Schell Games’ VR sword-fighting game, Until You Fall, does have more content planned, but the studio is waiting for the right time to release it.
CEO and founder Jesse Schell confirmed as much to us in an interview this week. When asked if there were plans to expand the game, Schell instantly replied “Absolutely.”
The problem, however, is deciding when the market is big enough to push a premium expansion for the game. “Because we designed it to be an expandable game. It’s something that we really wanted to do, but of course it’s a very luscious game. So the expansions, they’re not free, it is a lot of work and we’ve done a little bit, we’ve added some things, over time,” Schell explained.
“Where we are right now basically is as a studio internally, we have to struggle with okay, are we adding more to Until You Fall right now? Are we spinning up a new title because maybe that’s going to be a better way to have a little more success because Until You Fall has been successful, but it hasn’t been through the roof successful.”
As part of its decision-making process, Schell revealed that the team has been watching the performance of expansions and updates to similar titles, and how the small but temporary spike in sales might not be enough to justify releasing content at VR’s current size.
“And so as an independent studio where we have to watch every penny, we have to be really careful,” he said. “We want to expand Until You Fall, I’m dying to expand Until You Fall, but we’re not sure the market is quite big enough for that to make economic sense right at the moment. And then we’ve got stuff in the pipe, almost ready to go, but we want to release it at the right time. We’re very much we’re working on those plans right now.”
Until You Fall remains one of our favorite VR titles, with fast-paced, addictive arcade action and a satisfying gameplay loop. Even in its current form, we give it our full recommendation.
“I think as each day goes by and the VR market gets bigger and bigger, we’re gonna have more and more pressure to like, yeah, get those expansions out that start to grow this thing,” Schell concluded. “So that’s just the tension we have internally. Should we be spinning up new titles for the future or should we be growing up what we’ve already got, and it’s something we think about every day.”
Fingers crossed we see some Until You Fall DLC sooner rather than later, then.
We’re getting in the fighting spirit for this week’s livestreams. Join Jamie and Zeena on a quest to topple Until You Fall’s toughest mode, starting today at 8:30am PT/4:30pm GMT!
Schell Games’ arcade-style roguelike remains one of our favorite VR games to date, but we’re yet to tackle Until You Fall’s greatest challenge – beating the hardest difficulty. Trust us when we say, that’s no easy task.
Make sure to watch along below:
In Until You Fall, you take multiple runs at a procedurally generated gauntlet filled with enemies. Players can equip two weapons which they first use to block incoming attacks from enemies and then return fire. The game uses on-screen prompts to deliver a fast-paced, arcadey battle system that feels great in VR. Think of it a bit like Hades in VR.
“The genre’s staple elements feel wholly refreshed by swapping out fast fingers for realistic movements, and the foundation of upgradable gear, new weapons and different loadouts encourages you to return again and again,” we said in our review of the game. “Its combat system has some unfortunate quirks and I would have liked to see more elements rooted in reality, but as an addictive arcade treat you’ll find hard to put down, Until You Fall stands a cut above the competition.”
So join us this week as we bravely take sword(s) in hand and take the fight to gauntlet of monsters. Are we up to the challenge? Tune in to find out! And don’t forget to subscribe to Upload’s YouTube channel while you’re at it.
After four years the PlayStation VR is still going which is an accomplishment considering the lifespan of most virtual reality (VR) headsets. Even with PlayStation 5 now available, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has ensured continued compatibility whether you’re new to VR or not. For PlayStation VR owners there’s been plenty of content to choose from in 2020, so here’s 10 of the best.
Unlike previous years, PlayStation VR’s dominance has wained and with it, all the exclusives the platform was known for. There are still a couple on the list below, but most of the titles now tend to be multi-platform. That’s no bad thing as there are some great videogames on offer.
The Best PSVR Games of 2020
Marvel’s Iron Man VR
Let’s start with an exclusive though, in fact, PlayStation VR’s biggest exclusive of the year, Marvel’s Iron Man VR. After a series of delays developer Camouflaj released the highly anticipated title during the summer, providing players with the first proper chance to don the famous suit.
With a pair of PlayStation Move controllers you can take to the skies to battle new enemies, learning how to use the Repulsor Jets to dodge enemy attacks as well as shoot them. As the campaign progresses you can customise the suit with various offensive and defensive capabilities to suit the missions. This is the closest to being Iron Man you’ll ever get.
Paper Beast
One of the more unusual VR experience to arrive this year, Pixel Reef’s Paper Beastis a surreal puzzle adventure inside a world created from big data. In this simulated ecosystem, bizarre creatures have come to life, exhibiting similar characteristics to real-world animals.
The main campaign revolves around interacting with the creatures and environment to solve the various challenges, providing some awe-inspiring visuals along the way. In addition to the campaign, there’s a sandbox mode where you can build your own worlds. One of those videogames which showcase how unique VR can be.
