In our last blog, we talked about the lengthy and uncertain story of how Hytale came to be. But now there is a more important question on everyone’s minds; What exactly will we be playing when you get the game?
Part 1: What is Hytale? (And What It Isn’t… Yet)
Now that the game is finally releasing, we need to temper expectations. The version launching today is an Early Access title in the truest sense. Simon himself has described the current gameplay as “raw and broken” multiple times. It is more of a diamond in the rough rather than a polished product.
Core Pillars
Hytale is a sandbox RPG. While it shares its visual DNA with Minecraft, it differs in its approach to the world. The world of Hytale has history, factions and a narrative structure. The game is built on three pillars:
- Adventure: A universe that feels alive, with dungeons, bosses and lore.
- Creativity: Tools that allow players to build not just structures, but entire experiences.
- Community: A focus on shared encounters. Whether through co-op survival or massive minigame servers.
Exploration Mode
An aspect of the game that might confuse new players is the difference between “Adventure Mode” and the currently available “Exploration Mode.”
- Adventure Mode (Not Yet Available): This is the fully realized RPG experience with a scripted story, cutscenes and a definitive conclusion. Because the team had to revert to an older engine build, the system to support narrative structure such as dialogue trees and scripted sequences are not ready. Ideally, it would be the final version, but it is not the current reality.
- Exploration Mode (Launch Content): This is what you will be playing on today. Acting more as a prologue, it features the core loops: fighting, looting, farming, building and exploring. It uses the World Gen V1 (the prototype developed from 2016 – 2020) rather than the more complex V2 generator intended for the future Adventure Mode. Think of this as Hytale’s Survival Mode where the lore exists in the background, and the story you create takes precedence. You can still fight bosses, clear dungeons and progress through the tech tiers, but the overarching narrative is absent.
Part 2: The World of Orbis
When you launch Hytale, you are stepping into the planet of Orbis. Unlike the infinite samey-ness of other procedurally generated games, Orbis is divided into distinct “Zones,” each with its own difficulty, geology, inhabitants and atmosphere.
Zone 1: Emerald Wilds
The starting point; with lush green and vibrant terrain, the Emerald Wilds are the temperate zone filled with forests, rivers and rolling hills. It is the most “Earth-like” of the zones, designed to welcome new players to the world and introduce them to its mechanics.
- Inhabitants: The Kweebecs, a race of sentient plant people. They are generally friendly and will be your first allies. Their life cycle is a fascinating piece of lore: aging from seedlings to mobile creatures, they eventually slow down to take root and grow into permanent trees.
- Threats: The Trorks: they vary from basic grunts to chieftains and serve as the early-game antagonists in this zone. Territorial in nature, they will not hesitate to become aggressive if you walk into their camps or woods.
- Atmosphere: Classic Fantasy adventure. Imagine if “The Shire” collided with “Hyrule.” A mostly safe introduction for newcomers with little challenge.
Zone 2: Howling Sands
To the south lies the Howling Sands: a hot, arid desert. The terrain is more vertical and treacherous, featuring canyons, oasis’ and vast dunes.
- Inhabitants: The Ferans; a fox-like race who have a tragic history of enslavement by the Scarak. They are wary, but can be allies against the insectoid menace.
- Threats: The Scarak, creatures that act as a hive mind. They build massive ziggurats and hives and their coordination makes them a significant hike in difficulty from the Trorks.
- Difficulty: Heat mechanics and tougher enemies mount a challenge that make preparation vital for this region.
Zone 3: Borea
To the North is the frozen wasteland of Borea. Geography includes glaciers, ice caves and snowy taigas. The visuals here start and are beautiful, with auroras lighting up the night sky.
- Inhabitants: The Outlanders, a mysterious human faction who wear masks and live in secluded camps. Their motives are unclear, but one thing’s for certain, they are formidable warriors.
- Difficulty: The cold is a factor here, requiring warm gear to survive the elements. The Yeti is rumored to be the apex predator of this zone.
Zone 4: The Devastated Lands
A volcanic hellscape of scorched earth and lava rivers. This zone features underground jungles and active volcanoes which make for a striking contrast between the fiery surface and the lush subterranean flora.
- Lore: This zone has been heavily corrupted by the game’s antagonist forces. It represents the “endgame: of the current Early Access build.
- Difficulty: Designed with the toughest combat challenges in mind, it requires high tier gear and potions to survive even just the environmental hazards.
The Deep Ocean and Beyond
Past the zones lie the Deep Ocean. This area contains high level aquatic threats and rewards. Beyond the ocean are the “Infinite Lands” which act as the standard procedural generation for players who just want to keep expanding. This ensures that while the core map has proper structure, the world still as limitless as can be for the players who want to explore forever.
The Antagonist
Looming over all of Orbis is the threat of Varyn. Described as looking “a little bit like a demon,” Varyn is a void wielding entity not native to Orbis. He commands the void element and corrupts the creatures of the world. In the Early Access build, his presence will likely be felt through “Varyn’s Spawn” and corrupted areas. The full narrative battle will probably be reserved for the Adventure Mode.
Part 3: Gameplay
Hytale distinguishes itself from its inspirations through depth. It’s not just about placing and breaking blocks, it’s about living in the world. The mechanics are designed to offer a richer and more tactile experience than that of many voxel games of the past.
Combat
You’re probably used to the simplistic combat of most other voxel based games, but Hytale has a significantly different approach. It aims to be more responsive and requires some tactical thought.
- Melee: Weapons have weight and speed. A warhammer is slow but deals massive damage and knockback. Daggers are fast and allow for quick dash attacks. The charge attack lets you hold down your attack key to break guards.
- Magic: Unlike Minecraft’s vanilla magic, the sorcery here has a more tangible effect. You can cast fireballs, void magic or healing spells. The magic also interacts with the environment, with fire burning grass and ice freezing water.
- Shields: Active blocking is important when handling harder enemies like the Trork Chieftains. Managing your stamina while blocking effectively is vital to avoiding a guard break.
Creator Tools
Similar in some ways to the Creative Mode you might be used to, but different in many other ways. The developers give you access to some of the tools they used to make the game itself:
- Asset Creation: You can model weapons and creatures in an app like Blockbench and import them into the game to script them in.
- Cinematics: The Machinima tool will allow you to set camera paths, control time of day and record professional level footage without external software or mods. This is a massive boon for content creators.
- World Edit: Tools like Shape Brush and Prefab Browser are built in features. You can construct a castle, copy and paste it a thousand blocks in moments.
Part 4: Roadmap and Future
The launch today is just the beginning. Simon and the team have committed to the long road ahead. They have clearly stated that they are self funded and have enough to do so for the next decade. And with the aid of pre-purchases, they have secured an additional 2 years worth of funding. They are not beholden to shareholders or parent companies demanding quarterly profits; they can take their time and do it right.
Upcoming Features
- Adventure Mode: The full proper story campaign will be added incrementally. The developers have assured that this will include epic boss fights and handcrafted story elements that are currently absent from Exploration Mode.
- Console Release: Once the PC version is stable, the team will revisit the backend work required for release on consoles. This is a long term goal, likely years away.
- Optimization: The raw and broken state will improve over time. Expect frequent patches as the team collects all the data from millions of players.
The Community
Remember, you are not just a player, you are a tester. The developers have explicitly asked for feedback. They have admitted the game is buggy. This kind of transparency is rare. By hosting a server and reporting bugs, you are actively helping finish the game.
Conclusion
Whether you are an explorer wading through the unknown lands of the Emerald Wilds or a builder constructing a city in the Howling Sands, the world of Hytale awaits you.
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