citizens, and their skills behavior and quest system.

- Thank you for the detailed answers!

- Thank you for your attention to the game! I will be glad to see you all at the next alpha tests!

Hello dear readers! In this diary we're going to speak with our Project Manager - Pavel.
Usually our colleagues talk about their tasks, but we'll start with questions from our focus group's members.

- What is the hardest in the work of the Project Manager?
- The most difficult part is to stay in touch with everything that is happening in the project. Development team are absolutely different people and the most complicated part is to combine their job under the production plan

- Are you going to release the game on Steam??
- We didn't decide yet, but it is one of our option right now. More information about it will be available later (closer to release date).

- Our readers are wondering what is your overall game experience, what are your favorite games and how much time do you spent in playing?
- More than 20 years in total. But mostly it turned as work than just for fun., Right now i play in Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Nosgoth, Team Fortress and other games that are close to our gameplay. It is one part of my job.



- Well, we have finished with questions from the focus group for now, let's talk about the development. Everyone knows that the quality of the game depends on the team, what can you tell about our team?
- Besides the fact that they are professionals and know their job? [Smiles] The team loves our game and ready to actively develop and refine it. Our readers may not be aware that they too are part of the Team. First of all we develop our game for our players. Their opinion and decision on this point is important to us and we are ready to listen them.

- Thank you for your answers. I'm more than sure that our alpha testers will do their best in game testing. And the last question for today, which excites all of our listeners - should we wait for game release in the near future?
- We have a clear understanding that high product quality requires a lot of time and efforts.We are not in a hurry, but in the same time our development tempo is high enough. We are absolutely unlike the idea to release a product that contains a lot of bugs and flaws. Our focus is on the quality of all the components, therefore, as has already been mentioned many times, we really need your feedback.

- Thank you for the informative discussion!

Welcome to the new page of Warhold's dev diary. Today we're going to see a real computer magic- in-game VFXes. Our colleague today is Jenny.

- As i can see you have prepared a video to us, since it's a quite complicated task to describe your job.

- Hello everyone! Yes, the VFX is difficult to describe with just only words, or show on a static screenshot. I hope that my story and video will help you to understand my work, and you'll learn something new about the game and VFX development process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbQg1EqUuE

- For those who can not now watch the video, I will explain. Jenny tells about the VFX development process of blood splashes when you hit the enemy. Step by step from references to drawing the first variant of blood and finishing by overlay effect on the game characters.

- As you know our game is made in the dark fantasy setting, so there will be a lot of blood. [Smiles] Enjoy!

I think we will return to the FX production and their impact on the game in the next dev diary.

Welcome to the sixth part of Warhold’s developers diaries! Today our hero is 3D character artist - Sergey.
- Hey! And traditional question, tell to our readers, what is your current work?
- Greetings! I’m finishing work on armor for Possessed now. And I rework some current in-game armors and equipments.


- So, Sergey revealed our secret about new class. [Laughs] I think our readers together are going to say you: "Thank you!" But let's return to your work. What problems do you have when you create your 3d character?
- In fact, in our work, problems are rarely arise if you sufficiently attentive to detail. The main point is to stay in overall style. In other words to create a character that will look harmonic to the whole Warhold’s world. It also includes the correct materials selection for armor and delicate work on the styling elements.


- Thank you. Please share nearest plans, but, mind you, without disclosing secrets!
- Of course, I’m going to work out alternative armors for all existing classes. It is quite complicated and serious task for now but i’m more than sure that all players will like it.


- Thank you for the interesting conversation!

Hello everyone! As you know, we announced a new game character - Possessed. Later we will reveal more details about it. But now we would like to ask you, choose one version of Possessed that you like most.

It's high time for the next developer diaries. Today's hero is going to be Andrew - our 3D Environment artist.
- Hi, Andrew! I know you're prepared, and now our readers are going to see very interesting screenshots and concept arts.
- Hello everyone, yes, I want to show the result of recent work - a "Chef's house" one of the main buildings in game. That building will be your town's control center. Like every 3D model, first it was created by our 2d concept artist, and passed few improvement stages.



When 2d concept was approved by our team my turn came. Of course, some details and proportions were changed a bit to the needs of our in-game feeling.



- Now we are working on interior decoration. But I think, our level designer Deniz will be able to tell you more about it. In this process, I will help as needed, because I started the second, most important building in town - the "Hall of Heroes", but for now, I'm not ready to reveal details.
- Thank you for answers and new screenshots! I'll get back to you the next week, so we can show the results of your work to the public if they'll want of course!

We still continue collecting your opinion about the possible version of Possessed. Please tell me what version you like most?

Today, we are going to talk with new the Warhold’s Lead Game Designer - Alexander.

- Hey! And traditional question, tell to our readers, what are you doing now in Warhold?