Final Assault
Originally released last year for PC VR headsets, after much work Phaser Lock Interactive managed to bring WWII strategy game Final Assault to PlayStation VR.
With a single-player campaign as well as cross-platform multiplayer, Final Assault is fully featured when it comes to content. You command ground and aerial troops like a table-top boardgame, dropping them in to lead an attack or setup defensive positions before pushing forward. The aim being to destroy your opponents base. Lots of fun if you like real-time strategy (RTS) titles.
Pixel Ripped 1995
When it comes to retro nostalgia in VR ARVORE’s Pixel Ripped series has got you covered. The latest is Pixel Ripped 1995, taking you back 25 years to a time where sprites were transitioning into 3D graphics.
Considered a golden era for videogames, Pixel Ripped 1995 features six levels containing nods to titles such as Streets of Rage, Mortal Kombat, Road Rash, Star Fox, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania and many more. You play as Dot who needs to vanquish her arch enemy the evil Cyblin Lord, aided by a 9-year-old videogame fan called David. Gameplay jumps between 2D and 3D, where you have to deal with challenges both onscreen and off. Certain to put a smile on any players face.
Gorn
Not one for younger players unless you go straight into the settings to switch the gore off, Gorn is pure over-the-top violence in a comedic, cartoon style. You’re a gladiator and the aim here is to survive brutal arena fights using whatever weapons come to hand (or just use your hands).
No crimson paint is spared as you break bones and dismember opponents with knives, axes, maces, bows and even environmental obstacles. Everything has a bouncy, ragdoll effect, so enemies can be flung around whilst the weapons wobble around like giant sponges. Addictive in its simplicity, Gorn is also quite the workout due to the physical exertion of beating cartoon gladiators senseless.
Dreams
One for those who love to be creative as well as play videogames, Dreams was a major launch for PlayStation 4 early in the year, with VR support added a few months later.
Developer Media Molecule has created a title where you can play its own single-player experience as well as those from the rest of the Dreams community. If you want to delve deeper then there’s a massive selection of tools to build whatever you want, from a simple art piece to a videogame which can be shared with the world. A videogame with limitless possibilities.
Pistol Whip
Another 2019 title which finally made it to PlayStation VR, Cloudhead Games’ Pistol Whip is a rhythm-action videogame like no other. Evoking films like John Wick you can become an action-movie badass, shooting enemies and dodging to a thumping soundtrack.
With 15 on-rail ‘Scenes’, the gameplay is intense and physical, encouraging you to move out the way of bullets whilst firing off as many of your own. The visuals are just as dramatic, creating an all-encompassing experience which will make you sweat. Plus there are plenty of modifiers to make things harder whilst upping that score for top leaderboard positions. Then early next year PlayStation VR owners will be treated to free DLC Pistol Whip 2089.
It’s all about melee combat, fighting through the procedural world of Rokar where each run-through isn’t quite the same but you can become stronger in the process. Attack, block and parry relentless foes. Should you fail then returning to the hub means you can upgrade weapons or select new ones to change your strategy. Energetic like Gorn, however, Until You Fall requires far more precision.
Star Wars: Squadrons
This videogame needs little introduction as it was the major release in October, strapping pilots into either Rebel or Imperial ships to battle in that far off galaxy. While you don’t necessarily need to be a fan of the franchise, it certainly helps when playing Star Wars Squadrons.
With single-player and multiplayer modes, in the story-driven campaign, you swap between the two opposing faction’s narratives, jumping into a selection of craft like the X-Wing or Tie Fighter. Over in multiplayer you have those same options, teaming up in a crew to take down Capital ships or engage in online dogfights. Great if you’re after a more comfortable, sat down VR experience.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
As the chaos of 2020 has managed to avoid a zombie apocalypse why not put yourself into one voluntarily with The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. A survival game set within a partially flooded New Orleans, make new friends, enemies and take down a few walkers along the way.
As a drifter you encounter warring factions vying for the few resources which remain whilst trying to scavenge your own in the derelict buildings and streets. Craft useful items and new weapons, blades are silent but will tire you out where guns have great stopping power as well as attracting attention. Outside of the main campaign, there’s The Trial horde mode if you just want some arcade action, killing waves of walkers. Plenty to keep you entertained and for practising those survival skills.
It’s been quite the year for the Oculus Quest platform, both positive and controversial. The standalone headset has gone from strength to strength with a growing catalogue of videogames and let’s not forget about the arrival of Oculus Quest 2. Whether you’re new to VR or not, here are VRFocus’ recommendations from 2020.
Below you’ll find 10 of the best videogames for Oculus Quest and this list is by no means exhaustive. It really was difficult narrowing down the selection and there are many more great titles on the store.
