Welcome back to another Valko blog!
It’s been a little while since our last update, and quite a bit has happened behind the scenes. Some of it we hinted at before, some of it is brand new, and some of it is still taking shape, but we figured now would be a good time to sit down and share where things are at.
Let’s dive in.
WARNING!
Potential spoilers below this point!
Everything subject to change!
CRYO
The Hound
In our last dev blog we teased a new creature, the Hound, and the response from the community was honestly better than we expected.
We always get a little nervous when introducing new monsters because they change how players approach the game. New threats mean new strategies, new fears, and sometimes completely new ways of playing. So seeing the reception be overwhelmingly positive was a huge relief for us.
A lot of you seemed excited about the idea of a different style of creature that pressures players in a unique way compared to the monsters we already have. That kind of feedback helps confirm we’re heading in the right direction design-wise.
We think the hound is in a really good spot right now that balances difficulty with mechanics. There’s still some tweaks to be done but overall, thanks to player feedback, it’s feeling great to play against.
We know players love “behind the scenes lore” so we wanted to share some for the hound. It was actually the first monster we did for CRYO and has been in the project well before the team switched over full time to CRYO. The design is inspired heavily by a mix of existing movie and game creatures, such as the blair monster from The Thing. As with all of our existing monsters, the hound went through a texture update from it’s original texture, here’s the hound in it’s original state vs the new one:
Streamers / Youtubers
Another thing that’s been pretty surreal for us recently is seeing some huge creators jump into the game.
We’ve had people like Markiplier, LordMinion777, Alanzoka, Cartoonz and H20delirious playing, which is something we honestly never expected this early into the project.
But as cool as it is to see the big names play, watching regular people experience the game for the first time, especially when they get completely blindsided by something, is always fun and fulfilling. It also ends up being incredibly useful from a development standpoint. Seeing how new players react to mechanics, where they get confused, what scares them, what doesn’t, it all feeds back into how we refine the experience.
So if you’ve been making videos or streaming the game, big or small, we genuinely appreciate it. It helps more than you might think!
The Ship
Now onto something we know a lot of you have been waiting to hear about.
The Ship (aka the new map) is well underway and fully playable internally.
One of the big changes with this map is that parts of it are procedurally generated, meaning layouts will change between runs. Rooms, paths, and even vent systems can shift around, which should help keep things unpredictable even after you’ve played the map multiple times.
The goal here is to keep that feeling of uncertainty alive. Once players start memorizing a map completely, the tension naturally drops. By introducing procedural elements, we can keep exploration feeling fresh.
Alongside the map itself, we’re also introducing two brand new monsters, each with their own unique abilities that change how players have to navigate the environment. Their mechanics are completely different from anything we’ve done before in the game. We’re still tuning their behavior and making sure they interact properly with the procedural systems, but what we have so far is very cool and interesting and we think it will definitely cause some players to panic.
One of the changes with this new map is the scale. This ship is larger than Delta-7 yet more compact, and that allowed us to introduce a lot more variety in the kinds of spaces players will move through during a run. The ship is divided into multiple functional areas, each with its own purpose and atmosphere.
Players will find themselves moving through research labs, control rooms, crew quarters, dining halls, maintenance corridors, containment areas, shipment storage filled with containers, an engine room, and even a submarine bay built directly into the structure of the ship. Each section reflects a different part of the ship’s operation, from the scientists running experiments, to the crew maintaining the vessel, to the logistics side of moving equipment and materials in and out of the various facilities on the mainland.
The idea behind this map is that this isn’t just a ship passing through Antarctic waters, it’s Angenex’s offshore floating research fortress. A self-contained installation designed to operate far away from the mainland, capable of conducting experiments, housing staff, and transporting materials without relying on nearby infrastructure. It’s meant to feel like a place built for long-term operations in an incredibly hostile part of the world.
From a gameplay standpoint, this also gives us a lot more room to play with different layouts and encounters. Moving from tight maintenance corridors to large industrial rooms, or from quiet living quarters to containment sections, helps keep exploration feeling varied, especially with the procedural systems changing how these areas connect between runs.
One area we’ve been putting a lot of attention into with the new ship map is the environmental sound design.
Because of how large the ship is, and how isolated it’s meant to feel, we want the audio to play a big role in building tension even when nothing is actively chasing you. The ship is filled with subtle ambient sounds that make the environment feel alive in a very unsettling way.
