A novel-sized blog post from Arcen games has revealed that they are creating a sequel to the esoteric A Valley Without Wind. There is an extensive list of changes and explanations as to why they are making a sequel, the thought behind their design decisions and why they are making it FREE to customers who purchased the first game.

Arcen Games have sent word along that A Valley Without Wind is on sale right now on Steam for 50% off - or $7.50.  You can even snag a co-op friendly four pack of the game for just $22.49.  Our review of the game called it "genre shattering," though we did find quite a few faults for the ambitious title.  The game supports quite a few players in its online co-op mode, though we cap it out at 16.

A Valley Without Wind hasn't exactly lived up to expectations for Arcen, who's previous games include Tidalis and AI War.  One area where a lot of reviews and gamers have complained is the art style.  It appears as though Arcen agrees as they have just begun the process of redoing ALL of the art assets in the game through an outside studio named Heavy Cat Studios.

You can read about the ambitious project here and the long term support planned for A Valley Without Wind.  Something like this can only come from an indie, so it'd be good to get out their and support them during this sale!

Arcen Games, the masterminds behind A Valley Without Wind have been tweaking the game since April 25th, taking all of the data and feeback that players have been giving them. They have officially released patch 1.1 which changes many things in the game and adds tons of new content, giving you a reason to hop back into the world of Environ. 

Co-Optimus has been covering Arcen Games' PC and Mac title A Valley Without Wind in pre-release form for over a year. At long last, A Valley Without Wind is available on Steam, the platform of choice for many computer gamers. What's more, through May 1 you can get it for $13.49 - ten percent off the regular price of $14.99. It's also available on GamersGate and Impulse.

Arcen games have announced that their unique looking action/adventure/Minecraft-ish game, A Valley Without Wind, will be coming to a computer near you via Steam on April 16th.  The game has had a lengthy beta but seems just about ready for prime time as there is almost daily builds released to all testers.  We've been following the game since it's original inception as a top down title and it's come a long, long way.

A Valley Without Wind has been in beta for some time now, but there's been a key feature missing in the procedural side scroller - cooperative play.  Arcen Games have announced the game has entered a multiplayer alpha phase - and already it's paying off.  

It seems the method being implored for network connectivity was less than satisfactory for many players, causing Arcen to go back to the drawing board for the technical back end of co-op play.  The result?  Arcen have made the decision to do a complete rewrite of the networking code.

Arcen Games has sent word today that A Valley Without Wind has entered beta for those that pre-order the game.  Along with that, Arcen is running a promotion right now -  if you pre-order the game, you can do so at a 50% discount making the price just $10.

If you want to see what A Valley Without Wind is all about, you can download the demo which is now also available.  The only limitation of the demo is that civilizations in the game can not go above level 6.  If you want you can convert your demo into a fully featured beta by then purchasing it.  Arcen also wanted to let users know that there is no DRM in the game - only a simple license key.

As we approach September's PC beta for A Valley Without Wind, the game is looking better and better.  After switching to a side scrolling view, the game has really seemed to find its groove.  Immediately it's easy to see the game is now a Metroidvania style open world side scroller - that is - a side scroller similar in gameplay to Metroid or Castlevania.  Combine that with a Minecraft style raw materials and crafting system as well as online co-op and you have a dangerously addictive recipe for what may be this fall's surprise indie hit.

Up until this point, everything we've seen from Arcen Games' A Valley Without Wind has looked impressive, but something seemed off.  The game was originally an isometric view sort of like that of RPGs of old on the SNES and SEGA Genesis and while it worked for the 8-bit style graphics of those days, the more realistic style in AVWW made things look awkward.  Now after months of deliberation the team has switched the game, instead opting to make it a side scrolling affair in the realms of Super Metroid or the more recent Shadow Complex.  

The latest developer journal for the game talks a bit about the switch, which fits better not only in terms of graphical style, but gameplay.

Arcen games have just sent out some new screens and videos for their upcoming online co-op game A Valley Without Wind.  A stark contrast from previous screens seen, the new images showcase a brutal looking world filled with lava and strange creatures - some as high as level 529!  I think we're going to need our Strange Creature Slaying Knift +2 for this journey.

While there's not a ton of updates on the surface, the latest developer blog points us to a lot of behind the scenes enhancements for the PC title, which is still slated for a summer 2011 release.  The biggest enhancement is no doubt the game's crafting system is in place.

Chris Park of Arcen Games has always been a pleasure to chat with, so it didn't take long for me to email him when we found out that their upcoming game, A Valley Without Wind, would add a co-op mode to get the scoop on its features.   And boy did we get a lot of great info on the game, which right now, plans no real hard cap on the number of co-op players allowed in a game -  though Arcen sees about 16 being the current ideal max.

A Valley Without Wind is set in the distant future after an Ice Age, the world has become unrecognizable to us, but there are many survivors stuck on this new Earth.  Magic has taken form and is the reason that many of these people managed to survive through these tough and isolated times.  The game is an action/adventure title that focuses on survival and death.  I say focuses on death because dying seems to be a natural part of the game, with the game world containing a graveyard of your deceased characters.