The Best Oculus Quest Games of 2020
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
For those who love a good zombie apocalypse Skydance Interactive’s The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is worth a look. Having to survive the mean streets of New Orleans, you’ll deal with dangerous humans and walkers alike. Scavenge houses for useful parts to keep you healthy or to craft more weapons, whilst uncovering the underlying storyline.
Go in silent with blades or a bow to avoid attracting attention or make some noise with pistols, rifles and more – just be ready for the horde. Plus in January 2021 a free horde mode ‘The Trial’ will provide wave-based action.
Cubism
Simple, elegant puzzle gaming, Cubismis the work of solo developer Thomas Van Bouwel. Featuring 60 puzzles, twist and turn them to try and fit the various colourful pieces inside. Easy to pick up yet difficult to put down Cubism is an indie gem to enjoy.
Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition
The horror genre has been well represented in VR and Bloober Team’s Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition is a great example why you should avoid the woods at night. Taking the standard 2019 title and giving it a VR twist, you have to explore the creepy woodland looking for a missing lad.
Along the way you have to deal with some strange events as well as your characters own PTSD and panic attacks. Lucky, by your side is your faithful pooch Bullet who can find hidden items as well as alert you to danger. Full of suspense and puzzles to solve, this isn’t for the faint of heart.
Until You Fall
When you just want a pure arcade hack-n-slash Schell Games’ Until You Fallis an energetic roguelite which ticks all the right boxes. Set in the neon fantasy world of Rokar you play a Rune Knight tasked with ridding the land of evil.
Gameplay revolves around runs through the world which changes each time due to procedurally generated levels. Combat is melee based, where you buy and upgrade various swords and knives adapt and conquer each run. Die and you return to the beginning a try again. Hectic and brutal, this is one videogame to get your heart pumping.
Population: One
Mixing the massive battle royale genre with VR’s interactive gameplay is Population: One. Taking place across one giant map which supports 18 players, across six squads with three players each, drop pods launch you onto the battlefield to see who can survive the longest.
Weapons and useful items are littered throughout the world as well as resources to build quick platforms for defensive and offensive capabilities. You can also climb anything you want and then glide across the map to gain an advantage. A relentless first-person shooter (FPS), one to keep you entertained for hours.
Phantom: Covert Ops
For a far more subtle shooter where you can be as stealthy or gung-ho as you like then nDreams’ Phantom: Covert Ops is a good choice. Playing as an elite operative infiltrating an enemy base, the unique element here is that you’re entirely confined to a kayak throughout.
So you can silently paddle through waterways, hide in reeds, and then snipe enemies to complete the task. Or with some C4 and the assault rifle tear the place up, your call. Completing mission-specific objectives or finding hidden secrets will unlock levels in the Challenge Mode, so there’s more to keep you entertained after the campaign is over.
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted
The only other horror title on this list, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted goes for the classic jump scare, using it to great effect. A compilation of all the previous Five Nights at Freddy’s plus some made for VR content, all the levels are bite-sized mini-games where you have to survive the night.
With killer animatronics hunting you down encounters can include playing a security guard keeping an eye on monitors or crawling into claustrophobic ventilation systems to repair them. You know they’re coming, but it doesn’t make it any less scary!
Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale
Pure multiplayer madness for up to four people, Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale is all about preparing delicious lunches for your customers. They all have their own preferences with some more exacting than others, so it’s up to you and your team to deliver, no one person has all the ingredients. Therefore good communication and some speedy chopping skills are in order.
You have access to a fridge full of ingredients as well as a grills to toast (or burn) ingredients. Plus you’ll need to clear and clean plates as no customer wants their sandwich on a dirty plate. There’s also a single-player mode where you can team up with a kitchen robot assistant to tackle the various campaign levels. Good clean/messy fun.
In Death: Unchained
In a similar roguelite vein to Until They Fall, In Death: Unchained has procedural levels and single run-throughs where death puts you right back at the start, a little wiser and a little stronger. Here though, all you have is a bow – a crossbow can be unlocked – and an assortment of magical arrows to take down Templar Knights, demons, evil monks and other unearthly creatures.
One for those who love a challenge, there’s plenty to keep you entertained as the developer has just released a new gameplay mode called ‘Siege of Heaven’. Plus, like many on this list if you have an Oculus Quest 2 there are visual enhancements which make the world more impressive.
The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Fireproof Games took its hugely popular mobile series The Room and built The Room VR: A Dark Matter specifically for VR gaming. With an original storyline set in London, circa 1908, you play a detective called to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a renown Egyptologist from the British Institute of Archaeology.
Que elaborate puzzles, dark magic and fantastical gadgets to aid the investigation. These are all fully interactive to help engross you in each element plus the gameplay uses specific teleportation points so it should be a very comfortable experience for all players.
Hi! I’m Patrick Jalbert, the Design Director for Until You Fall. In the previous Developer Diary, Dave Bennett (our Project Director) did a great job explaining his process for coming up with our game’s Project Pillars.
