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A Valley Without Wind

Platform(s): PC
Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer: Arcen Games
Release Date: 2011

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PC gamer, WorthPlaying EIC, globe-trotting couch potato, patriot, '80s headbanger, movie watcher, music lover, foodie and man in black -- squirrel!

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'A Valley Without Wind' Enters Final Beta Stage - Screens

by Rainier on March 1, 2012 @ 1:45 p.m. PST

Set in a post-ice-age world in the distant future, the game focuses on survival and exploration. As a random survivor of this harsh world, you decide what impact to make on it.

The planet of Environ has been shattered in the wake of an unknown cataclysm. Time itself has seemingly collided together, with only small pockets of humanity left in its wake...

The creators of AI War bring you a procedurally-generated 2D side-scrolling single player and online co-op adventure of limitless proportions. Traverse alone or with friends across a vast persistent world filled with dangerous creatures, powerful magic, high technology, and mysteries to discover.

Play the game your own way. Stay on the beaten path, close to the plots and ploys taking place with what remains of society, and have a meaningful influence on what takes place. Or go off on your own into the boundless wilds to uncover what secrets they may hide.

What will you do in this strange new world?


With the game's community heavily involved in the beta so far, the game has seen an astronomical number of changes and improvements added by our relentless programmers. Thankfully after a whirlwind of patching, the game's dust has settled, and we welcome everyone to take a look around at what the world of Environ has evolved into.

The mechanics have been streamlined, a fully fleshed-out player experience is now in place, and tons of new content has been packed in -- including a variety of new missions, spells, armor enchants, guardian powers, and more. Multiplayer has also come a long way, and players are having a blast running their own beta servers. There are a few multiplayer remaining bugs to iron out prior to 1.0, plus the need for a server browser, but it's already a satisfying experience.

Beyond all that, the game has become much more accessible to new players. A planning menu complete with handy 'supplies', 'things to do', and 'where to find stuff' sections; opt out popup tooltips; and other improvements to usability and clarity result in a newfound flow to the title.  Players who are returning after a long absence are heartily encouraged to play through the game's intro mission, given how much has changed.  If you'd like to know more before you play, or just have a fetish for external manuals, check out our Learning The Game section on the A Valley Without Wind Wiki.

There's still so much to come for AVWW, both prior to 1.0 and after! Our head designer Chris Park states his vision for the game going forward on his devblog:

"Our plan is to take the AI War route, and release tons of free DLC as well to do at least a couple of paid expansions.  Hopefully in 2-3 years, we're still developing both AI War and AVWW -- that is the ideal scenario for me personally.”

Features
  • Explore lush countryside, ruined towns, deep subterranean caves, strange interiors, and more throughout Environ's beautiful (but vicious) regions in a sprawling single player/co-op adventure.
  • Jump into online multiplayer with 2-8+ player co-op.
  • Procedural-generation ensures no two worlds will ever be the same.  Your planet unfolds as you discover it, and once you've discovered something, it becomes part of your individual Environ for good.
  • As your world expands, each continent offers new powers to wield, treasures to discover, survivors to help, and evils to confront.
  • Collect ingredients and materials, craft a large variety of spells, gain guardian powers, and equip armor enchants to help you on your journey.
  • Face off against strange and unique monsters, confront evil overlords and their ever-loyal lieutenants, and take on a multitude of missions that call upon both platforming skills and the ability to strategically carry out a plan.
  • New updates arriving all the time packed with additional content, improvements, and more.

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