You’ll hear things like metal structures creaking under pressure, machinery humming deep in the ship, ventilation systems rattling, pipes knocking, and occasional sounds echoing through the halls that you can’t quite place. Sometimes it will feel like something is moving somewhere far away, even if it’s just the ship itself shifting in the water.
The goal is to create moments where players start second guessing what they’re hearing. Was that just the engine room echoing through the hull? Something moving through the vents? Or something else entirely?
Right now, this map is undergoing testing internally while we finish the map up; there’s still sounds, lighting adjustments, new props and more to work on. The second monster is also not yet fully playable, so we’re still waiting on that to be finished up. Once these are ready, it will be given to the private testers, a handpicked group of individuals who have been active and helpful on the discord, to test and give their feedback. Once they are happy with it, it will be released to the public. We don’t give estimates due to backlash previously due to delays, but we’re confident this will be coming soon.
Looking ahead to the third map
While work continues on the Ship, development has also quietly started on Map 3.
This one will push the procedural systems even further than what we’re doing now. The goal is to make the environment feel less predictable and more dynamic each time you play.
This map will also take players back to mainland Antarctica, but in a completely new setting that feels very different from what you’ve seen so far. The environment is much harsher, more isolated, and has a very distinct atmosphere that we’re excited to explore.
It’s still early days for this one, but the foundation work has already begun.
Community Feedback
One thing we want to emphasize, and likely continue to emphasize in every dev blog, is how important community input is to the direction of the game.
We read everything.
Discord suggestions, Steam discussions, YouTube comments, Reddit threads; all of it. Even if we can’t respond to every message individually, the feedback absolutely gets seen and discussed internally.
Some of the ideas players have suggested have directly influenced design decisions, whether that’s mechanics, quality-of-life improvements, or even things we hadn’t originally considered.
So if you have ideas, suggestions, or even criticisms, don’t hesitate to share them. The game is still evolving, and player feedback plays a huge role in shaping what it becomes.
A Little Further Into The Future Of CRYO
Looking further ahead, we’ve been discussing systems that could add more long-term progression to the game.
One idea we’re exploring is a leveling system that could unlock small perks or bonuses. The goal wouldn’t be to create something that disrupts the core experience, but rather to give players additional goals and ways to customize their playstyle.
That said, systems like this only make sense if they actually improve the experience. So if we decide to move forward with it, we’ll be paying close attention to how the community feels about it.
As always, everything here is subject to change as development continues.
Labyrinthine
Upcoming DLC
Before we wrap up, we wanted to briefly mention something for those of you who have been following Labyrinthine as well.
While most of our focus lately has been on the updates we’ve talked about here, work has also been quietly progressing on something new for Labyrinthine. We’re not quite ready to show or say much about it yet, but what we can say is that it will take players to completely new case files that are very different from what you’ve seen in the game so far. There will of course also be new monsters and cosmetics.
Development is already well underway, and the team has been building out the environment, gameplay ideas, and all the little details that make these experiences come together. It’s still early enough that things are subject to change, so we’re keeping details close to the chest for now until we’re ready for a formal reveal, but we just wanted to make sure people are aware, the game isn’t dead!
We’ll have more to share when the time is right.
That's all folks!
That’s all for this update.
Thanks again to everyone who’s been playing, sharing feedback, making videos, and helping the games grow. We’ll have more to show soon as development continues, especially as the new map gets closer to being ready for players.
Until next time.
“Alongside the map itself, we’re also introducing two brand new monsters, each with their own unique abilities that change how players have to navigate the environment.”
…Please be a Spider…please be a Spider…
Incredible game though, even if we arent running from a giant spider…hopefully yet…
Great going guys !
Just wanted to share ideas ! Would absolutely love to see an abandoned amusement park or an asylum as a map … I feel like it would add dimension with more maps ! Love this game and have shared this game with many others that have also fallen in love with the game ! Great development! Great atmosphere and unpredictable gameplay only adds to the experience !
Valko is probably the only Indie studio I follow enough to read their dev updates. The way yall are passionate about your games shows all the time! I appreciate what yall do, and hope you keep doing it for the foreseeable, and unforseeable future!
Ahhhhhh, so good to hear updates on Labyrinthine! I can’t wait to see what’s next!