As Design Director, I guided the specific design elements of Until You Fall’s combat systems to meet those pillars. That means, I handled the design of the core combat system, enemy AI, and the design and balance of specific weapons and traits.
One of the most common questions we get asked aboutdevelopment in Until You Fall is how we arrived at our choreographed combat system. There’s a huge design space to explore in melee combat—especially in VR. The game’scombat system ended up being somewhat unique because we consciously moved away from more free-form, physics-driven combat.
Early on, we knew we wanted to build a stylish, fast-paced VR game we could scale in speed and difficulty. We looked at a LOT of anime/action movie fight scenes and asked ourselves, “Can we make something that FEELS like that when you’re playing in VR?”
The Quest To Avoid Mushiness
There’s plenty of ways to make great, simulation-based combat work in VR. However, we found that unless we slowed combat way, way down, players would often not be able to realize why they won or lost a fight. Waggling weapons was a dominant strategy, and, “What killed me?” was a frequent question in our playtests.
For us, this was a big issue. For the game to feel fair, the player has to build an idea in their mind of why they died and what they could do differently next time to improve. If we couldn’t present that information clearly, then we just couldn’t make the game grow to present the level of challenge or achieve the fast-pace we were envisioning.
This type of clarity is important for all action games; most melee games tend to be in the third person for exactly this reason. If I die in, say, Bloodborne or Hollow Knight, chances are I can see my avatar’s whole body, the angle of the enemy’s swing, and where exactly I was hit. This makes it possible for me to watch my death and say, “Oh, I died because I didn’t dodge in time,” or, “I didn’t time my jump correctly.” Then, I know what I need to practice, and/or how to adjust my strategy going into the next fight.
In a first-person melee game (especially a VR one), it’s a lot harder to convey that information. If I’m killed by a sword-slash to my torso, there’s no guarantee I was looking down when it happened. I just saw the enemy swing. . .and then I died.
Without that clear cause-and-effect for winning or dying, we found players were left throwing their hands up in the air wondering what to do next, and the only solution was to slow combat down until everyone could follow the action happening around them.
The Until You Fall team started referring to this lack of clarity in combat as “mushiness.” Moving out of our initial prototypes, we made it our goal to build a system that had as little mushiness as possible—which is what heavily pushed us towards incorporating block, critical strike, and dodge prompts.
Prompts With A Dash Of Choice
Once we started prototyping with these prompt-based systems, it immediately became clear this would get us to the fast-paced action game we had in our minds. Through being explicit with the most basic actions and using repeatable attack patterns, players could quickly learn what they needed to do and practice committing it to muscle memory.
The new challenge became figuring out ways we could keep a sense of freedom and strategy in the combat without re-introducing a lot of the mushiness we tried to get away from earlier. We wanted combat to feel crisp, but we didn’t want each encounter to feel like a sequence of quicktime events.
There are a lot of ways we tried to do this, but I think the steps we took figuring out how to get “dodge” prompts to work is a pretty good example.
Very early on, we didn’t have an explicit “block here” prompts. Our first pass used something like an arrow to show the direction the attack was coming from. We thought players would be able to look at that arrow, think about it, and decide if they wanted to block by holding their sword perpendicular to it or dodge by leaning away from it.
This turned out to be terrible! Not only did it feel mushy, but it slowed combat way down. Every single attack was a choice the player had to make, and we caught ourselves freezing up when we tried to play with the system added.
So, we ended up separating blocks and dodges pretty quickly. To keep the pace of combat fast (and the success and failure clear), we had to have only a single UI prompt display on an enemy at a time. At one point, we tried showing a block AND a dodge at once, and that was also way too busy.
We even tried putting the choice on a button—with one of the face buttons of the VR controller toggling you between an “all block” and an “all dodge” mode. But we found that presenting multiple, nuanced combat options with UI prompts was too busy and too mushy to be worth it—especially in VR.
Shifting Our Tactics To Strategy
In the end, we had to be very careful with how many player choices we pushed into our moment-to-moment gameplay during combat (blocking, dodging, and crits). We found the best way to do that for Until You Fall was to shift some of the tactical decisions you would make in a game like Dark Souls (Eg: Should I block or dodge?) from the combat loop to the roguelite level of the game.
In the case of block vs. dodge, we gave attacks an “attack rating” and the player a “block rating.” If the player’s block rating exceeds the attack rating, then it’s a block. If it doesn’t, then it’s a dodge.
This allowed us to make traits and weapons that changed that block rating. This lets players choose (at some level) if they want to block or dodge, but shifts that decision outside of combat. It’s now a part of your “build” for a run. In its place, our movement “dashing” ended up becoming the analogy to a Dark Souls “dodge button.”
Once we had that in place, we started to get a sense of what would or wouldn’t be “too much” to include in our core combat loops. We were also able to get more creative with the idea of adding mechanics players could select between fights without making the core combat too overwhelming.
