Valheim - Viking survival/exploration game

Haha the Deathsuqitos made me shart the first few encounters when the team just walloped into the plains. Combined with those green goblins dear lord, our upgraded bronze max armor was torn and tatterred in 2-3 hits lol.

You all feel like redoing this stuff again with new friends again and again? I have maxed my armor and weapons now and so, besides the last boss, all my time is funnelled into base building (learning) and item collection

 

Sorry to say, but referencing Minecraft just worked to put me off the game.
Absolutely hate Minecraft.

Just... did not enjoy any of it.

 

ahh its okay, i can understand that

 

Graphically it looks like Minecraft too.

 

The textures and models are late 90s-ish. I can see how some will find that off-putting. The lighting is really good though. It's a pretty well fleshed out (for an EA release) survival/craft/build game that isn't overly punishing. It's quite good if you like that type of game.

I could never wrap my head around trying to get into Minecraft, even now. And I know it's a brilliant game. My eyes won't let me and it's my loss.

 

I haven't pumped an awful lot of time into Minecraft so I could be missing something. Having spent 150+ hours on Valheim, I can see similarities with Minecraft the terrain is destructible/can be mined and there are also some building block elements to certain (not all) structures. You can actually dig a lot deeper in Minecraft. Valheim is very much aimed towards survival RPG that also has pretty decent combat, similar to the Dark Souls games. I think the visuals are pretty neat and performance for the most part is decent considering. The mix of old school pixels and modern day effects (particles, physics, etc) is brilliant. Can't wait for the next update.

 

New update out today that should address some of the performance issues related to terraforming.

 

downside is you need to move about a bit and then enter the command to optimize all area's previously terraformed

 

Yea I went around all my bases last night hitting F5 and CTRL + V in random spots to convert the terrain. it has a fairly big radius but still took a good 45 mins. My main base feels like the fps improved slightly and is less stuttery now so paid off I guess. Saves me starting from scratch.

 

Ahoy! The first slightly larger update for Valheim is out as of about an hour ago.



Patch note highlights copied below but to sum up a few:

- NO NEW BIOMES YET ( in case someone was going to ask. These have been slated for a later update since release and have remained so )
- Food system tweaked/overhauled
- Blocking system overhaul
- New build items, nothing outrageous but new stuff is new
- You can now tame a Lox in the plains and use as a mount

Rest below + some stuff apparently yet to be discovered

PS. Old saves should still work ( mine did ), Mods probably wont work but nonetheless the devs recommend starting a new game.
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General improvements

* Weapons rebalanced (All weapons have been rebalanced to be more viable as main weapon and also have more unique playstyles)
* Blocking system overhauled (Current maximum hp now greatly affects your ability to block attacks, stagger bar gui added)
* Naming tamed creatures
* Gamepad sensitivity settings
* Auto-pickup toggle button added
* Graphics settings (Active point lights & Active point light shadows)
* Tamed creatures affected by friendly fire setting (i.e you can’t hurt a tamed creature unless you enable friendly fire or use the new Butcher knife item)
* Various other improvements and bugfixes

Food

* Food rebalance (Most food items now give mainly stamina or mainly health to make food choices more interesting)
* Food GUI overhauled to work better with the rebalanced food
* Over 10 new things to eat (Actually 12)

World

* Tamed Lox now have a purpose
* Slimy locations & creatures added to plains
* New plantable seeds: Birch, Oak & Onions

Items

* New weapons: Crystal battleaxe, Silver knife
* New shields: Bone tower shield, Iron buckler
* Butcher knife (Special weapon for butchering tamed animals)
* Thunder stone (Sold by trader)
* Lox accessory

Building

* New Darkwood building pieces like shingle roofs, beams, decorations and more
* New types of furniture, including but not limited to a mighty stone throne and a steamy viking hot tub
* Crystal walls
* New types of stacks to show off your treasure and resources
* Cauldron improvements: Spice rack, Butcher’s table, Pots and pans
* Cartography table (For sharing map-data with other players)
* Oven added (For baking bread and pie)
* Obliterator added (Items be gone)
* Iron cooking station (Required to cook some types of meat)

 

Looks interesting. If gameplay is decent. I like survival games but strongly depends on how well they are implemented, especially from a game play standpoint. I can forgive shoddy graphics if game is fun. My main objection is that its unnecessary to add monsters or viking themes or fantasy elements to this type of game. The more realistic survival games are with real world environments (not fantasy), the more relatable, immersive and believable they can be.

 

The whole point of Valheim is that it puts a different spin on the survival genre, drawing from norse ( and scandinavian in general ) mythology. It isn't a survival game as such but more an exploration/open world sandbox with survival elements which is why a lot of people call it a "survival-lite". If you would prefer something a bit more hardcore on the survival front then you're better off looking elsewhere.

I personally think the game is still a hoot and very well made, it's on a small weekend sale right now too so good time to give it a go.

 

Valheim has a really nice balance of building, crafting, farming, exploration, progression, solid combat mechanics and difficulty, with a nostalgic (to me), yet beautiful graphic style. The survival elements aren't terribly punishing but the game also has a way of finding ways to kill you anyways.

Little things also kind of set this game apart. I like how you can't just eat a bunch of the same item at once to get max health, you have to eat 3 different items. I like how you can't just shove a fire inside your dwelling, you have to deal with the smoke or choke to death. I like how building is a bit more challenging, with reasonable limitations forcing you to use supports or craft stronger beams. Stuff like that.

I also like that it sold so incredibly well that it isn't going to be abandoned in early access.