- Hi! My main task now is to finalize the combat system. That is why i play a lot of different games right now. Yes, I play at work. I know that it sounds like a dream job, but the reality is more cruel. After playing a game, I have to draw conclusions that make our game better, to get rid of "childhood diseases", avoid others mistakes and missteps.

- This is a pretty common words, give an example, please.



-Okay! Let’s take the most basic points. For example - an overview and movement of the character. Were they comfortable to the player? What was the cost of this feeling? Let’s move on. How do character’s abilities affect on fight? Is gameplay responsive enough to my commands?? What happens if I try to interrupt some action? How do game characters interact with each other and surrounding world? A million questions and each need a clear answer.

- I think that our readers will have to spend hours to answer this questions.



- I understand them [ ], but let us continue. Good combat system does not cause rejection. During the battle, the player must be focused on what is happening, Poor responsiveness and other gameplay problems shouldn’t distract gamer from playing the game. We must constantly raise game difficulty but it should be feasible challenge for the players.

- The player must interact with other players.

 - Right. We focus on team play, which means that the gameplay should also be built around the interaction of players with each other, it is achieves by the synergy of abilities and performed roles as heroes. And player should feel this all as a rhythm, but in the same time it shouldn’t knock him down. The player should have enough time to analyze what is happening, making a decision on next action and plan next steps.

- Tell me, what games already been played, and what do you plan to play? Perhaps our readers will be able to offer you something interesting.



- Oh, a lot of them. For example, in Paragon, we have considered in the first place animation and camera position. In Dark Souls (2,3) and Bloodborne - dynamics and tactics of combat, in Overwatch - battle modes, locations design logic and the separation of the heroes roles.

- Thank you for your time. See you soon!

Today we are going to reveal new details about the Possessed abilities. We remind you that Possessed is a fighter who prefers to attack from medium range and protected by light armor.
Please keep in mind that it is not the final set of skills. Work in progress.

"Dark energy" - implies a bunch of dark energy, which can run into the enemy. In addition to the direct damage, the opponent will receive a powerful debuff "Dark Fire", causing permanent damage a few seconds.

"Fireball" - a classic spell with an explosive effect. When injected into a group of enemies can set them on fire, giving your teammates an excellent opportunity to quickly finish off discouraged opponents. You will be able to detonate the spell at will, which gives an additional tactical advantages.

"Obsession" - a powerful buff that increases your close and ranged DPS (Damage per Second). Your character becomes much more lethal during the "Obsession", but you pay for it.

Every second, the demon devours part of your health. Be careful, fascinated "Obsession", you may fall prey to the demon.

As promised, we are visiting again our 3D Environment artist!
- Hi Andrew. Last time you told us that you were working on the "Hall of Heroes" (Building name is not final and can be changed). Tell us are you still working on it?
-Hello everyone! You’re right, right now I’m finishing my work on this structure. But let's start from the beginning. That's how concept artist saw it. https://goo.gl/QOjLwF

Quite an interesting idea, but it has it’s own difficulties. First of all this building is inhabited, i.e. we will be able to get inside, so the interior and exterior of the structure should be strictly correlated. Otherwise, an external style will stand out from the general concept and the internal will not provide atmosphere of the game.



- Not sure what might happen. We closely follow the strict compliance of the style

- Sure, but let us return to the problems. The second and most difficult problem is to transfer all interesting concept artist’s ideas 3D object without disturbing the harmony. As I said, in 2D, you can create the perfect atmosphere, but correctly imagine the volume of the building is very difficult. Now we can only add entourage and the building is ready to host its first visitors.



- Thank you. Tell me, what are you going to work now?

- Not yet, but i will happy to share the news about it in a couple of weeks.

Welcome to the tenth part of developer diaries! Our hero today is going to be concept-artist Mary!
- Hi, Mary. In several diaries before was mentioned concept-artist's work. And here we are with you. Let's start with a couple of general questions that will help our readers to understand your job. What are your duties as concept-artist? Not all people understand what the position is and why it is so important.
- Hello! I'm very pleased that i can describe my work to the readers! Concept artist prepares ideas for new game content. For example, my responsibilities include preparing concepts of town buildings, their interior and exterior. Also, I think over all appearance of the urban elements of the city from walls to the door hinge. After all the parts are accepted, I create the most detailed concept, which will be guided in 3D artist work.
- Is it necessary to be a real architect?
 
- No, of course not We need perseverance, logic, attentiveness and desire to create. For example, I'm Master of Arts, and still have an additional education in history of arts and architectural styles.
- Strong enough! But let's get back to the Warhold. What are you doing now?
- Oh! Now I'm working on a very interesting building to train our soldiers - the barracks! They are surrounded by a wall, and in the center is a training ground. There you'll find the targets for archers and "dolls" for melee training. Now it's only a sketch, but soon it will become a full concept.
- Tell us, about the concept-art production?

- It's quite a laborious and lengthy process. Let me tell you more about it separately?
- Okay, we are waiting for the details. I think our readers will be interested in following of all the steps of creating one of the most important buildings in the game.