Weapon Supers, for example, became a great way to add more complex actions to our combat that players could select. Supers aren’t required to beat the game, but using them cleverly is a power boost for the player that feels great to master. Additionally, it let us build supers to meet different types of fantasy.
To Conclude
I hope this helps explain a bit about how thecombat system in Until You Fall ended up with the core concepts that it has! Some of the most interesting parts of the game’s development involved figuring out what we could and couldn’t get away with in terms of “in-combat complexity.” Solving these problems have been some of the most fun in my career.
The simplicity of Until You Fall’s core combat mechanics is still the subject of a lot of great discussion on our Discord to this day. We’ve learned a lot as a team about the right level of cognitive load for VR melee combat, and there’s still a lot of room to explore and improve on the formula!
Hello, sword fans. I’m Dave Bennett, the Project Director for Until You Fall, and it’s been my absolute pleasure to help bring this weird, neon fantasy world to life for you all to enjoy in VR.
As Project Director, my role sort of falls in between Creative Director and Project Manager. I like to describe it as a job where I do everything, nothing, and whatever comes in between to make sure the game gets finished. High level creative and production decisions? Sure! Updating studio management about the state of the project? Totally. Tweaking enemy positions and text verbiage in the tutorial because nobody else has the bandwidth to do it? You bet. Nothing is too big or too small.
At Schell Games, we tend to work on a lot of different projects, with each one teaching us something new along the way. When beginning a new project, we start in a period of pre-production where we explore different ideas and make high-level decisions about what the experience should look and feel like.
Part of this process involves creating something we call “Project Pillars” – generally 2 or 3 pithy slogans or ideals that can be used to help guide future decisions about what to add or change about the game. What makes these difficult to define is that they need to be concise, support the other pillars, and not be so general as to just be “make a fun game.” So, it can take a bit of doing to really find Pillars that resonate.
Until You Fall went through this same process, so I thought it would be interesting to share what three pillars we decided on and how we arrived at those decisions.
Pillar 1: Become a Sword God
Before Until You Fall was even…well, Until You Fall, we knew that we wanted to build a melee combat experience that could be fast, frenetic, and challenging. We developed our choreographed system of attacking and blocking pretty early, which meant we had our innermost game loop sorted. However, it was less clear as to what the rest of the game should look and feel like to support this combat.
Very early prototyping had us adding a variety of extra systems: weapon durability, holsters, looting, weapon throwing – things that, at the time, seemed obvious to include for a melee combat game in VR. But, we quickly discovered that the inclusion of these extra mechanics didn’t always enhance the experience. In many cases, it undermined our core gameplay by confusing and overwhelming players.
For example, throughout early playtests we noticed that players would consistently drop their sword, leading to a comedy of errors where they would fumble around looking for their weapon as enemies ganged up and killed them. After the playtest, players would come out of the experience generally positive about it, saying that it was cool and novel, but would then follow up with comments like “this game probably isn’t for me, I mean I was really bad at it.” That didn’t feel right.
With these notes fresh in our minds, we tried to refocus on what was actually important to our experience. Something we knew early on was that, when our combat was in full swing, the player would feel incredibly heroic. The combination of wide swings and blocking choreography encourages the player to stand (or sit) up straighter, completely losing any sense of VR-shyness we saw in some of our early playtests. So…why not lean into that feeling of power?
It was this line of thinking that led to our first pillar: Become a Sword God. Until You Fall isn’t a game where you start as a bumbling zero and become the hero. Instead, it is a game where you already start off feeling strong and reach superhuman heights. From the moment you put on the headset, you should start feeling awesome.
Any interaction that didn’t directly support this feeling of power (or, worse, subverted it and made you feel silly) was cut or entirely reimagined. This pillar was in no small part responsible for features like our weapon summoning, crushing-to-interact, and turning our dash mechanic into something to be used in combat.
Once this pillar was defined, the others began to take shape pretty quickly.
Pillar 2: Supercharged VR Interactions
Confident in the power fantasy we were establishing, this next pillar was created to help define the types of actions the player will be taking during the experience. In a lot of ways, this pillar actually has a lot of overlap with Pillar #1. When we say Supercharged VR Interactions, there are a variety of layers to peel back.
By virtue of our first pillar, our games interactions are (and should be) larger than life and bombastic. Not only does it enhance the player fantasy we’re trying to achieve, in a lot of ways it plays to the platform’s strengths. Big, wider motions tend to be easier to track for VR cameras, feel better as a player, and look more exciting to folks outside of the headset.
Further, this pillar encourages us to build something that can only be done in VR. Yes, technically using motion controllers means it can only be done in VR, but for every interaction we wanted to look for ways to really highlight and enhance the platform’s strengths.
