Deck of Haunts - Dev Blog #4 - VFX by Philippe Mesotten
Apr 22
Hey ho! Philippe here, VFX artist (among other roles in our small team) for Deck of Haunts.
For those of you not in the know, when I write VFX, I refer to Visual Effects. ✨
I've been pumping out explosions, sparks and magic for some years now, but never in this dark grungy and almost isometric style. (You can find more about the art style here)
Real time visual effects are not only the cherry on top of everything else, but are also used to better convey gameplay elements towards the player. By combining elements from texturing, modeling, tech-art and animation, you can conjure up all sorts of interesting illusions to breathe life into the game world.
The most important part doing VFX for Deck of Haunts, is that you have to put the emphasis on the player being the house. I had to keep this in mind with every particle effect I made, since it is really easy to fall into the trap of just making everything look "magical", rather than grounded in the house.
To give you an example, this is the effect we had at the very early stages of the project, for "Shifting Hallways" AKA teleporting a human to a random room:
As you can see it has more something of a wizards finger snap & teleport, than the actual house doing something to the human.
Here is a rework of the effect. Some planks coming out of the ground and pushing the human into another room:
Of course it all needs to go fast to not put a drag on gameplay.
In our recently released "Release Date Trailer" you can see some of the effects that I loved making, for instance the dissolving of a card when it gets banished or the lightning storm towards the end of the video:
Being a VFX artist, a lot of times that also means optimizing the game.
Here you can see the before and after of a specific ground material. The less red, the better the performance. Profit!
There are a ton more of effects I'd like to share with you, but... You'll have to play the game to find out what they all are, not spoiling any more ;).
If you've made it until here, well done!
Thank you for reading and I hope to see all your cool house builds on socials or on this hub, once the game is out 🖖
PS: Make sure to tell your friends to wishlist Deck of Haunts, it helps a ton! 🔔
For those of you not in the know, when I write VFX, I refer to Visual Effects. ✨
I've been pumping out explosions, sparks and magic for some years now, but never in this dark grungy and almost isometric style. (You can find more about the art style here)
Real time visual effects are not only the cherry on top of everything else, but are also used to better convey gameplay elements towards the player. By combining elements from texturing, modeling, tech-art and animation, you can conjure up all sorts of interesting illusions to breathe life into the game world.
The most important part doing VFX for Deck of Haunts, is that you have to put the emphasis on the player being the house. I had to keep this in mind with every particle effect I made, since it is really easy to fall into the trap of just making everything look "magical", rather than grounded in the house.
To give you an example, this is the effect we had at the very early stages of the project, for "Shifting Hallways" AKA teleporting a human to a random room:
As you can see it has more something of a wizards finger snap & teleport, than the actual house doing something to the human.Here is a rework of the effect. Some planks coming out of the ground and pushing the human into another room:
Of course it all needs to go fast to not put a drag on gameplay.In our recently released "Release Date Trailer" you can see some of the effects that I loved making, for instance the dissolving of a card when it gets banished or the lightning storm towards the end of the video:
Here you can see the before and after of a specific ground material. The less red, the better the performance. Profit!
There are a ton more of effects I'd like to share with you, but... You'll have to play the game to find out what they all are, not spoiling any more ;).If you've made it until here, well done!
Thank you for reading and I hope to see all your cool house builds on socials or on this hub, once the game is out 🖖
PS: Make sure to tell your friends to wishlist Deck of Haunts, it helps a ton! 🔔
Deck of Haunts
40
0
Saving The Demo?
I downloaded the demo yesterday to check it out before purchase, and there doesn't seem to be a way to save or restore it. Am I missing something?
2
General Discussions
Blood Bar Tycoon
Apr 17
Hey!
Some friends of ours released their game, BLOOD BAR TYCOON, this February 2025! And guess what: it’s a super cool, darkly humorous tycoon game where you abduct humans to feed vampires! If you're into the DECK OF HAUNTS vibe, there's a good chance you'll love this too!
They're an indie team, just like us, so be kind and show them some support. The game is currently on sale! Go check it out!
Have a great day!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2776780/Blood_Bar_Tycoon/
Some friends of ours released their game, BLOOD BAR TYCOON, this February 2025! And guess what: it’s a super cool, darkly humorous tycoon game where you abduct humans to feed vampires! If you're into the DECK OF HAUNTS vibe, there's a good chance you'll love this too!
They're an indie team, just like us, so be kind and show them some support. The game is currently on sale! Go check it out!
Have a great day!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2776780/Blood_Bar_Tycoon/
Deck of Haunts
11
1
Deck of Haunts Releases on May 7, 2025!
Apr 15
We are excited to announce that Deck of Haunts will launch on May 7, 2025!
Deck of Haunts is a sinister deckbuilding roguelike where players take on the role of a malevolent haunted house. In this eerie title, players build their mansion, lure unsuspecting humans into it, and terrify them into madness, or kill them, using a variety of haunting cards.
After refining its mechanics through demos and player feedback, Deck of Haunts is ready to unleash its frights for the full release, which includes a host of new horrors, including an expansive arsenal of haunt cards, a variety of mansion rooms to build with, human traits to exploit, and formidable new bosses.
A Slew of Cards to Haunt With: A vast array of haunts at your disposal, from damage-dealing scares to tension-building tricks and cunning traps.
