[2021] Dev Thoughts #23

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Dev Thoughts #23 - Survivors of the Void
Hello fellow Survivors! Welcome back!

Dev Thoughts Video
I wanted to start out by thanking everyone who reached out to me following last month’s video version of the Dev thoughts - as requested I got a huge amount of feedback - which was overwhelmingly positive so I went ahead and made another one for this month! Check it out and once again please let me know what you think!

https://youtu.be/1EBxT0zwIVA



Survivors of the Void
The official artwork and the name of the upcoming Risk of Rain 2 Expansion is now ready to be unveiled:

Survivors of the Void.



We have also launched the Survivors of the Void store page on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1607890/Survivors_of_the_Void

I’d highly recommend both wishlisting the expansion and checking the store page regularly, there might just be some additions over the coming weeks. Also stick around for the rest of the Dev Thoughts - these are not the only Survivors of the Void reveals we have today...



Survivor’s Corner
Here’s a new section I'd like to include in each new Dev Thoughts where I highlight something cool created by our fans! This month i’d like to show off this amazing creation from @TheFiddleCat on Twitter:



Go and show them some love! If any of you have created or seen anything Hopoo Games related drop me an email at [email protected] or ping me on Twitter or Discord[discord.gg] and I might just include it in a future Dev Thoughts!



IRL Item Printer
You’ll never guess what we installed in our new office this month: A genuine Item Printer from RoR2!

Someone let Ben near the bloody thing and he decided to make a load of copies of his raincoat...



Great job Ben you dingus, What are we supposed to do with all these coats??






Ok all is forgiven



New Game Mode
Revealed in Dev Thoughts #21 and teased last month is the new game mode which will be available in Survivors of the Void.

How long will you last within the Simulacrum?



The Simulacrum is a wave-based arena mode set within a Void simulation. It can be played both single and multiplayer and contains any artifacts you’ve unlocked ready for use. It is an endless mode that can conclude only in your simulated demise.

My personal best attempt is wave 65 as Bandit, the office record is currently held by raincoat enthusiast Ben at an astounding wave 140 as Acrid. There is no shortage of testing (a.k.a. trying to beat each other’s record) going in behind the scenes with this new mode. We think you’ll have as much fun playing it as we have testing it!

The Void has recreated some of the iconic locations from Risk of Rain 2 to assess the threat of these dangerous places - the simulation is familiar yet somehow… different.


But definitely purple.

Within a confined safe-zone monsters spawn in waves of increasing difficulty and every 5th wave is a difficult Boss encounter. Some waves also have random mutators applied - maybe a random artifact is activated for one round...


...or maybe something that really sucks instead.

After each wave a Void Potential is created for every player, allowing you to select between 3 items giving you a great deal of control over your power within the Simulacrum.





Item Crates and other interactables spawn on the stage as normal - but venturing outside of the safe zone to reach these can be a great risk. Thankfully after every boss wave the safe zone moves to a new area, giving you a brief opportunity to open more crates and increase your power.




Get back here ya pesky varmint!

Getting those extra items will be a great help - when you experience a Void simulation of the most dangerous threats in the universe you never know who or what might show up to challenge you.



Gotta Kill ‘em All?


Please share your renditions of this mystery enemy in the #ror2-art-and-content channel on the Discord[discord.gg] with a @SeventeenUncles ping plz. My personal favourite(s) will be included in next month’s Dev Thoughts.

Much Love

Jonathan @ Hopoo Games