Examples include our player avatar enhancing the player’s sense of presence in VR, the way players interact with objects in the world, as well as our movement scheme. When in the headset for the first time, players tend to test the boundaries of their new virtual world, and we do what we can to reward and incentivize the right kind of interactions.
This process of teaching the player the “right” way to play the game was incredibly important to us, and informed the type of feedback we provided the player when swinging their weapon at different velocities. Because wider/bigger swings deal more damage in our game, we needed to encourage players to take larger swings (and teach players the amount of effort required). To achieve this, we clearly delineated three levels of feedback – small, standard and big. These thresholds of effort ensured players would play in a way that not only encouraged them to lean into the fantasy, but it also helped prevent players from potentially injuring themselves by swinging too hard or fast.
Lastly, the “supercharged” nature of the pillar also serves as a guidepost for the in-game feedback and visuals. Again, Until You Fall is a bombastic experience, and the game should do everything in its power to reinforce that. For example, all of the juicy feedback you get from crushing a crystal in your gauntleted fist was carefully considered: the visuals, haptics, sound effects – all combined to once again reinforce the power fantasy we were trying to establish.
Pillar 3: Power through Persistence
For our final pillar, we wanted to take a more macro view of the game and its structure. We have our core mechanics, we have our tone target, but what scaffolding do we want to support with these mechanics?
Early on, one of the goals was to make something that was not only replayable but had the opportunity to expand in a variety of ways. Partly because of this desire (and likely because of my own affinity for these types of games), we started exploring with the idea of a roguelike / roguelite structure.
At a micro level, players gained power through knowledge of enemies and mechanics, eventually mastering the combat and conquering all foes. Paired with a roguelite structuring, it seemed like a perfect match: randomized runs and rewards that encourage replayability and clear goals for the player to overcome. Further, while the player has some loss of progress when they fall in combat, their effort is converted into currency that can be used to bolster and enhance their collection of weapons.
So, with this concept, we agreed on our third pillar: Power through Persistence. With each attempt players gain new knowledge, new resources to work with and increase their power both in skill and straight mechanical power. While players will fall in combat, they will always return stronger than they were before. It was this pillar in particular that led to the name of the game, too.
In some ways, this pillar also encouraged us to try and make death in the game something to accept and not be angry about. While I don’t know if we were entirely successful here, it did give us a great point for the player to take a break, try out new weapons, rethink their strategy, and reflect on the previous run.
Wrapping Up
So, there you have it – the three core pillars of Until You Fall. As you can see, some were almost immediately clear from the start, while others required a bit of a journey to discover. Regardless, once established, they were incredibly helpful throughout the game’s development.
I hope this glimpse into the early stages of the game’s development was entertaining. The entire team that built the game is incredibly passionate about Until You Fall, so having the opportunity to share some stories about the making of the game is incredibly rewarding for us.
If you haven’t already, be sure to drop by the Discord and say hello – we’re always creeping in there, listening to your feedback and ideas.
Until You Fall, das VR-Schwertkampfspiel von Schell Games, kommt Ende dieses Monats offiziell aus Early Access für PC heraus.
Until You Fall für PC verlässt diesen Monat den Early Access
Ende September wurde die Version 1.0 für PSVR und Oculus Quest veröffentlicht und ab dem 27. Oktober wird die finale Version sowohl über Steam als auch über den Oculus Store for Rift zu einem Preis von 25 US-Dollar erhältlich sein. Until You Fall ist definitiv eines der VR-Highlights des Jahres und deshalb solltest du dir diesen Titel unbedingt anschauen, falls er noch nicht in deiner Sammlung ist. Die PSVR-Version haben wir leider nicht gespielt, jedoch sind wir begeistert von der Version für PCVR und für die Oculus Quest.
Until You Fall, das VR-Schwertkampfspiel von Schell Games, kommt Ende dieses Monats offiziell aus Early Access für PC heraus.
Until You Fall für PC verlässt diesen Monat den Early Access
Ende September wurde die Version 1.0 für PSVR und Oculus Quest veröffentlicht und ab dem 27. Oktober wird die finale Version sowohl über Steam als auch über den Oculus Store for Rift zu einem Preis von 25 US-Dollar erhältlich sein. Until You Fall ist definitiv eines der VR-Highlights des Jahres und deshalb solltest du dir diesen Titel unbedingt anschauen, falls er noch nicht in deiner Sammlung ist. Die PSVR-Version haben wir leider nicht gespielt, jedoch sind wir begeistert von der Version für PCVR und für die Oculus Quest.
Until You Fall (2020), the VR sword fighting game from Schell Games, is officially out of Early Access on PC starting today.
Update (October 27th, 2020): Until You Fall is now out of Early Access on SteamVR and Oculus PC. This brings along with it what Schell Games calls “significant improvements” to audio, art, visual quality and overall performance. The game also now includes 40 unique achievements. You can check out the full patch notes here.
