Hello, fellow Vikings!
It's been a while since we've heard from each other, and I know I've neglected Steam a bit, but I’ve decided it’s time to finally get back to you. Unfortunately, working on the game consumes all my time. Recently I showed you some screenshots of landscapes that will appear in my game on my social media channels. Looking at them, I thought, "Dude, you did a great job. This looks better than real life." Yes, I know, it sounds very bold of me, but considering how much effort and time I’ve put into it, I felt really satisfied with the results.
Some screenshots from my game, showing the fjords
I also thought it would be fun to give you some insight into the areas that I’ve been inspired by and that are close to my heart.
Scandinavia is an incredibly beautiful place. This is the region of northern Europe, that covers Sweden, Norway and Denmark. I don't know if you’re aware, I might have already mentioned this, I’m a great fan of Nordic culture. It was an amazing experience for me, to see the places where the Vikings used to live and work with my own eyes. Inherent and perhaps most distinctive element of the Scandinavian landscape are the fjords – mystical, fairy tale-like structures. In reality fjords are deep bays, strongly cut into the land with a distinct steep banks. They were formed by a retreating glacier during the last Pleistocene glaciation period.
It's a truly breathtaking sight when you see them for the first time in your life. During my first encounter with the fjords, I could see all those drakkars that the Vikings used to sail out to conquer the world with my mind’s eye. Oh yes, the fjords are definitely a place where people can feel the ancient Viking Spirit. During my stay in Scandinavia I had the opportunity to see several fjords, but the most memorable was Sognefjorden - the largest fjord in Europe and the second largest in the world. It’s 203 km long and has a maximum depth of 1308 km.
Okay, let's get down to business.
Traditionally, Vikings have settled in places that met at least two of several criteria. Among the important factors there were: access to the sea (direct or via a river), the intersection of trade routes, the relief of the terrain to facilitate defence, and above all, access to food, drinking water and other resources. I had to face the daunting tasks of recreating all those factors on the game maps using Unreal Engine.
Aerial view of former Hedeby at the end of Schlei. Credit: http://viking.archeurope.com
Birka Hillfort was located on the top of the mound. Credit: http://viking.archeurope.com
After familiarizing myself with the tools I got carried away by my imagination and started making a test map, the screenshots of which you have already seen. Unfortunately, I lost my spirit, so I started looking for the inspiration among the places where the Vikings lived 1000 years ago. It was then that I had an epiphany. Why not use the elevation maps of the above-mentioned areas and not reproduce their topography and coordinates?
The island of Björkö came first. I chose it because the famous Birka settlement was located there, and also because there had been little to no changes made by man since the Viking Age.
The cross of Ansgar raised in 1834 in commemoration of Christian missionary and his short lived congregation in Birka. Credit: https://www.shutterstock.com/pl/image-photo/monument-ansgar-erected-1834-on-swedish-514784344
Which of these images is a photo and which is a screen shot from the game?
The game will allow you to modify the difficulty level which will depend on the place you have chosen for your settlement. This will be manifested through climatic differences - the fertility of the fields and the length of the winter, economic differences - the availability and quantity of various raw materials such as quarries in Hyllestad, and political differences - relations with neighbours and distance from potential raid targets. The list of starting locations will include settlements in Scandinavia, as well as the islands of Baltic, Shetlands, Faroe and Orkney. Those of you better acquainted with history will surely notice the absence of a few places more distant from the cradle, but as for them I have other plans, which I will talk about in the future. Although those familiar with the topic can certainly guess what's on my mind.
Brough of Deerness, Orkney. Credit: http://viking.archeurope.com
So, in short, if you ever wanted to go to Scandinavia, I highly recommend it. In the meantime, I’ll try my best to show you, through my game, what I have experienced during my trips.
Let me know what you think about it. I hope you like it.
In the meantime, I'm going back to work so I can write to you soon with even more content!
Hope to see you soon!