November 2023 – Page 2 – Ms. Bella's World

2–3 minutes

Last week we looked at Valheim through the lens of immersion. Today we’ll look at another aspect of Valheim, and the survival game genre, important for longevity – exploration.

Exploration is another vital component of survival games and Valheim showcases that in several ways. These include –

Unique Biomes and Environments: Valheim offers diverse biomes, each with their own environmental challenges and aesthetics. You start in the meadows, knowing nothing about the land. Despite this, you need to gather materials to build shelter and a workbench. You need to find food to eat. And while doing this, you need to be aware of your surroundings, lest a boar or greyling catch you unawares. Frequently you’ll find yourself crossing the bounds into more dangerous areas, such as the black forest with its greydwarves and trolls. Or perhaps you’ve discovered a mountain with its unforgiving cold and swift wolves. Players are encouraged to explore these environments to adapt and find resources suited to their needs.

Hidden Secrets and Treasures: Valheim has many hidden secrets to discover. There are dungeons in the black forest, crypts in the swamp, ice caves in the mountains. Each is filled with dangerous enemies, as well as a variety of materials and loot. Perhaps you even get fortunate and find one of the vendors, Haldor or Hilder, early on. These secrets adds excitement and motivation to explore the unknown.

Bosses and Progression: The game’s various bosses are located in different parts of the world. To progress and unlock new abilities or content, players must locate and defeat them. This leads to some thrilling battles and a sense of accomplishment.

Random Events and Encounters: Random events and encounters can happen during exploration. The weather can change without warning. You may be hunted or run into higher ranked, starred, monsters. And don’t think you’re safe at your base either. Raids can occur there when you’re home, crafting or growing crops. These add unpredictability to the game and keep exploration engaging.

Discovery of Resources Valheim’s different biomes each contain their own unique resources. To survive and thrive, you’ll need to explore them in order gather these resources and unlock recipes, make better foods, better armor, stronger bases. This resource scarcity in different areas drives the need for exploration.

Building and Settlements: As you explore you’ll find beautiful spots to build homes, crafting stations, and fortifications. Perhaps you fancy a base near the sea, where you can set sail in your longboat to new islands. Maybe you prefer the safety afforded from building a base in the trees. Or perhaps you’ve progressed to where a fortress in the mountains or plains is your style. Exploration and the freedom to build anywhere gives players infinite options.

In short, exploring the world is essential for survival, resource acquisition, progression, and discovery. Next week we’ll take a look at building and crafting, two equally important aspects of survival games

Until next time, bye for now!

3–4 minutes

If you had told me two years ago that one of my favorite games would be a survival game, I would have asked you where you got your drugs. After all, the survival games I’d heard about the most were things like Rust and DayZ, with their heavy emphasis on PvP. On the flipside, there were games like Minecraft, Terraria, and CardLife which were fun but never kept my attention for long.

Then in 2022, for my 51^st birthday, my friend Gus bought me a copy of Valheim. He played the game and insisted that I would love it. I installed it and played a bit. ‘Hmm, not bad,’ I thought after a couple of hours. And so I kept playing.

600 hours later and I can say with all certainty that he was right. I do love the game. But what is it about Valheim? What are the core features that make it, or any survival game, good? Over the next few posts we’ll look into what I think makes for a good survival game.

The first on the list, one that I think is the foundation that every survival game requires, is immersion. This one has a lot of moving parts on its own. It involves the game world, sound effects, music, consistency of theme, and realistic physics and interactions. So let’s break it down.

Game World

Valheim’s world is meticulously crafted. It’s filled with diverse biomes from the dense Black Forest, the open Plains, the eerie Swamps, and the frigid Mountains. The attention to detail in everything from landscape to realistic weather effects draws the player in and allows them to lose themselves for a while.

Sound Effects and Music

Valheim’s use of ambient sounds and music adds depth and anchors the player to the world. The music changes with the time of day and in-game events. The sound effects for each zone bring them to life: from the splashing of water in the swamps to the roar of waves during a storm, from birds chirping in the meadows, to the distant howls of wolves in the mountains, the player is drawn in.

Thematic Consistency

The Viking theme is a significant part of Valheim, and the game maintains that theme well. The broken-down structures that dot the meadows are reminiscent of old Viking houses, complete with steeply slanted sod roofs. The various armors, weapons, and shields you craft are similar to the gear warriors would have worn and used. The ships you build resemble Viking longships. The lore stones are engraved with runes, possibly mimicking Younger Futhark, the Runic script used to write Old Norse. Even the creatures known as ‘dvergr’ are taken from Old Norse, the word describing a species of fairy that lived in the mountains and lower mines. This consistency helps players feel like they’re part of a coherent and authentic Viking world.

Realistic Physics and Interactions

Anyone that’s played Valheim has probably had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a felled tree early on. I know I have and, while annoying and hilarious in equal measure, the fact that a tree can kill you is only one small part of the physics and interactions within the world. The game allows you to chop down trees, mine rocks, build and destroy structures. This ability for the player to interact with the whole environment and shape it to suit their needs adds to the sense of being part of the world.

That’s the brief overview of how the immersion in Valheim creates a world worthy of playing in and exploring. And next time, we’ll delve into the topic of exploring and what Valheim offers.

Until next time, bye for now!