Original article (October 9th, 2020): The hack and slash rogue-lite just launched its 1.0 version on PSVR and Oculus Quest in late September, bringing its fun and lively sword fighting to those platforms for the first time.
The 1.0 version of the game will be available through both Steam and the Oculus Store for Rift starting October 27th, priced at $25. With its launch out of Early Access on PC imminent, the studio is currently holding an open beta testing for SteamVR headsets.
Until You Fall is, in few words, a great game. In our review of the game on Quest, Road to VR’s Ben Lang said that although the game is a rogue-lite, and there’s fundamentally no compelling world, characters, or story to unravel, that “challenging combat and the allure of enhancing your weapons or experimenting with new ones will make you want to play ‘just one more run’ over and over.”
Here’s a bit from Ben’s review explaining some of the game’s unique combat mechanics:
Until You Fall’s combat is wholly dictated by the ‘shield’ meter of each enemy, which must be broken before you can begin slashing away at their health bar. Shield damage is dealt both by hitting enemies and blocking their attacks. Since they can attack you at any time while their shield is up, you can get a few hits in here and there but you’ll largely be on the defensive until their shield is down. Once their shield is broken it’s your turn to dish out big damage by swinging in the indicated direction to chain together several devastating hits. Some enemies will die after just one combo set, but others will need their shields taken down multiple times before they fall—until you become more powerful, that is.
Until You Fall brings a refreshingly unique approach to VR sword fighting which combines the satisfaction of a hack & slash game with the depth of RPG combat, all wrapped up in a VR-native design. The game’s Quest port is a near-perfect translation from its PC counterpart which benefits from the lack of tether.
Until You Fall Details:
Available On: Oculus Quest, Oculus PC, SteamVR, PSVR Release Date: September 29th, 2020 Price: $25 Oculus Cross-buy: Yes Developer: Schell Games Reviewed On: Quest
Gameplay
Until You Fall is a rogue-lite VR melee combat game where you battle your way through rooms of enemies until you are inevitably struck down, only to rise again more experienced and more powerful to try to make it even further in your next bout.
Rather than the purely physics-based approach of a VR melee combat game like Blade & Sorcery, Until You Fall delivers a somewhat more abstract experience. From the outside, the ‘block’ and ‘combo’ markers might make the game look arcade-ish, but there’s heaps of depth hiding underneath. Not only does this approach leave room for meta-game strategy—like which weapons you use and how you use them—it also allows the game to carefully set the ‘pace’ of combat to make it both challenging and rewarding without the intermittent funkiness that often comes with a pure-physics approach.
Image courtesy Schell Games
Make no mistake though, Until You Fall is an active game and you can easily build up a sweat while you play. Although hits and blocks are more dependant on the overall gesture than ensuring that you make perfect contact with the enemy’s hitbox, to succeed you’ll still need to make big swings in the right directions and at the right time.
Until You Fall’s combat is wholly dictated by the ‘shield’ meter of each enemy, which must be broken before you can begin slashing away at their health bar. Shield damage is dealt both by hitting enemies and blocking their attacks. Since they can attack you at any time while their shield is up, you can get a few hits in here and there but you’ll largely be on the defensive until their shield is down. Once their shield is broken it’s your turn to dish out big damage by swinging in the indicated direction to chain together several devastating hits. Some enemies will die after just one combo set, but others will need their shields taken down multiple times before they fall—until you become more powerful, that is.
Until You Fall has two types of progression: temporary upgrades which you unlock in the current run but disappear afterward, and permanent upgrades to your weapons which are bought between runs in the hub area. In addition to upgrading your weapons, you can also buy from a reasonably large selection of new weapons. But your effectiveness is also dictated by the proficiency of your play rather than by your stats alone.
Each weapon has its own unique characteristics, and choosing which weapons you bring into battle is a very meaningful decision because it can have a drastic impact on how you play—from your overall combat strategy right down to the way you swing.
This is the heart of what makes Until You Fall’s combat so interesting. In one run you might choose a dagger for your blocking weapon—because it’s light and fast—and an axe for your attacking weapon—because it deals big damage. In the next run you might pair a broadsword—for its balance of range and speed—with an amulet—which gives big stat boosts but can’t be used to block. Or you might want to attack with two daggers—for their speed—and hope to find the mid-run upgrade which increases damage when you alternate attacks between your blades.
On one of my better runs in the Quest version of Until You Fall I chose the mace for dishing out big shield damage, but opted to block and combo with my broadsword because the mace is too slow for quick blocks and the broadsword does more damage to health than shields. As I fought through the run I grabbed a few mid-run upgrades which made my mace deal even more shield damage, turning it into a brute-force shield smasher that I would swing with abandon while focusing on precise blocking and combos with my sword.
Image courtesy Schell Games
That’s just one idea for a weapon pairing and combat strategy, and there’s many more to formulate, experiment with, and perfect.
