🌀 Release v1.2.0 – "The Forest Awakens"

We’re excited to announce Version 1.2.0, a major update that breathes new life into the Forest Zone! This release focuses on expanding content and improving immersion for players exploring our early world.

🌲 New Content

🌿 Dungeon Added to Forest Map

Dive into a brand new dungeon hidden within the Forest Zone! Expect environmental storytelling, combat encounters, and new pathways to explore.

🏡 NPC Asset Integration

We've brought the world to life by assigning assets to key NPCs:

• Villagers now have distinct appearances and animations, enriching your interactions.
• Plant Monsters have sprouted with new visual designs—more expressive, more dangerous.
• Passive Kiwis are now fully modeled and animated, adding charm and wildlife to the forest.

🛠 Technical & Structural Improvements

• World Cohesion: The dungeon is seamlessly integrated into the existing Forest Zone layout, offering intuitive access and natural progression.
• Performance Optimizations: Despite the added content, performance has been optimized to ensure a smooth VR experience on Meta Quest 2 & 3.

⚠ Known Issues

• Some parts of the dungeon environment are still glitchy (e.g. visual flickering, collider misalignments). We're actively working on smoothing out these areas in the next patch.

Thank you for supporting our journey!
— TeamKiwi

🌌 Vanquished Realm – v1.0.0 Release

We’re proud to announce Version 1.0.0 of Vanquished Realm, our immersive VR Metroidvania designed for Meta Quest headsets!

This marks our first stable milestone following the alpha, with gameplay and installation experience refined based on early feedback.

🧠 About the Game

Vanquished Realm is a first-person VR Metroidvania, blending intense combat, thoughtful exploration, and ability-based progression. Use magical spells, climb daunting environments, and uncover secrets in a mysterious, interconnected world.

⚔️ Key Gameplay Features

This release includes a playable demo map designed to showcase the core mechanics of the game:

• 🪄 Spells: Cast elemental magic with 3 unique abilities:
  • 🔥Fireball
  • ⚡Thunder
  • ✨Healing
• 🧗 Climbing System: Navigate vertical spaces with fluid wall-climbing.
• 🧩 Object Interaction: Move and manipulate objects to solve environmental puzzles.
• 🛡️ Combat System:
  • Face off against ranged and melee enemies.
  • Battle the first iteration of a boss encounter.
• 🧬 Player Stats UI: Integrated Health and Mana bars.

🌍 World Building

🧙 Tutorial Zone

• Learn the controls through NPC dialogue and guided instruction.

🌳 Forest Zone

• Explore a dense forest teeming with atmosphere and mystery.
• Interact with NPCs to uncover early pieces of the game’s lore.

🕶️ Platform Support

• Fully developed for Virtual Reality
• Optimized for Meta Quest devices

🛠️ v1.0.0 – Installation Wizard Update

We’ve upgraded our Windows installation wizard to make setup even easier:

✅ What’s Improved

• 📥 Auto-fetches the latest APK available from the release
• 💻 Supports both playing the demo and cloning the full source project
• 📦 Automatically downloads required ZIP files – no manual steps needed
• 🖼️ Clean, user-friendly UI with progress tracking and visuals

▶️ Quick Start

1. Download VR.wizard.exe
2. Run the installer

   The wizard will guide you through setup with no need for manual downloads or command line usage.

💡 Additional Notes

• Works on Windows (Linux users can run via Wine)
• For Linux/macOS, use the included install.py script

💬 Feedback & Support

We value your input!
Please report bugs or suggest features via GitHub Issues.

Thank you for being part of our journey.
See you in the Realm! 🌌

🌌 Vanquished Realm – Alpha Release

Welcome to the first Alpha release of Vanquished Realm, our immersive VR Metroidvania experience built for Meta Quest headsets!

This early build focuses on testing and showcasing the core gameplay systems and the foundations of our explorable world.

🧠 About the Game

Vanquished Realm is a first-person Metroidvania developed in Virtual Reality, combining fast-paced combat, exploration, and ability-based progression. Players will unlock powers and revisit areas to uncover secrets and push deeper into a mysterious realm.

🧪 Demo Features

This alpha includes a playable demo map designed to explore and test the main mechanics:

⚔️ Core Gameplay Mechanics

• Spells: Cast elemental magic with the first 3 spells:
  • 🔥 Fireball
  • ⚡ Thunder
  • ✨ Healing
• Climbing System: Scale vertical surfaces with responsive wall climbing.
• Object Interaction: Pick up and move objects to solve puzzles or clear paths.
• Combat:
  • Engage in fights against ranged and melee enemies
  • Face the first version of the game's boss for an early challenge!
• Player Stats:
  • Functional Health Bar and Mana Bar systems integrated.

🌲 World Building & Zones

🧙 Tutorial Zone

• Interact with NPCs to learn the basic controls.
• Dialogue-driven instructions to ease players into the experience.

🌳 First Game Zone – The Forest

• Explore a lush, atmospheric forest environment.
• Discover a village inhabited by NPCs who share fragments of the game’s lore.

🕶️ Platform

• Developed for Virtual Reality
• Currently supports Meta Quest headsets

🚧 Disclaimer

This is an early alpha build focused on testing and iteration. Expect bugs, placeholder assets, and lots of changes in future versions!

💬 Feedback

We’d love your feedback to help us shape Vanquished Realm into the best experience possible. Feel free to open issues or discussions here on GitHub!

Thanks for testing, and welcome to the Realm. 🌌

🛠️ Vanquished Realm — Alpha Patch: Installation Wizard Update

We’ve upgraded the installation experience for Vanquished Realm to make it seamless and beginner-friendly!

🚀 What's New

This release includes a brand-new Windows executable installer that guides you through setting up the game:

• 📲 Automatically downloads and installs the APK on your Meta Quest device
• 🧪 Or lets you clone the full source project to explore and contribute
• 📦 All required zip files are automatically downloaded from the release — no need to handle them manually
• 🧙‍♂️ Simple, intuitive interface with visuals and progress tracking

▶️ How to Get Started

To begin installation:

1. Download the VR.wizard.exe file from this release
2. Run the executable

   The installation wizard will launch and guide you step-by-step

No command line, no manual setup — just run and play or build!

📌 Notes

• This installer is intended for Windows systems (you can run it on Linux with wine)
• You do not need to download any zip files manually — the wizard takes care of it
• If you're running on Linux/macOS, use the Python version instead (install.py)

Thank you for testing the alpha release!
Feel free to report bugs or suggest features via Issues.