Expansive Room Types to Build Your Mansion With: Design a nightmare maze with basic rooms like kitchens and bell towers, plus special chambers like the Phobia Room, Mechanical Room, and Sacrifice Room, each affecting gameplay in different ways.
The Witch: Roaming the mansion, she inflicts terror on humans once she is summoned from the bell tower.
Bosses Enter the Building: The Stonemasons return, but they won’t be alone. Three additional fearsome human adversaries will challenge your haunted rule.
Human Traits and Items: Pesky humans bring more variety than ever, with traits like Pathfinder, Bleeder, and Frail, alongside new items like Pistols, Compasses, and Holy Books that alter their behavior in your mansion.
Meta-Progression for Multiple Runs: Unlock new haunt cards, rooms, and human traits as you grow in power.
Endless Mode: Unlockable after certain conditions are met, this mode lets you test your haunting prowess in an infinite nightmare.
Reactions & Naming Visitors: Listen to their terrified quips as they navigate your cursed domain, and rename them for an extra bit of fun!
40 Steam Achievements: Prove yourself as the ultimate haunted house master with a variety of challenges.
Prepare to haunt your victims with sinister strategies while growing your deck of cards and the mansion itself, ensuring every run is a different nightmare for those who dare to enter.
Deck of Haunts is a sinister deckbuilding roguelike where players take on the role of a malevolent haunted house. In this eerie title, players build their mansion, lure unsuspecting humans into it, and terrify them into madness, or kill them, using a variety of haunting cards.
A House of Horrors Await
After refining its mechanics through demos and player feedback, Deck of Haunts is ready to unleash its frights for the full release, which includes a host of new horrors, including an expansive arsenal of haunt cards, a variety of mansion rooms to build with, human traits to exploit, and formidable new bosses.
Features in the Full Version
A Slew of Cards to Haunt With: A vast array of haunts at your disposal, from damage-dealing scares to tension-building tricks and cunning traps.
Expansive Room Types to Build Your Mansion With: Design a nightmare maze with basic rooms like kitchens and bell towers, plus special chambers like the Phobia Room, Mechanical Room, and Sacrifice Room, each affecting gameplay in different ways.
The Witch: Roaming the mansion, she inflicts terror on humans once she is summoned from the bell tower.
Bosses Enter the Building: The Stonemasons return, but they won’t be alone. Three additional fearsome human adversaries will challenge your haunted rule.
Human Traits and Items: Pesky humans bring more variety than ever, with traits like Pathfinder, Bleeder, and Frail, alongside new items like Pistols, Compasses, and Holy Books that alter their behavior in your mansion.
Meta-Progression for Multiple Runs: Unlock new haunt cards, rooms, and human traits as you grow in power.
Endless Mode: Unlockable after certain conditions are met, this mode lets you test your haunting prowess in an infinite nightmare.
Reactions & Naming Visitors: Listen to their terrified quips as they navigate your cursed domain, and rename them for an extra bit of fun!
40 Steam Achievements: Prove yourself as the ultimate haunted house master with a variety of challenges.
Prepare to haunt your victims with sinister strategies while growing your deck of cards and the mansion itself, ensuring every run is a different nightmare for those who dare to enter.
Deck of Haunts
60
3
I absolutely loathe the art style of Darkest Dungeon, why is it popular?
The whole aesthetic to me, it just ruins any Lovecraftian undertones.
1
General Discussions
General Discussions
[Opinion] Good. I wish it was upgraded a bit more.
The distance to the heart is a bit short. It would be nice to have rooms like a maze or various traps like Dungeon Keeper. It would also be more fun if there were undead, demons, vampires, and animals. And, with a screen like this, it seems like it would be okay to lower the specifications even further....
1
General Discussions
Feedback
Being screwed over by bad RNG is never fun, you need to add some level of balance to the RNG so you do not end up failing due to luck.
1
General Discussions
Meta Progression?
Will the game have any form of meta progression? I'd love for the heart to grow more powerful as you complete runs or some such. Loving the demo!
3
General Discussions
4070 - performance issues
Pc struggling even after lowering the graphics settings to low, even in the menu.
I have a 4070 ti super, it was at 97% usage in the menu, what's the game doing?
1
General Discussions
OPTIMALIZATION
for some reason it lags as hell for me, for the first 30 minutes its fine but then fps drops and lock on 20 and game lags as hell, it's playable but not fun, all of the other apps like steam or spotify are fine and this fps drop doesn't affect anything but the game, if i reset the game it comes back fine for some time and afterwards it goes into 20fps mode idk what to think...
2
General Discussions
My 2¢ after 50+ hours
I don't think I've put more time into any demo in my life, and I've been gaming since the Atari was a thing. That's a long time, boys n girls. I love the concept of DoH, the cards made available thus far are (mostly) fun to play with, the art direction is beautiful, and the overall tone is serious rather than silly. It wins with me on so many levels.
All that said, I've formed some criticisms after many hours of sadistically driving people insane and erasing their foul breath from my halls.
I think...
4
General Discussions
Move Heart or Front Door
It's cool adding rooms and all, but will we be able to move the heart as well, so as to put it deeper into the house? Maybe with a specific high essence move card? Or a house upgrade?
14
General Discussions