It takes some time to grasp all the systems at play though, and this is one place where Until You Fall could use some added clarity. Sorting out the difference between permanent and temporary weapon bonuses, player bonuses, weapon sockets, block damage, shield damage, and health damage will take some back-and-forth comparisons between menus and getting a few runs under your belt. Revamping the interface to more clearly indicate which upgrades are temporary and which are permanent (and whether the upgrade applies to the player or the weapon) would help players get up to speed with the underlying systems more quickly. The game would also benefit from more explicitly explaining that each weapon has differing ‘physical’ weight which impacts how fast it moves. That’s an important consideration when it comes to choosing your kit and how you’ll use it.
Image courtesy Schell Games
Though a bit hazy at the outset, the meta-game elements are paired with satisfying and challenging moment-to-moment combat that will test your mettle and leave you with that feeling of wanting to squeeze in just one more run.
Runs start out easy enough and after upgrading your weapons a few times you’ll be crushing the fodder with a single swing. But with just a few non-regenerating hit points, every enemy is a potential threat. Getting cocky and overextending is the surest way to lose a hitpoint, and you’ll be kicking yourself later when you have to give up a crucial mid-run weapon upgrade to recover your hit points instead.
Photo by Road to VR
And then there’s the real enemies. As you go deeper through your run you’ll start facing off against Knights and Captains which each present a serious threat. And just when you start to master those encounters you’ll start facing off with empowered versions of those enemies which bring amped-up attacks that will have you on your heels in a heartbeat if you aren’t lock-step with their attacks. Narrowly escaping one of these challenging encounters with a single hit point is a thrilling experience—the essence of Until You Fall.
Image courtesy Schell Games
Although there’s some structure to your runs in Until You Fall, including a few boss encounters along the way, there isn’t really a definitive ‘end’ to the game. Even once you vanquish the most difficult encounter, there’s always new weapon combos and combat strategies to try and harder difficulties to master. That said, I think players could expect to spend around 10 hours becoming proficient enough to conquer the final encounter.
Immersion
Image courtesy Schell Games
Until You Fall for Quest is a superb port of its PC counterpart. While there are some graphical downgrades, the heart and soul of the gameplay and visuals remain entirely intact.
Although the ground texture could use some work and the foliage has become sparse and chunky, the most interesting objects in the game—namely your hands, weapons, and upgrade crystals—retain an impressive amount of geometric detail and much of the lighting sheen that keeps them from the ‘cardboard’ look that we’ve seen with some Quest ports. Generally speaking, the game seems to look better in motion through the headset than I’ve been able to capture with screenshots, likely because the in-game visuals are so crisp and well defined compared to some games which use blurry anti-aliasing (or lack it outright).
Photo by Road to VR
Although the game’s many particle effects aren’t nearly as complex what’s seen in the PC version, they’ve been tastefully replaced with thicker, ribbon and pedal-like particles that feel perfectly at home in the game’s imaginative neon art style.
Image courtesy Schell Games
With carefully adapted visuals backed by strong sound design and quality music, there’s almost nothing lost in the Quest port of Until You Fall—except for the tether. Being unbounded by a cable doesn’t radically change the game, but it adds immersion by allowing you to rotate your body to face enemies with no fear of a cord twisting below your feet or getting in the way of your strikes.
Immersion in Until You Fall comes more from how it feels than how it looks. Summoning your weapons into your hands before a battle by squeezing both grip buttons—accompanied by a satisfying ‘shwiiinng‘ sound—never seems to get old. Nor does the feeling of defly slicing through a combo sequence and watching the enemy collapse in a ragdoll heap.
It may not feel like you need to fear the precise geometric boundary of the enemy’s blade, but there’s something to be said about a game where you unconsciously take stock of the challenge before you when coming face to face with its toughest enemies.
What is here, for the most part, is superbly executed. So well, in fact, that Until You Fall’s biggest ‘flaw’ is what’s it doesn’t have. The strategic depth and moment-to-moment satisfaction of the combat system leave the game screaming for a larger scope, a more dynamic world, and a proper story.
Comfort
Until You Fall is an active game that’s generally comfortable and has well-rounded comfort options. Players are prompted from the outset to choose between seated and standing modes. Vignetting is on by default and can be reduced or disabled outright. I turned it off for the sake of immersion and didn’t have any discomfort.
Image courtesy Schell Games
Although there’s some smooth stick movement, it’s kept quite slow because the game smartly brings enemies toward you and asks you to use your weapons and bodily movements to block and dodge rather than strafing around with a thumbstick. Dashing is used to get around more quickly, but a cooldown prevents players from exploiting it for constant locomotion.
Until You Fall can be a workout if you really get into it. The game rewards physical effort by dealing more damage for broad swings and allowing players to block any attack as long as they can physically get their hand into blocking position with enough time to spare. Dodging left/right and ducking are required for some encounters, but the movement threshold is low enough that it can be done while seated.
